Durley Grange Hotel

Right where do I start this hotel is like having your own little Alcatraz plonked in Dorset. It’s tired , smelly , carpets frayed , bedside tables chipped , stains everywhere completely dissatisfied with the whole cobodol . We arrived around 2 pm on the Saturday went in to alcratraz and signed forms up etc and paid £60 for the double room when walking up the stairs it was already assigned that there was a smell of dirt and uncleanliness, we got into the room it was freezing like heating hadn’t been on for 3 years which wasn’t good start we had a scout around room neither myself or girlfriend were happy to even sit on the bed with clothes on let alone not ( pls see pics ) AVOID THIS SMELLY SESS PIT AT ALL COST !! the only saving grace was she refunded the money back but tbh we had only been in room for 20 mins and that was more than enough!

The hotel is a lovely hotel, it's 5 mins to the beach and town centre. The room has got everything you want , bed was so soft you felt like you was floating and pillows so soft. The food was excellent, so much to choice from and plenty on your plate, it was all home made , the bread and butter pudding out of this world, husband enjoyed the creamy rice pudding. The staff are so friendly and they work so hard , and they are always there to help you and nothing is to much. Emma the manager is such a lovely lady, she works so hard to keep the hotel running smoothly, she is so friendly she's there waiting for us when we arrived on the coach and even Emma and staff wave us off when we left to go home. Which gives that personal touch which I loved, I would definitely go back to the hotel. Emma keep up the good work you do a fantastic job, we love you to bits ,did not want to leave . Julie and Stephen room no 105

group of eight friends on 4 day break with Alpha Travel, Hotel location great for town & beach, 5 minute walk to bus stop, buses regular to lively town or short walk down hill, loads of bars & eating places around, entrtainment good in Hotel, can't fault the staff, any issues were dealt with promptly by Emma who personally goes that extra mile to ensure you are satisfied, we were a challenging group (sorry) loved the sauna & pool, Thanks from Manchester crew x

Lovely hotel,ran by the most friendly of staff,always willing to please & led by an amazing lady named EMMA. The food was freshly cooked to perfection.The hotel is within walking distance to all amenities,which is great. Will definitely be going back in the near future.

Great place to stay! really welcoming when arriving, very nice service from all staff really polite and loving. Drinks and food available witch is very nice to good chill out area to enjoy the evening. My 4th time coming I always stay hear when visiting bournemouth.

We stayed at The Durley Grange Hotel from May 14-20th 2023 as part of an Alfa Travel tour, Bournemouth and Beaulieu. The Durley Grange Hotel has the potential to become a very good hotel. There are a lot of good points, but one major deficiency the staffing level. I discussed this with Emma, the House Manager who is the driving force in the hotel, but the problem seems to be the difficulty of recruiting staff. The lack of fully trained serving staff in the restaurant results in a slow service particularly for the evening meal. A proper system where each member of the serving staff has an allocated number of tables and has responsibility for those tables and works efficiently bringing out the maximum number of meals at once and does not waste time walking in and out of the kitchen empty handed. I noted an improvement in this during the week although it was not reflected in the total serving time. One of the good points about the hotel is the quality and quantity of the food which is superior to the average Leisureplex Hotel and the friendliness of the staff is a plus point too. Comment cards are available to give your opinion of the hotel and Emma welcomes criticism We were in room 213 on the second floor. It was kept clean and tidy and there was always instant hot water. The kettle provided in the room is a full-size fast boil which is unusual in a hotel. The room had plenty of wardrobe space and plenty of hangers and more than enough drawer space and was the room was exceptionally quiet. On the down side, the room was not particularly large and the view uninspiring and the water pressure was insufficient to have a decent shower, only two power points which can be a bit restrictive in this day and age and partly because of the size of the room only one chair to sit on. The practice of waiting in the lounge to be given information on the time for tea and breakfast is not usual on coach holidays and I don’t think it has happened before and this was our 70th coach holiday. The mass exodus to the rooms caused severe congestion, the normal practice is for someone to come on the coach and tell you the times for tea and breakfast and where to pick up your room keys. The lift in the hotel is very small and the stairs are quite steep so not ideal for people with limited mobility unless they are on the ground floor. The stairs and corridor lighting are controlled by motion sensors and some do not come on soon enough (stairs to room 213), this was mentioned to the contract electrician. I think ours was only the second Alfa tour to use the hotel so while the staffing level may be adequate for a smaller number of guests a full coach of 40 are not going to get the service in the restaurant that they would receive at a normal Alfa hotel. It is amazing what was achieved with the number of people, but it is too reliant on Emma, the house manager, contributing so much.

JUST GOT BACK FROM A COACH TOUR WITH ALFA COACHES THE HOTEL WAS VERY TIDY AND VERY CLEAN THE MANAGERESS WAS VERY HELPFULL AND THE FOOD WAS SOME OFTHE BEST WE HAVE HAD ON OUR COACH HOLIDAYS ONLY LETDOWN WAS THEY COULD NOT GET ANY STAFF AND MANAGER HAD TO DO MOST OF THE SERVNGBY HER SELF SHE IS HOPING TO GET MORE STAFFVERY SOON ENTERTAINMENT WAS VERY GOOD ON 2 NIGHTSBAR WAS WELL PRICED I WOULD RETURN TO THIS HOTEL

Pros - Nice breakfast Cons - Filthy dirty room, peeling paint , mould , bed linen torn , dust on power sockets, nail varnish on curtains , shower grime mould, rusty light switches , taps rusty , dated room. When served breakfast i was asked would you like it on your lap or table. Excuse me?? Is this sarcasm or wind up ***. I did not use the pool as smelt of urine. Noise from pool could hear from room and guests swearing kids teens affected my relaxing break.

We have just returned from another very enjoyable break at this hotel and we cannot praise it enough. The staff especially Emma make you feel so welcome and help create along with the hotel itself a lovely a**osphere that contributes to a great stay. We would thoroughly recommend this hotel and will be hopefully returning very soon.