If you are a regular reader you will know that I am on a search to find decent accommodation in Southport. Why Southport you may ask? Because my in-laws live there. Why can't you stay with them then? Because they live in a reasonably small apartment and, although they do have a sofa-bed in the lounge, it is a bit of an inconvenience for them, hence the need for a room within reasonable distance.

Reasonable distance in this case means (for those of you who know Southport) within easy walking distance of the roundabout at the north end of Lord Street, by the Fire Station and the Magistrate's Court. This means that my search is effectively limited to that end of Lord Street, Albert Street Alexandra Street and Leicester Street but not much further than that. Walking distance, because I would rather avoid driving having spent an evening with them, with the usual “refreshments” and sufficiently close to be able to make a dash for it if the weather is less than balmy.

The Lynwood Hotel is in Leicester Street. I knew of it by virtue of having passed it when staying at another hotel in this road (reviewed here) and it having appeared reasonable on examination, such as was possible, from the road. We didn't have time, at the time, to go in and enquire but as search of the Internet revealed that the proprietors do have a website (http://www.lynwoodhotel.com/). They have a form for requesting reservations and they were prompt in responding to my request, which is always a good sign.

Why didn't we go back to the first hotel? Well, we did consider it and, from a quality point of view there was little that could be criticised, except perhaps the absence of skimmed milk at breakfast, which did somewhat put my wife out. I didn't have a problem with this though. I'm definitely a full-fat person. No, the problem was that I felt that their prices were somewhat on the high side and, they also charge per room rather than per person. If there are two or more of you occupying then this isn't a problem but on this occasion we wanted a room for my daughter, who is 25 and so definitely doesn't want to share a room with Mum and Dad!

The Lynwood Hotel is a semi-detached building and so quite a bit smaller than our previous accommodation. It also means that there is far less room for parking. The hotel can accommodate four cars but, fortunately, Leicester Street is mostly not a parking controlled road and so kerb-side parking is not a problem if no room is available on the front.

Like many such buildings in Southport, the Lynwood is probably around 100 years old and consists of three floors. The entrance door is generally locked and you are provided with a key for it with your room key so that you can get in when you want. Inside it looks just like a normal home. There is no Reception as such. The entrance hallway has a simple small table where you sign in. On the left is the residents lounge, just like anyone's front lounge and behind it, what would be the back room is the bar. Beyond that and down a step or two is the breakfast room.

The bedrooms are all on the first and second floors, reached via stairs from the hallway. As is nowadays required by fire regulations, the stairs are enclosed and each floor is accessed from them by a firedoor. I did notice a fire escape door on the first floor and, in view of its location can only assume that you escape into the next door property.

We stayed on two occasions. On the first we occupied Room 2. This was obviously originally a reasonable sized bedroom. However, a corner of the room had been enclosed to form an en suite. What was left was a “compact” space where it was not possible to pass one another around the bed! The bed was not the most comfortable I have ever experienced. In fact the mattress was harder in the middle than at the edges so it felt like you were sleeping on the side of a hill!

The room contains a TV and facilities for making tea or coffee. One thing it doesn't have is a full length mirror, even though there is space for one on the wall behind the door. Consequently my wife had to stand on the bed to see herself in the only mirror available. There is no dressing table; there is no space for one.

The bathroom contains a shower cabinet but no bath. This is not a problem for me as I only ever shower. There is a basin, as would be expected. One thing it doesn't have is an extractor fan. The only window is a small one with an opening section at the top but, to be honest, it does little to enable steam to escape. The evidence of the effect is that some of the wallpaper seems less than firmly attached. The one disturbing thing was that the temperature control on the shower seemed to work back to front. If you turned the control in the direction of the blue arrow the water got hotter whilst the red arrow did the opposite.

However, although not the most comfortable hotel room I have ever used, it did at least have the benefit of being perfectly clean. However, there is no view from the window. The only view is onto the side wall of the next door property. Still, a view was not a priority as we were only staying one night.

On the second occasion we stayed in Room 3. This is a larger room and certainly more comfortable than Room 2. The bed here is without problems and we had a good night's sleep. It is similarly furnished and as before, the en suite contains only a shower cabinet. Here also there is no extractor fan and so the décor has suffered similar effects.

My daughter stayed in Room 5 and here she had much the same facilities as did we. The advantage that she had was that her room was on the front of the building and so she did at least have a view from her window.

Breakfast consisted of all the usual choices and was perfectly enjoyable. My wife even got her semi-skimmed milk, which kept her happy. Breakfast is included in the price for the room.

The Lynwood charges for its rooms on a per person/per night basis. For the double occupancy we paid £32.50 per person whilst for my daughter we paid £39.50 for her single occupancy of a double room. So, the price for our room for the night was £65, only £10 less than we paid for our room at our previous hotel. Considering the difference in quality in accommodation, the additional £10 was well worth it. However, compared with the sort of prices available elsewhere, both could be considered overpriced for what they provide.

Would I recommend the Lynwood? If you are staying solo then I would say that it's rooms provide reasonable value for money. If you are looking for a double then I would suggest that better value can probably be found elsewhere. I'm not sure yet where. My search continues.