Brook Red Lion Hotel

Our family of 3 stayed for 1 night over the bank holiday weekend. The prices were extremely reasonable and our room had everything we needed. Some updating and repair needed in places but didn’t affect our stay at all. The building is beautiful with a bittersweet history. The staff were amazing and friendly and I couldn’t fault them. Breakfast had lots of options and was well received. The hotel is well situated for restaurants, shops and plenty more history to take in but can be noisy due to pubs/clubs etc in the high street. I found the history of the building very interesting and I was lucky enough to meet some of the reported spooky visitors. Room 7 has a dominant male presence who I hope to see more of when I return to this wonderful place of history.

I believe in supporting independent businesses, but this hotel beggars belief. i don't like hyperbole, but if the star rating had allow me to leave zero stars, I would have done so, and gladly. I wish I had noticed that reviews back as far as 2014 mention the lack of hot water, and the non-functional showers. That is STILL the case. I had no hot water AT ALL for the duration of my stay. The staff's weary resignation suggests that this is an ongoing problem. I bathed in about three inches of tepid-to-cold water, was unable to have a shave or wash my hair, and the best solution provided was for me to avail myself of the local sports centre showers. When I checked in, the surly staff member manning the desk told me that the booking site through which I'd booked had charged me considerably less than the room was worth, and that I should really be paying more for it: that takes some chutzpah for a room with no working shower (the water simply doesn't reach the showerhead), and no hot water. The room itself is OK: the bed is very average, the wifi works, and there's a kettle (though it cut out several times when boiling it). But please, as one traveler to another: AVOID THIS HOTEL. And, to the lady busily replying to all the comments on here: this is inexcusable. You may have a beautiful old building. I'm a beautiful old man, but I still manage to be fit-for-purpose for my job. This building (however beautiful and old) is NOT currently fit for purpose as a hotel, and you have been told that for at least a decade: please address the issues, or stop selling rooms that are not suitable. PLEASE.

this is fair and honest review based on our 1 night stay. |the room was very tired with dirty wall paper and holes. very dated. |the beds were clean and not to uncomfortable. the tiny tv was on the wall and had no remote. |the toilet seat was loose/broken. |the church bells were chimming from 7 am . |it's such a shame they haven't taken care of the rooms. the public areas have had new carpets at some time but the stairs case is dirty and thread bare. |there has been a dwelling or coaching house here for centuries. it needs to be loved more so that more people will love it to. |cost of room booked well in advance was £89.00 . |max i would pay would be £60 . |lots of stairs so not suitable for disabled wheelchair users. |dont think we will stay again. |we got the room by default as my daughter booked the wrong date. the manager made her cry and charged them £180.00 for on the day price instead of getting her to go on booking.com and changing it on there.

Returned from overnight stay. We wanted a haunted hotel for the night so wasn't expecting a luxury stay & had read mixed reviews beforehand. Facilities: We hoped to stay in hotel for dinner & drinks at restaurant & bar as stated but on arrival was told they don't do food other than breakfast due from too much competition in the area. We was disappointed that we had to go elsewhere to eat but thought we could have drinks when returned before doing ghost hunting. This was not happening either as bar was empty, no guests around or bar staff, no vibes just an empty dark room! Not a place to stay if you want anything more than a room. Check in: Had NO heating working or hot water on arrival ( was told it should be up & running shortly) only had a plug in radiator in room which we had on all night & was still cold! Didn't want to use shower as was too cold & couldn't get the hot water so if needed to get ready to go out this wouldn't be possible. Problem still on going when we left so the entire building is freezing cold! There are 2 parts to the building, Rooms 3- 10 apparently more spooky than other rooms so we were given Room 4 for this reason. Rooms: Very spooky, out dated, full of dust & cobwebs, cracks & broken walls etc. Can clearly see no work has been done for comfort. Was reluctant to get into bed as felt dirty & was obviously so cold! Smelt smoke throughout building Ghosts: We weren't lucky enough to witness any paranormal activity, walking about hotel is difficult at night as ALL floorboards creak so felt awkward & didn't want to disturb anyone, lights were on all night in hallways etc so didn't get the right vibes anyway. Building itself had character & felt creepy but noise from outside ( nightclubs opposite) & shouting from other guests ruined it anyway! Breakfast; Full English for choice as already paid before staying so had to at least try it. Good size but toast cold, food not warm enough for our liking. The only bonus was a good chat with the gent who served us about his ghost stories! All in all hugely disappointing & unless you are either drunk or only want to try & see ghosts, DONT stay here

Quite possibly the worst hotel I've stayed in. On the website everything looks lovely and a historical gem....reality quite different. |The building is old and full of history but the general up keep and facilities are awful. If you get offered room 1, refuse it!! This is the room with the bay window over looking the High Street. The windows are single glazed (I get that). Don't stay open (we propped open with a book). The bed had no mattress protector or topper.....however, it had lots of springs in the mattress that you could actually feel when trying to sleep.....you also rolled into the middle of the bed. I genuinely wanted to get a sleeping bag so I felt comfortable. Pillows were so thin that the duvet felt thicker and plumper. The fixtures were damaged, the lampshade had a hole in it, the towel had what looked like a blood stain on it and it was generally tired and unloved. |I asked for some ear plugs to dim the noise of the nightclub from across the road and the receptionist just looked confused.|Oh, don't arrive before check in (website says 2pm) we arrived at 2.51pm and was told that the room was not ready yet....come on, 9mins before 3pm and we were turned away!!!! |Breakfast was just as bad. Eggs over cooked (burned in places), cheapest sausages available and food heated by small gas lamps....not great. Second day, I thought I'd have safe option... cornflakes....I had to spit out as the milk was sour. Butter frozen a d bread for toast frozen too.|Honestly, the worst hotel experience ever and paid well over £130 per night ...NOT VALUE for money at all. Awful!!!

Great location, right in the centre of town.i didn't even know about the history of the hotel when I booked it (or the haunted stories). We were in room 2, right over the sign and main entrance. Bed was comfy and soft, all to be expected from a 600 year old hotel. expected it to be loud and noisy as it is on a main street, but right next to our room there was a common room of some sort, there were a group of people playing games, shouting and laughing and they didn't leave until midnight, so if you plan on sleeping, book a bedroom at the back of the hotel.

No door closers on any of the room doors so all you will hear all night is doors from guests slamming. PAPER thin walls. You will hear all of next doors activities with excellent clarity and volume. Staff were polite and helpful. Place was pretty clean. Usual hotel shower, flow rate is about 1 Ltr/hr. Have fun trying to get completely wet before one side of you dries. Toilet was at about a 12 degree angle. Is a novelty to use I guess. It's an extremely old building, mid 1400s interesting history so everything is at a wild angle like the wonky haunted house at the fair. Didn't see any ghosts or mysterious bumps in the night (except from the previously noted bumpings 😉) but met some ghost hunters. Would I stay again? Yes. but with some decent noise cancelling headphones and a bucket with some holes so i could take a decent shower.

Do not book this hotel, if you can call it that. Although, this is located in the ideal place. The room and service are not fit for purpose. The room they gave us was more like a squat and the conditions inside the room were a health risk to myself, wife and daughter. Definitely not what was advertised. The beds were just awful, old and filthy. The room itself was shocking. But the temperature of the room was unbearable and dangerous. Couldn’t even breathe properly I immediately went back to the reception to ask for a swap. Explained my concerns. To which they replied it can’t be done. To put it finely, they couldn’t be bothered. We booked the premier in straight away and left. If I could give it zero stars I would have.