Ironbridge - Best Western Valley Hotel
Buildwas Rd, Ironbridge, Coalbrookdale, Telford TF8 7DW
April 2022
Viv and I had a four-night stay in Ironbridge last week; rather than risk the chance of choosing an eccentric or noisy pub, we opted to go for a hotel, and the only one in the village is the Best Western Valley Hotel.
Arriving there by taxi was almost thrilling, approaching the village down the steep roads down the valley side seemed to take us away from the modern world, into a place more interesting, historical and scenic. The hotel itself though was not terribly welcoming. The approach to the reception door was down some very steep steps; fortunately a handrail was provided, and needed - we both used it every time we came and went.
On the window of the door there was a sign formed of adhesive lettering requesting, or advising, guests to wear a face mask in all hotel public areas. I’m not of the view that face masks should be banned - if people are nervous they are free to wear whatever they like - but it is now surely well known that good ventilation and cleanliness are key to reducing the spread of covid, and the consequences of being infected are, in any event, relatively minor for even the quite elderly unless they have other illnesses. A sign up asking me to wear a face mask is, to me, akin to a bouncer eyeing me up on entry and saying something like ‘I don’t like the way you look’: it's the very opposite of what I expect from a hotel, it’s not welcoming.
Reception - and restaurant staff at The Valley were wearing masks in public places, but I felt sorry for them. They no doubt realised the pointlessness of it, and how a hotel full of people with covered faces is not a place that many people feel they can relax.
***
The reception area was rather dated, dark furnishings and decor, so it was no surprise when, after climbing the rather curious staircase to find our room that we opened the door to see a spacious, but very 1980s, hotel room. Unfortunately, not only was the style rather of that era, some of the furnishings may well have been that old. The mattress was at least clean, and looked quite new, but after a night's sleep on it I decided it was the thinnest I have slept on since a zed-bed many years ago. The pillows were shot to bits, resting your head on one resulted in the filling moving away from the underside of your head, leaving it resting solely on the mattress.
The carpet was aged but clean, ditto the curtains (which could have come from a vintage shop) and pelmet (yuk). The shades on the lamps either side of the bed did not match. There was, however, and much to my surprise, a small balcony with a pair of outdoor chairs and a table, accessible from a door that opened easily; unfortunately the security chain on this was broken, I had to be careful to make sure it was locked whenever we left the room. The balcony itself was adequate, although sitting out there and looking back at the room you didn’t have to try hard to see the inadequate state of the exterior paintwork of the building.
A check around revealed all the basics were there - two (rather small) chairs, a proper wardrobe (with doors) and drawers (no panicking about what the cleaners will think of my underwear), full length mirror, TV (strangely, hiding in the corner of the room where the drawn curtains would obscure the margin of the screen), power points close to the bed head, a great digital clock that even I, with my -4.5 eyesight, could see in the dark, hospitality tray (including mineral water and glasses), hairdryer, and, in the ensuite, a shaver socket. There was even a phone on one side of the bed, it's ages since I stayed in a hotel room with a phone, very 1980s! I was surprised that there was no information folder, and hence no way of contemplating dinner in the restaurant other than enquiring about the menu at reception. In the ensuite all was clean, and, as we later found, the over bath shower was powerful, and hot water plentiful, but the controls were not easy to use - something that should have been communicated in an information folder. There was, though, some poor finishing, especially around the shower screen, seemingly half a tube of silicone having been dolloped around it to stop leaks.
I mentioned the cleaners, a big plus was that the rooms were serviced daily: there was none of the ’we’re not servicing rooms to avoid spreading covid’ nonsense that some hotels have inflicted upon the paying public in recent times. (Many of the paying public were all too aware it was just a way to cut back on staff, and nothing to do with covid).
One expectation for many guests that wouldn’t be met was wi-fi. There didn’t seem to be any public wi-fi in the hotel at all. We did have an opening window (as well as the balcony door), but somehow a builder had messed it up though, it didn’t open very much because it bashed against the rail around the balcony! Phone signal was ok, marginally better on the balcony.
Lighting in the room was largely by means of fluorescent bulbs: it was adequate, only just. There was no light over either mirror in the bedroom, and only one - on the left - for the bathroom mirror. I’m not sure if I shaved the right side of my face properly at all during my stay, but no-one said anything: perhaps it's a tradition at The Valley, that all male residents should grow right-side-only beards during their stay.
The ensuite had been designed, or fitted out, by someone who doesn’t wash their face very often, for there was an awkward shelf fitted just above the basin. It was big enough to get in the way when washing, but not big enough to take the washbag of a couple staying away from home for a few nights. The washbag had to stay in the bedroom.
One major omission in the ensuite was a handrail (or perhaps two) to hold on to while getting into the bath to use the over-bath shower: I wouldn’t be surprised to hear of guests grabbing the flimsy towel rail instead, and this giving way, perhaps resulting in injury. Another disappointment was the standard of loo roll provided: soft loo roll should surely be provided in anything above a basic hotel, and that supplied was more than a little on the rough side.
I do wonder whether we were the first guests to stay in the room for a while: at the start of our stay the bath drained very slowly, but it freed up after we had had a couple of showers. This should have been picked up by the cleaners, for a slow draining bath or shower tray in a hotel is a potential cause of much damage and inconvenience if a guest should forget they’ve left the taps running.
I was a little surprised to be given just one card key for our room, but, unlike many hotels, there would have been no need for a second unless we both wanted to go out, separately (which we didn’t): the lighting in the room was not controlled by a card. Heating was reliable, of the underfloor variety, controlled by a proper thermostat like the one I’m used to at home. No aircon or fan was running through the night while we slept, if there is one good thing about 1980s hotel room design the heating and ventilation must be it! Also, I was rather surprised to find that there was no Gideon Bible; some hosts don’t approve, but I’ve never understood why, for a bible can give reassurance to those who might feel a little troubled away from home.
***
When lying in bed with the TV on a few more shortcomings became apparent. As well as the actual position of the TV relative to the curtains, the remote seemed to operate in a very strange fashion. I had to press the buttons very hard to get it to work at all, and, on multiple occasions, I had to get out of bed and go to the screen to select channels from the channel menu rather than just enter the channel number. For some reason that did not work very well. Further, channels were assigned to different channel numbers on the TV than (I thought) the Freeview standard was. Again, an in-room information folder might have explained the vagaries of the television. For all that, the picture was always good, and the volume could be turned up to be suitably audible at all times; I am not sure if those in adjoining rooms might have heard it, but we never heard theirs. Indeed, sound from passageways or other rooms was minimal; the only disturbance we experienced was a (presumed) staff member’s motorcycle arriving in the car park at six a.m. every day, and a delivery van that seemed to come every morning well before 4. (There was a sign on the front door advising delivery drivers to go round the back; surely it would have made sense to have night time deliveries at the front door, away from most of the bedrooms. This was a good, but not the only, example of the sort of idiosyncrasy that I had expected at a Best Western hotel.)
Another problem that became apparent lying in bed - as well as the poor quality mattress and dreadful pillows - was that the bed was, I think, rather short. It was certainly no bigger than a standard double; I’m five foot ten and my feet reached the bottom. Again, Premier Inn provides large beds, and the management at The Valley Hotel should learn from them - the room was plenty big enough for a king size. In fact, there was something curious about the bed: the divan base was in two halves, and divided crosswise halfway down; the connection between the two halves was not sound, there being a two inch gap between them. This also meant there was two inches of divan at the foot of the bed with no mattress.
There was also a huge expanse of space on the wall, where the modest flat screen TV could have been fitted high and centrally, yet it was hidden off to one side. I suspect the owners were only prepared to pay a minimal amount to the sparks who fitted the screen, so he kept the cable runs as short as possible - surely a false economy.
The view from our room window, or balcony, was rather marred by being overlooked by some modern houses, perhaps affordable housing, that had clearly been built in what was once part of the land belonging to the hotel. These neighbours there weren't terribly noisy, but the houses did somewhat spoil a view of what I had expected to be scenic grounds. (I did also notice that, on the footpath beside the road to the east of the hotel entrance, masses of ivy growing from land seemingly enclosed by these properties, clearly not being controlled or managed by anyone. This may have even been a responsibility of the hotel, and partially blocked footpaths outside a hotel do not a good image make.)
***
Not being people who like hotel breakfasts - all that politeness around the buffet and keeping a nervous eye on ‘your’ slice of toast going round in the toaster - Viv and I opted to breakfast elsewhere. The first morning we grabbed croissants and coffee at the Co-op - cheap, but basic, with a coffee machine that didn’t want to do a hot chocolate for caffeine-nervous me; on the other mornings we ate at Darby’s, a cafe by the iron bridge that opened at 8 (more or less). Darby’s was pricier than I had expected but still cheaper, for what we wanted, than the hotel would have been, at £10 for a continental and £14 for a cooked.
We did eat one meal, a dinner, in the hotel restaurant, and, generally, we were impressed - although the prices were not at the budget end of the market (£25 for a steak). The waiting staff were very keen but some clearly lacked experience; the food was generally satisfactory, although my rare steak was somewhat lacking in pinkness. Like many hospitality venues the management is, I suspect, operating with a new team in both kitchen and restaurant, which will give rise to minor issues. I saw the staff working hard and didn’t have the heart to send back my steak, although, pre-covid, I probably would have done.
***
Unlike Premier Inn, Best Western is a franchise: branded hotels will be individual, and guests may actually like this. However, I do think that, for rates well in excess of what you’d pay at a PI, guests are entitled to expect the basic comforts if not more, and bed, pillows and mattress to be at least up to the PI standard. The Valley Hotel would have worked out around £120 a night for two B&B (£95 a night room only), and there’s no excuse for a thin mattress and knackered pillows at that price. They do indeed offer ‘superior’ rooms, perhaps with better beds, but a comfortable night’s sleep bed is surely a basic expectation, not an extra for those willing to pay perhaps £20 more.
The Valley Hotel is in a good location, just ten minutes walk from Ironbridge centre and in something of a monopoly position, for there is no other large hotel in Ironbridge. It does have a lovely location, good restaurant and keen - if perhaps inexperienced - staff, but for me a decent bed is a must. In the unlikely event that I am ever in Ironbridge again I shall not look forward to sleeping on that sort of bed again, and will require significant reassurance regarding room standards to stay at The Valley Hotel.
