The Met Hotel

“Fabulous stay”

We have just returned from the most amazing nights stay at The Met. I can’t fault anything at all. I requested an early check in upon booking and sure enough our room was ready when we arrived at midday. The carpark is small but we found a space no problem. Our room was really lovely, very cosy, … more

We have just returned from the most amazing nights stay at The Met. I can’t fault anything at all. I requested an early check in upon booking and sure enough our room was ready when we arrived at midday. The carpark is small but we found a space no problem. Our room was really lovely, very cosy, clean, quiet and the bed was super comfortable. The whole building is very impressive actually. From the stairways to the old archways - it feels quite grand. We chose to have dinner in the restaurant at the hotel as it was a wet and windy night - the food and service was fabulous. We did do some shopping during the day though and the centre with all the shops, bars and restaurants was no more than a 3 minute walk away. Charlotte, the reception on shift on check in and check out was so lovely, a real credit to the hotel. Her friendly manner and gorgeous nature made our first and last impressions something to remember. I highly recommend the hotel and would return in a heartbeat :-)

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“Beautiful hotel”

Gorgeous hotel and rooms, staff friendly and welcoming. Beds comfortable and powerful shower. Would stay again

“Bad start, but Excellent overall.”

The Bad. 1. After booking, received email from hotel trying to up-sell (room upgrade, breakfast, Champage in room, etc). It also invited any questions to be sent to its guestservices@ email. I did so and received no reply or even acknowledgement. Same after sending follow-up 3 days later. Terrible… more

The Bad. 1. After booking, received email from hotel trying to up-sell (room upgrade, breakfast, Champage in room, etc). It also invited any questions to be sent to its guestservices@ email. I did so and received no reply or even acknowledgement. Same after sending follow-up 3 days later. Terrible first impression - a hotel actively invites new guests to email questions, but nobody can be bothered to read the emails or reply. That set my expectations very low for what to expect overall from this hotel. 2. The email invited me to book online in advance for breakfast, at £14.50, which I did - and was charged the £14.50 when I checked in. Then next morning I saw on the menu (see pic.) that the price, if booked night-before, is £13.50 - so a £1.00 surcharge, not discount, for booking before arrival and through the hotel’s website. 3. Check-out time is an early 11am, compared with budget chains Premier Inn and Travelodge 12pm. Check-in the usual 3pm. The Good. 4. I raised points 1. and 2. with the reception manager (Stephen) and he was extremely professional in how he handled the issues. (But it remains to be seen if the hotel’s management actually bother to do anything about them for future guests). 5. Very impressive refurbishment, with design, fittings and decor that will appeal to everyone ("classical modern”). Beautiful Wilton/Axminster carpets throughout. Just one small and slow lift, for about 7 floors, but probably impossible to install more and faster lifts in an old building like this. 6. Booked a mid-price “Premium Double” room. Everything worked (lights, controls, etc) and was clean and well maintained - not surprising as everything’s new, and it will be interesting to see how things are after a year or two. 7. Aircon cooling seemed to be switched off centrally, so although I’d set it to minimum 18.0C the actual temp never got below 21.6C, so the room was a bit stuffy. Bathroom sash-window opens a bit, but bedroom’s is cased in - probably necessary, to keep out noise of ventilation units outside. 8. No view from room, as expected in a city-centre hotel - see pic. 9. Unusually large shower area (hand-held and rain-shower), good water pressure, GROHE fittings, and first time I’ve ever used a shower with electric push-button controls. No bath-tub. 10. “Free” minibar was impressive, and rare to get in UK hotels - small bottles of Pepsi, cans of water, small glass bottle of milk, top-brand coffee/tea bags, biscuits, chocolate, crisps. And Nespresso machine (that actually didn’t flood!) and capsules. 11. Fridge, and iron, board, bath-robes, slippers in wardrobe. 12. Fast WiFi in bedroom - around 300 Mbps for both upload and download. 13. Apart from the excellent and engaging reception manager, most staff I interacted with (bar, restaurant) were polite and efficient, but no more than that. No attempt to “go the extra mile”, engage in small-talk, ask how the meal or drink was, etc - not a complaint, as this is sort-of how service is done in UK hospitality these days. 14. Impressive breakfast buffet, at international standard, and the £13.50 (or £14.50!) charge is very reasonable compared with the £10.99 or more you’d pay for worse at Travelodge / Premier Inn. 15. I didn’t drive but I think it was £20-a-night for the on-site car park. Overall, much exceeded my expectations for a big-city hotel in England but, as always, it depends on the price you actually pay. For me it was very good value.

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“Pleasant stay at the recently refurbished hotel.”

A lovely hotel whose staff provide a warm welcome. Our standard room was adequate in size however the furnishings provided little by way of clearance between the bed and dressing table etc There is mismatched sized furniture as exemplified by substantial sized bedside tables a very low dressing tab… more

A lovely hotel whose staff provide a warm welcome. Our standard room was adequate in size however the furnishings provided little by way of clearance between the bed and dressing table etc There is mismatched sized furniture as exemplified by substantial sized bedside tables a very low dressing table seat, oddly placed furniture including a kettle beneath the mirror which steams the glass and wets the wall. Unfortunately the sash windows are buffeted and knock throughout the night and fail to stop noise ingress. Although the decor and furniture are nice the functionality in the room is poor, best described as we say in Yorkshire, 'all fur coat and no knickers' though it must be said the communal areas very nice.

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