Burley Manor

We feel hard flooring would be a good idea for the dog friendly rooms. Carpet is possibly not the best option.

Room 4 despite being identified as a ‘Classic Superior’ was disappointing. A hotel room really needs only 3 things: a comfy bed, a good shower and a tv that works. Everything else could be considered garnish. Unfortunately, room 4 at the the Burley Manor failed on these 3 essentials.

The bed. To describe it as ‘firm’ is an understatement and it definitely listed to the left. However the highlight was the wave like action created when someone walked down the corridor outside! You are lifted up and then placed down as the guest walked across the floorboards to their room.

The shower: The hotel prides itself on having Green credentials and there were suggestions in the room about how to use less water but the fact that the isolator that switched between the overhead shower head and the handheld one wasn’t working at all meant that water poured out of both at the same time making any other water saving ideas completely redundant.

The TV in the room was a relic from the 1990’s and pre dated smart TVs. Unfortunately the aerial cable didn’t work and it was impossible to get a signal on any channel. As a result we resorted to watching iPlayer on a phone because happily the WiFi was, as advertised, of high quality.

Extras: The room had an iron and ironing board but oddly no hairdryer which again seems to be a standard in most hotels. There was also no ‘do not disturb’ door hanger which despite requesting twice during our 3 night stay, never materialised. The reception staff did however take account of our verbal request not to disturb the room.

We were also travelling with bikes and one of the reasons for booking the Burley Manor was a question response stating that a bike rack was located behind the hotel. We never found one and ended up chaining the bikes to the rear fire escape.

As other reviews have identified, despite being a beautiful building in a lovely location, this hotel feels really tired and needs some money spent on it.

Not enough staff. Waited 20 mins to check-in and service was always slow or almost unavailable for both bar and outside restaurant.
The exception is that breakfast was OK, apart from being told that for hot food we could only book for 7.30am or 9.30am, neither if which were suitable - so we opted for the cold buffet instead.

We stayed in room 30 and had an AWFUL sleep. Both of us kept waking up as the bed was rock hard and so uncomfortable. I’ve never slept on anything like it.
Also I dropped a T-shirt on the bathroom floor very close the radiator and picked it up to find a thick layer of dust. Then saw the same behind the toilet. A lot of dust and cob webs.
There’s no lift but that didn’t bother us.
Some water damage on the bathroom but again that didn’t bother me as it’s expected for a high traffic area.

I was only there one night. Possibly they could have some board games available or chess etc but they might have done and I missed it as was only one night’s stay.

Room had no extraction unit in the bathroom and water leak from shower over the bath onto the floor, furniture in the room all a little odd , nothing matching and sizes a little bit overpowering for the room .

Firstly, our room didn’t lock. We alerted reception who said we could stay in a different room that evening but the hotel was full the following evening, leaving us worrying we’d need to find somewhere else to stay the following night. They said they’d check it and come to find us in the restaurant. Two and a half hours later, punctuated by a very average and expensive meal in the hotel restaurant where the staff behaved as if they’d never served a meal before, we went to reception to investigate. No apology was given and they jumped straight to money off the room, assuring us they’d move someone else the next day if the lock couldn’t be fixed and that we’d be happy with the price reduction. No help was offered with our luggage to change rooms the first evening and no understanding was forthcoming about the effect this all had on what we hoped would be a relaxing stay. When you add this to the following, the stay was throughly disappointing and might actually constitute the worst hotel I’ve ever stayed in:
- overpriced drinks served in dirty glasses (lipstick stains, etc)
- peeling paint in the swimming pool and sun loungers that had seen much better days
- missing items from the menu when food was served
- an additional ten pounds per head for a cooked breakfast
- a very poor continental breakfast included
- threadbare and stained carpet that clearly had seen a moth infestation
- slippery bathroom floor when dry causing a near fall
- booking.com listing says ‘adults only’ twice (it definitely isn’t) and then refers to children being welcome in another place on the listing

Overall it was expensive, tired and needed additional staff.

Some parts of the interior had flaking chipped paint and needed fixing up. More sound deadening needed between rooms/ floors as we could hear the noises coming from the pipes or when someone in another room uses hot water you could hear boiler noises etc.

Perhaps the corridor walls were a little tired

The hotel has seen better days, the chairs in the room and dining room need attention - the upholstery is torn, and the chair cushions sag. The window frames were rotten, the windows need cleaning, they were covered in spiders webs. The room had been decorated, but the paint was peeling in the bathroom and the bedroom walls. The air fan - needed due to the heat wave, needs attention - it was too noisy - it needs replacement. The terrace string lights were not switched on when it got dark, so it you could not see very well. This is a potential safety hazard - with elderly guests. It would seem that money is not being re-invested in the upkeep of the hotel. Breakfast eggs were hard, the hash browns were undercooked and looked anaemic. Pricey for what you get. Finally, not surprisingly, the receptionist on check out did not ask whether we had enjoyed the stay or had any problems.

It was so hot in our room that we were unable to sleep. The tiny fan provided was useless. The hotel should have planned for hot summers much better.

Poor breakfast. Rooms tired looking.

The breakfast. !!!!! Awful.

Leaking water pouring through the ceiling in the dinning room for 2 days !!

The bed was very hard and room a little tired

The only small thing would of loved higher seating around the pool. Deckchairs were a big no and the beautiful sunloungers were very very low making them difficult to get up off.