Thistle Cheltenham

We stayed at this hotel back in August as we got a great deal on Late Rooms (or so I thought). Although

we only paid £70 for the night (the going rate was £150) it was absolutely diabolical.

The 5 star rating must have been applied when the hotel

was built 20/30 years ago, it was tired and dirty

and the service appalling.

I actually contacted The English Tourist Board as I felt mislead due to its superior star rating only to be told that the hotel had declined an inspection and was under review.

On my return I promptly wrote to the Hotel and advised them of my disappointing stay. They wrote back and

agreed with the points I had raised and thanked me for my feedback. Unbelievable they did not even offer

any apology or any renumeration. Eventually I contacted the Chief Executive of Thistle and a complimentary weekend was offered at the Thistle Charing Cross which I must say was very nice.

But defintely give this hotel a wide berth.

Having booked a weekend and then reading the reviews we were a bit apprehensive about our forthcoming stay, however, for £50 a night we were pleasantly surprised. Rooms were large, well furnished and quiet. The only aspect we were disappointed with was breakfast - not best quality in world, but as we only paid £50 we weren't that bothered. £5 taxi into Cheltenham, made it in a good location. Would go again if got rooms at that price

After reading the reviews below I was pleasantly surprised, we booked three rooms all were very clean and spacious. I admit that the hotel does not look very appealing from the outside but located centrally for Cheltenham (we left our car in the hotel car park and caught the bus right outside, 10 mins were in the centre) We ate dinner in the hotel the first night and could not fault it at all (if you order the sticky toffee pudding it is enough for two!!!) Breakfast was great and plenty of choice. For the money it was OK, this was certainly not the worst hotel we have stayed in.

What a difference to customer service there is prior to taking you booking and then on arrival.

The building is awful from the outside - however inside is not too bad

Large party staying over two nights. Room wasn't ready for over an hour. Not a bad room to be honest however Phone was ringing in the background of reception and was not being been answered "I am on my break", I heard been called. I should have known. For my thick-skinned (not in body!) girlfriend to comment on this there must be something wrong. .

The first night was spent in Cheltenham town so the level of service was noticed.

Breakfast was awful, the serving staff rude and the reception even worse than the day before (I Wont go into the ins and outs of the events we booked that day because we are having to take legal action about this) with an attitude and lack of professionalism you would not expect of such a hotel.

Saturday night. After a meal in town the group of 25 comes back to the hotel in high spirits. However a group of travellers have descended upon the venue. They are asked to leave by a timid waiter. Nothing happens. They become loud and unbearable and intimidate the guests. The answer -close the bar early and make everyone go to bed. Well managed! No apology to the residents. No answers.

The attitude of the managers since (of all levels) has been nothing short of condescending and patronising.

I for one will never stay in a Thistle hotel again. Awful

I booked this hotel on the day I was due to arrive, on arrival my booking could not be located. However they did book me in and charged my credit card again. My credit card was also had charged against £50.00 in case I used room service...never before has this happened to me, it gives a real clue as to this hotels professionalism, there isn't any!

I was given a double bedded room as requested accept it was a single disabled room with a double bed moved in, this was easy to work out as the single headboard had been left in place, which meant my head leant against the light switches! No towels of any description in the room, these were requested and brought to the room and thrown on the chair closest to the door.

The next day I requested a move to a double room, which was acted on promptly. I was moved to the room next door, which was already empty. Why was I not given this room on the day I booked in? As it was plainly a double room which I had requested.

Breakfast was a little heavy going as not many hotel staff spoke English. The toast was stone cold on two out of three of the mornings I stayed; the third morning it was warm as they had forgot to make any and produced it on demand!

The lounge areas were full up with business people having meetings from dawn to dusk. There is a notice on the bar offering this at so much per hour to the business community, which is fine if you the guest using the hotels rooms don't mind sitting in your room all day, as there certainly is no room to sit in the lounge areas. I am sure this problem only occurs if you are unlucky enough to stay at this hotel on a week day.

I was due to and had paid up front to stay for five nights at this hotel. I left after three nights and booked myself into a FOUR star hotel using the Thistles internet link (£4.00 for 20 mins usage). Never again will I stay at this Thistle or any other hotel in the Thistle group.

After all the negative comments written about this hotel we weren't expecting much especially as we managed to get a great last minute deal. The rooms were clean and bright, the staff were friendly and helpful, the breakfast during the week was excellent with loads of choice and all nicely cooked. It was in a handy location for us as we did not want to go through cheltenham town every time we went out and had easy access to all the main roads. The hotel itself was really quiet and i wasnt once disturbed during the night and the pool/leisure centre was also nice (although the changing rooms could have done with up-dating).

All in all we were very happy with our bargain break and would recommend it to friends if they wanted a cheap, convenient, clean and friendly place to stay whilst exploring the cotswolds.

Exterior is fairly dated so puts you off before you get in. However, once inside it was nicely decorated. Room was ok - typical business hotel fare.

Worst thing for me was fact that it was a 10 min drive to the centre of Cheltenham. Not ideal for those wishing to site see in the City.

I stayed there as part of a group . The room was large and very clean.

No complaints at all in that regard.

I found the staff to be very friendly and helpful throughout our 2 day stay from the front desk to the restaurant to the bar staff. All very nice.

The breakfast was fantastic. It had everything you wanted. We also ate in the restaurant one night and again absolutely no complaints at all.

The hotel could do with some new carpets and maybe a bit of paint while the bar is located in the corrider so everyone walks by you while you try to relax with a drink.

One small complaint was the lack of room service late one night when we got back from a sporting event nearby. Despite advertising it in our room when we rang down there was none availiable and we were directed to the KFC across the road as we were starving.

If passing through this area I think for the price you couldn't do much worse. Just make sure you eat on time!

stayed the night here for a works party. Large room very nice overlooking tennis court. Staff let the hotel down very rude no manners. Breakfast buffet was terrible limited choice and cold. Receptionist didn't bother asking if stay was ok when checking out otherwise would have told her no. Wouldn't stay here again.

The hotel is air conditioned, which is a big plus.

The rooms are larger than average in the UK.

Stayed June 16-17, 2004.

Unusually loud fire door started slamming early and ended late.

Construction on the floor above also woke us up.

My complaint to managment was ignored.