The Malone

A lovely hotel in a great location with friendly and helpful staff —- however there were so many small negatives that the overall experience was disappointing. The lift was not in service so had to use the stairs. Thankfully not a high rise and I was on the 1st floor. A huge, well decorated room was ruined by air conditioning and extraction units right outside the window which made for a loud and restless night. The frosted glass on the windows left the room dull. Black mold in the bathroom, large crack on the wall and dirty carpets did not help. Neither did the badly made bed and stiff coarse dressing gowns, which I had to look for and found squashed into a shelf in the wardrobe - and one had a large black stain on it. WiFi was very good but there were no usb / type C charging ports. TV was tiny in comparison to the size of the room and kept losing its signal. I also noted a blown lightbulb, but I guess this could have happened at any time. Breakfast was also disappointing, although the sausage was delicious and the highlight. They did provide a small gluten free option too, but I’m not sure if GF bread and non dairy milk is sufficient in and of themselves. The hotel claims a 4* rating and for that I would have at least expected tea/coffee table service. Instead I got it myself from a coffee machine. The coffee itself was very strong to the point of being undrinkable. Finally while speaking with staff it emerged that the Trip price, which supposedly included a huge discount was actually way over the standard price for a room with this hotel.

The room I stayed in was a business-style suite facing the main road. It was big and comfortable with a nice bathroom and tea/coffee facilities. There is free, covered parking at the back which was useful. The windows opened which was good as it was dry and hot in the room. I could not get the TV to work other than BBC World although eventually I managed to tweak the box and get it to work. The room furnishing was incredibly dark (wallpaper, curtains and light covers were all in dark material). I had to ask the reception to replace a broken bulb in one of the ceiling lights and the bedsit lights were so dark it was impossible to read by them. The cleaning of the room was a bit hit or miss and there were cigarette butts permanently stuck out of the external butt holder right by the front door. The housekeeper did pop by and apologise. The staff at reception were helpful and pleasant and when prompted sorted out the necessary issues.