Top 10 The Smithfield Hotels

I recently stayed at the Pentahotel Derby for a total of 3 nights, split across 2 stays. On both occasions, I didn’t feel very welcome checking in. On the second occasion, I was allocated a room with two single beds, with an accessible bathroom. I wasn’t given the option of a double bedroom and had to go down to get this changed, as there was availability. In addition, when I first checked in, I had to leave my credit card details in case I went over my company’s meal allowance, but on the second visit, I didn’t have to – inconsistent if you ask me. The public areas (reception, restaurant, and corridors) are nicely decorated. The food in the restaurant during the evenings is good; a special shoutout to one of the female waiters. She was always bubbly, and proactive, and nothing was too much of an ask for her. It was initially a tad unclear if you ordered food at the bar, but it turned out there is table service! Keeping on the topic of food – breakfast, which was mediocre. It was very disappointing that the coffee machine was still out of order on the last morning of check-out (Tuesday wasn’t working / Friday wasn’t working). Moving on to the double room. The decoration is minimalistic, and I was satisfied with the room’s cleanliness, although my room wasn't cleaned on the second night's stay. It is probably one of the better hotel rooms to stay in, in Derby – by the limited selection of hotels in Derby, not necessarily by choice. I found the bed comfortable and the bathroom acceptable. There was blood on one of the towels, which was slightly concerning though! One thing that lets Penta down (same in Reading) is that they don’t have an iron and an iron board in their rooms. Instead, you must collect one (if there is one available) from the corridor. Not only is this very annoying, but the irons also have buttons missing, and are in urgent need of repair. I stay in a lot of hotels with work, and I found the following things irritating: Tap placement doesn’t allow great hand placement in the sink / No soft close toilet seats / No master light switch near the bed (for all lights) / On floor 2 facing the car park, loud conversations can be heard, but not clearly / Room doors don’t soft close and slam (can be heard from the bed) / Having to use a key card to access the room floor during the day was irritating / No fast check-out option / TV remote was missing backing on both occasions / TV system is clunky and a nightmare to use I rate this hotel… a bit… meh! I think the rooms are a lot better than the Jury’s Inn, and if you can deal with the general shoddiness, I’d stay here rather than at a Jurys / Premier Inn.

I throughly enjoyed my stay at the Radisson Blu again. I had the pleasure of staying in a runway room which was very clean and tidy. The staff were lovely, amazing customer service from Andrew and Neelam in the bar who were very pleasant. Will be back again soon!

Lovely experience as usual. Always stay here hand I go up for the football due to the location. The rooms are always really clean although they could do with a bit of TLC. The staff at the reception are always lovely. The breakfast was pretty good and it’s included in the cost as well. The only reason I can’t give this a 5star is due to having to pay £5 a day to park my car.

Lovely stay from Thursday to Monday. The hotel was lovely and the staff couldn't be more helpful, in particular Theresa and Jose. The food was excellent with lots of choice. Great swimming pool too. Would highly recommend a stay here with plenty of attractions nearby.

Could not do any more for us, Oliver was amazing, had an issue with our Air con, happily sorted within 5 minutes into a different room and even wirh the little issue at 4am in the morning with the aircon making a noise he made sure that everything was spot on and apologised for the issues but we did understand as they are undergoing refurbishment and was prewarned beforehand.

Lovely location, (pretty village) lovely grounds and impressive entrance. However, we weren’t in the main hotel. The room was large but old fashioned. The roof sloped at the sides which we banged our heads on several times. The window was small which made it stuffy and it was very dark, no main light in the bedroom only lamps. Bed was king size and comfortable. The room and bathroom was clean. We used the restaurant once for dinner and we had 2 breakfasts and the food was nice and reasonable priced. Breakfast was self service (as ours was included) with a good and plentiful variety. The staff were friendly and helpful but professional. We didn’t use the pool in the end as it meant going outside and back inside, as our room was not connected to a covered route to the pool. Nothing really to complain about but we did expect the room to be a bit more luxurious. Slightly overpriced for the room. I expect the price was based on the available amenities.

A hotel that helps a colleague make a mistake. This family was good in all aspects of the evaluation and chose this family. The hotel's been making good comments. Nice position, too! Good recommendation!