Exeter, The Lord Haldon

The Best Western Lord Haldon Hotel, Exeter, is difficult to find and to drive to. There is no lift. There was a smell of a dusty vacuum cleaner when you enter the reception and up to the room all the time, yet the bits on the stairs were there all week which puzzled us.

In the room the carpeted floor was uneven and there was a loose tile in bathroom. Both were unnerving. We could have tripped up. We had to be wary all the time. Our window was above the large ducting for the hotel. The roaring noise of the extraction fan was heard from early morning and again in the evening until about 21:30. We could also smell food being cooked.

In the bathroom, the basin hot water tap was faulty, giving the smallest trickle of water. We reported it. They said it would be fixed. It wasn't. We reported it again and were told that there was nothing wrong. We both explained further that we were using the bath tap to run hot water. The basin tap was fixed by the evening.

The television did not have a sound-bar to go with the modern TV. We could not have it on because the sound was so poor. The room lighting was too dull. There was no light above the bed to read by. The two bedside table lamps with large dark shades were not suitable for reading. There was only one thing which was good - we could use Wi-Fi in the room.

We did not enjoy the breakfast due to the undercooked bacon and the overcooked eggs. The eggs had obviously been kept hot for ages, having a crusty brown base to them which was inedible. We did not order it again for the rest of our stay, and just had toast and a hot drink.

More staff should be on the reception desk, especially when checking out. We held back as we saw it was far too much for the one employee. The cleaner was there as well making a noise (and smell) with the vacuum cleaner. The timing of this work should be better arranged.

All of this is not acceptable. It was an expensive stay too. I would not recommend this hotel to anyone.