Review: Tickled Trout

As some of you probably know already, I was stranded near Preston recently and ended up with a last minute stay at the Tickled Trout Hotel for New Years.

The Tickled Trout Hotel

Because we arrived at night time we missed the "stunning views over the beautiful River Ribble" and could only see motorways. Getting to our room was a five minute trek through identical corridors, most of which smelt very strongly of gone off potatoes. The twin room was tidy and clean, your usual bog-standard motorway hotel room. I'm not convinced of its status as a twin room though, the beds were less than an inch apart. It was also roasting hot. The radiator would not turn down (even when a member of staff was sent to help) so we opened the huge window, which was broken and balance precariously on one hinge, and headed downstairs for some food.

Unfortunately for us there was a New Year's Eve party so no room in the restaurant for regular guests. We sat in the bar and ordered food and drinks. The choice for vegetarians was appalling from such a large hotel chain and Matt's pumpkin risotto, despite tasting OK, lacked a lot in presentation. He was presented with a large white bowl, a portion of ravioli in the bottom and that's it - no sauce, no garnish. My burger was similarly disappointing being just a lump of (delicious, succulent) meat in an un-buttered roll with a few chips. I was disappointed, just a little more effort would have turned it into a fantastic meal. Perhaps they were too busy in the kitchen dealing with the party...

Mr Bunn in a ridiculously hot 'twin' room

When we returned to our room some hours later it was still unbearably hot. We tried calling reception but got no answer and so trudged back down to speak to someone. A sign on the desk informed us we should speak to the bar if we needed help. They were busy and did not want to speak to us. Eventually an off-duty staff member found the manager who gave us a key to a different room and requested we call down to let him know it was OK. The second room was marginally cooler and despite the strong smell of rotting eggs we decided it was more acceptable than the first room. Unfortunately we could not let the manager know as the phone in the room was broken.

All in all our stay at the Tickled Trout was disappointing. It could have been so much better with just a little more effort.

1. Don't turn the thermostat up to full. I know it's winter but no-one likes tropical heat like that.
2. When someone orders room service remember to remove their dirty plates or your hotel will smell of rotten potatoes, especially in that heat.
3. If you're going to dress the staff up like it's a proper hotel then you should train them too. Wiping overflowing Guinness off the side of a glass with your hand is not acceptable anywhere.
4. When you have a big party on do not neglect the rest of your guests.
5. Put some effort into the presentation of your food. It tastes great but looks worse than Wetherspoons.
6. Do some maintenance - half the hotel was broken.