ABode Canterbury Hotel

, Canterbury, United Kingdom
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ABode Canterbury Hotel

4 star

Rooms: 46

30-33 High Street - Canterbury - England - CT1 2RX - United Kingdom Hotel Website | | 44 01227766266
268 Traveller

Reviews - ABode Canterbury Hotel

Historical Traveller Reviews of ABode Canterbury Hotel

Dismal unorganised service

from AlisonSteward
From the actual booking to the actual departure it was absolutely awful - and that was in the so called Absolutely Fabulous room at £340 a night. The general service in the restaurant a definite no go, a better weekend could be had at the Petersham Hotel in Richmond, same price excellent food excellent service. All staff it appears at the Abode are totally inadequately trained and the pomp and so called professionalism is a mirage.

Dont stay here

from nickmun
Stayed 16th Feb as a valentine treat. Rung hotel to ask where car park is only to be told it was full, had to park in a pay and display 1/2 mile away and trudge through Canterbury with cases. Road works right outside hotel. When complained to staff was told they had to park even further away, bet they dont pay £154.00 a night to stay there. There is also a £5.00 charge for their car park. Restaurant fully booked, couldnt eat there. Waited 5 minutes to be seated for breakfast, wasn't acknowledged by anyone. Waited 20 minutes for the tea and toast, waited further 25 minutes for breakfast which consisted 1 sausage, 1/2 mushroon, 1/2 tomato, tiny bit of bacon, bit of omlette and 20 beans. Was late getting back to car to top up pay and display meter, lucky didnt get a ticket. When checking out, a £129.00 room suddenly became £154.00 because was charged extra for breakfast at £13.00 per person, which is most definately not made clear,Staff were untrained, disorganised and unhelpful. A total sham. Rooms ok. Writing letter of complaint to hotel.

Geat Restaurant - Minimilist rooms

from jbambridge
Incredible food in the restaurant from the a la carts menu. Difficult to find as main entrance is in the pedestrian precinct. Staff very welcoming, great directions from the concierge who guided me in by phone. Better than any satnav system.

Rooms stylish but very minimalist. Heating a bit hit or miss. One room was OK, the other room had to be switched as blower system didnt work.

Worth it all for the food and a great location in the centre of the old town.

Would Not Recommend

from kagriff4
Really disappointed with the room. The view from the window overlooked the adjacent property roof. Couldn't even see the sky! The heating was manual and therefore in the morning we froze until one of us got up and turned it on. The lighting was insufficient..mood lighting yes but not able to get ready to go out or to read in. This minimalist look is ok but not when there is not a surface in the room that is usable space. No surfaces in the bathroom to place toiletries etc., either.
After a day out we returned to our room to shower and to get ready to go out again. Bed still unmade from the morning, dirty towels in the bathroom and dirty cups on the side. Upon speaking to reception they replied it had been overlooked!
Then to add insult to injury we had to pay on top of the £110 per night an additional charge of £5 per 24 hours to park in the hotel carpark and breakfast was an additional sum of £43 for 2 people for 2 nights stay. Will not be returning to this hotel.

room

from jomajo
We stayed here for two nights over a weekend in January 2007 for my husband's birthday.

We booked the hotel at short notice, having already had a reservation at the Swallow Falstaff but deciding to change hotels after reading some poor reviews on that hotel and getting a recommendation for this one. We are glad that we did.

We paid £155 a night for an "Enviable" room (which is basically a junior suite) with breakfast, booking directly with the hotel.

The comments in this review are based on an "Enviable" room as we didn't experience any of the others on offer.

We brought our 10 month old baby with us on the stay and booked a cot. Although when we checked into the room the cot was not there, upon reporting this to reception a cot and linen arrived within about 2 minutes.

The room was sufficiently large that the presence of the cot hardly made any difference at all. It was very spacious, light and airy. The bed was absolutely enormous, which was a wonderful treat for two tired parents! The bathroom area was similary large and attractive; the back-lighting on the roll-top bath was a nice touch. The shower was large and clean, although it would have been nice if the water pressure had been greater.

The treats basket was a nice touch (chocolates, crisps and fruit juice), and is complimentary for "Enviable" rooms. However, I personally prefer the traditional fridge type mini bars which have alcohol, particularly as when we ordered a simple room service dinner with wine on the second night (to avoid a second late night for our baby) it took about 40 minutes to arrive. The fridge would also have been useful for the baby although I appreciate this is not of concern to everyone.

Our only complaints were minor and relate to the room service. As mentioned above, we had a fair wait for a very simple dinner (a pasta dish and a salad) on the second night. In addition, although we ordered a half-bottle of white wine (which the menu indicated was available) the wine arrived ready-poured in two wine glasses, without a bottle. The quantity of wine may well have been the same but that wasn't what we asked for. On the first morning, our breakfast arrived promptly but we were missing one set of cutlery; had no plates (for the toast); and the milk provided was nowhere near enough in quantity for 2 bowls of cereal and tea. On the second morning although everything was present and correct on the tray, it did not arrive until 15 minutes after our requested slot (which was slightly annoying as this was the morning we would be checking out and this gave us only a short time thereafter for a walk). However, both the breakfasts and the dinner were perfectly pleasant.

We did not use the bar, restaurant or tavern, our only experience of the bar was asking for a bucket of ice for chilling our baby's teething ring (in absence of minibar fridge) which they very happily provided.

The reception staff were very friendly, perhaps a little too friendly. When we checked in, the receptionist insisted on taking our baby for a cuddle. We don't really mind our baby being handled by other people, but I can see that some people might get a bit nervous about this.

The lift is very small. We have a fairly small buggy and found it a tight squeeze; anyone with a large buggy, or perhaps in a wheelchair may have real trouble.

The location of the hotel is excellent, you are right on the main high street and in easy walking distance of many pubs and restaurants, and of course the cathedral. The parking situation is, however, unfortunate. When we arrived on the Friday afternoon we easily found a parking slot in the hotel's car park and were wondering what all the fuss was about. However, when we returned to the hotel on Saturday afternoon after a trip out for the day, it was impossible to park and we ended up in the public car park down the road.

Overall, a very enjoyable stay and a good hotel.

t Stay Here!

from white_wine_lover_
We were looking forward to staying here as it was a friend’s birthday and there were a few of us booked in. The website is very flash but from the very beginning we were disappointed on the hotel and service. Tries to be a boutique hotel, really doesn't deliver.
1, no room in the car park
2, bathroom scruffy and stained linen
3, we were asked to move from champagne bar to the corridor, then didn't come and take any order from us.
4, at the Tavern Bar, we paid £13 for a piece of fish in tin foil, no vegetables, no advice from waitress to buy any side dish
5, had to keep asking for breakfast, waitress kept forgetting, her excuse was they were busy
6, bed so was the worst bed I have ever tried to sleep in, says in their brochure they are hand sprung and cost £6000!

All in all, not worth the £175 that we had to pay them. Michael Caines will be hearing from us

Fantastic treat for first night as newly weds!

from BeckySurrey
We stayed at The Abode for our first night as a married couple and had a fantastic experience. We were lucky enough to stay in Room 101! Definately the room to ask for. The bed was the largest we had ever slept on, the seating area was enormous, and the whole room was the size of our flat! The bathroom was excellent, with a free standing bath, as well as a massive power shower, all beautifully clean and in perfect working order. Breakfast next morning was enjoyable, it was brought to our room promptly, and all the ingredients were fresh and good quality. An excellent place to return to in the future.

Excellent experience

from Palling
My wife and I stayed at the Abode for one night and were able to walk in and book. The hotel is lovely (but expensive) and our room (104) immaculate, spacious and luxurious, with separate shower room and separate bathroom. The service was fine and the breakfast was good.

The only disappointment was the Brewers Tavern next door (but part of the hotel) where 3 main items we wanted were all unavailable.

t accept room 212.....

from pughie
We had originally booked a night at the Chaucer Hotel, but having parked in their carpark and looked at the dismal frontage- sign battered, the "H" missing in hotel, and grubby nets- we phoned the upmarket Abode for availability. Yes, loads of rooms available said Joe on Reception, so we braved the Canterbury ring road to arrive at Abode.
After a bit of negotiating we got ourselves a great deal- upgraded a room standard and breakfast thrown in for £125. Lovely room- clean, neutral, great bathroom - iron and ironing board, hairdryer all there in the wardrobe.
Great bar- table service, reasonable prices- served in gorgeous glasses.
Didn't eat in restaurant, but at a local Italian recommended by the hotel.
And so to bed.
At 2.30 we were woken by the airconditioning unit outside our room making a din- went outside, and realised if you pushed the ceiling up it stopped. Phoned reception- cheery night porter said the problem had been noted by a previous customer. Through gritted teeth my husband asked to speak to duty manager who was a bit bolshy- we asked him to find us another room on same floor away from unit- we would sleep in there for the rest of night but leave all our things in situ.
Peace at last- but even though Abode is nonsmoking, room smelt of smoke. However we were so shattered we just fell asleep.
Breakfast a rip off- thank goodness we had it for free, the black pudding was the size of a 10p piece, toast burnt.
At checkout, we had £35 taken off the bill for our shattered sleep, and the £5 car park charge refunded.
So we stayed for £80, including brekkie which wasn't bad at all.
I would definitely revisit- we loved the bar area and it's brilliantly situated in the middle of the town- just nowhere near room 212.

Bad Plumbing

from thedebrat
The location of the hotel was good and at first glance we were satisfied with the room. The bed seemed comfortable and the bathroom was upgraded seemingly with all of the modern conveniences. We checked in early evening. The room was cool so before we left for dinner we turned the heat up in the room. When we arrived back the room was sill cool but we went to bed anyway assuming that it would be warm by morning. That was not the case. When we asked for maintenance the next morning we were told that that was as good as it got. The only way that I was warm in the room was when I was wearing a leather jacket or a ski sweater. I asked for an extra blanket and that helped with the cold. But it gets worse. Solid waste in the toilet would not flush down right away. It took maybe 20 flushes before it would be gone. Maintenance informed me that English toilets are not as good as American ones which meant essentially just deal with it. I also asked for an 8am wake up call and got called at 8:15. When I pointed out the error I got a mumbled “sorry” and a hang up. Also, maid service had to be called at 3:30pm to make up the room for the day. The English Breakfast was a disappointment but the other choices were OK. The hotel seems to be run by young people who have no idea how to run an upscale establishment that caters to discriminating clients. While trying to enjoy my breakfast the hosts were talking loudly on the phone in the dining room disrupting my breakfast. They have a lot to learn about service. My advice, find another place to stay.

Top Local Tips for Canterbury

Must see St Martin's Church Just outside the old town on a hill overlooking St Augustin's Priory is the oldest, continuously used church in Britain. It was foun ding inb the 6th centry, used by St Sugustin when he came to England in 594 and is still in use today. Originally a roman building, the bottom 4ft are still a roman buiolding, the rest is 12-14th Check opening times (? 11:00 - 15:30 if a local is available to watch out)

Limited parking Be aware that there is only space for approx 20 cars in the car park and even this is £5 per night. There is a car park close by, but it's a 5 min walk so offload your luggage first, otherwise you have an uncomfortable walk to the hotel.

parking Parking at the hotel was difficult as they only had a very small car park, try to get there early so secre a space otherwise parking is in the local pay to park

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Other names for ABode Canterbury Hotel

  • canterbury abode hotel
  • abode canterbury
  • Address: 30-33 High Street - Canterbury - England - CT1 2RX - United Kingdom
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