Wessex Hotel

This hotel could have so much potential if only the owners cared enough to spend money on it and show they actually value their guests. Tired car park on first invitation, noone on reception to welcome, input car reg to remain compliant. I now understand the few hospitality colleagues they have do all the roles within the 'hotel' or maybe they are embarrassed to meet their guests. Blunt book in as only 'room booking'. Up the dark tired stairs, there's a reason why it's dark. Room, I'll say no more if it's known to be too hot, make a fan available for the guest, they shouldn't have to go to reception. Out of date biscuits on the tea tray, I didn't check further. Toilet what to say, I'll leave a pic, says it all. I'll leave it there.

We had the misfortune of staying at the truly awful Wessex Hotel as part of a coach tour (Festival of Lights) with Majestic Coach Tours. My suspicion is that Majestic optimise their profits by paying peanuts to use substandard hotels. I guess it’s the only way that the Wessex can fill their rooms, as nobody in their right mind would choose to stay here. We stayed in room 107. Upon opening the door we were greeted with a pungent musty smell. We deduced that the smell was a combination of a rotting window frame, damp peeling wallpaper, filthy carpet and dust. We also couldn’t miss the mouldy black bathroom sealant and rusty taps. I (foolishly) attempted to make a cup of tea but it was undrinkable due to all the floating limescale from the filthy/dusty kettle. My son attempted to have a shower and called me in upset, saying that the shower hurt! The shower head only provided a few needle like jets of water, which we were unable to adjust. It was also impossible to regulate the temperature. We then tried the TV, noting that someone had thoughtfully trailed the aerial lead across the window and secured it to the glass with silver tape, this still only achieved 2 channels though. We then tried to connect our iPad and phone to the hotel WiFi, this was incredibly weak and we had to stand in the corridor outside our room for connection. Next came dinner - brace yourself! Upon our table sat a grubby jug of water and 4 smeared glasses. Staff began serving ‘vegetable soup’ the smell of which made us feel slightly nauseous. We had a vegetable pasta, which was both crunchy and soggy and contained unidentifiable vegetables. We were also given a tray of undercooked cauliflower in a watery cheese sauce, a lump of mashed potato and school dinner style slices of cabbage. The staff kindly made our children chicken nuggets but they only ate a few mouthfuls, saying it tasted like fish. Finally the apple crumble arrived, this seemed to have lost its crumble and the apple was coated in such a thick layer of cinnamon that my son actually spat it out coughing! Given the lack of hygiene and astonishingly poor quality food, we decided to avoid any further experience of hotel catering. The only positive I can draw is that the staff were friendly, we felt sorry for them working here. Naturally the Wessex hotel did not request any feedback. I have emailed feedback to Majestic who have shown no interest in replying. Huge pity that Majestic treat their customers like this. The actual coach trip was good and we loved Longleat Festival of Lights. However I can’t more strongly advise you to stay away from this hotel. The best part of it is leaving!

We stayed here as a part of a dance weekend, arranged by a third party who use the hotel regularly. I was a little wary of what to expect as I'd read some rather poor reviews, but it was better than I expected. OK, it's a little shabby, but for a three star hotel, perfectly adequate. The lift was out of order but it wasn't too onerous to walk up to the second floor. Our room was clean and tidy, but incredibly hot. Even with the radiator turned off and the window open it didn't cool down all that much but I suspect the underfloor heating in the bathroom (bliss!) was the culprit. A hairdryer, iron and ironing board were in the room, but strangely no safe. The food was...adequate. Perfectly edible but hot food on cold plates isn't ideal. The staff were all delightful and attentive.