Palace Hotel & Spa Buxton

Room not available till 3.30. Bathroom - no extractor fan, no light near mirror, no bath mat, shower screen leaked water all over the floor, no toilet brush, very basic. Room cleaned only if ordered 24 hours in advance. Nobody available to help with bags even though majority of guests were quite old.

Lovely surroundings and views staff are lovely x

Breakfast was nice with everything you would expect from a buffet breakfast. However, the tables never seem to be cleared. I had to tell them that every single bread container was empty and also the marmalade needed refilling. The main restaurant was noisy and overcrowded, but if you are clever, you may find a table in the little conservatory to the side, even if you have to clear the table yourself!

On arrival, we were given a room at the very furthest end of a corridor with about five doors to go through and two flights of stairs to go up, one with very pretty but way too low handrails. There was no lift to this area. The vast majority of guests were all well over retirement age. As well as taking my own luggage up and helping my husband with his luggage, I ended up assisting a very elderly gentleman who was seriously struggling with his own luggage. If you need a lift, please tell reception when booking to ensure you get a suitable room.

Finally through the last set of doors to our corridor, this last section of corridor smelt of damp. However the room was OK. It had everything we needed and was clean. Think old fashioned Premier Inn style.

During the day the small bar in the lounge was manned by only one lady. You had to wait for a while to be served while she returned from delivering food outside or disappearing into the kitchen.

The pool was fine but way too hot. The sauna only fits 3 slim people and i only found one locker key in a huge ladies changing room.

My room didn’t have a window. There was no window in my room. I asked to change rooms, and the staff told me that ‘those types of rooms don’t have windows’ which was not mentioned at the point of booking. Prison cells have windows. But to be fair, it was probably cleaner than a prison cell, even if it was darker.

My room on lower ground floor was dull and cool (in the hot weather it was good to feel cool) but would not normally be. the bathroom smelt musty and the extractor fan was not working on arrival (but was repaired when I asked). The whole corridor leading down from reception smelt musty and damp. The bed was very hard and I put the cushions under my hips and the duvet on top which I then used other end to cover myself with. It was useful I was a single person with a double bed.

The hotel is old and it shows in the rooms. No air-conditioning. Windows that don't open properly. Only one passenger lift for a hotel with many, many rooms. Not good enough.

Receptionist, not very helpful and no Aircon

The bar starf were off hand and the range of non alcoholic drinks was very limited.
Lift facilities were inadequate with the number of elderly guests on site.
The room was clean but tired looking.

very limited choices at breakfast - very little fresh fruit, no porridge, limited cheeses and ham/salami
samll room for 2 people
obscure location of room, 167, receptionist gave misleading directions and when went back to reception for more help he was very off hand

Lunch time service of bar food, sandwiches etc was very slow as only one person seemed to be in the kitchen, serving food for the restaurant as well.

Needs a little refreshing but overall very nice stay.

My bathroom xpelair did not function. I would have liked something to put my toothbrush in by the basin. It takes a while to get hot water.

The warren of narrow corridors and fire doors to negotiate with heavy suitcases.