Royal Bath Hotel Bournemouth

A good trip overall, and happy with the hotel in general. BUT the free wi-fi is only in the public areas, you have to pay for it in the rooms and the outside provider service is dreadful - couldn't connect at first, tech help was very poor. Paid for 2 days and was cut off after the first day, again tech support attitude was appalling!

Could not fault staff, dining, entertainment and room. Was very dissatisfied as booked this hotel for the swimming pool with 8 year old daughter, to be told that pool was closed for refurbishment, which is fine, but wouldn’t of booked if known swimming pool was out of action.

Had to pay extra to use pool ?

Staff were amazing sorting out problems with booking, location was great. Downside was spa closed at 6.00 so couldn’t use it even if I did there was a charge, extra charge for WiFi in room extra £25 for parking

Parking was expensive Spa access was also an additional charge Great location but extremely dated rooms

Hidden extras. Never had to pay to use a swimming pool that was part of hotel. This was not made clear in hotel advert

Advertised as having a gym and pool on the morning of travel which is the reason why I booked this accommodation. On check-in I was told the leisure facilities were not available and “under refurbishment”. Why wasn’t Hotels.com stating this when booking? Why didn’t Hotels.com show on their site that this accommodation had refurbishment work being carried out? The hotel had areas of waste plaster board, construction dust/debris and a smell of wet plaster or concrete screed.

Elevator was not working which was a bit inconvenient but spa was lovely and relaxing and beautiful gardens

It was a shame the pool was closed!

Always stay here only problem is parking is expensive when the other hotels charge 12 here charges 25 a night

Stayed for 2 nights. Hotel lovely and staff friendly. Room was clean and slept well. Close to all the attractions. Only down size is we never had anyone come and replace our mugs,coffee,sugars and towels. When we asked, reception stated the cleaners only go in every 4 days, so we had to ask for them.

I couldn't even step my foot in the tub, it was very dirty, used soap in the bathroom, used towel. Bedding was fresh, window couldn't open. Soap dispenser with moulds.

The hotel itself like the common areas, reception, garden and bar were lovely and really well looked after. Modern and luxurious and very clean. Unfortunately the room was a different story. We booked a small double room and when we checked in we were told that we had booked a room without a window but because they had one with a window they would give us that. I did not book a room without a window as I saw this as an option but was not willing to be without a window. When we got upstairs to the west wing the whole feel of the hotel changed, it felt dated and dirty and it smelt. Upon entering our room we almost walked straight into the wardrobe as it was right in front of the door. I know that we had booked a small double room but it was absolutely tiny, it barely felt big enough for one person let alone two. The windows barely opened because there was a roof the other side, rubbish was lodged out the windows and the room is general was grubby and in need for decoration and a deep clean. There was a hole in the sheets and the sugar pot was dirty along with the bathroom floor. It wasn’t even a full size bath and the soap dispenser was broken. I know that we had booked a smaller cheaper room but I feel pictures online and the hotel itself were misleading of the room. We had a horrible sleep due to a small hard bed and slamming of doors at all hours. Unless you are booking a suite then I wouldn’t recommend staying here.

Awful room. Overpriced. Not clean. Nice staff but they don’t make up for the state of the hotel. Breakfast adequate but waited a while for items to be replenished. Would not stay again. Sad state of a beautiful building.

Reception did not tell us which way to go to our room and the signage from the nearest staircase did not even have our room number in it. Other signage around the hotel was also unclear. Huge cobweb in the bathroom that must have been there weeks with the size and amount of dead insects in it. Same in dining room for breakfast lots of cobwebs and dead flies behind pillars near the windows.

Had to move rooms three times. First room has a tiny window that opened onto a boxed terrace area, this was filled with bird poo & dead birds, it was very smelly and dirty. Second room had broken glass all over the floor, as well as used cups under the table & tv unit. When we spoke with reception they just kept sending us to different rooms, we must have lapped the hotel 3 times (and it’s not small). The room we ended up in wasn’t ideal but the best of the 3. Not worth what we paid at all.

First room dirty got moved to another room dirty !!!!!!! Was told no other rooms

Rooms were never made up you make your own bed every day if you want Tea or coffee clean towels or toilet you get it or do it yourself rooms never cleaned or changed all week The food in the Restaurant was inedible straight off the back of a lorry or out of a freezer all in all very poor

Dirty rooms

Staff were great, hotel is a little dated great location. Enjoyed Pool and sauna. Felt room hadnt had the best trun around there were dirty glasses under bed could have been there a while?. Unfortunately the room was very noisy with people passing all night / early morning with what sounded like groups comming back from nights out and an arguement between guests at around 3am. Didnt get the best sleep and would not choose to stay here again.

The hotel itself like the common areas, reception, garden and bar were lovely and really well looked after. Modern and luxurious and very clean. Unfortunately the room was a different story. We booked a small double room and when we checked in we were told that we had booked a room without a window but because they had one with a window they would give us that. I did not book a room without a window as I saw this as an option but was not willing to be without a window. When we got upstairs to the west wing the whole feel of the hotel changed, it felt dated and dirty and it smelt. Upon entering our room we almost walked straight into the wardrobe as it was right in front of the door. I know that we had booked a small double room but it was absolutely tiny, it barely felt big enough for one person let alone two. The windows barely opened because there was a roof the other side, rubbish was lodged out the windows and the room is general was grubby and in need for decoration and a deep clean. There was a hole in the sheets and the sugar pot was dirty along with the bathroom floor. It wasn’t even a full size bath and the soap dispenser was broken. I know that we had booked a smaller cheaper room but I feel pictures online and the hotel itself were misleading of the room. We had a horrible sleep due to a small hard bed and slamming of doors at all hours. Unless you are booking a suite then I wouldn’t recommend staying here.

The hotel was a bit tired. Service was adequate. The room was adequate, but very noisy and the bed was uncomfortable. The room decor was tired and a bit shabby and the facilities were not great - my room had no hairdryer. Overall, would not recommend for the price (which didn't include breakfast, either).

Upgraded to sea view. There was a balcony but the doors locked. Heat on full blast in the room and only able to open a tiny window. Bed comfy. Curtains had cigarette burns/moth holes in. No sockets by bed for phone. Extra duvet and fan in wardrobe. Bathroom had a ridiculous device on tap and water didn’t even trickle out of it. Check in ok. £25 per day car park and it’s ‘valet’ parking. Looked a right mess down there. Guy with dark hair, glasses, grey suit was run off his feet. Breakfast was a buffet. Not great quality but plentiful. My polite request for overdone eggs was delivered but the waitress didn’t speak good English and it took a while. Everywhere was so hot it was uncomfortable. What this hotel had got going for it is its location. Prime location for the BIC and Pavillion.

This property will be lovely after the renovation I am sure. But we were not made aware of this when booking. Our room was dated but the downstairs communal facilities were immaculate. The room was very noisy and I would advise no one book a road facing room as it is so loud it echoes all round the room and it would seem there are deliveries to the hotel at 5.30am every morning.

Very hot room, window had to be opened by staff, very noisy as room was at the front of the hotel

I didn't enjoy the rooms since they were quite small and had no windows, which is dreadful for someone coming from another country and having to deal with such conditions while on vacation. On your website, you have to display the photo of the room, its state, the window (which is critical), the lack of oxygen, and the unclean bathroom that people undrestand what they book where they stay. Not what I expected... below norms. Poor Royal Bath, Name big, service -0

we stayed in the seaview room.it had a big balcony which i liked.

The room we had at this property had no windows, which was very strange and they wanted to charge and extra £30 just to have a window in the room which I’ve never heard of before and wasn’t willing to do as that’s strange. Everything just felt a bit dated, small tv which was hard to watch comfortable in bed and the area we were staying in felt like it wasn’t even part of the hotel, very cold hallways and very hard to find with little help from staff. The reception as you walk in though looks quite grand and pretty. Parking was also very challenging and ended up very expensive as we had to in a public car park due to the hotel parking always being full. The pool was nice, had nice viewing areas with deck beds to look out over the sea which was pretty. Maybe just a few touch ups to make the place a little fresher.

We had a great visit. Happy with the facilities, staff and room. It is a building with character, so if you are looking for modern and perfectly polished then this may not be the place for you. We tended to eat out but we did have bar food in the lounge area on one of the days and this was lovely. We didn’t try the set meal Buffett. The night we did eat in the lounge we wanted desert but when we asked there was only cake available. Not a major problem but you could be missing a trick on sales! Room was clean and a good size, we stayed in a double with balcony and sea view. Most staff we encountered were friendly. Really nice outdoor areas and obviously great location.

We have just had a nights stay and altho for some people the hotel would appear old fashioned and outdated thats what makes it so unique and has a oldy world feel about it .The staff were friendly and professional and our balcony room overlooking the sea was spotless and just perfect .infact we relaxed on the balcony and caught some winter sun .highly recommend

The Royal Bath Hotel seems to be run by a team who neither like people or wish to be hoteliers. From the request for picture id from UK customers, totally unnecessary, £7 charge for in room wifi on a single device to pre-payment for breakfast. Clearly this was once a grand institution. Now it lacks the staff to run it effectively, the staff it does have,have no concept of customer service. Every guest request appears to be taken as a massive inconvenience. If this is symptomatic of Britannia Hotels across the country, I suggest they find another business. I would not recommend staying here to anyone unless they were desperate.

I booked this at 2:51pm on Saturday while we was driving to visit an unwell family member we was driving over 200 miles away. My father was driving so I booked via by Expedia account which I always do as you can see from previous bookings it’s always been my account but paying with my fathers bank card.we arrived at the hotel close to 11pm after having a very stressful and sad afternoon/evening visiting a dying member of the family. it was pouring with rain outside we rushed inside the hotel went to reception to check in and the man was very rude as I didn’t have any ID on me he wanted me to go into my banking app for a statement which nationwide don’t have access to your statements on their app he didn’t understand this, it was getting very frustrating explaining I booked via my name but paid via my fathers card. I have stayed at thousands of hotels across the Uk and the world that I have never had this much stress on a checkin. This was something we really didn’t need after the day we had all had. In the end the man took my dads diving license as ID. I have received an email this morning so 3 days after the stay to tell me we need ID to get into the hotel! Not much good to us now is it! we had rooms either side to each other beds had hairs on the sheets towels in the bathroom had hairs on. The bathroom wasn’t very clean as there were hairs and dirty marks on the tiles. The shower head holder in my room fell off the wall. Overall terrible customer service!

My wife and I stayed there for 3 nights last week. We were looked after extremely well from the moment we booked in until we left. We were fortunate to have a room that had a door out to the gardens and that was close to the bar and restaurant areas. It made a change to stay in an old hotel that had loads of charachter instead of the more modern style hotels. All staff were attentive, polite and welcoming. We will certainly stay there again.

We had an absolutely wonderful stay! From the moment we arrived, the staff made us feel incredibly welcome. To our surprise and delight, we were upgraded to a better room without even asking — a beautiful gesture that made our trip even more special. The upgraded room was spacious, spotless, and had stunning views. Every detail, from the luxurious bedding to the thoughtful amenities, exceeded our expectations. Service throughout our stay was exceptional — friendly, attentive, and genuinely warm. The hotel’s location was perfect for everything we wanted to do, and the facilities were top-notch. We can’t recommend this hotel highly enough and will definitely be returning. Five stars all the way!

I am not a person who usually complains or comments. However, I think it is important in this instance. Customer Service = 0 I travel all over the world and this overnight stay is most probably the worst Customer Service experience I’ve had for many years. Unbelievably rude reception staff!! ID is mandatory, and if you do not produce ID, your reservation is cancelled!!!! We showed my partner’s ID which had no connection or relevance to the booking whatsoever, and only the name was recorded, nothing else. What was the point??? Apparently, this is a requirement of the management, but a complete waste of time!! £25.00 hotel car parking. Use the public parking adjacent to the hotel, it’s cheaper. Wi-Fi is chargeable Extremely tired and worn hotel decor Hot water is dangerously hot and the shower temperature adjustment can easily be knocked resulting in burns Check in at 4pm or £10 charge for 2pm entry to the room Checkout at 10am Breakfast… plentiful… But just cold!!!! Patio door lock was broken Sink tap is too small for the surround and leaked. Coffee maker did not work The bed had bare frame legs with a mattress. It just looked so very cheap! At checkout, there were 3x families complaining about one thing or another but, I knew I would be writing a complaint, so I told the Duty Manager the Customer Service was atrocious and he just said “thank you”… The sea view was nice but, under this management, I will not stay there again.

Personally would t stay again, just found all staff rude, hotels very dated and not overly clean, paid £300 for a weekend for a box room, expensive for what you get. When checking is I was told by a staff member I’d booked a box room with no window, which I didn’t I know I didn’t as I have the proof of what I booked so she said I could have the room with no window now or wait for my room to be ready with a window which was 45 mins later, I then heard her tell another couple the exact same thing twice .. so they’re obviously trying to give people the absolute basic rooms which seems very wrong as people are paying a minimum of £250-300+ for a weekend! Only good thing about the hotel is how close it is to the beach and nice and big the garden is, think that’s the only reason most people stay there in my opinion. Bar also doesn’t take cash which i do get, but it’s not stated anywhere in the descriptions or anywhere in the hotel so I had to go into town to put money in the bank, as it was my birthday money. Definitely wouldn’t stay here again, not worth the money whatsoever. Staff were just rude and when you speak to them it’s like it’s an inconvenience .. even though it’s there job. I’d stay somewhere else next time; even if it takes longer to walk to the beach or town etc. location isn’t everything at the end of the day, I’d rather pay to stay somewhere else.

When we went to check in the lady wasn’t very welcoming. She asked for my ID and gave me my room key. I said we had dinner and breakfast included so asked what are the times and where do we go. She told us all the information was in the room and the menu goes on the wall at 5pm. Our room was lovely, a little bit dated but very clean and view was beautiful. Only major downside was room for hot so kept the window open but as it’s on a main road was constant traffic noise. The info pack in the room showed food being served till 11pm however this wasn’t the case as when we returned at 9:30 after the theatre we were told no food served after 8:30! We said we had dinner included and could we get anything the receptionist told us to talk to the manager in the morning and then turned her back to speak to her colleague! Breakfast was self service buffet and food was plentiful and hot. Upon walking in staff ignored us and it was us approaching and asking do we just take a seat ?? Overall location was fantastic, bed was comfy, breakfast was good the main thing letting down this hotel is the staff. The cleaners were very nice, friendly and welcoming but the reception and restaurant staff we encountered were unfriendly and unbothered.

Great location, staff & facilities

Receptionist Bell, was superb. I stayed on the 2nd April - 3rd April. Her customer service was second to none, absolutely brilliant and made me ever so welcome..

I booked two rooms as a suprise birthday present for a friend. When we arrived the small drop off point outside was blocked by other cars. Not to worry, I drove past and found somewhere to park up the road by the side of the hotel.I walked back to the hotel and enquired about parking. I was greeted by a very rude lady on reception who said its £25.00 per night leave your car out the front and we will park it. I tried to explain that it was impossible to stop out of the front because there were cars parked in the way and it is on a main road. She was not interested and just repeated it's 25.00 per night I returned to car apologised to my guests and we walked back to the hotel. At reception same rude lady was there. Who then asked me for Photo ID which I thought was strange as I travel every week for work and use hotels.com/ Expedia all the time and have never been asked for Photo ID when booking into a hotel in the UK. I had made one booking for two rooms and paid for them at the time of the booking. The rude lady sent our freinds to the other receptionist to check-in. They then demanded photo ID from our freinds even though it was the same booking. Unfortunately ours freinds did not have their driving licence with them as this was a suprise trip. The only photo ID they had was NHS staff lanyard but the hotel would not accept this. I asked to see the duty Manager. Quite frankly he was rude to me, my wife & guests.We did eventually get checked in but our evening was ruined.

Close to beach

Very hot room, window had to be opened by staff, very noisy as room was at the front of the hotel

Old Fashioned Hotel. Gardens. Right by the sea and close to the City Centre. Very good water pressure for shower. Had small double room which was fine as only there to sleep. A long walk to get to lift for my room. Charge £5 extra a day to use the pool. Exceptional service - best I've ever experienced. Stayed an extra night I was so comfortable there. Thank you.

The hotel is conveniently situated near the pier and pavilion. The gardens are large and scenic, and there are large and comfortable lounges furnished with chesterfield sofas and armchairs. On the downside the check-in was slow and the hotel reception claimed that the room booked via Expedia was a windowless room. We disputed this as we had expressly booked a double room with window via Expedia - and we were allocated that type of room after some discussion.

Great place to stay at a location bang in the heart of Bournemouth

We had a nice stay. The staff were friendly. It's in a great location for the beach and restaurants. Many people comment on the rooms being out of date, but I think it gives a nostalgic feeling of British seaside hotels. The shower pressure was fine. There is a large carpark next to the hotel that cost us £26 for 24 hours (Ringo app). The hotel is nice.

We had a great visit. Happy with the facilities, staff and room. It is a building with character, so if you are looking for modern and perfectly polished then this may not be the place for you. We tended to eat out but we did have bar food in the lounge area on one of the days and this was lovely. We didn’t try the set meal Buffett. The night we did eat in the lounge we wanted desert but when we asked there was only cake available. Not a major problem but you could be missing a trick on sales! Room was clean and a good size, we stayed in a double with balcony and sea view. Most staff we encountered were friendly. Really nice outdoor areas and obviously great location.

Easy access to theatres and beaches.

great value, super location

Amazing hotel, very close to the beach and town centre.

A nice grand hotel,rooms nice but showing it’s age,beautiful lounge area and spacious dining area,breakfast was good quality.

Outdated hotel, no air con makes the room like a hot box. You have to have the windows open but that opens up the sound of pouring water from what seems like a broken pipe. The breakfast was abysmal. The juice was watered down and the one coffee machine broken and not proving anything but black coffees with cheap beans. You also have to pay to use the swimming facilities and everything else is an add on to the room price. Really disappointed and quite frankly surprised this is still classed as 4 star.

Very nice hotel , great location,great buffet dinner also breakfast,good selection off beers also 😎

The food, both breakfast and evening mealwas of good quality, tastyand well presented.

It’s a very nice hotel but the beds and especially the mattresses need refreshing (one can feel the springs) the breakfast is very poor with very little choice. If you’re not into full English, you’re doomed. Only one choice of bakery (mini Pain au Chocolat) and two juices. (Orange and Apple). It’s disappointing, finally although parking on site is advertised, it’s full.

This place was more like an outdated care home than a hotel… the smell, the decor, the breakfast. Massively disappointing- the rooms look nothing like the picture and we couldn’t even go to the pool (the one thing we booked it for) as we were down for work and it opened at 8, and last entry at 5. Only parking was next door and cost £25 for 24 hours which is completely insane. also! If you’re vegan avoid avoid avoid. I got breakfast, asked what was vegan and the server said ‘fruit’, I said ‘is that really all that’s vegan and he said yes. So apparently their toast, beans and cereal aren’t vegan? For £13 (I think) breakfast only having fruit for a vegan is appalling. So all in all- just don’t go here!

For £180 for one night, you don’t get a lot and it certainly tried to charge you more for Everything You do. Wi-Fi is charged for which in this day and age is completely behind with the times The room itself had long black hair on the lampshades and beds and bath. No real ventilation for the Bathroom so when showering the room would heat up quite quickly which in summer can feel like a death sentence. A map for the hotel for New guests in the area would go a very long way considering it took us 10 to 15 minutes to find our room We had behalf board package which included breakfast and dinner, We wish we ate out now instead of the rubbish restaurant now which like any real flavour or quality, Some spices would go along way. The options for dinner were very few and far between having only belly pork fish in a hollandaise sauce which was watery or a very watery chicken tikka As well as some cheap vegetarian quiche which I would hardly call A meal. As it says on the reservation a buffet will be provided in a dinner package. I think the hotel is just stick to the idea of a traditional buffet and serve a set meal. Breakfast seem to be okay with the traditional items, sausages, bacon, eggs, and hashbrowns, etc, Same as before do not seem to exist in this kitchen mushrooms were plain and boring. Bacon was just about sausages were quite well done hashbrowns are pretty good though. Overall, I would not recommend this hotel until they have a grip on the basics

This is a grand hotel, very convenient for the beach but the overall feel was ruined by the food served in the dining room which was rank. I can think of no other way to describe it. I mentioned it to the dining staff who apologised but said nothing they could do.

Staff were friendly, however noise is a problem in this hotel, no sound proofing in the corridors so woken by antisocial behaviour at midnight, then again at 3am when I actually got out of bed to go out there. If given room 577 change or cancel, it’s situated next to the lift which is noisy and bangs through the wall. Breakfast was poor for £12 per head, tinned/buffet style. Save your money and walk into Bournemouth for a better, cheaper option. Wouldn’t choose to stay again.

Lovely spacious room in a beautiful, historical building next to the beach, near a beautiful park, town life and restaurants. Live entertainment at night in the bar / lounge during our visit. Great dining area. We chose this hotel because of its location and also because it had a pool and we had a very pleasant stay. Two areas where it could improve: Provide real coffee in the morning, rather than from a machine. Mop up excess water on the floor in the changing room more frequently. However, overall it was very enjoyable stay.