Novotel York Hotel

Pros Prepaid rate of $160 total/night for two people was cheaper than the other modern hotels in town; some rooms have excellent views of the river; the included buffet breakfast was very good; the hotel was a 15 minute walk or less to everything in York; the elevator is a godsend for older less agile travelers, most of the Bed and Breakfast places have stairs and no elevator. Cons Poor maintenance; at times difficult communications with staff because English is not their native tongue; little or no coordination between housekeeping, front desk, and maintenance; some staff poorly trained; bathtub unsafe because no grab bar; no wash cloth provided. ==================================== The Novotel Hotel has a good location in York, England. My wife and I vacationed there September 28 – October 3 2005. We were a few minutes walk from the center of the old town of York. Although the hotel building was built in 1986, the architecture and bricks used matched the surrounding Victorian (and older) buildings. The whole town looks like it’s at least 150 years old because of a concerted effort by the city government and businesses to preserve the old look. You can’t tell whether a building was built 20 years ago or two hundred because of the architecture. Our room overlooked one of the rivers that go through York. The flowing water and tree lined banks were relaxing to look at. The breakfast which was included in the pre-paid fee was very good. There was a good selection of eggs, pastries and breads, eggs, meats (hot and cold), cereals, and fruits. I especially liked the tea. Now I will explain why I am giving Novotel such a bad review. We arrived Wednesday evening September 28. When we checked in at the front desk we were told that our prepaid room was available – a smoking room. We distinctly asked for a non-smoking room when we reserved the room since my wife and I are both very sensitive to smoke odors. The desk clerk said that there were no non-smoking rooms available, but he would show us a variety of smoking rooms until we found a satisfactory one – he added that just because a room is labeled as smoking doesn’t mean that a guest has smoked in it recently. The first room the clerk showed us had a very definite smoke odor and also had a glass of wine in the cabinet. This meant the room had not been properly cleaned before being shown. The second room the clerk showed us, and the one we took, had the good view and no smoke smell. However, it had problems that we discovered over the next few days. We stayed at the Novotel from Wednesday 28 September 2005 to Monday 3 October 2005 (5 days). The window opening mechanism was broken. The window pivoted half way up, so you could swing out the bottom. Unfortunately, the holding mechanism was not working so we had to prop open the window. The couch in the room was broken, so we had to sit away from the dip in the center. There was no grab bar in the tub, a good place to slip and fall. The tub had high sides so you had to step over it. We later found out that this style of bathtub is quite common in the U.K. and the rest of Europe. There were no wash clothes (the British call them face flannels) to be had and no suggestions of how to get one. I believe it’s quite common for British hotels not to have wash clothes – so bring your own body brush or wash cloth. As well as problems with the room, we had some problems with communicating with the staff. Most of the staff were not native speakers of English. I believe the communication problems were more attitude or lack of training than language. In one case we got wrong information about getting change on the buses. Also the front desk staff was not knowledgeable about restaurants in the area. The biggest staff communication problem involved the absence of a top sheet (the sheet that goes between you and the covers). Upon first arriving, we noticed there was no top sheet, so we requested one. There was a top sheet until the Sunday eve before we were to check out on Monday morning. It was Sunday evening late when we returned from our sightseeing. We wanted to get to sleep soon because we were checking out the next morning. My wife discovered that the top sheet was missing. She called the front desk to request a top sheet. At that point we ran into lots of confusion and attitude. The clerk on the phone questioned my wife as to whether or not she had requested a top sheet. My wife firmly but politely said all she wanted was the top sheet, not a conversation about it. The top sheet did not come right away. When I found out about the problem (I was not in the room when my wife had called the front desk), I called the front desk and asked to have the night manager come up to our room to discuss the problem. I will summarize the “he said she said”: the 10 minutes wait time for the manager became half an hour, the top sheets arrived with the clerk who continued to question my wife about what was wrong with the bedding, the night manager (Mr. Leung) did eventually come to our room around 00:15 and explained about the top sheet. He corrected us and said we have a duvet and not a blanket, so no top sheet was needed. We asked him how often the cover of the duvet was washed; he said he did not know. Also, when I directed him to the broken window, he didn’t seem to understand how the window should work. He also said that the couch could be easily repaired. Unfortunately, we had given up on continually requesting needed changes in the room. Another problem area was the dining room. There were signs around instructing guests to talk to staff if they have any food sensitivities to shellfish or milk. I am lactose intolerant, so I normally use soy milk. I asked the wait staff for soy milk; they checked back in the kitchen and said there was none. Yet another problem area was the elevators. There were two elevators in the building, but one was continually not in use for the 5 days while we were there. We did see someone working on the elevator. The general impression we got was that in the 2 years Novotel had this hotel, they had not gotten the internal communications, management and training running correctly – the front desk seemed to have little or no communication with housekeeping, housekeeping had little or no communications with maintenance. Although we did get excellent service from some of the staff, I must warn travelers that they will more often than not get excuses, explanations, and shame and blame, rather than the service they paid for from a hotel that claims to be three stars.

Scurrying round to the Novotel having spent a night in the minging Hilton just along the road we were happy to get a large room which was clean, bright and functional. While nothing exciting to report everything was perfectly acceptable and the buffet breakfast was extensive. In comparison with the Hilton it was heaven!

Stayed at the Novotel weekend of 4th/5th March. Had a family room which was new and excellent,staff very good and helpful. good breakfast. Overall great hotel, friendly staff, excellent location. Would recommend and stay again.

I stayed here for 2 nights last week. The location is not bad, but the rooms aren't that good, the breakfast delivered to the room left a lot to be desired, and on preparing to shower and looking for the facecloth, a pricelist told me I had to pay £1.50 if I wanted one!!!! I could not believe this having just returned from the states where even the cheapest motel provides basic washing facilities. I was in York for a training course, but never imagined that one of the things I would have to learn was how to get washed with the corner of a towel, like in National Service Days!

superb location! VERY well appointed en-suite bathroom, though the bedroom was 'slightly' dated....it was adequate! very friendly and helpful staff. All in all a very nice overnight stay

Stayed here on 29th Jan 04 and wished we hadn't. The refurb is apparently still ongoing though we didn't see any signs of that. Certainly our room was a disgrace. We got the room at a discounted rate of 70 pounds through an internet booking - had I been paying the standard tarrif of 122 pounds for a double room we would have complained and probably left. The decor in our room was drab and depressing, obviously hadn't been touched since the early 80's!! At the very least the room was clean. The bathroom had been modernised in the last few years but was very basic - the toilet being in a seperate room - very poky. The reception area and bar have been upgraded but are again basic and really nothing special. The breakfast room actually was quite pleasant (apart from the milk jug being welded to the table). Breakfast itself was a shambles. At 9.30am (ok a busy time for breakfast) there were 2 sausages, some scrambled egg and some beans left on the buffet selection. A crowd of guests waiting for it to be replenished didn't seem to hurry the staff along. The toaster was broken though staff quickly brought some out on request. The rest of the continental selection was nice. To cap things off we were woken at 2.30am by rowdy guests. Someone being locked out of their room banging on their door repeatedly for 20 mins. Several other guests had also complained about this when we checked out. Only advantages: Easy to find, close to city centre (5 min walk) and free parking. Swimming pool - but nothing to shout about. Staff were pleasant enough. Maybe we are just used to staying in really nice hotels but in my opinion, in no way could this hotel be considered 4 * - they seriously need to rethink their tarrif. You would do better to stay at the cheaper and more modern travel lodge across the road. When I voiced my concerns on check out I was assured the refurb would be completed by February 04. I would check that before you book.

Not a bad hotel. The website claims it has been renovated in 2003, but it looks like only the bathrooms have been done. Rooms are clean, if a little dated. Breakfast is good - buffet, good coffee, no fried bread. Free parking that close to York city centre was the winning feature.

My friend and I recently stayed at the Novotel, York. The bedroom was OK. The breakfast was brilliant, plenty of choices. The hotel is in a good location. Bar prices reasonable. Staff quite helpful. Would recommend this hotel.

My wife, two daughters and myself stayed here 02/06/04 to 05/06/04. We had a great time, the hotel was good, staff at all times pleasant, rooms first class. My family loved the pool. The Hotel is a very short walk from the city along the stunning river walk. Breakfast first class. Parking free!! Will stay again. Thank you.