bestwestern.co.uk

BIG let down.

Wanted a place to stay near the Brecon Beacons and having had favourable experiences at Best Western hotels in the past, booked a two night stay at their hotel in Ebbw Vale.Driving along a back road to the hotel, a sinking feeling began to build. Only about a dozen parking spaces, and when contractors vans are parked up as well, you have to take your chances leaving your car out in the not so desirable road.Went into reception, and things started to look up. Receptionist was very pleasant and welcoming, as it turned out, so we're the rest of the staff we met.Sadly that was pretty much the only plus point about the hotel.The restaurant area is basically like a cafe.Depending on the day of the week, determines if evening meals are available. We arrived on a Monday, which turned out to be one of those where the kitchen is closed. When it is open, apparently it is from around 17:30 to 20:00.Breakfast on the first morning.....The omelette served up to my wife was black on one side, and just about cooked on the inside. My breakfast roll came out with one piece of barely cooked bacon, and a sausage. As I finished the roll, the cook placed another sausage on my plate, saying he did me another one as he dropped the other one that was meant to have gone in the roll. Second morning, bravely went for breakfast again, believing it couldn't be as bad as the previous day. The cook was trying to juggle cooking and dealing with a supplier, and the lady that was meant to be helping him, had gone walkabout. So he was stressing and the food was paying the price.I thought I would go for something simple....how hard can it be to cook up a scrambled eggs on toast. Well, as it turned out, very hard as I was served toast with what looked like eggs that had be left too long in the pan, gone brown/dried skin appearance and minced up in a blender to try and hide the fact. It was tasteless and did not get eaten.But something even worse....my wife thought she would go for another omelette but this time just keep it simple, and asked for a cheese omelette.What came back was a omelette that this time was thankfully not burnt but....the cheese used was not grated cheese, but a couple of slices of the squares used for burgers. Thank goodness we dined out in the evenings because the amount of money BW charge for breakfast, and what they would charge for evening meals depending on what you ordered, is simply not worth it. Absolutely the worst experience have ever encountered at any hotel. The cook should have been embarrassed serving that up.To the hotel itself....Plus point, the room was clean and tidy. As there were sheets of plasterboard in the corridors, I presume some form of refurbishment was taking place, although there was no mention of this at point of booking or checking in. The bathroom was compact. No toilet roll holder. Shower fittings had not been assembled correctly. Rain shower fittings had more water coming out over the top than through the shower head itself, as did the hand help shower. Both were probably missing the rubber seals/washers that are meant to be between hose and fittings.Something potentially a bit more to be alarmed about...the basin tap. As far as I am aware, UK regs say that hot tap to the left, cold tap to the right. The bathroom basin has a mixer tap, so swivelled the lever to the right, lifted the lever expecting cold water, and soon got very hot water.Feed pipes fitted the incorrect way round. Could potentially cause an injury to a guest.Heating....you do not have any control over heating in your room. There is no air conditioning, you open a window (we had one that would open, and one thankfully that did. Heating (radiator) is controlled be reception.So in summary....Positives,StaffClean roomNegatives,Location of hotel,Inadequate parking,Food,Price for what you get.No control over heating/ventilation in the room.Overall experience.Best Wester group. This hotel is so far below the standards expected and paid for compared to experiences at other hotels of yours visited. So bad it made Travelodge look good.You should refund the breakfast charge at least.Will think twice before booking with Best Western again, if this is now the standard you offer.

Date of experience: May 26, 2025