More about Highcliff Marriott Bournemouth
Worst Marriott have stayed in
by TripAdvisor Member KT106
Started badly, on arrival late afternoon no room ready and despite guarantee of king size bed, told probably not available. After persistent demand room was reluctantly made available. Maybe reception staff couldn't cope with demand. Room was good standard. Restaurant standard was very mixed. My meal reasonable standard, wifes terrible. Again staff seemed under too much pressure and appeared to struggle. Parking an absolute nightmare - be warned. Cars damaged (not ours) through double/triple parking. Have stayed at many Marriotts in different parts of world and without doubt this is woefully below standard
Wonderful romantic Hotel
by TripAdvisor Member OwlNewforest
We spent one night at this hotel and loved it. The view from our room of the sea was wonderful and the lobby was wonderful to walk in. We ate lunch at the Lawn Bar which fantastic views. We were also very pleased to be able to check in early as our journey was quicker than expected. Our only complaint was that we weren't offered a window with a view at breakfast (although there were many available), and the breakfast was a bit boring. But apart from that the hotel is very good, in a wonderful location for sea, town and beach
Great hotel with good facilities
by TripAdvisor Member todger_man
Stayed here for a 5 day training course. The restaurant was terrific and laid on some sumptuous food evey night. Some of the desserts were amazing to look at and taste. All the staff were polite & efficient. Good facilities including a swimming pool & spa next door. The hotel is right on a cliff overlooking the sea. Must be great in summer but not very inviting in the middle of February...!!
In the town of bad hotels, the one eyed is king
by TripAdvisor Member orange66
First and foremost, if you are paying for this out of your own pocket, don't. Do some research, find a smaller boutique place, it is not a fun place for a holiday. If work, conferences etc put you in Bournemouth, consider it but only if you can't get into the Eastcliffe Court.
The rooms are a decent size, the location is pretty but this is a hotel with serious problems.
1. Staff- front desk and concierge are fab, helpful, and remember you after two days, not bad for a big hotel. Restaurant and bar staff are diabolical. Poorly trained, poorly supervised, miserable foriegn language students throw drinks at you (metaphorically of course). No-one knows how to mix a drink, rusty nails come in Martini glasses with parasols.
2. Restaurant- Don't do it to yourself. One of the hotel workers admitted there was a stock of apology wine, to be handed out in case of complaints. They get through a lot of bottles.
3. Housekeeping- badly managed and badly supervised. My room wasn't done usually till after 4. Smears on windows, not enough towells, small things that a hotel this expensive should not be struggling with.
4. Lobby internet. Ridiculously expensive, approx £10 an hour. the other four star hotel in town charges about £2.80 per hour.
5. Gym/pool - Actually this wasn't too bad, but I am not a regular gym goer so my standards are probably low. There was a lot of complaints on the comment board in the lobby.
I live half my life out of Bournemouth Hotels. This isn't the worse around, but if you don't have to there are alawys other places.
One of the Best Marriotts
by TripAdvisor Member Witney
one of the best Marroitts I've stayed in. Stayed the day after the Tory party conference, so the staff seem relieved to see 'normal' guests.
The Rooms are well stocked,clean and the beds have just all been changed.
Food very good, with the exception of Sunday lunch, veg came out cold. But this was dealt with professionally and did not spoil the stay.
The best part of the hotel are the staff, mostly foreign students, but well trained and very attentive.
Overall a well managed, clean and friendly hotel.
Magnificent High Cliff Hotel
by TripAdvisor Member b555
Old elegant seaside holidays combine with state of the art health/swimming center to produce a magical vacation. The front desk and staff were dedicated to improving our stay from the moment we checked in with the wrong reservation dates to getting a cab for our departure trip to the train station. A fine ocean view room was found for our 3 nights with no extra charge or hassle. The bed and bathroom were luxurious. We strolled the miles of seaside walks and visited the old Victorian era pier. There is a free museum/art gallery (Russell-Cotes Museum) that is well worth the stroll. The nearby cafes, parks and winter gardens capture the old wealth of past eras. This hotel is worth cashing in your Marriott points!! Plan way ahead as is it usually full. We were pampered like royalty. Wish I had 4-5 nights.
(Note: the food at the Marriott is quite pricy, but you can walk 5-6 blocks and find plenty of people food.)
The train trip from Gatwick to Bournemouth was less than 4 scenic hours. We bought British railway passes here before the trip. We used passes 4 days to visit several great locations. It did not include Scotland, but the railway let us off the hook when we visited Edinburgh. I wouldn't gamble on it next time.
A full day bus tour to Stonehenge (discoverdorset[-]) and surrounding Dorset area really added to our learning. Pick up is at the hotel and the price is only about $50 per person. Entry fee to Stonehenge is not inlcuded. Make a reservation as our bus was full even in low season. What a great day that one was.
Very good experience
by TripAdvisor Member NPRoberts
From arrival to departure we were looked after brilliantly, a rare experience in a British hotel.
We were allocated a room with a seaview, as booked, but because of the extreme winds it was rather noisy. We were immediately offered another 2 rooms with no fuss and escorted to them both for us to choose. The room we chose was of a better standard and there was no extra charge.
Any time we were in the vicinity of the concierge or reception they enquired as to our wellbeing.
The evening meal in the restaurant was way beyond our expectations. The food was excellent, the service extremely efficient and attentive. The breakfast buffet was of equal quality and couldn't be faulted.
I note from previous entries some poor comments about the food and the staff. These have obviously been addressed by the management and so full marks to them.
Good British seaside hotel
by TripAdvisor Member lomasteam
Me, my husband and two children have spent a week at the hotel each summer for the past 6 years. The location is brilliant - right on the beach (which you get to via steep steps or the vernicular) and you can easily walk to the park, shops and along the seafront to Poole. The hotel has a tennis court, an indoor pool and an outdoor pool - which is great for the children! The outdoor pool area has deteriated over the years and was dirty and in need of some investment last year!
We always book a seaview junior suite in the main building which we find to be comfortable and ideal for our family group. Other family accomodation is offered in "the cottages" which are seperate from the main building - but we find these to be a bit dark and oppressive.
The management of the hotel isn't great and you rarely see any senior staff inspecting the hotel or conversing with residents.
The breakfast buffet is good, but can be busy! The restaurant serves excellent food of an evening and the staff are attentive.
Our week at this hotel each year is very expensive, but if you want a British seaside family holiday this hotel is a good choice!
Great location but poor staff
by TripAdvisor Member tinker79
Just returned from a weekend at the Bournemouth Marriott.
This hotel has some great points;
- the location - views of the sea
- large comfy beds
But there are some off-putting points;
- the staff are not very attentive, some spoke poor english
- they charge you for the car park - £10 for 2 days - a real cheek for a 4 star hotel!
Top tip would be to not eat in the hotel restaurant but walk 5 mins down the road to the West Beach restaurant - amazing food and a great location right on the beach.
Very Dissapointed
by TripAdvisor Member Mark_and_Rachael
For a 4 star hotel this was really dissapointing. Upon Arrival couldnt get a parking spot so had to double park and leave keys with reception then find out its £5 per day to park.
Bedrooms were nice with fantastic sea views however the service really lets it down.
On our first morning we were in a bit of a hurry so didnt want the full breakfast in the restaurant (£15 per head) so sat in the lounge area overlooking the sea and asked if we could just get a hot bacon bap with mushrooms and brown sauce and a hot sausage bap with mushrooms and brown sauce and a pot of tea from the bar menu which stated were being seved served until 11am. We were told the bar area was closed and we couldnt have anything except the full breakfast in the restaurant. The gentlemen turned out to be one of the managers and was very rude indeed. He could speak very little English and refused to even bring us a pot of tea. When I made a fuss in front of a few people he stormed off and came back with two dry pieces of bread with a piece of dry bacon on each slice. I complained to the manager at rception and he apologised and took it away. He then returned with the same bread and same bacon but now the bread had butter on and had been made into a sandwhich. By this time the bacon was cold and there was no brown sauce. The sausage one next arrived also stone cold with no mushrooms and no brown sauce. I had given up by this time as it had take 40 mins to get to this stage so just tried to eat it upon which found the bread was stale and tasted of mould. We just ate the bits of bacon and sausage and left.
To be fair when we returned the manager had placed a bottle of wine in our room with a note apologising for the situation but sadly it had left a bad taste in our mouths - literally!
Maybe we were just unlucky as I have heard good things about this hotel but can only speak from experience.
Photos
Bournemouth Pier
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