Wessex Hotel

Very tatty, scruffy looking hotel. The reception staff were rude, curt, unhelpful, unfriendly, and unprofessional. The decor inside was tatty. The lift was very noisy, rattling and juddering. The room door frame was loose, cold see through the gaps, the lock didn’t work, inside was very tatty. The room was too hot, the radiator would not turn off because the TRV was faulty. We told the manager, he couldn’t care less, he said that the heating was off a time switch and nothing could be done, so I got my multitool with pliers and turned the thing off myself. No choice off tables for dinner, no choice of times. We were on a Majestic coach trip to longleat, never again, The manager told us we arrived together we eat together! It was a free for all to get a table. Two coach tours in dining room, three waiters, took 30 mins to take order, an hour to get starters, two and a half hours to get served, didn’t wait for coffee. Food was utter crap. Same story at breakfast, tiny portions of burnt dried out crap. Complained to majestic via a review request that they sent me, didn’t get any response, sent them an email voicing my complaints, but no response. Majestic tours are a very poor company using inferior hotels. Will never use them again.

We had the misfortune of staying at the truly awful Wessex Hotel as part of a coach tour (Festival of Lights) with Majestic Coach Tours. My suspicion is that Majestic optimise their profits by paying peanuts to use substandard hotels. I guess it’s the only way that the Wessex can fill their rooms, as nobody in their right mind would choose to stay here. We stayed in room 107. Upon opening the door we were greeted with a pungent musty smell. We deduced that the smell was a combination of a rotting window frame, damp peeling wallpaper, filthy carpet and dust. We also couldn’t miss the mouldy black bathroom sealant and rusty taps. I (foolishly) attempted to make a cup of tea but it was undrinkable due to all the floating limescale from the filthy/dusty kettle. My son attempted to have a shower and called me in upset, saying that the shower hurt! The shower head only provided a few needle like jets of water, which we were unable to adjust. It was also impossible to regulate the temperature. We then tried the TV, noting that someone had thoughtfully trailed the aerial lead across the window and secured it to the glass with silver tape, this still only achieved 2 channels though. We then tried to connect our iPad and phone to the hotel WiFi, this was incredibly weak and we had to stand in the corridor outside our room for connection. Next came dinner - brace yourself! Upon our table sat a grubby jug of water and 4 smeared glasses. Staff began serving ‘vegetable soup’ the smell of which made us feel slightly nauseous. We had a vegetable pasta, which was both crunchy and soggy and contained unidentifiable vegetables. We were also given a tray of undercooked cauliflower in a watery cheese sauce, a lump of mashed potato and school dinner style slices of cabbage. The staff kindly made our children chicken nuggets but they only ate a few mouthfuls, saying it tasted like fish. Finally the apple crumble arrived, this seemed to have lost its crumble and the apple was coated in such a thick layer of cinnamon that my son actually spat it out coughing! Given the lack of hygiene and astonishingly poor quality food, we decided to avoid any further experience of hotel catering. The only positive I can draw is that the staff were friendly, we felt sorry for them working here. Naturally the Wessex hotel did not request any feedback. I have emailed feedback to Majestic who have shown no interest in replying. Huge pity that Majestic treat their customers like this. The actual coach trip was good and we loved Longleat Festival of Lights. However I can’t more strongly advise you to stay away from this hotel. The best part of it is leaving!

Hotel very tired. Lift very shaky. Metal windows & no double glazing making our room cold & noisy. Also I was very concerned about health & safety as no locks on windows & a child or elderly person could easily fall out & 2 floors up!!! The food was awful & we did complain at the time. I asked the waitress to ask the chef to attempt to eat a roast potato as they were like stones & cold. Breakfasts were below average, bacon undercooked & extremely long wait for food. Our bathroom radiator leaked to the point of flooding which we had to use towels to mop up. They did not fix After our complaint they just turned it off!! Al on all not a pleasant stay.

The room was very large and recently decorated, with a new carpet. Everything was clean and tidy and the room was warm. Two comfy chairs to sit and relax and watch tv, tv had all the usual channels. Tea, coffee, basic shower gel/shampoo was provided, plus an iron and ironing board and hairdryer. The window was huge, but unfortunately, due to the hotel being in a residential area, there was a feeling that you could be overlooked, so we kept the curtains closed. Some net curtains (which I generally dislike) could have provided a little privacy and allowed the daylight in even in gloomy November. The toilet was separate from the bathroom, not something you see very often, and a nice touch was the double sided shaving (make up) mirror in the bathroom. Once you get the temperature right, the overhead shower is nice and powerful. The only noise we heard was the window rattling in the wind, but if we weren't in the middle of Storm Bert then we probably wouldn't have noticed this! Other than this it was a very peaceful stay. We were at the back of the hotel so we didn't hear any traffic noise. The corridors look like they are in the process of being smartened up, we didn't use the bar or restaurant and the staff that we spoke to were courteous, as you would expect. The location is perfect for walking into Street, visiting Clarks Shopping Village and Glastonbury. There are lots of eating and shopping opportunities and we would definitely stay again.

Perfect location for all emenities, but, At £166 a night for a family room with No breakfast included the word pretentious comes to mind. Why? Ok, at 12.15am the fire alarm sounds momentarily waking everybody up swiftly followed by a man shouting 'Sorry'. The lift feels like a vibrating platform..a bit disconcerting but reliably informed by a chap in the lobby ' you'll get used to it' I can honestly say I wont be here long enough for that to be the case. The TV is a beauty of early 2000s technology, but I seem to remember we had remotes back then..not here. I love the retro vibe of a springy mattress, in reality for £166 a night ( remember no breakfast ) I had hoped for something a bit more comfortable. In short if you have deep pockets and low expectation this is the hotel for you.

I can only assume this hotel only continues to trade because of its dance floor which is excellent. The dinners are absolutely awful, overcooked, tasteless and inedible. Many of our party decided to eat out rather than have the food they already paid for or opt for a salad which were fine. The fruit salad was not fresh fruit and in a strange maroon coloured syrup. The soup was watery. Complaints were made but no improvement was forthcoming. The staff were overworked and didn’t appear to have had any training, being served at breakfast was a bit hit and miss. The bar closed just after 10:00 even though our dance was still going, they did keep it open a bit longer the next night after complaints, they also ran out of some bottled beers. The rooms were fine as was housekeeping. The hotel is in a good position. The management needs to take complaints on board as this was the same problem as last year and obviously lessons have not been learned.