Lovely Hotel
by TripAdvisor Member Alun4475
Just got back from a short break at the Grand Harbour and was really impressed. The deluxe room was extremely well specced and comfortable and had a nice view over the harbour and river. The staff were all really friendly without the snobbiness of some other 5 star hotels. My only gripe would be that, although there are four restaurants, there didn't seem to be one which served lighter meals, but the room service menu was good anyway. Try the afternoon tea but have one between two people!
Terrific Staff
by TripAdvisor Member marcruse
I have stayed in hotels all over England and this is by far the best I have stayed in for years. All the staff we met from maids to waiting staff were exceptionaly pleasant. The head barman even bought us a drink because the computer had broken down! Excellent restaurants. An all round winner.
Very Good (almost excellent)
by A TripAdvisor Member
Paid through the nose for a Deluxe Waterfront room during the boat show but it was worth it.
Room was nicely sized, and although next to a fairly busy road once the window was closed it was very quiet (something you can't say about a lot of hotels (what is it with double glazed windows that don't close properly at hotels?))
Nice firm bed that was a pleasure to sleep on.
Room service was excellent, though the Grand Harbour Burger almost killed us as it was that big!
Great location for the harbour and the west quays shopping centre, just a couple of minutes walk away.
Loses a blob for having no air conditioning in the room (not really a problem in September but I wonder how hot it would be in Summer). Not sure if other rooms have aircon.
Staff are excellent and exceeded my expectations of a 5 star.
Breakfast was lovely. Its a buffet but they will serve you at your table if you ask.
I wouldn't have thought anyone would be dissapointed in this hotel (lack of aircon in the summer would be my only concern) especially given the seemingly very good room price deals available (at least at any time other than the boat show!).
Phew no AC
by TripAdvisor Member wingate
I had the misfortune to stay in this hotel during a very hot weekend.This is a fairly new hotel which claims 5 stars but has no air conditioning in the rooms.I cannot understand the logic in that.We had to wedge the balcony door open to get what little breeze there was going.The building is ugly to look at,and does not fit in with its surroundings.The a la carte menu was dull and expensive.We only ate breakfast which was acceptable.I have given it only one star because i believe that a 5 star hotel should be an experience to look forward too rather than a place to escape from.
Not worth 5 Stars
by A TripAdvisor Member
I was looking forward to my stay at a premier hotel, but was disppointed, especially having paid for a deluxe room.
The bathroom was so small you had to close the door to make use of the floor space or you would end up banging your elbows, the bath was the size you would expect in an overnight motel. There was limescale on the fittings, around the plugholes and bits of the tiling were missing.
It was also disappointing to find holes in the blankets and cigarette ends on the balcony of a non-smoking room and a fridge that smelt of stale milk.
Never again.
not worth 5 star rating
by TripAdvisor Member liniloo
Recently stayed at this hotel and was very disappointed. Decor and staff are very good but did not expect to find a portable fan in the room as only form of a/c. (spent a very uncomfortable night, glad it was`nt mid summer!). We ordered a fillet and t-bone steak in the restaurant and could not believe how tiny they were; although after complaining we did receive free desserts. Will find a different hotel next time we stay in Southampton!
treated like royalty
by A TripAdvisor Member
me and my finace stayed at the devere in southampton for her 20th birthday. when we arrived we were greated by very freindly door and reception staff who couldn't do enough for us. the room was a little old fashioned but cosey and to our suprise (as it was only a basic room) we had a balcony overlooking the river. the gym and swimming pool where great and there beauty treatments are fantastic. For an extra few pounds you can even get your breakfast in bed!!! overall a fantastic hotel with fantastic staff!!!!!
Great Hotel, bit hot though!
by TripAdvisor Member SJE1000
Stayed for one night in a standard room during October 2005. The room itself was excellent, the decor and furniture was in very good condition and the size was adequate. The bathroom had a separate shower cubicle as well as a bath and was again in good condition and very clean. My only complaint was that the room was very hot and as other reviewers have mentioned, there isn't any air con. The room did have a fan, but this didn't really help much.
We ate in the restaurant, which is called 5. The meal was very good, and the service excellent. Breakfast was served in the same restaurant and again the quality and choice of breakfast items was very good.
The location is ideal, its very close to the waterfront and within walking distance to the shopping area.
Overall, I would recommend this hotel, and wouldn't hesitate in staying there again.
5 star prices, not quite 5 star quality
by TripAdvisor Member PaulF_7
I took my wife to this hotel for a birthday treat and no matter what, we were going to have a good weekend. We weren't too sure what to expect from the Grand Harbour, bearing in mind the somewhat mixed reviews that we read beforehand.
On the good side, the service levels were unexpectedly high from our experience. Reception staff were very helpful, one of them even went out of their way to book us on the Isle of Wight ferry, no hesitation at all. Restaurant staff were also very freindly and went out of their way as well, to make us feel relaxed. All in all, well done to all of the staff.
From the point of view of food generally, breakfast was a treat, with just about anything available. Cooked breakfast was particularly good, but if you didn't want that, there were plenty of other things to choose from.
For our evening meals, we tried Number 5 restaurant on the first night and the more upmarket Allertons the next. Meal choice was a little restrictive, but overall the quality was excellent. Our DBB package allowed £28.50 per person, per night towards the evening meal, and anything over that was paid by ourselves as an extra. A bottle of wine started at just over £20.00, but this seemed to be in line with Hilton/Marriott hotels, so no problem there either.
We stayed in a deluxe king waterfront room, which cost £162.00 per night (for the room) on a DBB basis, so even this wasn't bad. The room however, seemed to be a little smaller than we had hoped and the bathroom, well this was smaller than the one we have at home and that isn't massive! It's true to say that with the bathroom door open (inwards) you can't really move around very well. You have to shut the door first.
Bar prices initially took us by surprise at £10.00 for one white wine spritzer and a gin and tonic. But when we thought about it a bit more, even these prices weren't that bad when compared to other 4 star hotels. Too used to staying away on business where the company pays for everything. Things look different when you have to fork out hard earned cash yourself!!!
In summary then, we had a good weekend, although there was one thing that we feel let the hotel down and that relates to housekeeping/general cleanliness.
Our bathroom suffered from a number of things, such as bath towels that had large paint/dirty marks on them, which although changed immediately upon complaint, shouldn't have been like that in the first place. Bathroom also showed signs of limescale around the basin taps and in one of the tumbler glasses, mold in the bath edge sealant and on the bottom of the shower curtain.
Dusting seems to be an exercise rarely done, as this was found on surfaces in our room and in the public areas. The modem in our room was covered in dust to the point where my wife scribbled a large 'C' shape on the top of it. The next day this had been cleaned off, but even then, not all of the dust was removed. Somewhat slap happy.
When we went down for breakfast on our second day, there was detritus on the carpet, on the wooden side sections of the seats and dust on the shelves by the window, just over the radiators. Sorry to go on about cleanliness, but you just don't expect this from a 5 star hotel and people get funny about such things! This in our opinion, lets the hotel down and they should make more of an effort.
Previous reviews have made mention of the rooms and lack of air conditioning. It's true there is no aircon, just a tall pedestal fan, which in our case had the switch knob missing, so we couldn't use it very well anyway. The rooms can get a little too hot, so we opened the balcony door and propped it open to let some cool November air inside.
Having said all of that, we would stay there again, at a time when hopefully all the little issues referred too have been sorted out. So, even though it is classified as a 5 star hotel, we can only give it 4 stars!!
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