Best Western Shaftesbury The Royal Chase Hotel

Parking and pool onsite. Good sized room with kettle. Good breakfast including variety of hot options freshly cooked to order and excellent pastries. Decor is slightly dated but more than made up for by the overall experience.

The food Nothing

Interesting, historical property. We had a spacious room with very comfortable beds. Enjoyable dip in the swimming pool! Staff were friendly.

Bit tired in olaces

We paid £200 with breakfast for one night as there was nowhere else available in the area. For that sort of money you have certain expectations, which the hotel failed to meet. The whole place needs a lot of TLC and a review of their prices. We had a dog-friendly twin room in the old wing of the hotel. The mismatched decor looked like it all came from the Wilko's closing down sale, the carpet was dirty and the wall paper was peeling off the walls and the ceiling. The frilly thing above the curtain rail was missing leaving an unpainted wooden box.

The bathroom was very old and tired. The shower was very poor. Generally the hotel felt very old and poorly maintained.

Living in the USA we visit Shaftesbury for family. The Royal Chase is my consistent go-to hotel, and this time as usual I booked three rooms for two nights with a lot of food and beverage. 1) Easily accessible location, not in town but on a main roundabout. 2) Style, traditional old English hotel. The windows may be old but the rooms and bathrooms are excellently refurbished. 3) Parking. Other local Shaftesbury hotels are in town and parking is an issue. The Royal Chase has 3) Restaurant - quiet, not the most adventurous menu and my guess is a lot of from-the-freezer dishes. But they do it well, rise to the occasion of a large table and the informality is great for my needs. 4) The all-female (see below) staff are consistently friendly, helpful, responsive. Staying at the Royal Chase is becoming increasingly difficult. Touring Britain we have baggage, and at eighty-one having to make two or more trips to haul 55 pound (25 kilo) bags up tall staircases with higher steps than is usual in the USA is just too much. Yes, I might get lucky and a young housemaid may offer to help, but that is frankly humiliating. This is a problem with most English hotels too old to have lifts - but when built they had porters. To Americans universally used to elevators to say the hotel is too old for lifts but too cheap for porters is abdication of fundamental responsibilities of service and hospitality. If Best Western has not communicated this they are not earning their franchise fee. There is also an issue of social responsibility. In Shaftesbury and elsewhere in England I hear the difficulty for boys to get employment . It is not sexist to recognize that teenage girls on the whole learn service better than their brothers and the all-female structure of The Royal Chase exemplifies this. Yes, I know all about and support sex-discrimination laws, but these apply to the total staff-roll, and I suggest that employing one or two young men for their muscle would if anything defend the hotel against what otherwise seems to be discrimination the other way. Decades of worldwide travel taught me that porterage is a WONDERFUL way for youngsters to learn about interaction and service and even meet people who can benefit their future. It may not pay back in the P&L today but it may in repeat business. If nothing else I am sure the owners contribute to charities and I believe the noblest charity is payment for a job, which gives not only cash but self-worth and experience. Sincerely, John Watson, O.B.E.

Lovely spacious bedroom with a bath as well as a shower. Lots of hotels don't have baths these days Changing rooms in swimming pool were dirty and smelled unclean. Surrounding tiles to the pool were rather tired. Food in dining room edible but chicken curry was very fatty and gristly. No wonder only one other couple in there.

Location Hotel was not clean, room was very dirty, cheap basic linens, room too hot , dirt and stains in bathroom and walls, carpet dirty. Hotel needs upgrade asap

Location, space, parking, swimming pool. Tired and ready for a refresh. Breakfast juice was only OK.

Excellent room, breakfast was the best we have ever had, dinner was delicious. Staff, so helpful and the gardens a treat. No improvement necessary.

Location and room Zero

Very nice quiet hotel. Excellent dinner in the hotel. Friendly staff The room was fine, warm, and clean. Lots of hot water.!! Heating being a bit noisy turned the radiator off!! Sorted!!

Swimming pool

Easy to find, good location for our needs and with good parking. A welcoming, friendly and helpful reception and restaurant staff. Well appointed room with a very comfy bed. The star was the quality of the evening meal and helpfulness of the chef of the day in personally helping with our GF options.

Good

Very good

Staff were all friendly, polite and professional. Pool was great.

Very clean,spacious hotel set in lovely grounds with plenty of Parking.The swimming pool was a much appreciated addition. That the price we paid did not include Breakfast,compared to other places we have stayed at.,so making it quite expensive for us,as a comparison.

Food was incredible! Very comforting and brilliant chefs. Standard room was tiny. Sauna could be cleaner but family room was great.