The Croham

We stayed here on a Saturday night, the hotel is pretty dated and basic but our room was fine and very clean. The hotel has parking, be warned the car park is very small, although saying that we were lucky enough to get a space. I can't comment on breakfast as we didn't get up in time as check out is 10.30am. The Croham is great for a base and somewhere just to put your head down if you are there for one night. If you are in Bournemouth for a whole weekend, it is worth spending the extra money and staying somewhere nicer.

I would recommend avoiding this hotel... booked a double for myself and a triple for my kids. requested adjacent rooms having checked they existed by telephone prior to stay. Given rooms across the corridor when checking in. Double room had hardly enough room to move in. No-one available to help with bags when checking-in. Only staff in hotel at the time was receptionist. Windows in room let in cold air when closed. Wind howled round roof and rattled like hell.... couldn't sleep as floorboards creaked whenever anyone went past and walls paper-thin. Breakfast was a joke. Went down to eat at 9.00 (had been advised it finished at 9.30) to find 1 rasher of bacon on buffet. Asked if more food was available and was told it would be coming...... some odd looking fried eggs turned up after ten minutes.... some cold beans another 10 minutes later and at about 9.25 some sausages. We had to ask twice for toast and tea. Advised that there would be no more bacon! Kids had long given up and didn't eat at all. Fruit provided on cold "selection" was off. Decided not to stay the two nights I had booked. The GM would not refund me the cost of the second night as I had booked with Venere.com and not direct with the hotel. I was not prepared to pay for another night of no sleep and no breakfast and left with "chip & pining" my card. I have yet to sort out with Venere as I expect to be billed both nights as the GM was adamant I had to pay for both nights regardless of their lack of service. Compalined to GM about the overall quality of my stay and got no sympathy or help with my predicament, I agree with previous review that all he cared about was getting your money.

We stayed for two nights beginning of October 2008, BB. The room was small but clean, the bathroom was just big enough to get into. If you are over 12 stone you will have a problem using the bathrooms. Ladies, there's nowhere to put your makeup in bathrooms, no shelf or worktop, what a nightmare! The breakfast was very basic no choice and stopped serving at 9.30 am. There is a bar in the hotel but no one ever used it, there was no atmosphere in the hotel, I like to chat to other guests didn't see one all the time I was there, in fact I thought it was just us staying. But there was a bit of noise on the second night, so someone else must have been staying. Luckily the weather was brill, so we were out all the time. Not a hotel to be entertained, but o.k. for a quick getaway after all it was only £130 for two nights for a double room.

I travelled to Bournemouth with my boyfrriend and 6 other friends for a weekend to celebrate a few birthdays. Originally we were staying at the lynden court but (very luckily) this soon changed. Me and my boyf were moved to the croham after they had messed up our booking the the other hotel which (once we'd seen the hotel) we were happy about. To cut a long story short, the hotel were very helpful in moving and accomodating all of us for the two nights we were there. We all agreed that the staff were fantastic and all rooms were clean, tidy and had everything we needed and all at a reasonable price. Breakfast was basic but good and enjoyed and when looking to come to bournemouth for the weekend again I would book here again!

What A fantasic weekend in bournemouth!! Many thanks to those at the Croham for a fantastic weekend! The rooms where very clean and well apointed. Would recommend to all of my friends. Breakfast was just as the doctor ordered, and am coming back for a girly weekend! Staff were very friendly and We really apreciate thier 'can do' attitude! Price was VERY reasonable even though we booked last minute.

BEWARE of this hotel. The manager is the rudest man i have ever met and as long as he has your money he couldn't care less. I booked 5 twin rooms at this hotel/ B&B in June for 10 girls on my hen night. It looked a bit basic but clean and tidy so was happy to crash there for a night. The tuesday before we were going i rang up to confirm my booking and to see if they could possibly accommodate another person. This is when i learned that the hotel had been taken over and was under new management! So after a quick panic it was confirmed that they did have my booking for 5 TWIN ROOMS and the only way they could accommodate my friend was to offer us a family room. Because this would mean two people sharing a double bed they would give us a £5 discount. I was told my booking would be kept the same, 5 TWIN ROOMS unless they heard from me. In the end the extra person did not come and the day before we went i rang the hotel to let them know we would be checking in late and would that be ok? I was told that's fine and again i confirmed my booking of 5 TWIN ROOMS. Saturday arrived and after a day of activity and getting very wet we headed to our hotel to book into our rooms. This is when we met the manager, who informed us that we had double rooms not twin rooms. Thankfully i had my booking confirmation with me that clearly had 5 twin rooms printed on it. His response to this was it is under new management and that booking was taken by the previous owner and had nothing to do with him. After explaining the telephone conversations i had, had with people under the new management (him) he just denied it all and said that's all we have. Because we weren't happy with this we asked to see their booking confirmation which amazingly just where the part saying 5 twin rooms was it had been tipxed out, how convenient! But instead of an apology he carried on with his rudeness calling one of my friends babe and darling and refused to give us any form of discount or compensation. He also lied to us telling us there are no longer any twin rooms in the hotel, which was quickly corrected by a group of men who were sleeping in twin rooms. He only apologised after it being pointed out that he hadn't and the only offer he made us was to give us a refund, knowing full well that at 4.30pm on a saturday in Bournemouth we wouldn't be able to find a hotel for 10 people for the night. He refused to give us the name and number of the owner because he was in London, not sure why that meant he couldn't answer the phone but he wasn't giving us anything. So reluctantly we had to stay because there just wasn't any other choice, this was meant to be my hen do, a day of fun and laughter not arguments. The next day over breakfast (which was also poor because at 9am there was no sausages left and you were only allowed fried egg, i don't think the chef could make scrambled or poached and the toast was cold and barely toasted), we were discussing the rudeness of the manager. During our conversation, we were shouted at across a room full of people trying to eat their breakfast, by the managers family for talking about him and even we pointed out that shouting at your costumers in front of people wasn't very professional they still continued and also pulled faces at us! When we checked out, we weren't allowed to leave the hotel until he had checked our rooms for damage and when he was asked again for the details of the owner he said he was very busy and had things to do, he didn't have time for this. Even after us reminding him that we have paid for a service that he should be supplying he said no of course not and walked off. Leaving his receptionist to give out the details of the owner etc, which were now available even though he is still in London! At reception we also met a man who had been staying with a group of men, they too had, had one of their twin rooms changed to a double without them knowing but because they refused to share a bed they paid extra for another single room...! What bad management, he obviously does this alot to try and make extra money because he knows that when a large group of people arrive they are unlikely to find anywhere else to stay, especially in the summer. So in conculsion please, please, please do not stay at this hotel unless you want to be treated badly and have your money tricked out of you.

This was the second time I have stayed here! Lovely hotel, lovely staff, clean and cosy rooms, friendly atmosphere and great breakfast! Highly recommended hotel!!!

We stayed in a lovely en-suite bedroom, very clean and cosy. Perfect customer service. Friendly and bubbly staff that were very helpful. Beutifuly refurbished. Near to town centre and beach so made things easy. Will defiantly stay there again.

This hotel has been refurbished since I last stayed and it seems they have done a great job, still some areas for improvement. The name has changed which is a little confusing, to The Croham. If you know it of old you can rest assured it has lots to offer. Seems the gas supply is still awaiting completion and it makes the hotel look unfinished, breakfast not bad, and rooms well furnished and equiped, Will happily return, managers friendly and staff helpful

Beware, the hotel listed in the 2006 official Bournemouth accommodation brochure as the Aaron Croham Hurst Hotel has been sold, so too has its sister hotel Aaron Westleigh. My alarm was raised when after a 5 hour car journey I walked into the foyer and the reception desk was closed up, so also was the bar that had no stock or optics, the floor in the lounge/bar/ reception had no chairs or tables and I was told that they did'nt take credit cards only cash or cheque. I was looking forward to using the leisure facilities at the sister hotel which I could'nt anymore. Throughout my stay the caretaker/doorman/ type staff sat on the few fixed seats left and chain smoked whilst watching visitors enter and leave. There is no night doorman, you have to remember a keycode to enter on a keypad to re-enter the hotel, not a good idea if you hav'nt written it down or come back having had a few drinks. The breakfast was ok, although the noise made by staff preparing the dining room and kitchen woke me early.