Novotel York Centre

Nice and clean hotel in fabulous location for exploring York Centre. Pool an absolute bonus for the children and a welcome respite from the hot sun we were lucky enough to get. However, what really stood out for us all was Jessica Kidd who was working on reception during our stay. So polite, friendly and enthusiastic. Novotel will be lucky to keep you Jessica!!! Thanks for everything.

This hotel is a 10 minute drive from York Station and a five minute walk to the edge of the main shopping area and Castle. It is a modern, and rather unappealing, building, although some of the rooms overlook water. It is also, I was told, the only central York hotel with a swimming pool. Rather sensibly, it also has an adults only hour in the early evening, although when I used it, at about 1.30 pm, it was empty. The reception staff were particularly welcoming, efficient and helpful. My only disappointment, which was not their fault, was that the taxi I ordered the day before was almost 15 minutes late. I hope that they monitor the service and remove any errant companies from their list! I was allocated a lovely room (and I suspect they are all of the same standard). It was large, with a huge bed, flat screen TV, good work space and a comfy arm chair. The room also had tea/coffee making facilities, a fridge and an iron and board. There was a safe to store valuables. It was air conditioned, although the window also opened, which is a boon in modern constructions. The sheets and towels were of good quality, as were the toiletries. There was a bath. Breakfast was of a reasonable standard, although the sausages were rather small and a bit overcooked. It would have been nice if they had had a free newspaper as some of their counterparts do. I paid £91 for the night, B&B, which was very reasonable for York where hotel rooms go for a premium rate.

Room was ok, clean enough. One huge problem was the soundproofing in the hotel. Heard every bang/shuffle. Dogs barking in the room next door solidly until 11pm. Dogs were left in the room unattended so nothing could be done. I have a dog myself so not anti-dogs but think there should be better regulation on them being left alone in the room. I was here on business but during the Easter holidays there would have been a lot of children disrupted by this. Did not expect to be kept awake by dogs in a large hotel!

We have just returned from a short stay and had a fantastic time. Everything about the hotel was fantastic and every member of staff we had the pleasure of meeting during our stay was also fantastic. They were extremely friendly and helpful and went out of their way to ensure we and our little dog had a lovely stay. We were able to eat breakfast and evening meal in the bar area and this was great as there was no need to lleave our little dog in the room. Talking of rooms, our room was beautiful and spotlessly clean. Thanks to everyone at Novotel York.

This was my first time at the Novotel York Centre and I must admit that I was impressed. Friendly, polite staff. Well presented, tidy, clean rooms. The food, (breakfast,) was also very good. I will be going back.

Received an email a week before arrival explaining that restaurant in hotel is currently get refurbed.Due to this dining area currently being used is in foyer area which is pretty tight for space. I'd sent an email beforehand asking a few questions as I've stayed in hotel before but didn't receive a response which was disappointing. After now staying at hotel and speaking to the manager and various staff I can see they are doing there upmost to run hotel under very trying circumstances. Staff a credit to the company and I can see why they missed out my email as a lot happening with refurbishment.May I add that I didn't hear or get disturbed by any of the works taking place. I'll come back next year and see hotel once refurb has been completed as I was impressed with last years visit with my young family.

Cleanliness left a lot to be desired. Bathroom dirty upon arrival. Asked for it to be cleaned but the dirt and hair remained. Room not cleaned for the duration of our 3 day stay. Website states ‘Parking’. It doesn’t state that this is charged at £13/day. On a positive note , restaurant staff at breakfast were friendly and helpful. Breakfast itself was tasty and there was plenty of choice. I would rate this as a three star hotel, not a four.

Arrived after checkin time, got room key, entered room and it was not ready. New room, and after swimming, took a shower! Water was either cold or scolding at 47 deg C. Glad my kids were not in the shower! Maintenance guy checked shower, could not fix. New room, thankfully water was controllable this time! The swimming pool changing area is not adequate, 2 cubicles for entire swimming pool area! Ended up queuing to leave the pool!! Car parking is £13 a night, breakfast not included!. No need to say more! Overall, poor stay, won’t be back.

We looked for a hotel with the facilities we wanted. The requirements were Easy walking to the city centre, car parking facilities, and a swimming pool. Also truthfully I really wanted Wifi. At first I booked through booking.com. Luckily I got an email confirming my booking through the booking website, from Novotel hotel. Although I had put 2 adults into the search for a room the booking confirmed queen size room for One guest. Luckily the email from Novotel letting me know that there were renovations going on (when I checked it was on the details on the booking form already) also made me discover that the booking wasn't what I had wanted. That wasn't a problem, apparently it would need to factor in breakfast costs for three days, for myself or my husband. I thought the £24 or so was the last straw, thinking that it was per day. Of course it wasn't it was for the three days. The car parking charge of, at this time £13 a day was reasonable for having my newish car very close to the hotel. Leaving it at a parking space away from the hotel would not have been a great deal cheaper, and I would have to have had the worry of whether it would still be there when I went back for it. We were offered a brand new room, for a extra charge of course, but with extras included. This room was lovely it was right at the top of the building no-one had used the room before us. I loved that aspect of it. We had white dressing gowns and slippers, lovely towels provided too. This meant we could go down to the swimming pool having dressed and showered in our room. As already stated no toilet in the toilet area, it wasn't a mile away though. The swimming pool area was messy because people didn't always think they needed to put the towels into the basket in the used towel cupboard. It was lovely to swim at the end of the day. The swimming pool is I believe due for an upgrade later too. The bed was very comfortable and the pillows were fine for us. The shower room was nice and clean, with a lighted mirror in our room. We had a safe for the electronics and other valuables, and also a fridge for a couple of bottles of bubbly. There was lots of storage, an ironing board and iron. We got up for breakfast each day and we were impressed with the selection of foods offered. There was a choice of several cereals, plenty of dried fruits and milk or yoghurt and compote. Lots of variety of fresh fruit, to choose. There was a extensive selection of hot foods poached eggs seemed to my husband's taste, very good. He did also love the bacon, sausage, mushrooms, and so on and so forth. And to top it all off there was a good selection of baked goods. There was the "Continental meat and Cheese selection" too. Since the refurbishment is still in progress the tea, coffee, fruit juices etc were a bit cramped where they are being dispensed, but as much as you want, seems to the order of the day. If you were to opt to go out for a breakfast I would be surprised if you could buy as much for anywhere near the cost of a Novotel breakfast! The staff working in Hospitality were the loveliest of any we have come across, there was not one instance where I would say they were less than attentive, nothing was too much trouble for any of them. We are not people who would not make a complaint if it was necessary but we are not wilting violets either. We will definitely book this hotel again we love York and this was such a happy, friendly, staff not hi-de-hi, I am sure it isn't "perfect" it was where we wanted to be and it was a perfect place to go to walk around York we didn't need to move the car until we were ready to leave for home. I think I could say for certain that anything I could ask for there was as far as possible what we would expect to receive from the staff. Recommended We have a largish family group and if I thought I get a deal I could afford it would be "perfect for us" as a family place to stay.