Midland Hotel

Bit disappointed.

Liked: Location and view. Lovely bedroom, great modern bathroom. Comphy bed. Friendly staff. Large carpark. Almost on the beach.
Disliked: Hotel needs painting looks tired. I expected more of an Art Deco look and feel. ( Poirot would be disappointed.) General maintenance was lacking.Our room on top, although nice, was too modern and not cheap at £245 BB a night. The restaurant was very Cafe like not plush at all. Definitely needed table cloths.

Good

Liked: Room was great , clean spacious and comfortable. Staff friendly
Disliked: Breakfast - had to keep asking for basics from breakfast room like tea bags, orange juice etc. Also few big flies putting us off eating open food in the room like bread.Door and corridor to Toilets near the main bar needs painting and upgrading

Good

Liked: The building, the setting, the room, the breakfast were all good. An amazing place.
Disliked: Despite agreement in writing, staff initially offered us an inappropriate room. They fixed this with suitable apologies, but then our key card stopped working. Each time we had to go to reception there was a big wait, there are no dedicated reception staff, they all work at the bar. At one point there were 5 staff there, pouring drinks and washing glasses etc, but none would serve me. This needs a rethink.

Disappointing. Expected better standards for...

Liked: Obviously the view from the bedroom and the staircase.
Disliked: One woman at reception was cold and un friendly. The large widows in the bedroom were covered in seagull droppings. When I asked for housekeeping to clean the windows I was told no because they contract out. No one was prepared to help me so I had to do it myself!!! We waited a long time to be served an evening meal. Breakfast was well cooked but any other extras were not up to standard.

Short ,comfortable stay at the...

Liked: Loved the very clean red carpet down the bedroom corridors and along the amazing spiral staircase.
Disliked: Sometimes took awhile to get the attention of the waiting staff

Very excited and pleased to...

Liked: The eating areas had a great view. Staff friendly and helpful. The restoration by Urban Splash is well done and pleased to see the bas relief saved. The room was fantastic and an interesting use of space and storage concepts. I faced the car park but was impressed with the room Absolutely love the building have waited many years to visit. Food was good, arrived quickly although service initially slow. Worth a visit for lovers of Art Deco. The atrium, staircase and bas relief by Eric Gill are worth the visit alone. People can enjoy a visit without staying, pop in for a coffee and look around.
Disliked: The walk to the buffet at breakfast I saw was challenging for several of the guests. Why not place it in the area near the bar? For an Art Deco style building was disappointed with the pub decor. Also can you not run to tablecloths and linen napkins for dinner at least? The faux olive tree in the reception area is not right, why not faux palms in keeping with the the style of the building. Too many condiments in the art deco bar, made it look like a caff! It just spoilt the look of the whole area.I will visit again but probably not stay. The building needs a lick of paint, apparently there is problem with the render.

Superb

Liked: The view from the room
Disliked: Some courses of the meals were indifferent, but others were great. Breakfast was indifferent, having to get a pot of tea, cup and milk jug back yo the table together with orange juice was too difficult A trray would have been helpful. Not being as young as I was I couldn't face making lots of journeys .

7 out of 10

Liked: The view over the bay was spectacular. The room was’ tired’ and in need of some TLC. Breakfast was standard options.
Disliked: There was scaffolding up outside our room which did not add to the experience.

Disappointing

Liked: Stayed at Midland a couple of times previously as a treat due to the cost. We didn't go last year so decided to go and celebrate my 60th birthday.
Disliked: Checking in has moved to the end of the bar, so felt like we were queuing to order food. We noticed that all the staff had been replaced with very young students, although the majority of them were lovely. The room needed attention. Sink in the bathroom was badly chipped, the shower head was dirty with paint peeling off the ceiling. The balcony door was filthy with the seals coming off. The weather was pretty bad and the room door was banging all night due to the draft. We were really looking forward to breakfast which has always been amazing. Unfortunately, the luxurious table linen has disappeared. No tablecloths anymore and instead of the lovely linen napkins, the cutlery was wrapped in paper napkins. The tables were sticky and the breakfast average. This beautiful iconic hotel has turned into an extremely expensive 'Spoons. The luxury and feeling of doing something 'special' has gone, even the luxurious afternoon tea room has moved, and again looks like a function room in 'Spoons. Come on Midland, you have a prime location, an iconic building and you need to decide what you are, either a £200/night luxury experience or a £30/night B&B. You can't do both. £10 per drink at the bar is a tad extortionate. Really disappointed. There were also buckets on the floor inside and outside catching drips