Novotel York Centre

“Not bad but could be better”

We stayed here for a 2 night trip to York with our two children (3 and 1). We were celebrating our 5th anniversary, having stayed in York following our wedding. We contacted the hotel beforehand and arranged some wine and biscuits for the room as it was a special occasion. We didn't notice at the t… more

We stayed here for a 2 night trip to York with our two children (3 and 1). We were celebrating our 5th anniversary, having stayed in York following our wedding. We contacted the hotel beforehand and arranged some wine and biscuits for the room as it was a special occasion. We didn't notice at the time, but the staff did give us the wrong biscuits. A small mistake, but they were very expensive and I would have expected them to get it right when they had specifically asked me what I wanted. The room was adequate for our needs, a little small but had all the basics. The safe didn't work and we had to complain about this to get it sorted. Eventually after some back and forth someone had to come with a new safe and put it in the room. We did notice the hallways were a bit dirty, and the glassware in the room wasn't particularly clean either. Another positive was that the had a little play area in the reception. However, a lot of the toys in there were dirty and could really do with a good clean. Parking is available on site, which is hard to come by in York and one of the main reasons we booked this hotel. It is rather pricey at £18.50 at night, but the car park has ample space and it was convenient to have our car right outside the hotel. The breakfast was very good. They had a great range of food available and it was all lovely. We used the swimming pool a few times during our stay. The changing facilities were good and the pool itself was nice. When we went to use the pool just before check out, we were abruptly told that our daughter's float was not allowed. We did explain that we had been in the pool twice already and no issues raised by staff about the float. Even when we went in, another family had an inflatable in there. There are clearly some mixed messages from staff on this issue and no signage up to explain this. Overall, not bad but could definitely do with some improvement. We felt our experience could have been better. Even after speaking with the duty manager, we felt staff were a little dismissive and do not go the extra mile which we have experienced in other hotels.

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“Ok”

Good points Friendly staff. Room and bed good and breakfast was lovely. Nothing to want for Bad Points Expensive parking. Hotel knows how to make money. Water pressure in bathroom DREADFUL and toilet only flushes after 5 minutes of trying. Overall Love York as so much to see and do but if coming… more

Good points Friendly staff. Room and bed good and breakfast was lovely. Nothing to want for Bad Points Expensive parking. Hotel knows how to make money. Water pressure in bathroom DREADFUL and toilet only flushes after 5 minutes of trying. Overall Love York as so much to see and do but if coming back would not stay here due to parking cost and water pressure. Its a shame as could be an excellent hotel with a few adjustments

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“Avoid , Abort, go elsewhere”

Not quite a shocker but not far from it. Unfortunately this experience was a classic example of a large hotel neglecting customers knowing it’s got a captive audience and always more new customers to follow. On arrival they gave me a WhatsApp number to contact reception but when I messaged them … more

Not quite a shocker but not far from it. Unfortunately this experience was a classic example of a large hotel neglecting customers knowing it’s got a captive audience and always more new customers to follow. On arrival they gave me a WhatsApp number to contact reception but when I messaged them it took me 3 times over 6 hours to get a response. That set the scene for the rest of our stay. They didn’t tell us they were hosting a wedding, normally not an issue but when you return to the hotel for a relaxing drink you don’t expect loud music, kids and adults running around in bare feet etc! I have no objections if it’d been reflected in the price but no , completely uncompromising! £20 a night parking could have been cheaper. My real issue was the room . Shower temperature couldn’t be turned down so too hot for wife to shower yet sink tap couldn’t get any heat out of it at all. Cold shaves no fun ! Engineer came out, said he thought it was fine, of course it wasn’t, said he’d look into it further and basically did the equivalent of me and you kicking a tyre before buying a car 😡. The toilet was fine but no sink so you had to walk out and into the bathroom to wash your hands. Puzzling…. Even on leaving the hotel the barrier didn’t open. They forgot to give me the code. Apart from a very good cooked breakfast, this was a poorly run hotel. Management need a kick where suitable. Avoid this place, there’s better out there in the beautiful city of York. Ps, I didn’t mention the minging carpet

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