Best Hotels near The Merchant＇s House, Marlborough

On arrival there was a delay with checking in as my booking could not be found. I arrived 3 minutes before an online work commitment and was told it's up to me to call my agent because they did not have the booking, despite me being able to show a confirmation. Informed that I could not afford to spend 20 minutes on the phone with them. After a while they then realised another staff member already checked me in. I would imagine that staff is trained to first check all possible scenarios (arrival list, in house list, cancelled booking, no show, etc) before inconveniencing and worrying the guest. Stayed in room 229, large pink stain on the carpet, carpet is up for replacement. Bathroom was ok, but shower dial is loose. When changing temperature it takes 20 seconds for the change to pull through the shower head so for a first time guest was playing around with it and found it challenging to get the temperature I wanted. Showers in mens changing room in the pool need work. Silicone around shower entirely moulded. 80% of the lockers are out of action. Jacuzzi was not working. Bedside light bulb not working. Maid walked into my room a little after 9am. She has no right to enter print to my check out time. breakfast was so so. Asked for poached eggs. A plate with two watered down poached eggs arrived which tasted far too strongly like vinegar which was clearly used in the water to prepare them. No croissants, pain au chocolate or bread available for at least 5-10 minutes and despite 3 staff they only replenished when they were informed by guests and did not notice themselves.

We enjoy visiting Marlborough but due to the fact there's not really any hotels ”in town” as such, we haven't previously stayed overnight however fancied a 2 night weekend stopover, found the Kingsbury at No 7 & 8 at a very reasonable price & had a wonderful 2 night break. We arrived around 6pm on a Friday evening, left the car in the centre of High Street whilst we grabbed our bags & following the clear instructions received via e-mail & text, let ourselves into the front entrance & once inside, our wonderful room. I can understand how some people may struggle with this however we were fully aware that we weren't staying in a hotel or B&B & were completely fine. Once we'd dropped our bags, we moved the car to the Car Park behind Waitrose which was inexpensive & only a 5 minute walk away then nipped into the burger restaurant adjacent to claim two free cocktails we obtained due to the booking agent. All-in-all a lovely welcome. We were in Room No 3 in Building 8 & our room was lovely. The bathroom in particular was very nicely furnished & the bed was large & very comfortable. Linens were fantastic, the shower was wonderful, heated towel rail, well-lit throughout & ventilation via two traditional windows. Overall the quality of the accommodation was ideal. Due to the height of the ceilings, there was a little dust here & there & one or two of the fittings were a little on the loose side but generally we were incredibly comfortable with our home for the weekend. We found the breakfast left for us a lovely little touch. Chilled orange juice & milk, a choice of Kelloggs cereal, porridge pots, fresh pastries, two fresh fruit salads & separate oat pots in glass jars. All in all, far too much to eat but it was all very tasty. Due to the fact that the room isn't huge with only one small desk & chair, it's pretty much a breakfast-on-the-go but a great addition to our stay. The location of the property is pretty much perfect. It's just beyond the High Street. We left the windows open during the evening & whilst there was more traffic noise than you'd maybe expect from a small little town, we didn't have any issues sleeping or with noise, even on Saturday morning market day ... the only thing you will be disturbed by will be the church bells but this is hardly something to complain about. We didn't eat in the burger joint as we'd had lunch there previously & fancied something a little more formal but if burgers are your thing, they are really good. We knew parking isn't available so rather than worry about leaving it street-side, we just left it in the car park. If you arrive on a Friday night you only have to pay for Saturday daytime & we moved it to the High Street on Saturday night as Sundays are free. All in all we had a wonderful weekend in Marlborough & will definitely return to the Kingsbury.

Overall its worth the price. Only one downside, which the bathroom was a bit outdated with poor shower pressure. And we chose this hotel at the first place only because of the air conditioner, and it functioned well. There was a big carpark outside the hotel and staff members were friendly.

I’ve knocked one star off because, as some other guests have also mentioned, service in the bar and restaurant can be slow and it did feel like they were perhaps missing a front of house member or two. We didn’t eat other than breakfast as we didn’t fancy the menu but not a problem as there are loads of eateries in Hungerford. The room, in the annexe, was fantastic, far better than we were perhaps expecting as the price was very good. Breakfast was lovely and served speedily!! The staff we interacted with were very nice. Parking is free, and plenty of spaces. All in all a great stay and we will certainly be back.