The Carlton

We stayed at the Carlton Hotel in Rugby over Silverstone weekend and paid just £100 for two nights in a double room – an absolute steal… and after experiencing it, we understood why. 😂 The Good: • Amazingly priced, especially on race weekend. You could almost overlook everything else (almost). • Free water and fresh towels – hydration and hygiene: ✔️ • TV worked like a charm. Bless it. • Bed was made nicely, and we even had new towels. • Good communication before arrival. That’s where the human interaction ended though. • Great private parking – so our car had a better stay than we did. The… interesting: • The floor had more bounce than a bouncy castle. Walking to the bathroom felt like doing laps at a soft play centre. • The bathroom was a wild ride: the radiator had its own protective dirt coating, and the skirting board looked like it had been through a swamp. Black mould and all. • The shower gave us two options: arctic plunge or volcanic eruption. No in-between. Great for waking up though! • Every time we flushed the toilet, the seat slammed like it was trying to make a statement. Startling at first. Eventually entertaining. • One bed light tried to communicate in Morse code via flickering. We think it was warning us. • The fire doors were all propped open with blocks. Safety third? • Furniture looked like it had done a few tours of duty – damp patches, scratches, and a general air of “I’ve seen things”. • The downstairs area was under renovation, which gave it a nice haunted mansion vibe. • When we arrived, we rang both service numbers… and reached the void. Ended up checking ourselves in like squatters with style. Overall: The Carlton Hotel is a bit like that old friend who’s been through a lot – it tries its best, but it’s seen better days. It’s not fancy, it’s not even fine, but it’s affordable and bizarrely memorable. Would I stay again? If I’m looking for budget laughs and a workout for my ankles – maybe.

:-) Quick communication via the app with staff and a faulty lightbulb situation was resolved in an hour. Close to the train station with only an 8 minute walk. :-( When we arrived the bathroom light didn't work so we had to wait around for it to be fixed. Also the room was filthy. Another person's toothpaste up the wall next to the sink. Hair all around the edges of the bathroom (floor definitely hadn't been mopped)! The bedroom floor also hadn't been hoovered and we didn't feel comfortable walking around without shoes on. We had 3 thin pillows so one of us had to sleep flat (no extras in the wardrobe). No hand towel in the bathroom. The toilet roll kept falling onto the floor as the holder was broken.

Run down, damp and filthy, left a day early as could not stay in room any longer, would not leave my dog to stay there.