The Stratton House Hotel

We stayed at the weekend for 1 night, as a friend was getting married locally. As a group we booked 3 double bedrooms. On arrival there is plenty of parking, reception and bar area are welcoming and the staff are friendly. This hotel has some good points, but the rooms are below standard. Looking at all 3 rooms, you can see some effort has been made to upgrade the rooms, ours was decorated nicely, but the bathrooms are awful! Old, grubby, and awful shower over bath running from taps. The carpets all need replacing, and our room was so hot!! Even with window wide open. Air con would be needed. Blinds let in all the lights, and some thought needs to be put into this. I have given them 3 stars, but really it should be 2 for rooms, and 4 for the bar, breakfast and the friendly staff. Look into other hotels in the area. We would not return.

I wish I had read the Tripadvisor reviews before I booked a suite (room 34). The gist I picked up from the reviews after we left was that the rooms were dire but the food was great, which was our experience. We were shown up to our "suite" which was at the top of the building. I had specifically asked that we had a walk in shower as we are elderly. There was a separate toilet in a small cubby hole with a sliding door but no wash hand basin. Next to it was the "bathroom" which had a bath, with a hand held shower fitting but no shower curtain because you could not stand up due to the sloping ceiling! I said that this was not acceptable, and a man with a beard who I believe was the manager went out of his way to find us an alternative room, which he did after a loing wait, so a plus point to him. The room we were allocated (room 32) was adequate in that it had a small walk-in shower, although you had to move around to get wet as the shower was so inadequate. The bed, which was supposed to be a double, was just a 4'6" bed with the hardest, most uncomfortable mattress i have ever tried to sleep on. It was a good thing we took our own pillows because the ones provided were old, flat and hard. After a very poor night we went down to breakfast, which was generous and well cooked. I asked for some marmalade for the toast only to be told that they did not do marmalade!!! That would not happen even at Fawlty Towers. We decided that we would not stay the second night. We used the room during the day so when I said we were checking out early I did say that I would expect to pay for the second day even if we did not sleep over. To his credit, the manager said that they would not charge us for the second day and would make a reduction for the first day. He said it would take a day or two to show on my credit card account so it will be interesting to see what happens. He explained that they were in a refurbishment programme but none of those rooms were available when I booked. this may account for the few good reviews of the room I read on Tripadvisor. Finally, just a few words about the dinner we had on our first night. Really excellent! so credit where credit is due. Beautifully cooked and presented with nice service.

I stayed in a single room and from opening the door, I knew it was going to be an awful nights sleep. The room smelt musty and old. The window had a huge crack in it so was too nervous to open it even though it was absolutely boiling through out the night. The mattress was so thin I could feel the springs underneath me. The walls were so thin I could hear someone snoring above me and was woken up every time you heard some move or walk around. The light above the bed didn’t work and had no other lamp. Honestly, I can’t believe that you are actually allowing paying guests to sleep in a room like that. Avoid.

Tiny noticeable things.....Slow check-in, apathetic attitude to customers. you know when you stay at a hotel and a few little things go wrong where just a small amount of effort could have made such a difference to the experience. I wasn’t impressed with my stay, checking in was slow and I had to wait 10mins, shower was cold in evening. Bed was small uncomfortable, no bedside table, hairdryer was almost missing and staff unhelpful to get replacement – nothing (i say almost as some parts of a hairdryer were present, gauze and retaining ring) Checking out was pathetic in having to leave your name on a scarp of paper with email address written down (really just print a copy of invoice), although it was mailed through promptly. I would say issues are equal 50% staff and 50% fixture and fittings PS I stay in hotels approx. one a week and be confident with my feedback, if others aren’t saying this they are feeling the same but not bothering to report

This hotel is in need of refurbishment. I stayed in a single room, the decor is tired and grubby, the single bed had a thin sheet covering a stained mattress that had collapsed. There was an unpleasant smell in the room, possibly the shower drain? I could go on! I was tired after a long day and did not complain as my colleague had a similar room experience. Leaving at 6.30 there was no breakfast available. Yes it is a well priced room but I am paying for a bed, so come on guys please buy a new mattress and bedding at least! I would not come again. The checking in experience wasn’t the best, but acceptable. Biggleswade is a nice little town and there are some good places to eat.

We booked a room via the hotel website and received a confirmation email with a booking reference. On the evening of our planned stay, we went to check in, to be told that there wasn’t a booking in our name and were asked if we had booked the correct hotel, or via a third party booking site. On showing our confirmation email from the hotel, the member of staff on reception told us the hotel was fully booked and that he’d try calling another hotel for us. When he couldn’t get through, he asked us to wait and promptly checked in other guests whilst we sat waiting! What he should have done was carry on dealing with us first! Eventually after 15 minutes or so he had checked in the other guests and tried another hotel. They were also fully booked and we were advised to try and find a hotel somewhere local ourselves! Not knowing the area too well and trying our luck a Saturday evening to find another hotel, we ended up driving another 1 1/2 hours home, after an already long day. After reading reviews on Trip Adviser, I’m now glad we didn’t get to stay. Terrible service by the staff on reception and no real apology for an error with their own booking system.

I had the misfortune to stay here this week for 4 nights for work. I am expecting to work in the area for the next 6 - 12 months and this was my first trip. I will not stay here again. I checked in at 8.30pm on the Sunday evening. There was a gentleman (I assume the manager or owner) talking with the young lad checking me in complaining there were still 2 guests to check in that night and if they hadn't done so by 9 o'clock he wouldn't be happy. He also said he would be ringing them to hurry them along. This should have been my warning for how they view their customers. It was insisted I pay on check in - even though my employer agreed with the hotel they would settle the bill - requested an invoice and was refused, being told I could have one on check out. I requested an invoice on check out, the lady doing breakfasts on the Thu morning was unable to provide this as she was too busy dealing with a full house for breakfast. I followed this up with an email and 2 phone calls and have still not received an invoice, despite asking on 5 separate occasions. I will just have to download my bank statement and submit that with my expenses. Where to begin with the rooms? The bar and breakfast area is nice and inviting. The rooms are the polar opposite. When you walk upstairs from reception the carpet and walls look old and dirty. This continues in the bedrooms. I had blinds which were broken, curtains which kept very little light out, and window frames which hadn't seen a bit of paint for many a years, flaking and dirty. The bathroom was old with dirty marks on the tiles and no grouting/sealant around the bath and shower. The bath and shower taps are an ancient old mixer affair which made it almost impossible to control the temperature of the water - much the same as the radiator in the bathroom which was on full heat for my first 2 nights and couldn't be turned off. The wash hand basin was the smallest in the kingdom, good luck having a shave in that. In summary, very good breakfast and the 2 ladies serving were pleasant. Beyond that, awful dated and dirty rooms and pretty indifferent staff on reception. This place needs to spend money on the rooms. I can't imagine why anyone with a choice would stay here a second time. Stay somewhere else if you want a clean bed/bathroom and warm shower. That shouldn't be too much to ask for in this day and age.

Pre-booked room via a booking agency, meant sadly I got a single bed small room, in the lower numbered rooms. The service here was excellent, and the food was even better. Front of house was very pleasant. I really enjoyed the English breakfast, Shasuka, plus the Pancakes, bacon and Ice cream was a real treat for breakfast too.

This is a charming hotel and wished I had stayed here before. The hotel, food and drink are reasonably priced and the food and service are the best I have ever had, don't drive past this place, go in there and check yourself, you will not be disappointed by anything..