The Winchester Royal Hotel

A nice hotel with friendly staff in a very good central location in Winchester. Room was of an average size and was quiet. No aircon though!

Breakfast was very tasty although towards the minimal end of the spectrum. Staff were very accommodating when there was some confusion as to when breakfast was served and we arrived after the kitchen officially closed.

Chambermaids were very keen to service the rooms - arriving quite early before we'd left for breakfast!

If returning to Winchester, I wouldn't rule out this hotel, but would probably look for an alternative first.

My wife and I have stayed at the Winchester Royal twice in the last three months and while it's not the Ritz Carlton the hotel does offer good quality bed and breakfast in Winchester.

A tip is to ask for the upgraded rooms in the newer part of the hotel and don't accept the first price offered (they will often do a deal for last minute bookings).

Comfortable and a good buffet breakfast.

Complete overpriced and badly managed. The property is a small old house hotel which has had an additional new wing attached to it. They had lost our reservation upon arrival. We were allocated a garden view room for £139 (supposedly their 'premier rooms'). It was more like a Travelodge which I wouldn't object to if I was being charged Travelodge prices. If you want a nice hotel in Winchester the only choice is the Hotel du Vin where we stayed for our second night instead.

I recently stayed at the Winchester Royal hotel and I must say I have never felt so welcomed, on arrival I was greeted by a very friendly receptionist. The hotel was busy but the staff were always very attentive to our own individual needs, nothing was too much trouble. The food is certainly above average in the Conservatory restaurant. The garden is very nice however it was too cold to enjoy it fully. I would recommend this hotel to anyone - we had no problems throughout our stay.

I stayed at this hotel for a weekend break.Although it was a hot weekend the room,which overlooked the garden seemed quite airy and it was not too hot to sleep.The decor was fairly oldey worldey.My real problem was at dinner on Saturday night.they had a wedding on and it became abudently clear that the kitchen could not cope.I had to wait about 40minutes between my starter and main course.The staff were very apologetic and offered a free drink by way of compensation for the delay.The food was quite reasonable.The car park was quite small but i always managed to get parked without too much trouble.

My first impression of the Winchester Royal, upon arrival on Friday, was that it looked like a smart, pleasant hotel for a weekend away to celebrate my Mother's birthday. By Sunday, I couldn't wait to leave.

The hotel itself is a pleasant building, although the room was a bit outdated, particularly the bathroom which could have done with modernising. We were in the standard room and had booked at a discounted rate online, so didn't expect to have the best room in the hotel... although a certain standard is expected for £100 a night. The car park is too small for the number of guests staying and they ask you to leave your car keys in reception so they can move your double-parked car if they need too. (Obviously at your own risk.)

The staff appeared to be making an effort to be polite, but made me feel inferior for booking online and the waiters were just plain scary. They made me feel very uncomfortable and I was glad we had an internal lock on our room door. We only had one hand and bath towel on arrival, for two people. Upon requesting more, we were told to check elsewhere in our room for towels. We couldn't find these towels and so again requested more, when they were given to us, we were made to feel like we were lying and hoarding the towels to steal them! We also read in the hotel handbook that you could have bathrobes upon request, or buy them for £20 - we were told that we couldn't have any but we could purchase them for £25!

I was not impressed and wouldn't go back. I only hope that we haven't been charged twice for the hotel as we had to go through the payment process at the beginning and end of our stay.

You should only stay in this hotel if you are an upper middle class, Conservative voting, Telegraph reader who is prepared to pay over the odds for less than satisfactory accommodation.

My husband and I stayed at the Winchester Royal Hotel for two nights, on 6-2 and 6-3-04. We were part of a 60th Anniversary of D-Day tour group. My first impression of the hotel was excitement, as it is in the heart of a medieval city. The lobby, bar, and dining area were nice. The garden was beautiful. It went downhill from there. Our room, located in the "new" wing, was reached by going through a maze of halls and doors. Although the door plaque said "non-smoking room", upon entering our large room, we were almost knocked out by the smell of stale cigarette smoke!! We quickly opened the windows, which looked out on the garden, but later that night we had to close them because of the bugs flying in through the unscreened opening. It got real stuffy, with no source of fresh air, and no air conditioning.

The bathrooms were outdated (think Bates motel, ala Psycho, with shower curtains!), and there was dry-rot in the wood surrounding the bathtub. You needed an engineering degree to flush the toilet, which had instructions noted atop the tank. (And it didn't always work). The sink was old-fashioned, with cold and hot water coming out of two seperate faucets...and this was the "new wing"!!!

The upside to our stay was a friendly bartender who made me the best gin-and-tonic ever, and the quaint location. We toured the anceint cathedral, walked along the river, and viewed ruins dating to Roman occupation.

If given a choice of staying at a more modern, upscale facility, I would probably choose to stay elsewhere, if ever I return to Winchester.

Stayed in the 'modern' wing which is a bit like a travelodge. Older wing and garden very nice. Staff very good, let us change for a wedding in the honeymoon suite as when were early arriving. Be wary at checkout if booking via a 'lastminute' site, as we were charged twice for the room (hotels fault).