Dolphin Hotel Cambridge

We stayed at the hotel for 2 night 27th and 28th April. No evening meals available as restaurant being refurbished ( not told when booking). Room very nice but lots of snagging items outstanding, fixtures in shower coming off wall. No hand rails in walk in shower. Hooks on bathroom door not repaired. No where to hang coats. Only 2 coat hangers each. No hairdryer but said on website they were included in the room. Fire alarm went off Tuesday morning, no notice, tried to phone reception, which took 3 calls. Not notified when checked in that they would be testing the fire alarm Tuesday morning. Asked if we could have a drink when we arrived, told bar didn't open until 5.30pm but would get us a drink, waited 20 minutes for the guy to arrive at the bar so walked back to reception and he came round to the bar and served us, said if we wanted another drink to phone the reception on the landline number. Breakfast was in the meadow suite, disgusting, burned sausages and bacon, all luke warm. Decided second morning to have continental breakfast (much nicer). Acces to the meadow suite was outside, it was raining, no acces through complex. Tried to get through car park barrier on Monday afternoon to no avail, reversed back to reception to be told car parking was £2.00 per day, fortunately the other receptionist knew were were guests and gave us a token to get out, (not mentioned when checking in.) The reception was not welcoming and very sparce, no tourist information about the area. The room has no information in the room about the facilities, safety. Security at night very poor, all doors accessible. Access ramps need attention. Hotel layout not available. There was a side gate adjacent to the bridge, was opened Monday evening which made it easier for us to get to town, I asked at reception Tuesday evening if the gate was open, was holding that the guy responsible had not arrived, therefore gate not open we walked the longer route hoping it would be open on our return, no it wasn't. The hotel had a board inviting people to come in for coffee on the terrace, but no directions when the gate was closed. The terrace lovely position but looks very tired and maintenance required to the paving. The cleaning staff very friendly and efficient.

3 months ago · via Google

Having done a large booking of 15 rooms for my family who attended my sister wedding at a nearby venue, the check-in and room allocation process was awful. The man on duty was overwhelmed and refused to take help from myself who knew what I had booked and recognised his mistake before himself. Passive aggressive language was not appreciated. Moreover, the same receptionist had been called to confirm if a baby cot was included. He mentioned that "the cot has been paid for". This means it is included in the price yet we had to pay for the cot. The money wasn't the issue the misinformation was as we had our own travel cot we could've brought along. To make it worse he then took 1 hour to bring the cot to the room and provided no mattress for the cot. Furthermore, he then wanted to "exchange words" with my guests as if the mistake was ours. This was after we've incurred the additional cost of the cot. He was overwhelmed and handled the whole situation horribly. However, the other staff especially at breakfast were super friendly and accommodating. They even let us use their room for a quick little dance practice which was appreciated. It is so unfortunate how one member of staff not holding himself properly ruined the experience for all 32 of my guests staying at this hotel.

3 months ago · via Google

I speak from my experience today. I am not at the hotel, but moored in a steel narrowboat about 200 yards away. There's an event at the hotel, which produces loud 'music', with a heavy base note, that causes the steel sides of my boat to vibrate in sympathy, headache inducing! I phoned them and asked for the manager, but the receptionist said he would ask that this base note be turned down. It did not happen! If anything it is louder! I called again and asked for the manager, to be told they weren't on site, so I asked for the assistant manager, also not on site! So I asked for the senior person, at which point the receptionist indicated that they were the senior on site, and hung up on me! Poor behavior from a staff member, indicative of poor training, and reflecting on the entire business! I should point out that it is impractical to move the boat, as moorings on the river are few, especially on a warm, summer Sunday. Plus we are in our 70s, and moving in the afternoon heat is out of the question. I shall report the situation to the local council, for their record, on this uncaring hotel! EDIT: Reported to Huntingdonshire Council, and to Environmental Health, for action. Further EDIT: Following the extremely unpleasant response to my original review, apparently from the owner, desipite my clear explanation as to why moving our boat was impractical at that time, my recommendation is, think twice before risking a visit to this place. I have since spoken to local residents, who tell me this disturbance is not unusual! NOTE to the actual owner, as it seems this reply was from the receptionist. Hopefully your staff are selected, and trained more carefully in future, and don't continue to undermine your business in this way!

3 weeks ago · via Google

Great little find with a perfect location. Big car park with good value parking for non residents. Stayed while renovations bring done which didn't impact on our stay. Restaurant not open due to renovations but plenty of places to eat within walking distance. Would love to come back once hotel is fully upgraded

3 months ago · via Google