Howick Motor Lodge

If you’re after an adventure holiday without leaving your hotel room, this is the place for you! The towels were so frayed they looked like they’d survived a pirate battle, and the flannels were basically transparent — I wasn’t sure whether to wash my face with them or use them as a microscope slide. Toilet paper was a rare and precious resource, running out quicker than front row tickets to a Taylor Swift concert. And the shower? Let’s just say it was hosting its own ecosystem. The mould was thriving so well I half expected David Attenborough to pop in and narrate. I joked that if I ate it, it might cure the bug I had — two stars for medical innovation potential! Would I stay again? Only if I bring my own towels, TP, and hazmat suit.

Wifi nonexistent, shower water pressure weak, Heat pump noisey and struggled to produce heat.

Do not book here! Despite considerable distance from airport, we chose this motel specifically because it was sold as a two bedroom unit. It was not. It is an open plan unit with 2 beds on a mezzanine floor that is open to the lower level, where the queen bed is located. No doors, no privacy whatsoever. The two sleeping areas, along with the bathroom on the upper floor, are connected by an extremely narrow, very steep, highly dangerous staircase that has no upper rails at all - you brace yourself against the walls. No smoke alarms, 1/4 roll of toilet paper, milk sachets that contained mould.. we are surprised this motel is permitted to operate.

Veey old place. Cracked and broken plugs and switches. Shower had mold, room not services properly at all. 2 nights some beds not made, disges nit done, consumables not replenished. Had to complain twice. Sliding door did not lock properly.

Free parking right outside the room - that's about it for nice. Negatives : Hard to get in and out of the property with the busy road. The office is not always manned - a sign saying to ring someone - not answered in any great hurry. The whole place is very run down and dingy. Their front photo with swimming pool is a deceiving draw card. There was a lot of unclean spaces in the room, outside in the 'porch'. Terrible decor, rusty fittings, bathroom extremely dated, dusty, crappy couch that was uncomfortable. The windows looking outside were filthy (see my photo), the couch was dirty and lumpy, the taps took a long time to come on and poor pressure when they did, the shower faucet is from the dark ages with a dribble for a pour and a cold stainless steel shower floor, stairs are narrow and creak (you have to climb to 2nd floor for the loo and shower (bed is downstairs), the porch does not look anything like the hotel photos (disgusting concrete, damp, stained with an old wooden table and ashtray - that's it - not like the advertised photo with wine, new wood, plant, clean ground), the door to the outside was broken so had trouble going outside anyway! The bathroom looks big on the panoramic photos, but it's small. The hairdryer is super old fashioned with hardly any pressure (luckily one in the cupboard). We didn't notice rather late in the evening that we had not been given any coffee sachets - had to call out of hours to get them - not good service. Toilet paper is crappy and thin.

Comfortable room, noisy neighbours A convenient place to stay for the Brit & Euro Car Show, just a 20 minute walk away. Having read some decidedly avearge reviews, I was pleasantly surprised by how good the studio room looked on arrival. It looked freshly decorated and modern in the bed/sitting area. The kitchen and bathroom/toilet were rather dated but perfectly adequate. Despite being on the main road, traffic noise was not intrusive - the studio was at the far end of the site from the road. Unfortunately I had a very noisy group of people in the neighbouring unit, they stopped at 11pm but started uo again in the small hours. This is not enough to put me off staying again the next time I'm in the area though. The nearest cafes and the supermarket were about a 10 to 15 minute walk away.