The universe did listen to me, properly! We finally found a great hotel in the United Kingdom – The Mount Hotel, and it must be the best one we have stayed in so far.
So, a couple of weeks ago I had a bit of a rant on how dreary and miserable the UK hotels are. I even wanted to criticise the people designing them, and yes, there is a blog on that too, but unfortunately, it is too raw to be posted publicly and it will be published once we’ve censored it successfully. But then, literally the next time we stayed in a hotel, it was probably the best hotel stay we’ve ever come across, anywhere really.
Our review of The Mount Hotel
Well, it was in Wolverhampton, just north of Birmingham. The city seemed nice, but since we were staying here on our way to Snowdonia, we arrived quite late, so most restaurants and touristic places had already closed.
The arrival itself was quite different to most hotels. The first thing that stood out was the parking lot. There was nothing really special about it apart from being exceptionally clean and quiet, but it was enough to set a really sweet first impression. Then, the building itself has quite a history and heritage as the various plates placed outside and inside of it suggested.
The reception and our suite
The Mount hotel has a nice water feature right at the front of the main entrance and at the doors, two majestic concrete dogs await and welcome you in. As soon as you enter, you notice just how quiet the main reception and its surrounding space is. Everywhere you look, you see either of the two things: the carpet if you point your eyes down, or this dark, nicely polished and endlessly carved wood. It dresses up the whole interior, from the walls right to the ceiling, it all looks as one.
It was certainly impressive so far, but based on our past experiences, we insisted that we remained sceptical all the way until we’d get to our room.
We had booked one of their suites, which was, in my humble opinion, extremely well priced. The next thing we know, we’re asked to leave the hotel and walk two minutes to our suite. I certainly wasn’t expecting to see our room in a semi-detached house that we would have only for ourselves.
And it kept on getting better and better.
The overall atmosphere
Upon entering we couldn’t help but notice the size of the room, which was to be enormous. For the first time, it didn’t feel like the king size bed is taking most of the room space. In addition to the “standard hotel room equipment”, we also had an additional table, a large chest of drawers and an extra chair, not that we really needed or indeed used them, but it made us feel quite homely. We definitely wouldn’t have minded staying here for a few nights.
The bathroom had more than one couple would need but just enough to beat the expectations: a shower AND a bath. Surprise! Overall, just the right atmosphere. And that’s without the party piece: the ceilings. It had a wooden frame to match the theme we saw at the main reception, but in our room it was rather plain, yet V-shaped, giving us even enhanced the feeling of spaciousness of the room (Veronika really does love attic-like ceilings!). It almost felt like we stayed at a roof penthouse even though we were on the ground floor.
If I had to look for flaws and be picky, two things come to mind:
- It was pretty hot. Because the ceilings were made out of wood and had been exposed in the sun during what had to be the hottest day at a time, the room did feel quite a bit warmer than one would wish for, but the friendly staff did try to solve it by providing us with a fan.
- We burnt ourselves a little. The water coming out of the tap in the shower or bath was either ice cold or boiling hot. Not really a big deal, but not ideal either.
I’m sure there could potentially be a few other smaller things to pick on, but we were so impressed with the hotel that we didn’t really feel like finding any. And that would be the end of that, but there is just one more thing: Breakfast!
When a hotel makes your breakfast an experience – you know it’s a special place.
Just like with the parking: many little things add up to a greater whole at The Mount hotel. Take the view outside of the terrace where we had breakfast: a massive, well-balanced garden that’s perfect for hosting aristocratic summer events.
The menu: classical, English menu, but there was nothing pre-made, so you get to order it exactly the way you want it. Not ideal for rushing, but then again, the music playing in the room would calm down even those in a hurry (we know because we were late to drive to the Go Below Adventures in Snowdonia). Good thing we made it!
The vibe at our breakfast was surprisingly relaxing. All personnel was wearing formal uniforms which, in my opinion, was a bit too much, but it was certainly a nice touch and they weren’t intrusive in any way. We had a quiet conversation while Veronika enjoyed her Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict and I tasted the Full English Breakfast. Sipping on some good coffee, we could enjoy the moment before rushing into the activities for the day.
Rounding things up
In fact, whilst writing this review of our experience I’m surprised by how much comes to my memory, especially the little details. That alone is a sign that we had a great time there. If you’re ever in the area, we definitely recommend staying here for a few nights. You can check availability and prices on the hotel’s website.
We stayed up until nearly 2 am the next morning, just to grasp every moment. As we left, the hotel staff was getting ready for a wedding later that afternoon. We knew they would have a great day while we continued our adventure deeper into Wales.
Would I invite the person who designed the rooms at The Mount Hotel to design my own house? I can say for sure that I’d certainly invite him or her for advice, and praise doesn’t get much higher than that (for me).
Hope you enjoyed this review – this is just the beginning of us blogging more. We would love to know what’s the best hotel you have stayed in!