Exterior

Reviews of Melbourne Ardenlea Hotel

3 out of 5
Melbourne Ardenlea Hotel
4-6 Queens Road, Shanklin, England

Reviews

5.4
Rating 10 - Excellent. 4 out of 65 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 16 out of 65 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 17 out of 65 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 15 out of 65 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 13 out of 65 reviews" "

6.2/10

Cleanliness

6.2/10

Staff & service

3.4/10

Amenities

5.2/10

Property conditions & facilities

4.0/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

2/10 Terrible

Matt

Travelled with group
Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Horrendous
Awful, DO NOT GO TO THIS HOTEL. No hot water for our entire stay, no towels, no staff, guests were going into the kitchen to get things for breakfast as no staff on site. No light bulbs in the lights, bar not open again no staff on site, shabby on the outside and decor 20+ old.
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2022

4/10 Poor

Susan

Travelled with partner
Disliked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
I enjoyed the large pool even though the lights didn't work and the showers were not working, and the sauna was not working. The place was disgusting dirty. I asked for the bathroom to be cleaned and they sent a cleaner but they did not clean the bathroom, just poured some cleaner in the toilet. The lifts were broken, there wasn't any bedside lamps, the radiator was broken and we couldn't turn off the heater. There wasn't any breakfast available by the time we got there. Breakfast was sliced bread, single boxed cereal and an urn of hot water with sachets of coffee and tea. There wasn't any soya milk as I cannot have milk and there wasn't any cups left for a cup of coffee.
Stayed 3 nights in Jun 2022

2/10 Terrible

brian

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Totally poor
Very poor no cooked meals available no bar service bed linen not changed for three days no room service
Stayed 3 nights in May 2022

2/10 Terrible

JOSEPH

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Absolutely awful. I don't even know where to start to be honest it needs to close down....
Stayed 2 nights in May 2022

4/10 Poor

Michael

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
Cheap
Needs money spent on it, it has so much potential. We would not stay here again unless it drastically improves.The only good thing about this place is the staff.
Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2022
Response from Reception on 26 Feb 2022
Thank you for you recent review. We are pleased that you liked the staff here at the hotel. At the moment we are in the process of slowly renovating the hotel so hopefully when you next visit the Island you will be able to see the improvements that we have made.

2/10 Terrible

Peter

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Our stay
Done a last minute booking. We got there and was told that the room we had booked was already occupied. They found another room for us. They apologised for the mess in the stairways as they are decorating, that’s understandable. We were then told that there was only continental breakfast as the restaurant is also being redecorated. The breakfast bar was still on show, nothing was covered over and it was near the entrance. When we got to our room the door wouldn’t lock at all. The balcony door was padlocked shut as they said they has lost the key for it. The room was very dated, the bathroom was dirty with spiders everywhere, couldn’t change from shower mode to taps for bath. The tv remote was held together with a bit of old paper and tape. Was absolutely disgusted with the room. Was nothing like the pictures they show to advertise the place. We ended up leaving and finding somewhere cleaner and more comfortable to stay
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2022
Response from Reception on 21 Feb 2022
Thank you for your recent review, we appreciate all feedback good and bad. We are in the process of updating the hotel and do make guests aware of this at check in, in order to do this we do need to make areas unavailable hence why we have placed breakfast in the upper lobby area. In regards to your comment about the breakfast bar this is situated at the top of the lobby area and no food is left out, the only items that we leave is the toaster and urn etc. I am sorry in regards to the cleanliness of the room and will be speaking to the house keeping team regarding this. If you had brought to our attention whilst you where at the hotel the lock issue and the cleanliness we could have rectified this whilst you where out for the evening.

8/10 Good

Nigel

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2022
Response from Reception on 18 Feb 2022
Thank you for your positive review, we hope to see you again when you are next on the island

10/10 Excellent

santanu

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
The rooms were clean, very comfortable, and the staff was amazing. They went over and beyond to help make our stay enjoyable. I highly recommend this hotel for anyone visiting Isle of Wight.
Stayed 3 nights in Jan 2022
Response from Reception on 16 Feb 2022
Thank you for your lovely review and we are glad that you enjoyed your stay with us

2/10 Terrible

JAIME

Travelled with partner
Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Limited parking, about 12 spaces for 55 rooms, we had to park outside! Property needs lot of work, specially in the rooms! And needs to be clean more often. We stayed 2 nights! Second night, We found the room as we left it, they did not do the rooms, bed was not done, toilet was not done, tea, coffee and milk was not replaced! Bed and pillows needs to be replaced, they are quite old and we had not had a nice sleep, windows do not close properly. Breakfast: we had to look each mug to find a clean one, bread had mold.
Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2021

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Travelled with group
Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Amenities, property conditions & facilities
Property was not as advertised . Rooms were cold and cudnt get WiFi in my room
Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2019

6/10 Okay

Peter

Stayed 1 night in Nov 2019

8/10 Good

sue, ely

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
staff excellent room very comfortable would stay again
Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2018

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Cleanliness
alan was outstanding and very helpful with all are requirements
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2018

6/10 Okay

P, London, UK

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
Don’t believe the poor reviews!
This is a perfectly decent hotel for the price. Yes, it’s a bit tired and in need of refurbishment, but if you want that kind of hotel then you need to spend more and go to The Havelock next door. Our room was perfectly clean and quiet, breakfast was delicious and all the staff we encountered were lovely.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2018

8/10 Good

Duncan

Family stay
Fun family trip to Isle of Wight.. Nice swim in the pool and table service breakfast. Evening entertainment and friendly staff..free Parking and good location. Thanks
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2018

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveller

Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Hotel decor out dated cleanliness poor no hot water some days breakfast poor
Stayed 5 nights in Jul 2018

2/10 Terrible

Bella, Rye

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Filthy and run down
Pictures are a lie, the place is dirty, uncared for and have incompetent management they are a disgrace to the isle of Wight and should be shut down.
Stayed 3 nights in Jul 2018

6/10 Okay

Sandra, Ireland

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice hotel which was close to everything
Room was lovely and very clean. Food was excellent as was the service at breakfast. I couldn't connect to the WiFi which was disappointing. I found most of the staff were lovely and very helpful. I would of scored higher except for on one of the days after they had finished cleaning they left my door open. I presume they had gone to replace bath towel and had been interrupted as this was not in my room when i went back. Luckily i was back to change at 5 o'clock otherwise my room would of been unlocked all evening with all my personal belongings in it. When i went to check why it was open i felt the person behind the desk wasnt pleasant about it and just said I must of left it open when i cleaned the rooms about an hour ago. The place was full and had i not come back early anyone could of entered my room and taken anything they wanted. I felt quite nervous going into the room. They had also opened the window and left it open which if I had wanted it open with all my things in it I would of left it opened myself before i left the room.
Stayed 3 nights in Jul 2018

6/10 Okay

TtornN, west sussex

Liked: Cleanliness, room comfort
Will be better
Not long been taken over and not up to scratch yet. Lots of little niggles that stop it getting g more marks. We did enjoy our stay but can’t at the moment recommend . Feel it will be much better in a few months. They tried very hard to get things right
Stayed 4 nights in Jul 2018

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Staff & service
The Hotel staff were very pleasant and helpful.
Stayed 7 nights in Jun 2018

6/10 Okay

Abbo, Surrey

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Short Cricket Tour/Reunion
About 20 old friends choose this Hotel for a short Cricket Tour/Reunion , rooms were ok but in general the place looked very tired , the bar and I say that loosely , continually ran out of certain drinks and at one point even ice ! The breakfast was woeful , slow service , again kept running out of certain items , I have to remember we did not pay a lot of money but this was still way short of the expected standard I would expect . I would say that the pool was nice , very warm and one of the staff in particular , Chelsey was very good , lovely personality and tried her very best to solve our ongoingg issues , overall we had a good time but I doubt we will be choosing this Hotel when planning our return trip next year .
Stayed 4 nights in Jun 2018

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Needs major refurbishment & new management!
First stayed in the hotel 6 years ago with wife and kids and since then kids have pestered us to return. Sadly the magnificent pool can't make up for the hotel's many faults. The hotel appears to have undergone an ownership/management change since our previous visit and not for the better! :-( Family room was a good size with 2 separate bedrooms and decent sized bathroom. Bed was comfortable, but like most of the hotel, room was very dated and in much need of loving restoration starting with some fresh paint and replacing broken windows! Breakfast was tasty, but hotel's description of "Full English" needs reviewing as portion sizes were at best stingey. Dining room staff were hard working and friendly, no problems with them whatsoever! The hotel's pool is it's main draw and saving grace... that's when your allowed to use it. I would describe trying to gain access to the pool at times as like asking your very tight friend who is on a water meter for a glass of water! Staff gave conflicting information as to when it was available and despite being told on several occasions it was open all day between 10am and 10pm, however this clearly was not the case as it was locked and unavailable for most of our stay, on the rare occasions it was open, we were made to feel guilty for using it, The hot tub has been sealed up with no sign of it ever being restored to working order. Front of house staff were not the friendliest, particularly helpful or approachable. Hotel needs major refurb!
Stayed 1 night in May 2018

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
It's inexpensive and you get what you pay for. That's not a criticism just a statement of fact so if you're looking for luxury this wouldn't be for you. However its in a good location for access to the beach and town. Polite and friendly staff. The hotel is clean an breakfast was good. In need of modernisation and maintenance. We had a pleasant stay and would use this hotel again.
Stayed 3 nights in May 2018

6/10 Okay

Mr

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Island retreat
My stay was somewhat like a Fawlty Towers experience in some respects, but with excellent customer service from all members of staff.

8/10 Good

Emma

Liked: Staff & service

10/10 Excellent

Laetitia

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

8/10 Good

Llinos

Decentish hotel with so much potential
Nice enough hotel. Our room was clean and comfortable. Downside was the fact the swimming pool was closed but we had been informed of this before our arrival. Worst part was the breakfast - claimed it was a continental breakfast but only cereal and toast was on offer. Other bad thing was lack of decent coffee, in this day the least that should be offered is filter coffee. Overall decent enough for the price.

6/10 Okay

Victoria

Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Requires improvements!
The hotel is old and run down. I would liken it to faulty towers! The bathroom was modern and clean. The room was dusty and mattress very uncomfortable. The furniture was old and drawers broken. Only three staff members seen all weekend. No cleaning service... towels not refreshed. Breakfast was freshly cooked and was very nice.

8/10 Good

Hazel & Paul, York

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Ideal location for visiting the rest of the island
After some mix up when booking in due to rooms not being available everything was fine, except for the bar not being open on the first night.
Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2017

8/10 Good

Trevor

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice hotel
The Melbourne-Ardenlea is a friendly hotel with helpful staff, the only downside is that is located well away from the shops and the beach
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2017

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
Hotel pool closed no back up chef for restaurant
Every thing closed. Pool clised. Bad closed at 10 pm in Saturday which was a let down. Ideal close to beach and staff were friendly. Pity about maintenance of place
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2017

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveller

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
i will not recommend this hotel to anyone. The room we got has no ventilation.we lost our valuables, clothes. The staff are not aware. They said they will contact after investigations. But no one contacted
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2017

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Sea view, with balcony
We had a lovely room, room 40, which had a sea view, a balcony, a bath and a comfortable double bed, and was very quiet at night, and we spent two happy nights here. It was small but suited our needs. The full English breakfast was very good and there was also a really good band playing in the foyer one night, which was an unexpected bonus. There was free off-street parking. Looking at the reviews of the hotel beforehand, which I think give a fair reflection, it would not normally have been our first choice, but it was August Bank Holiday weekend, and there was very little availability on the island. However, we enjoyed our stay.
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2017

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
Small and very dated
Staff very helpful and friendly. Room very small and dated. Nowhere near enough parking for the amount of rooms. Tiny TV only worked on a couple of channels. Breakfast great but only available from 08.00.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2017

8/10 Good

Charles

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Where's my evening meal
Good value for money. My birthday while I stayed disappointing. Didn't recivce a evening meal. Bit noisey with large extractor fan outside my room. Toilet stop flushing after 2 days. Breakfast great bed not so comfy. 7 out ov10
Stayed 4 nights in Jul 2017

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveller

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Booked into a closed hotel!
The last three 'rating' categories are not relevant but are required to be completed. When we arrived we found the hotel closed. Fortunately the caretaker was visiting and was very helpful, informing us that the hotel had been closed for three to four weeks. He telephoned the manager, who was in Sheffield, but he could only apologize. The caretaker recommended an hotel about 50 yards away which, fortunately, had two room vacant. Under no circumstances will we use Expedia again.

6/10 Okay

Julie, Kent

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Pleasant Hotel, few minutes walk to beach.
Pleasant Hotel, could do with some updating, our room looked nothing like web site pictures but it was clean and comfortable. Breakfast choice is very limited if you don't like cooked, but my husband assured me the cooked was very nice! Parking is on a first come first served basis, there were 2 mini buses taking 5 spaces during our stay but we managed to park alongside building next door. Could be a problem in the height of the season. Staff very friendly and helpful, would stay here again if visiting Shanklin!

10/10 Excellent

Debbie

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
It was great just what I needed

4/10 Poor

Aidas

Liked: Cleanliness
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities, room comfort
No recommend
Descriptions about rooms not are correct, free car park true because must park down on the street.

4/10 Poor

kelly, spalding

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
We stayed in the family room it was cold and had a horrible fusty smell. They had put two fan heaters in the room which yes it did make it warmer, my eldest daughter has asthma so with the fusty smell and the dry heat the fan heaters blast out she couldn't stay in our room, she stayed in my mums room. I did complain and all I got was sorry we're fully booked? Lovely pool it's a shame it wasn't heated it was so cold. And the parking was awful they really need to do something about this. I would go back to Isle of Wight. But definitely not to that hotel.

4/10 Poor

June

Disliked: Cleanliness, room comfort
Dusty

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Run down - But still making an effort
We booked last minute and got what we paid for, The hotel was however in desperate need of a refurbish. The Car Parking was a joke. We ended up parking in ankle deep mud & needed pushing out next day. That said the Bed was comfortable and the staff friendly and helpful so cannot really complain. But I was left with impression that this hotel wont be around for another 5 years without some serious investment.

4/10 Poor

Sara

Liked: Room comfort
Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Fawlty Towers
Unprofessional check in, didn't know about special requirements, wasn't told where the room was, just how to get to the lift. There were cobwebs in the bathroom and the vent was gruted. Worse was the red splashes under the window which looked like blood, not saying they were, didn't bother to complain as the owners? were only interested at check in in taking my payment and the chap that had blocked the parking area. We had to go out to eat as there was no gluten free/ vegetarian option. The light aS broken over the bed and one of the bulbs in the main light was out. We checked out the pool, asking the 4 burley guys in there if the water was warm, the one with not much hair said he had a full head of the stuff when he got in, he said it was very cold. The room and beds were comfy and the bath lovely and long, the water was very hot and plenty if it. Breakfast was a shambles, disorganised, frozen bread for toast, no crockery, cold when it came. Max was great the waitress worked so hard and kept smiling. The next day breakfast was better but 'blood' in room was still there. When I checked out, there was no word from the owner who had taken my payment, not a safe journey or how was your stay, absolutely nothing. Great customer service lol.

8/10 Good

Emily, hampshire

Liked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
nice and cheap!
we went for a one night get away in a nice cheap hotel before we spent the day on the Isle! I was impressed for value for money! cost £35 for one nice including breakfast as a last minute thing and I was pleasantly surprised. clean small room, a bit dated but overall for the price I couldn't complain! very nice breakfast can't complain about that at all, staff moaned a little bit.

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
Needs a lot of money spent on it to bring it in to the 21st century

6/10 Okay

Michael

We liked the staff but the room was a little tired and the furniture did not match but the water pressure was great so had some great showers, we would go again.

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Disliked: Property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Only good thing, it is near to the beach!
Staff quite nice, but Hotel needs a lot of improvement !! Swimming Pool,freezing cold! Very disappointing ! I chose a Hotel with indoor swimming pool, thinking, we can swim everyday!, no chance !! don't want to end up with Pneumonia !!

8/10 Good

Bev, middlesex

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Lovely clean modern rooms friendly staff
Great stay very comfy beds room was clean and modern staff happy to help.one thing of wasn't happy with was the car park when full one evening I was told t to park on double yellow lines outside the hotel my car had to moved by 6am I was told not happy to leave my car there so found parking 5 minutes walk away

2/10 Terrible

maxine

Liked: Cleanliness
Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
check the room before you pass over monies.
Having booked for a superior room a month before we were given room 51 3rd floor and furthest away from reception.backed onto a road and the kitchen extractor. The bathroom was 1970's avocado suite the room was totally not acceptable. There was a connecting door and we were kept awake with next doors snoring. We were sold under misrepresentation. One manager even had the audacity to say this was a superior room. We should have left. We will happily supply photos of the room. I seriously considered going to trading standards but for the kindness of the recently arrived manager and his wife who were understanding and up front with us but the other manager supporting the hotel on the basis of the room being superior should be questioned as to loyalty that does not stand up. The room was totally sub standard.

4/10 Poor

Jack, London

Disliked: Property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Caveat Emptor
I was a wary when asked to settle room costs up front. Soon found out reason for this policy. Room was clean but tatty. Public areas clean and tidy, but vacuum cleaner did not always get into the awkward corners and edges in the rooms. Nice copper sulphate- blue stain in the bath running from tap to plug hole. Shower curtain was past its sell-by date as was the shower mechanism itself. Water temperature was difficult to regulate and arguably dangerous. No handles in bath adding to potential accident risk. Breakfast was a major let-down - stale cereal; lukewarm / cold cooked breakfast; ungenerous portions. Not a good incentive to having dinner in the hotel.