De Vere Royal Bath Hotel

I was staying here on business for two nights, I only wish it had been more. This hotel does set the standard that others should aim for. Couple of small niggles. I thought £10 per night valet parking was dear and when I checked out for some reason I had someone elses dinner added on to my account !!!!! I can honestly say that apart there were no faults at all. If you stay here ask for room 256. I didnt eat dinner at the hotel but tried Harry Ramsdens ( DONT ) and a chinese buffet in Westover Road ( do ) the breakfast in the hotel was fine and the service excellent. I also have nothing but praise for the leisure club. The swimming pool was really warm It really is a lovely hotel and as someone else mentioned looks stunning when you drive up to it. Ill be back...................................

I decided to take the love of my life for a romantic weekend break for his birthday & after much searching & reading of reviews I settled in the Royal Bath. Upon arriving we were immediately upgraded to a junior suite – with beautiful sea views and a separate lounge/bedroom area. Very impressive. Staff couldn’t help enough & were always smiling & polite which always makes a huge difference. The gym is a little outdated but I guess I’m spoilt with my local gym based in London having all the mod cons. Harry – the chap who welcomes you is an absolute diamond as was Stewart the duty manager who couldn’t do enough to make our stay a pleasurable one. Breakfast was plentiful & peaceful in the garden restaurant and although we didn’t eat in Oscars (hotel restaurant) there are plenty of wonderful restaurants in the local vicinity. If you do like a Chinese – take a first left out of the hotel and a 2 minute walk there is a fantastic restaurant called The Red Panda. Food was superb & service brilliant. Highly recommended. If you can though watch out for the not so friendly staff in the Italian restaurant on the corner directly opposite the hotel. We had an awful experience with the ‘blond’ manager there who simply doesn’t appreciate or have a clue about customer service. We took afternoon drinks in the garden area with my Nan & Grandad as for early November we were blessed with lots of sunshine. Both my Nan & granddad absolutely adored the place and were very impressed. I would recommend this hotel as I was made to feel like I was very special – a rarity in hotels these days.

I stayed with my wife for a 1 night break. Room was OK, a longish walk down lots of corridors, that also gave the impression that there are lots of different rooms different views, etc. Ours was OK, about what I expected. It did have a reasonable sea view. Bar area seemed strange to me, I think its the evening lighting, makes it look a bit flat and cold. A change in a few little touches here could make this area a lot better. Decor, rather old, traditional British seaside. Staff, pretty much OK, quite a lot of foreign workers, but not a real problem. Did not eat dinner here, found an Italian, about 100 yards away, quite good. Stay again.......not sure, would try somewhere else I think.

Stayed here for work in September. This was the second time and I was fortunate to have a quiet double room with a view of the sea. Well equipped and clean room furnished in keeping with the building. Others in my group were less lucky. Check in quick and courteous as was check out although had to wait a while for my car. Didnt use fitness centre or eat in hotel. Bar service quick and efficient form a waitress of eurpean origin, not English, whose english was fine. Despite a colleague signing for the drinks we were slightly surprised to be pursued down the street by a different lady as she was unaware of this! One of the reasons that they park them and charge is because they dont have enough space. When walking to the nearby excellent chinese, left , down the hill. I noticed a hotel employee parking a guests car in a nearby public car park.

Just come back from a 2 night stay. Have stayed before so this time payed the extra for the sea view which is worth it. The hotel is in a great location for beach and evening restaurants and access to show venues. Pool is ok but gym is basic and needs updating. Rooms were fine and what you expect from a British 4 star hotel in terms of size. Bar and lounge was pleasant with good waiter service. No problems with cars as if you phone the porter 10 minutes before you leave it will be waiting from you. Parking is however £10 a night on top of bill.

Having a couple of hours to spend in Bournemouth between connecting trains, we decided to have a traditional slap up afternoon tea in style. We chose the Royal Bath as it was recommended by several local people as a traditional 'grand' seafront hotel. The Royal Bath's fresh white stucco dazzles as one approaches through Bournemouth's labyrinthine road system. The Lounge is charmingly traditional - large double height room with small terrace, heaving swagged curtains, marbled pillars & spectactular swirling carpet (an immaculate & tasteful rouge with golden swirl). There is a decently sized lawned garden & terrace for lapping up late summer sun, sipping cocktails & posing for celebration photos. As we whiled away part of the afternoon, a couple of wedding receptions took place - an ideal location. I had to peer over the garden fencing to gain a view of the sea & coast - lovely. From the higher floors, I imagine the view could be lovely. Perhaps the fencing is a security measure, as there is access down to the beach ? From the moment we pulled up to the doorway, service was immaculate. Porters tagged our luggage & stored it efficiently away - just for a couple of hours. The liveried doorman helped my frail elderly mother out of the cab. We were shown into the Lounge. We took a comfy leather sofa & seats underneath a huge window, so we were bathed with late afternoon sunlight & a good view of the garden. The Lounge menu offers a range of sandwiches, afternoon tea components & a high tea. Our waitress Chloe was unfailingly helpful, charming & attentive - ensuring that our complex order was fulfilled, including grilling of our own gluten free breads & warming of GF scones. The tea was a good Assam, the sandwiches generously filled. The scones were freshly baked & warmed (as were our own GF scones), with a little pot of Frank Cooper strawberry jam for each scone & a substantial bowl of clotted cream. We spent an exceeding relaxed hour or so over tea. The porter advised us on how much time to allow for a cab ride to Bournemouth station & ordered the cab for us - which arrived bang on time. We did pick up the Christmas brochure. The tariff is quite high & we were contemplating a Christmas break. Had we time, I would have asked to see a room or two to determine if it was worth the extra expense compared to other hotels in the area. A very pleasant interlude.

Arrived at the hotel late at night and asked where the parking was - to be told they would park the car for me - happy to leave them to it. Checked in fine and went to room - this type of place had its heyday years back and is now looking very worn - my room looked ok but it looked out to the roof of the floor below and I couildn't shut my window and had to call the porter who took 5 minutes to do it himself! Facilities okay but I wouldn't rate it as 4 star and I was only moderately happy and I had only paid £95 for B&B - you would be seriously disappointed I think if you had paid full rate! Check out was okay but the real problem came in getting the car back - there were 3 of us staying for work and had a meeting at 9.30 so we allowed 10 mins to get the cars back which we thought would be plenty. There seemed to be one porter who would walk to the car park and then reappear 10 minutes later with a car - pot luck whose it was! We were all dressed in suits - obviously with somewhere to go - and at least 2 other guests who were after us had their cars brought back earlier - who knows what it would be like if they had a conference with more than 10 people checking out! After 1/2 hour and only 2 cars returned we abandoned the last friend whose car apparently arrived a further 10 minutes later! I have no idea what other hotels are like in Bournemouth but I certainly wouldn't stay at this one again!

I stayed for a couple of nights at the Royal Bath in Bournemouth just after the heatwave had ended. Therefore the lack of air-conditioning in rooms did not bother me, although on the first night it was a little uncomfortable, as the windows do not open for more than six inches to let in any air (safety and security reasons I would assume) It is an old hotel, and refurbishment is obviously required, but the place still retains charm and character, and could still rank as one of the best hotels in Bournemouth if it received the investment it needs. The staff were courteous, reception staff made me very welcome on arrival, and the food, in both the restaurant, and the leisure club, couldn't be faulted. The seasonal entertainment was surprisingly first class. A top jazz trio played in the lounge on the Friday night and deserved a much bigger audience. A quartet played for the Saturday dinner dance and were very versatile and entertaining for all ages. All in all, a very pleasurable stay, and, granted, I accept that maybe the hotel is a little old fashioned. But no harm in that. It is, after all, mainly a holiday venue. I enjoyed it for what it is, and did not try to compare it to a high tech city centre corporate venue.

Once a year I visit my parents in the UK with my wife and young children (we live in the USA) and we spend the 1st week at a UK seaside destination in what we believe to be a good hotel with a good reputation for quality, 4 star or above. I always look at trip advisor for all of my vacation plans before booking my holiday destination. This year we have stayed at hotels in four different countries and like to vacation extensively. All are considered either 4 star or above. This is without doubt the worst Hotel I have ever stayed in. At £205 a night for dinner bed and breakfast in a standard room for myself and wife and £153.00 a night for the kids it is also criminal that this awful place is considered 4 star. Here are some of the problems we faced. No rooms were ready at 3.30pm when we arrived. No good reason given. Rooms were very tired looking. My parents room had to be recleaned as there was mold in the bathroom and the room was dirty. They were offered a smaller but newly furbished room in a completely different part of the hotel that was newer but it meant moving to a ridiculoius distance away from their grandchildren which they did not want to do. The hotel was understaffed. The majority had a limited grasp of the english language which made communication difficult. I would not mind if I had travelled overseas but this was not acceptable in an English destination. Booking for dinner under the inclusive package meant that you paid for a carvery everynight, everythng else was additional and if you ordered off menu it took for ever to arrive, if at all, as I experienced. Waiting staff were non exisitent. We asked persitently every morning for tea and coffee, it became a ritual. Our complaints were met with a knowing response that the Hotel had heard this many times and could not do anything to improve. Rubbish! It takes nothing to keep a room clean and provide good service other than good management which this Hotel lacks. There were no safes provided in the room and the windows were broken and would not lock. My bill was incorrect at the end of the week by £120.00. This should be checked diligently on check out. Having stayed at Marriotts, Hiltons and Ritz Carltons around the World with the same number of Stars I can only conclude that whoever classified this Hotel did it years ago when perhaps standards were Better. This Hotel was shocking and the price was criminal. I would usually not bother to write a review but would hope anyone reading this thinks twice before booking and if you do I suggest you ask to stay in a newly furbished room on bed and breakfast only, unless you love eating carvery everynight and love poor service!

Having paid £180.00 to stay overnight in what was described as a deluxe room, we were very dissapointed in the quality, well worn decoration,torn and stained chairs, cobwebs and overall presentation of the sea view room (RM 251). i ve stayed at better and cleaner B&Bs !!! Breakfast was very poor, luke warm drinks and not all items mentioned in the menu brought by room service. Shower was clogged with limescale and electrical switch plates loose exposing live connections (A possible health and saftey issue ??). Having made my complaints to the management they cancelled room service charges as a good will gesture. There should be guidelines and proceedures for getting refunds as both myself and my wife felt robbed by the experiance... PS reading other reviews seems its not just us complaining ! just wish i read them beforehand...