Hotel Cromwell — Hotel in Stevenage

Right here goes it has taken me a week to write this review I think the best place to start is at the beginning. We traveled 2hours for my sister’s wedding we left early as we read online the car park was small and filled up quickly. Unfortunately at the first service station we stopped at we had to turn around and go home as we had forgotten something important. After the turn around we finally left at 13.20 we arrived at the hotel at about 15.00. When we got there the disabled bays were all being used and not by blue badge holders not one car had a blue badge. We rung the hotel reception to see if they could ask the non badge holders to move their cars the reply. “Nothing we can do we don’t run the car park private eye do” to which we replied well what’s the point of disabled bays. |Anyway we drove out of the hotel to park at the front as it was parking for 4 hours we thought oh we will just park here see if any spaces become available. At that time hubby went round the back and someone had moved so he got in the car and drove back to the disabled bays. |We got in the hotel went in the restaurant doors but this very nice lady showed us where to go. Unfortunately that was the last of the nice staff got to reception got our rooms etc all fine. Went to our room omg it was like walking in to an oven I swear we had the hottest room in the hotel. I went to serval rooms as I had family members there and yes ours was the hottest. |The people that were in the room before must have also thought so as the window had the child locks off in fact I didn’t even know they had child locks until I went to another room. We had one small fan the window open wide and still it was very hot my husband said we must be above the kitchen. Any way what can I say about the room hot no fan in the bathroom so if you have a shower it just makes the room even hotter. The bed was so uncomfortable it felt like it was dipping in the middle. The room felt very claustrophobic not very nice at all and to be quite frank if it wasn’t for the fact my sister was getting married I would not have stayed there. If there was a premier inn across the road I would have gone there. But as I know where they both are they was not in range of my sister's wedding. I have stayed in a lot of hotels as my husband has worked for hotels since 2014 and this is the worse one I have ever been to. ||Food we did not eat in the restaurant the night before as it was to expensive we just went to the weather spoons next door as it’s the old town there are plenty of other places there to eat plenty of pubs and bars etc. |We did however go for the breakfast what can I say about the staff miserable. We went on both days the Saturday and the Sunday. First off we were told we could sit anywhere so we did. The only thing that did annoy me was we were not allowed to sit with the wedding party. The Saturday wasn’t as bad as the Sunday that’s for sure. Sunday all the wedding guest all sat together in the same area. They were bringing tea and coffee but no they weren’t. |I have been to a hotel that does this they follow you to the table and ask if you want tea and coffee. Nope everyone had to ask for the tea and coffee and go find the staff to get what they wanted and every time they wanted another they had to find a member of staff to get one. My husband said good morning to one member of staff and got a grunt back. Non of the staff members had a smile on their face at all. Just looked like they didn’t want to be there. The other thing to point out like other hotels that do both scrambled or fried eggs the Cromwell only do scrambled and you have to ask for poached and fried which I find a bit strange. Poached eggs yes because not many people want them but fried. All in all apart from the miserable staff the breakfast is really nice and a great selection. ||Next we get to the wedding day it’s self now there was a wedding on the Friday but for some reason they decided not to clean up after that wedding. |Me and my son went to the big Tescos on the Friday night we got back about 22.00 everything was fine. The next day my husband and son said it was a mess downstairs which confused me as it wasn’t a mess when we came in at 22.00. Anyway we went downstairs for breakfast and yes it was a mess confetti everywhere in the lounge area just outside the function room it took quite sometime to clean it up.|The worse part was the function room for the wedding was not even cleaned so the lady my sister had hired to decorate the room couldn’t do anything at all. The wedding was meant to be at 12 and at 9am the room was not even cleaned so people could go in and decorate. They were being told no it’s not ready yet you’ll have to come back. Anyway in the end the lady that was doing the decorations had to hoover the room.|Now we get to the meal we were told to sit for the meal but for some reason it took absolutely ages to bring the first course out and the second course and the third course. As I said my husband has run loads of functions weddings galas conferences the lot and he said there is no way it should have taken as long as it did between courses. After the starter all the kids had gone back outside as they were all board so had to be called back for every course. |The food the beef was ok but they stuck a massive Yorkshire pudding on top that was dry and burnt so hardly anyone ate it there was hardly any gravy on it hence the dry and burnt. A lot of people had the kids fish fingers chips and peas. We were told it would the adult size my plate was the same as my 6 year old grandson. The staff was again miserable and to be quite frank they made people feel Like we were an inconvenience to them. The water jugs were hardly getting filled and we had to walk to the bar to ask for more water. By the speech’s most people had gone back to their rooms and the kids were absolutely board out of there minds and were just playing in the garden. ||The night time staff were not much better in fact they were the rudest out of them all first off if you asked for some water you were directed to the end of the bar were there was loads of empty jugs. Yea thanks they gave the smallest of glasses so you had to stand there and keep filling it up.|Then we get to the buffet now the cake was cut at 20.00 but the cake was not put out until 10mins before the buffet closed so by then most people had gone to there rooms as it was late. So a lot of people did not get the cake. The people putting The buffet out were very rude and seemed to have a grudge with me. |So first the bridge and groom came out to say the buffet was out so I like everyone else went to the buffet I did not pick up a plate like everyone else so have no idea why this was directed at me. I just went to look and see what they had I was told by a very rude lady that the buffet was not open and to not touch the food. Like i said I didn’t even have a plate I was just looking unlike everyone else that was taking stuff.|I then went and told my sister that the buffet was not open she said yes apparently they have other stuff to bring out. |About 15 minutes later I was walking past the table and my nephew my sisters son was standing at the buffet with a plate.He asked if he could have the food,again I didn’t have a plate I was not touching the food nothing to which I was told “please don’t touch the food as the bride has requested she has to take food first as she’s hungry” to which I replied “THE BRIDE “. Now I didn’t even need to talk to my sister to know she would never have said that and especially not about her own son so why this lady felt the need to say this I have no idea. Anyway from then on I just stayed away from the buffet as I was sick of this rude lady telling me I couldn’t have anything. At 21.00 they closed the doors to the terrace which we was not happy about as the room was hot. My sister had to go and ask to put the ac on as we were all baking in the function room. |All in all we left as soon as we had our breakfast I just wanted to get out of there to be frank all I can say is I will never return to the hotel at all. The staff just made me feel horrible. The hotel it’s self is very tired and really needs a make over and as my husband noticed they are definitely on a money...

We stayed at this hotel for a wedding, as it was the recommended accommodation for guests. At first glance, the hotel seemed pleasant, and check-in was fairly straightforward. However, we were not informed beforehand—either when booking or during check-in—that there was no lift. This made things quite difficult as we were traveling with our 8-month-old daughter and all the essential items needed for her stay. Despite our obvious struggle carrying everything up the stairs, no staff offered any assistance.

When we finally made it to our room (133), which was quite a distance from reception, we noticed immediately that the room had not been properly cleaned. There were nail clippings and bits of rubbish scattered on the floor, and the spare bed appeared as though someone had been eating in it. We informed the front desk and asked if there were any other rooms available. Unfortunately, the only alternatives were rooms situated above the function area, which were expected to be noisy until around 11 p.m. Since this wasn’t an ideal option for us, we requested the room to be cleaned.

A staff member did come to vacuum, but it made little difference, and my partner ended up picking up the nail clippings himself.

To make matters worse, the fire alarm went off at 9:30 a.m the next morning, waking our daughter from her nap after she had only slept for half an hour. Given that it was the day of the wedding, this disruption was particularly upsetting as we wanted to ensure she was well-rested.

Upon checking out, we asked to speak with a manager because no notes had been made regarding the issues we encountered during check-in, and no apologies or gestures of goodwill were offered. The manager came to speak with us, but again, no apology was given. We were told they would follow up with us on Monday after discussing the situation with the staff member who worked on Friday. It is now Tuesday, and we have yet to receive any communication from the hotel.

Overall, the experience was extremely disappointing. As someone who has worked in customer service for over 20 years, I understand the importance of addressing customer concerns promptly and with sincerity. Unfortunately, poor service tends to stand out more than good service, and in this case, it was very much the former. On a positive note, the restaurant staff and the lady who checked us out were polite and accommodating.

• Update: Since posting this review, we have been contacted by the hotel manager, who sincerely apologized and provided a solution that we are satisfied with. As a result, I have updated my rating from 1 star to 3 stars. Given the many positive reviews, we are willing to give Hotel Cromwell another chance during future visits, as we believe our experience was an...

Had a one night stay here for a family get together including room hire and meal. Had my dogs with me so had a dog friendly room with access into the car park - this was handy. Access through the hotel to the restaurant was literally up some stairs then down some stairs via lots of windy corridors. Fine for me as an able bodied person but my 90+ year old relative with mobility issues had to be driven from his room round to the front of the hotel. First thing I noticed in my room was how much it smelt of dogs, on closer inspection the carpets were filthy with fresh stains on them and the velvet chairs. Was wondering what the extra £10 charge for dogs actually went on. I was however very grateful for my room being far away from the main hotel as the majority of my family were staying directly above a suite where a wedding was taking place, so had no sleep.

We had chosen and paid for our meals in advance from a limited menu. I was disappointed in the food, especially for the amount paid. The main of braised beef shin was a portion of meat on top of some mash with one carrot and one parsnip - no other vegetables. The dessert was very dry and unappetising also.

The breakfast was sadly also disappointing with the hot buffet food being luke warm. Was expected to order eggs at the bar, but by the time they came out, you’d already eaten the rest of the your breakfast. No hot drinks on the buffet - you had to ask a member of staff who’d bring a flask round. On a large table, would have been easier to have left a flask, as staff got annoyed at kept being asked for drinks.

Unfortunately, when we came to leave and asked to speak to a manager regarding issues, we were told no one was available and to call on Monday (it was a Sunday). Upon calling up, the manager refused to speak to anyone and we were told to email them. As we’d all had to pay for everything advance, it seems the hotel doesn’t see it worth their time to deal with our complaints as they already have their money.

We would have been happy to have dealt with our concerns in private, but as you refuse to speak in person, we were left with no alternative than to share our...