Darcy's Hotel

Being an older building floors creaked and walls very thin. Woken early by people leaving at 5.30am.

I have stayed at Darcy’s Hotel many times in years gone by when it was managed by Kevin . The service/ atmosphere / amenities back then was impeccable , and I never had any thing to complain about . Sadly not anymore .
Upon arrival there was no one to be seen . I rang the Mgr , Andrew’s number , it was stuck on the window at the Front Door which was slightly ajar . It continuously went to message bank ) I sat in front communal lounge room for some time trying to call him / hoping he’d call back / return my calls and messages . A cleaner appeared and also called him numerous times . She too couldn’t make contact with him . Eventually he called the cleaner back, and she then put me on the phone to Andrew . Andrew initially couldn’t find my reservation . I was starting to panic . He asked when did I make booking . I said on booking.com and gave him the date . He eventually found my booking. Andrew then said the keys are in an envelope on desk in lounge area . Problem being was that there were numerous envelopes , and no guest names on envelopes only room numbers , and hence I could not identify who’s key was who’s when I originally arrived . I then settled into my room . I used the communal bathroom for all guests to use and noticed a hamper of dirty clothes , tooth brush / paste and acab of shaving cream on sink with toothpaste smeared across the basin . I thought this is a bathroom for all guests to use , and it looked like possibly the belongings of someone who was living in hotel on perm basis . I did not want to see dirty clothes and other belongings in a shared bathroom
The next morning is when the nightmare begun . A fellow guest had been in the only communal bathroom for over 40mins ( I chose to sit in an armchair in hallway waiting to use the bathroom next ) . The manager Andrew appeared and asked if everything was ok . I said a guest had been in bathroom for over 40mins and I was waiting to use bathroom next .

Need floor mats for the shower to stand on when drying yourself. Key card was a bit fickle

A fair few of the towels had old stains in them, still smelled clean but could do with some new ones.

The response was too slow.

Maybe I just didn't read enough information prior to arriving, but we did find the check in process a little confusing. There is no actual "reception" area. We ended up calling the number at the door and were advised to enter the property, turn left into the lounge area and find out name on an envelope on the table, which contained our room keys. There are two keys in the envelope, one for the room and one for the front door if you come back late from an event (which we did, so this was very handy).

It looked like someone had been lying on the bed before we arrived (pillow crushed and bedcovers untidy).

no face washers or hand towel, towels a bit thin, no tea bags or coffee bags supplied, weren't told it was a self check-in & where our key to our room was.

Shower needs fixing

Lack of information re breakfast n restaurants nearby

Nothing. This hotel was 5 stars. We loved our stay .

Needs a refresh and energy

The key collection is a little confusing, and the rooms are a little noisy to one another.
The front door remained ajar/blocked open 24/7, which feels dangerous. Even when I would remove the door jam for security concerns, I would find it opened again at all hours of the night.
The shared bathroom was, unfortunately, very inconsiderately occupied by another guest, as was a common room. But that is a reflection on that guest, and not the accommodation. Still, the photos made it looks like there was a different set up w the shared bathroom than there is.

Lack of clear instructions. Internet wasn't strong enough to use. Only one bathroom/toilet for the entire floor. Didn't have a problem but could be problematic in a full house.