Val Penny's Hotel and Restaurant Reviews The Traveller's Guide to Hotels and Restaurants around the World

My husband, my mother and I recently went to York, England and stayed in The Park Inn by Radisson. It is very centrally situated in North Street right of the bank of the River Ouse in York, England.  The reception area is large and bright with three small reception desks, not all of which are necessarily manned.  There is also a separate disabled entrance at the side, but the slope on that is quite steep.

I am not quite sure how the layout of this hotel came into being.  It is not easily navigated on a first visit.  I suspect that additional parts of the building have been acquired at different times.  The net result of this is that there is a long walk from the reception to the dining room.  There are also two different sets of elevators that may require to be found and negotiated, depending on the part of the building in which your allocated room is situated.  When we went on a recent family visit to York my mother, who has rather poor mobility, found it impossible to walk along the lengthy corridor from one set of lifts to the other.  When she was in her wheelchair, the undulations in the corridor posed a whole set of different challenges as her chair was wont to rush down slopes and then required substantial effort to get it moving back up again.

The rooms are bright: these and the en-suites were all spotlessly clean. The facilities in the disabled suite were modern and carefully designed for ease of use.  The hospitality trays are also well stocked and extras including an iron, ironing board and hairdryer were provided in the rooms.   The towels are very thick and fluffy, amongst the best I have experienced out-with a 5* hotel.

We did have a problem with our booking.  This was no fault of the hotel’s and the manager, Kate Gillyan was very helpful in resolving this.  She was also most attentive to my mother and I appreciated this.

The dining room was not open on our first night.  I am not sure why.  However, my mother was too tired for us to go out to eat so we opted to eat in the bar at a table sitting looking out over the River Ouse.  The staff were very attentive but not intrusive. It was really very pleasant and our meal was delicious!

The beds were comfortable and we all slept well. At breakfast, my Mum was not able to negotiate the four steps down to the diningroom. I was surprised there was no ramp, however, there were a few tables available without going down the stairs and the staff were very kind about ensuring a table was set for us there. It did mean that my Mum could not see exactly what was on offer though. Still, the breakfast is the usual buffet format. The choices were tasty and varied. It was very good value at only £10 each.

So, despite the peculiar layout of this hotel, we did all enjoy our stay and I would certainly use this hotel again.

Valerie Penny