博斯庫姆水療酒店 (Boscombe Spa Hotel)

Great service and excellent location

DO NOT BOOK THIS PLACE — One of the worst hotel experiences I have ever had I genuinely wish I had read a review like this before booking. If you are considering staying here, please look carefully at the photos I have uploaded. They show the reality. This was not simply a “basic” or “budget” hotel. The condition was unacceptable. The worst problem was the awful sewage smell coming from the bathroom, which affected the entire room. The bathroom was unbelievably small and badly designed. You could not properly close the door and sit on the toilet normally at the same time. If you closed the door, you literally had to keep one leg outside because there was not enough space. Even washing your face or brushing your teeth was a struggle. As a left-handed person, my left arm constantly hit the wall; a right-handed person would hit the shower glass. There was simply no proper space around the sink. I had to twist my arm awkwardly just to wash my face and brush my teeth, and my arm/hand was painful for several days afterwards. The cleanliness was equally shocking. The sheets were visibly stained, dirty-looking and worn out, and the mattress and bedding smelled. There were also insects on the mattress and around the window. The room had clearly not been properly dusted: the mirror and surfaces had a visible layer of dust, with dust throughout the room. The towels were terrible — the bath towels and hand/face towels were grey, extremely cheap, thin and worn out, nothing like clean, decent hotel towels. Everything provided in the room, from the electric kettle to the other basic equipment, looked like the cheapest possible quality. The whole property felt neglected and poorly maintained. There was no proper reception. We were simply given keys and had to open the front entrance and our room ourselves, almost like entering an old private house. The locks were extremely old and difficult to operate, which did not feel secure or professional. Another frustrating point: the property required a minimum two-night stay. At the time I did not understand why, but after staying there, I honestly did. This is the kind of place where guests may want to leave after the first night rather than stay longer, so being unable to book just one night was extremely frustrating. This is not about expecting luxury from a budget property. Clean bedding, decent towels, basic cleanliness, a usable bathroom, dust-free surfaces, functioning locks and a properly maintained room are basic hotel standards. I have photographed these problems and will upload the photos. Please look at them yourself — I am not exaggerating. If cleanliness, hygiene, privacy and basic comfort matter to you, I strongly recommend looking elsewhere. I would never stay here again and would not recommend this place to anyone. Please think twice before booking.

The place could do with a lick of paint and I found it odd that my room was cleaned/replenished one day and not the other but the staff were nice and happy to attend to requests. The room was comfortable for a few nights and the hotel is just a short walk from the high street and beachfront.