Written on: 31/05/2011 by JulesH75 (2 reviews written)
Not only did we find a toy from a previous occupant on the floor (the size of a child's fist - what else had the cleaners missed?), the sofa bed was extremely dirty and badly stained. I did consider turning the mattress/cushion over but the staining was so bad it had gone through to the other side.
On complaining to reception we did get our room swapped to one that was cleaner (not spotless as you would hope, but better than the first). The hotel was full though, so someone would have ended up in the filthy first room. It seems you have to arrive at this particular Travelodge early to ensure being able to swap and change enough times to get the best pickings by way of the room. I do however feel very sorry for the poor people who arrived last and got the short straw. Sorry whoever you are!
I have stayed in Travelodges before, but not for many years. I was surprised and disappointed to see how low their standards have dropped. I was advised by their staff that in order to offer cheap rooms, they have had to make many cuts (and in my opinion, cut a lot of corners). There are no bathmats, hairdryers, curtains and the extra beds in family rooms are unmade. Allegedly you can borrow a hairdryer from reception but we asked on about six occasions over a three hour period and constantly got the same answer - we haven't got any.
We had to ask for extra towels to have as many as we had people and the same with the pillows.
The pillows are very flat and uninspiring and the duvets have seen better days. The beds range from rock hard to soft and spongy. The sofa beds are very narrow and if you have a room that sleeps four, one person is on a mattress on the floor.
Also there is no lift. Although there is only a ground and first floor, if you have a baby and luggage a first floor room is a lot of huff, puff and struggle to get to.
To say that staying in this hotel was a horrible experience makes it sound much better than it was.