Best Western New Kent Hotel, Newcastle (Best Western Hotels)

Member Name: Kirst09

Product:	Best Western Hotels
Date:	11/06/09 (30 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: close to the city, good quality accommodation

Disadvantages: just the door not closing properly without a fight!

The Best Western Hotel chain wasn't one that I'd heard of until I got sent to work elsewhere in the country and this is where they booked me up! It's not what you would expect from your average chain; one thing a chain holds is consistency from branch to branch or hotel to hotel, because the brand has to remain consistent from one place to the next, but out of more than 280 Best Western hotels, allegedly each one is completely unique and charming in its own way, according to the website anyway, having visited only 1 myself, I can't really comment.

As it was a chain, I was not expecting much in terms of quality but was pleasantly surprised when I walked into my room. The key card worked first time (which is a first for me) and the room surprised me. The television was huge for a hotel TV and the room was immaculate, clean sheets, well made bed, well presented tray with tea, biscuits etc, a kettle, hairdryer and all the usual basics that a hotel provides, such as shampoo, shower gel, soap, clean towels which were folded well and placed neatly on the end of the bed. The carpet was flawless and fluffy under your feet too - it really was that nice! On arrival, the reception staff were very polite and helpful, really friendly.

The hotel itself is in a really nice location in Jesmond, only 2 miles out of the city centre so an ideal place of rest for a city break, night out, hen party, etc. Jesmond is renowned for being a beautiful, posh suburb of Newcastle's city centre and it is surrounded by predominantly houses, although there is a Subway, Tesco Express and Starbucks within easy walking distance, along with your local newsagent, a few restaurants and a line of pubs, all of which were packed outside because the weather was gorgeous when we got there.

The rates for the room differ from weekdays to weekends in some cases and are as follows:

Single rooms - from £69.50 (Monday - Thursday) from £52.50 (Friday, Saturday, Sunday)
Double/twin rooms - from £89.50 all week
Triple rooms - from £115 all week
Quad rooms - from £125 all week

The breakfast selection was large and there were various options available; you could have the standard continental breakfast; cereal, toast, fruit etc or you could have breakfast delivered to your room. There was a card you could leave hanging on your door and you could select fresh fruit, yoghurt, pretty much anything you could want for breakfast, I don't remember everything but there was a massive selection, always the cooked breakfast option too! It all smelled really good when I walked downstairs in the morning and everything was really well presented. There is a restaurant and a bar in the hotel. The restaurant offers an A la Carte menu and a wine list and it offers a lot of international dishes as well as the traditional ones.

The view from my window was nothing special, just the side of another building. I could hear church bells from my room, which was really, really nice as I have that at home too. It wouldn't stop you from sleeping or wake you up though. The bathroom was really nice too, everything was absolutely immaculate. The only thing that could even be classed as a drawback was the door to my room. Despite my initial luck on getting in there first time, the door was extremely difficult to close from the inside; it took me ages to close it, although it was easy for other people to close from the outside.

Breakfast was between 8am and 10am and checkout was 11am. The staff ask if you want a wakeup call in the morning and will do anything to ensure you have a pleasant stay. I would definitely stay there again, even if not for work. Now for a few facts about location:

2 miles from Newcastle Central Station
7 miles from Newcastle airport
3 miles from the nearest motorway
30 minutes drive from the Metro Centre, but this is also accessible from Newcastle Central Station with a 10 minute train ride

The Best Western has a total of 32 rooms with ensuite facilities and limited room service available. Unfortunately there are no lifts. The rooms are all non-smoking and anyone caught smoking is subject to a fine. They have on-site parking, a bar and restaurant facilities also. It has a 3 star rating and definitely deserves them, it was a lovely hotel and albeit for work it was an extremely pleasant stay.

Summary: all in all a really nice hotel with a good atmosphere and easy access to the city centre