Royal hotel - Sutton Coldfield Midlands UK

My bedroom

Usually, when you hear “Royal” about a hotel it suggests that the hotel has a certain standard so its name would not stand for a lie.

In the case of this “Royal” Hotel, the qualificatif is definitely a lie.

The hotel is situated on the High Street and not too far from the main shopping area of Sutton Coldfield.  This small hilly side of High Street wasn’t the most welcoming and the hotel didn’t seem that Royal from this side. The entrance from here opens in the bar with at its right side, the check-in desk.

It just happen that we were also having an event in the hotel that day and when I asked to be led to the meeting room, I was taken through the staff walk-through which, was strewn with broken planks, dust, plaster and few other rubbish that indicated that there may have been some construction work going on. That did not fill me with confidence. Seeing my meeting room did not make things better. The only great thing about this room was the 3 beautiful chandeliers hanging on the ceiling. The latter told that this meeting room had had better days…

After the event our team was staying overnight and the first impression didn’t improve. My room, though it was decently decorated with a large comfortable bed, had a shredded & threading cushion and that was distracting. It was clear that the cushion needed replacing but, that hotel could not be bothered… I think. The access to the accommodation was not the easiest as there were way too many sets of stairs and a disabled person would have had serious difficulties reaching the rooms as none were situated on the ground floor.

Having finished late, all we wanted to eat was a salad & chips (French fries) accompanied with a glass of wine…. It took the hotel staff 45 minutes to serve 2 people. The salad wasn’t the most appetising and it seems our chips had been fried in a very old oil by the odour… Goes without saying that I was most suspicious of my salad and preferred to stick with the chip… They were not going to give me a runny tommy…

Looking around us, there were not many diners or drinkers for that matter… an indication perhaps of the “success” of this hotel-venue-pub-gym?

The Royal hotel wants to do too much on this dead side of town, but must focus on one or two things and get better staff… That might secure repeat business from visitors… Focus guys, focus!

I won’t be coming back though…

To you my reader, please do not take my word for it. This is my experience, yours might be better.

Ciao! See you next time!