Short review
Note: 3 is average
Value for money: 3/5 – Good hotel facilities; located next to the beach with many restaurants nearby; noisy neighbourhood
Services: 4.5/5 – Staff were polite, accommodating and ready to help; fast wi-fi
Bedroom: 4/5 – Spacious room with a large balcony and sea view
Sleep quality: 0.5/5 – Noisy neighbourhood with many hoon activities at night; smell of smoke at night
Bathroom: 4/5 – Clean bathroom with a bathtub
Facilities and amenities: 4/5 – Fairly large pool, tennis court, and gym
Pros
- Located next to a beach
- Good hotel facilities
Cons
- Hoon activities at night
- Inappropriate guest behaviours
Long review
My family and I decided to stay 3 nights in this 4.5-star hotel (as claimed in the hotel’s website). We chose this hotel because it is located next to a beach (Brighton-Le-Sands Beach). We arrived there by car in the afternoon. The beach is indeed in front of the hotel, and there are also many restaurants around there. A bike rent facility was placed conveniently near the hotel entrance. All this looked promising.
Once I entered the lobby, I was brought back to the past. It was like something from the 90s. No problem with that. I actually quite liked it. The lobby had a very high ceiling because of the atrium in its centre, which made it feel even more spacious. The grand staircase and the tube-like lifts completed the vintage looks, although the lifts were not operational anymore. A 1929 Mercedes-Benz 38/250 SSK was proudly displayed in the lobby. I quickly searched online and found out that another car of this model was sold for about $7.5 million in 2004. It was the fastest car of its day (up to 190 km/h) and was driven to victory in many races. This line of car was one of the nominees in the penultimate round of voting for the Car of the Century award in 1999.
Check-in was quick and pleasant. The check-in staff was polite and welcoming. She even had a welcome bag ready, containing a bottle of Até Wines NV Sparkling Brut, a bottle of water, and a welcome card. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that we got complimentary parking. There were many parking spaces in the basement, and we never had any difficulties to find parking during our stay. There was a small hiccup in the beginning though. They did not register our car at first, so we had to call the front desk to open the boom gate so we can exit the car park. Afterwards, we could enter and leave the car park hassle free.
In the lift from the car park to our room on level 9, a couple barged in even though the lift was already quite full with us three and the luggage. The man at one point even said to our daughter, “Don’t be afraid, we are not terrorists”, and the couple laughed merrily afterwards. What a weird sense of humour, if not downright mentally unstable. Arriving on our floor, I noticed three luggage trolleys on the corridor, which I thought at first rather strange. After some time, I deduced that some guests couldn’t be bothered to return them after use. Another sign for more ‘interesting’ things to come.
The room itself was pleasantly nice and spacious. We expected a dated room, but our room looked new and fresh. It seemed that the entire floor had been newly refurbished. The room had 2 comfortable double beds, a small desk and a chair. The free TV channels did not work due to maintenance (yes, it was strange), but to compensate for that, they gave us access to all the paid movies for free, so that was nice. Bathrobes and 2 pairs of slippers were neatly placed in the wardrobe. A QR code on the mini bar could be used to access the room service menu. The hotel offered a 24-hour in-room dining. The wi-fi was satisfactory as well.
The room also had a fairly large balcony and the view from it was great since we could see the beach. It was indeed a nice spot to relax.
The bathroom looked nice and clean. It had a bathtub and a separate shower cubicle. There was also a shuttered window connecting the bathroom and the bedroom. Not quite sure whether it was a necessary thing to have.
Other facilities in the hotel include a fairly large swimming pool, a fitness centre, and a tennis court. The Baygarden restaurant and the bar were spacious and offered an excellent view of the beach. There were indoor and outdoor seatings, although the outdoor spaces appeared rather neglected. The Brighton-Le-Sands Beach was literally in front of the hotel. It was relatively quiet as compared to other beaches in the area. We could see planes taking off and landing from the beach since the airport is actually not far away. Overall, when it comes to facilities, this hotel was very good.
The biggest problems during our stay were the neighbourhood and the guests themselves. There were many hooning activities at night. Hoons reeved their engines throughout the night until early morning. We used white noise in the room, and I still could hear their rackets pretty clearly. Good luck trying to get a peaceful sleep at night. If you search hoons in Brighton-Le-Sands on Google, you will find that this is a chronic problem. This online news is an example.
What’s wrong with the guests you asked? Besides the terrorist joke in the lift and the trolleys on the corridor, we could smell smoke one night. I suspected that it was the guests next door, but I couldn’t be sure. I reported the incident to the front desk. Another day, there was vomit inside the lift. Again I reported it to the front desk. Even after being cleaned, it left a very unpleasant odour for quite some time.
It was indeed very unfortunate. The staff were great. They tried to help and accommodate your needs. The facilities were good. The room was newly refurbished. The beach was next door. The unpleasant things happening in the neighbourhood and caused by the guests were essentially beyond the control of the hotel. These things, however, also outweighed all the positives. Again, it was unfortunate. We won’t come back to this hotel again.
