Novotel York Centre

Hotel we generally clean with no frills and nice foyer/bar area downstairs. Most staff were absolutely lovely. Typical breakfast which catered to all. Pool very small and only able to book in for 30 minute slots (don't be late to these it was very busy when we went). Had dinner once in the hotel -- again quite a simple menu which I could not find anything to tempt me so ended up not ordering anything, but children enjoyed their pizzas. Happy hour at the bar is literally one hour early in the evening. This should really be extended. Good location but quite an uninspiring stay.

Their service is really poor for a 4-star hotel. We stayed for 3 nights at this hotel this week, wishing to enjoy the pool with my family. Before our stay, we asked in detail and reserved our pool time via email and we were told that each session was half an hour and we could stay if there were no booking afterwards. It's alright for the first two nights as not many people use the pool at night. But on the third night (24 Jul, Thursday) when we used the pool at 8pm, they suddenly came up with something called "Adult Session" and we were told that we had to leave the pool at 8:30pm. We were not aware of that "Adult Session" until that day at 8pm right before we entered the pool. Anyhow, at 8:30pm as we saw that no one's actually in, we continued to swim as we were told in the first email that we could continue to use if there's no other people. At around 8:45pm, despite no one's there, we were sternly ordered by a staff member to immediately leave the pool, saying "I told you we have an adult session." This is a disappointment to kids as we deliberately chose the night session thinking there will be less people swimming. If we were told when we booked the pool about this adult session, we won't choose 8pm at all. And this didn't happen on the first two days either. So do they only have Adult Session on Thursdays? We washed and changed until it's 9pm - I didn't see any adults going to the pool. Not even one single person. I wish their staff could be more polite and be briefed about their swimming pool policy so they won't offer contradictory guidelines and ordered customers to leave. I'm disappointed with the way they told us to leave. As for other things besides the pool, they didn't change one of the bed sheets on the second day so we needed to do it on our own. Their basin stinks with steam of bad smelling gas pumping out. Their floor grout needs replacing. One of the sofa beds' legs had gone wrong and kept moving when you sit on it. The only good thing about this hotel is their breakfast. There's a good variety of fresh and delicious food. Most staff members are nice while some are not.

For a 4-star hotel, the service was not the best. As soon as we arrived, we were immediately told about all the extra paid options and how we could upgrade our room for a decent additional fee. Half of the staff were friendly, but some seemed uninterested in helping or even acknowledging us. We had a standard room, and it didn’t even include disposable slippers, let alone a bathrobe — in a 4-star hotel. When we asked about it, we were again told that we’d need to upgrade the room to get those amenities. As for the pool and sauna, I find 30 minutes to be quite a short amount of time — not enough to change, shower, and still enjoy the facilities. But what disturbed me even more were the other guests. A family swimming with us was openly spitting and blowing their noses in the pool, and there was mucus floating around. In the sauna, a man was casually shaving as if that were totally normal. I believe the staff should give guests clear guidelines on how to behave before allowing them into the pool area. Breakfast was tasty and had a wide selection. There were even options for people with allergies — for example, my mom is lactose intolerant, and they had vegan yogurt. But… I had scrambled eggs, and while eating, I noticed they were green inside. I don’t think that’s normal, and it really killed my appetite. The room itself was clean, and we didn’t hear any noise from the neighbors at night. Overall, it wasn’t bad, but the price-to-quality ratio is poor. Also, not all of the staff are courteous or attentive.