Ely Guest House - Ely

philpyn2

Book this place at your peril. We had loud music playing at 11-35pm, which turned out to be the manager who was playing it.After complaining at 11-55pm the music stopped but this was followed by persons shouting, swearing and constant talking very very loudly all night long until it was nearly daylight. Along with this there was constant slamming of doors, knocking on doors footsteps along the corridor and up and down stairs. Needless to say we had no sleep whatsoever. The reception area, |lounge and staircase had a strong smell of cannabis. The manager was apparently unaware of the noise, although I suspect it was from his friends as he was the one playing the music. When we complained as we checked out all he said was that some hotels play music and have nightclubs, this advertised neither. He also made up a lame excuse for the music saying he had been away for a few days, no consideration for any guests on his part. I have also complained to Booking.com, who advised they would investigate, but then came back with no satisfactory response, especially as I had requested a full refund, maybe they both deserve each other. Once again give this place a wide berth.

Marina D.

So my work booked here very last minute. On entering the smell of food and garlic was intense. Probably because it's next door to a Thai restaurant owned by the same people. .Very noisey due to a little girl playing the piano in the hall and noise from the road. Shared bathroom that had long black hairs in the sink. 1 towel. That has hairs in it. Asked for more coffee and milk. NOPE NOT HAPPENING. room prepared for 1 night so 1 drink only. I'm still in the room as I'm writing this review and I'm on a 12hr shift tomorrow. Then a 3hr drive home. I'm not expecting a good night sleep. But if I feel things improve I will adjust this review as appropriate. Oh forgot to say. I asked for a receipt. Very small piece of paper with just my first name on. Date price paid.which is £60 and no VAT number. Cash only folks.

Lisa B.

The location of this guest house is its’ one and only selling point!!|We were met at the door by a very pleasant Thai lady, at a prearranged time. We had to pay £100 in cash, and then she took us to our room.|We booked a twin room, with en-suite. The room was relatively clean, but very dark - only one of the lights worked. There were tea/coffee facilities, but unfortunately, the kettle didn’t fit under the tap in the basin, so we had to use the tiny tea cups to fill it.|The beds were comfy enough, but only one pillow on each. The room was very hot during the night, but there was a fan available.|The en-suite was very small, but adequate. It did the job. Towels and soap were provided.|There was a tv in the room, with all the usual free view channels.

Michael C.

Don't be fooled by the name guest house . It is nothing but a glorified bunk house , carpet on the staircase falling to bits ,room dark , gloomy , dusty and dirty .Price a complete rip off do not stay here . Two good points ,the host offered us an early check in to escape the rain and close to the town and cathedral .

Harry M.

Dirty rooms, collect the keys from what looks like a takeaway. Stayed one night in the first room they put me in, dirty. Off white sheets (grey) it was a loft room, ceiling was so low you could not sit up in the bed. Hall outside my room had dirty old mattress against the wall. Moved me to another room for next night. Got told that I was not allowed to speak to the person in the next room in the corridor?! Do not stay here 🤢 stayed at many b&b’s and hotels and my first review, by far the worst place I’ve stayed.

Peter

Twin bed Room, had half a shower curtain rail insecurely fixed behind the door (that's all the hanging space you get) and it wouldn't safety hold more than 2 suit's (imo). and 1 bedside cabinet to hold any other cloths.

Dimly lit by 1 center light bulb, and 2 dim uplighters (1 of which didn't work).

1 mattress was so thin/soft that when sat on compressed to the bed frame, the other a little firmer and deeper, bedding was less than one would expect from the cheapest of the cheapest (even Asda doesn't sell this low a quality) in fact I don't know where you could possibly buy bedding this cheap.

There is a wall mounted fairy liquid soap dispenser attached to the wall of the shower cubical (nothing else provided) the light over the workout mirror didn't work (there was a loose bare wire above the shelf where it was attached) there was Toilet roll and 2 clean looking bath towels, also a rather rough and worn bath mat, a bag fitted into a basket by the side of the toilet.

Good point, the shower was hot and powerful, though it could not be angled downward enough at full height for me at 5'8". a larger person may have issues maneuvering in and around the shower to the toilet ....well getting through the door and into the shower as well I suppose. To be fair, I am 13st so you would have to be big to have a real issue....just warning any more well proportioned person.

A kettle and coffee/tea sachets were provided, however, there is No way to fill the kettle with water so take your own water if you do dare to visit.

Parking, nearest carpark free Sunday and between 6pm and 8am otherwise only 2 hrs stay.

Vivienne

Positive: Obviously location is its chief selling point. Communication with the host (friendly) was good and prompt. Bathroom was clean. Bed mattress was comfortable. Room looked cosy, probably warm in winter.. Negative: An ageing property. One item of furniture badly marked - large dents or scrapes. Wall next to bed marked, One curtain very stained in places as though someone had thrown a cup of coffee up it! A few dead bugs and bits of spiders' webs on outside window cill. The bag in the waste bin showed signs of use by the previous incumbent. Only dried milk for drinks. Walls a bit thin between rooms but proved ok in the end. Could hear chiming of clock from cathedral on the 1/4 hr. Luckily I take ear plugs with me everywhere. Hot in room - just slept under duvet cover, but when I removed it the contents looked old and worn. There was a fan but can't sleep with noisy fan all night. (It did help until bed time). It was not mentioned online that this was a single room with shared bathroom arrangement. Think this should have been made clear. Had to go down and up two flights of (6) stairs in the night several times. Only one pillow. There was a cushion but I don't trust cushions (in any hotel), especially at the moment. (I can't imagine that hotels regularly wash cushion covers?) I am a two-pillow person. Not sure the host was in residence. Needs a makeover..

Blen C.

You have to ring the bell to gain entry and a member of staff meets you at the door. ||||Once booking name is confirmed, money is demanded. CASH ONLY. No receipt is given. I wonder why?||||No welcome introduction, no maps or general advice about the area.||||The twin en suite room that we got was NOTHING like the pictures posted on the booking site. The room was dark looking, brown furniture everywhere, a dim switch that served no purpose to light the room, bathroom looked grimy and stunk of cigarette smoke.||||The mattress was uncomfortable and the towels were thin and threadbare.||||Not sure where they buy their toilet paper, it was thin and see through and tore off in your hand as you rolled it out.||||No covid rules and no cleaning gels anywhere.||||WIFI is chargeable at £3 per hour. ||||The entire place was dire and did not represent value for money when we later found places locally to be cheaper. ||||We were only staying for one night and were happy to leave. In the morning we asked if we could leave our luggage until our return train. The lady said that we couldn’t leave it as she has to take her baby to the doctor, we asked her arrival time as we could wait, she said she will be out all day as she has to go to Cambridge. We asked if we could leave it in the room that we had just vacated. She said that it wasn’t possible as she had to go to the dentist and not coming back and the cleaner will lock up everywhere. It dawned on us that she was making excuses as she started to double up in discomfort at having to continue the dialogue. ||||We were both surprised, having travelled the globe and stayed everywhere from basic B&B’s, youth hostels and deluxe hotels, I had never come across a place where you spent money (in our case £109 for one night) and they refused to have somewhere free for customers to leave their luggage, even if they did so at their own risk. We bid her farewell and left, dragging our luggage to Ely Cathedral for Sunday Service and later having a local person have pity on us and agreeing to keep our bags safe. We were overwhelmed at their generosity.||||Honestly, do yourself a favour and try the pub across the road that doubles up as a hotel. Our trip was very short notice and we booked Ely GH the day before, but we were disappointed to find that double rooms are priced way cheaper at the Pub and they also do a fantastic Sunday roast. I always read reviews before booking but let my guard down here, never again. It was probably one of the worse places I have ever stayed in my life and I’m not young.||||BTW, I gave £110, where is my change?