What I Liked
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Large and well-maintained grounds
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Tennis court
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Golf course
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Swimming Pool
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Breakfast was freshly made
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There’s a lot to like with the Marriott Breadsall Priory Hotel. It’ a Country House near Derby, in the North of England. The grounds are beautiful and the buildings look magnificent. There’s also a golf course on sight. I was looking forward to the trip. Sadly, the hotel never hit the spot. The service was poor and the hotel is dated. Housekeeping only visited once, during our 3 night stay!
I stayed at the hotel for a short family vacation. We used the hotel as a base to visit the Peak District National Park. On balance, I was disappointed with my stay. The public areas of the hotel were well maintained. However, everything else wasn’t up to standard. The bedroom had no air conditioning and the bathroom had no extractor fan.
For some people, the Marriott Breadsall Priory Hotel & Country Club could be great. If you play golf and don’t care about the dated rooms, then it could be perfect.
The Marriott Breadsall Priory Hotel & Country Club is in Derby. Derby is a town in the North England, near the Peak District National Park. The hotel is a grade 2 ‘listed building’. In the UK, a ‘listed building’ has special architectural and historic interest. The hotel building is impressive – view the photo at the top of the article. In addition, the grounds and the golf course are well maintained.
The hotel has the following facilities.
The hotel maintains the public areas to a high standard. The same can’t be said for the rest of the hotel. The rooms are dated and in need of a refresh. This is very common with hotels. They spend lots of money on a grand lobby, to give visitors that wow factor. They then save money when decorating the rooms. The Marriott Breadsall Priory has taken this idea to an extra level. The bedrooms are extremely dated.
I used the hotel as a base to visit the Peak District National Park. As with most national parks, there aren’t many chain hotels. The Marriott Breadsall Priory Hotel is right on the edge of the park.
The bedroom was bad! I stayed in a family room with 2 double beds. I’m a Marriot Platinum, but wasn’t given an upgrade. The lady at reception didn’t acknowledge my platinum status. I asked if an upgrade was possible, as a platinum member. She simply said no. It looks like she hadn’t been trained about Elite Status.
The room had the following features:
The room was dated. My wife said that the room hadn’t been decorated since the 1980’s. She’s probably right! There wasn’t an extractor fan in the bathroom. That was downright unpleasant.
There wasn’t an Air Conditioner in the room. In Northern Europe, AC units aren’t common in people’s homes. However, they are expected in hotel rooms. The room got very hot at night. This situation has happened to me before, at country houses in England. The hotel always gives the same explanation. Something like “We don’t have Air Conditioning units as it’s an old fashioned house”. This is a silly reason in my view. In the olden times, people didn’t use toilets or watch TV either!
Worst of all? Housekeeping only came once during our three night stay. Housekeeping is one area that hotels are scaling back on. The reason they give is sustainability. It looks like cost cutting in my view! The Marriott Breadsall Priory Hotel was especially bad for housekeeping. One visit for a 3 night stay isn’t acceptable.
Ultimately, the hotel room wasn’t very comfortable for our stay!
I took lots of photos of the room. These can be seen in the above slideshow.
The breakfast was served in the main restaurant. There was a cold buffet with the following options:
The hot dishes were cooked to order. The choice was English Breakfast or veggie English breakfast. I tried both the meat and the veggie breakfasts during my stay. They contained the usual hits: Eggs, sausages, hash browns, mushrooms, cooked tomatoes, toast. I thought it was pretty good. Everything was fresh and well made.
While I enjoyed my food, I was disappointed with the lack of choice. Beyond the English breakfast, there was basically nothing. No porridge, no bagels, no pancakes.
The Marriott Breadsall Priory Hotel & Country Club was a disappointment. I enjoyed walking around the grounds and playing tennis with my family. However, the service was bad. If you visit the hotel, know exactly what you’re getting. The exterior is beautiful, but the interior is 3*.
The Marriott Breadsall Priory is about 1 hour from Liverpool. I recently stayed at the Aloft Liverpool. Review Here. It’s a beautiful building, in the centre of the city. It was built in 1900 and refurbished in 2014. £18million was spent and the hotel looks immaculate.
Bicester Village is the most famous outlet mall in the UK. You can buy items from Burberry, Prada and Dior at massive discounts. It’s the 2nd most popular tourist destination in the UK, for Chinese visitors! If you visit, I recommend to stay at the Bicester Holiday Inn. Review Here. The hotel is 5 minutes from the mall and offers free breakfast to all guests.
Back to Liverpool, I have also reviewed the Radisson Blu Hotel. The hotel is in a modern building, near the centre of Liverpool. It has a swimming pool, and in room Nespresso machines.