Stayed at the North Stafford Hotel for a business trip over the weekend. It was the cheapest hotel in the area, costing approx. £110 for a 2-night stay in a single room. Firstly, the positives: * The location of the hotel is quite central to most things in Stoke, and within walking distance. * The room was clean enough, the addition of an AC fan tower in the summer heat was welcomed. * The recently renovated bathrooms are quite nice. * Staff at the front desk were welcoming and courteous. * Plenty of sockets in the room for my work devices * Free WiFi is pretty fast; 135mbps down/95mbps upload with no time restrictions. Now, the negatives: * The doors to the rooms don't seal properly, so light and sound were creeping in from the hallway. * There are no "Please be quiet" signs in the hallways. I was shocked that guests were parading down the corridors late at night/early in the morning, talking loudly. * The breakfast was appalling. £9.95 for a single adult. Options available were small sausages, bacon, egg, mushrooms, beans, or two cereal options. The toast machine was turned off, so we had to rely on an archaic toaster which caused a queue. The juice machine wasn't working, so no juice in the morning. * Guests were also not courteous to others in the breakfast area, allowing children to run rampart and shout/scream. They'd also yell at each other across the hall. * In my shower, there was an opened/used bottle of shampoo - possibly indicating the bathroom wasn't cleaned properly before check-in. * The window in my room was literally propped open by a small piece of wood. * Walls between rooms feel thin, I could hear other residents talking quite clearly. The hotel shows promise, the architecture and interior design is lovely and reminiscent of traditional English style. But it needs modernisation badly. It's a shame, given the location of the hotel in relation to the University and the train station.
