Wetherspoons pubs are a bit divisive. I’m not a big fan, having found standards vary considerably from one to the other – the Winter Gardens in Harrogate is surprisingly upmarket, while The Gatehouse in Doncaster is much less so.
But when it comes to the chain’s hotels, it’s hard to argue with their locations, amenities, and above all, those rock-bottom prices.
It’s clearly a winning formula – the latest Which? survey on the best and worst hotel chains in the UK has ranked Wetherspoon top for value, and highly for cleanliness, comfort and customer service. At an average price of just £70 per night for a double room, it’s hard to beat; JD Wetherspoon Hotels is for the first time a Which? Recommended Provider.
The current Angel Hotel in Whitby dates back to 1795 (Photo: J D Wetherspoon)I’ve stayed in a couple and would happily return. The first Wetherspoon hotel opened 25 years ago in Shrewsbury and there are now more than 50 across the UK and Ireland.
When I was looking for a quick weekend away in Whitby, which is just two hours from our home in Sheffield and a longtime family favourite, I decided to try out The Angel Hotel. There’s been an inn on the site since Elizabethan times, and it became a Wetherspoon in 2013.
My expectations were low, but the main draw was the low prices. Rooms at The Angel start at just £56 a night. That doesn’t include breakfast, but since it is so cheap – a cooked breakfast starts at £3.99 and tea and toast is just £2.49 – I wasn’t fussed.
Breakfasts are available for as little as £2.49 (Photo: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images)Wetherspoon hotels tend to occupy old buildings that don’t have car parks (for example in Ripon, The Unicorn Hotel is one of the North Yorkshire cathedral city’s oldest inns), but staff will recommend the nearest place to leave your car overnight. In Whitby that was just across the road from the hotel.
Each hotel has a reception, though they aren’t always manned and you sometimes have to ask at the bar. The old joke about Wetherspoons’ toilets being a hike away from the bar means that rooms are also a few floors up from the noise of the bar.
Our room was modern and clean, if fairly basic, with tea and coffee making facilities, a TV, and a king-sized bed. It was quite small, with enough space to walk around the bed and desk and no room for a sofa, but for the price it was extremely good value.
A bedroom at The Guildhall and Linen Exchange in Dunfermline (Photo: J D Wetherspoon)The tiled bathroom was clean with a rainforest shower over the bath, which most rooms feature. I’ve stayed in many budget hotel chains such as Premier Inn and Travelodge and they’ve been of a similar standard, for at least double the price.
There’s no room service, but you can order drinks and meals at the bar or reception to take up to your room if you wish, though I wouldn’t recommend it as you have to manage plates and cutlery without a tray and end up eating on the bed or at the desk.
However, the service is exemplary. From the moment I checked in I felt like the staff couldn’t do enough for me. The atmosphere was homely and personal and the vibe was very comforting.
I slept well. The bed was quite firm, which I like, but the pillows were too soft for me and I had to use the extra pillows in the wardrobe to get comfortable.
I also love that despite being a chain, no two hotels are alike. They even feature custom-designed carpets, reflecting an aspect of the town or the building. You don’t get that kind of detail at most budget chain hotels. In my room at The Angel, the carpet looked like stone tiles, perhaps reflecting the building’s age.
The experience might have been missing a few frills, such as a mini fridge and toiletries, but for such a low price it’s hard to fault. After two nights, I was convinced that the Wetherspoon Hotel formula is a winning one, and booked a subsequent stay at the old Guildhall and Linen Exchange for a visit to Dunfermline.
I’m only at the beginning of my Wetherspoons hotel journey, and I already love them.
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