Hotel Ascot

The Hotel Ascot is a nice hotel. I read the reviews on here with interest before I arrived however, as always I try to keep an open mind until I experienced it for myself. Unfortunately on Trip Advisor they don't have a drop down to give a good rating only average or very good. I don't think the hotel is very good so have therefore scored it as average based on the Trip Advisor rating system. The reception area/Derby Bar/Pool areas and restaurant are fine and are styled in typical Italian deco. The staff are very friendly and our welcome was good. Our room was not particularly big however it was bright and clean with all the usual amenities and perfectly ok for our stay. The TV was a a bit small however I don't come on holiday to watch TV. An added bonus In the room was the free use of a fridge, kettle (no coffee/tea/sugar, so bring your own or buy locally) and a free room safe. Another plus point a full length mirror. The bed was comfortable and had extra pillows and blankets. The tiling in the bathroom was typically Italian, a bit OTT for me but ok. There was complimentary soap, shower gel/shampoo and shower cap. The towels were changed daily. Our hairdryer wasn't working however was fixed within a few hours of reporting the fault. Free secure Wifi is available. Breakfast on our first morning was for me a bit disappointing. Bread, rolls, cakes, croissants, sliced cold meat and cheeses, cereals, boiled eggs, fruit juices, tea/coffee yogurts. There was a choice of hot plate. Scrambled eggs was on every day with another choice of hot plate e.g. bacon, beans etc The waiting staff were friendly. Roberto and his team do an excellent job. They like to serve you your hot drinks from the machine. I just let them get on with it. The scrambled eggs on our first morning were not as warm as I'd want however I sometimes feel that food is generally not as hot as we'd expect back home. At least in Spain you might come across a microwave. So I settled for toast, cold meat and a yoghurt or maybe shouldn't have chosen the yoghurt. I peeled back the foil on the yoghurt to find blue mould developing in top of the yoghurt. I discarded that idea, told staff and had more toast. At least my second cup of coffee was warmer. I couldn't fault my breakfast for the rest of our stay. Nice that there was cloth tablecloths too at breakfast. Our room was to the side/back of the Hotel. It was probably quieter than overlooking the street and the balcony got the sun up until 4pm or so. There is a sunny roof terrace so no worries about missing out on the sun and you would've got a sun bed at the pool too. The hotel is in quite a good location albeit on a busy road which can get noisy. There are plenty of bars and restaurants close by. There are supermarkets a few minutes walk of the Hotel in both directions.

Despite being fairly clean and having a nice reception area, the food and rooms were a huge let down. One room some of the party were staying in had no window meaning no fresh air or natural light. The food was worse than a school canteen and even though they knew some of the party were vegetarian they still gave us chocolate mousse with gelatine in meaning we had to check but the staff didn’t understand English. The portions were tiny and watery and after dinner time we had to go out and get food and therefore spent much more money they we wanted to. Also, the shower was cold on one of the days which was horrible and uncomfortable. The window shutters in the room I was staying in was difficult to close but didn’t even close the whole way and there was a lamp post right outside out room so there was light coming in all night. The walls are extremely thin so we could hear conversations other people were having very clearly. The location was nice and a good waking distance away from the town and the wifi worked well.