We have just reurned from a one night stay at MalMaison, Reading. We booked the hotel from Laterooms.com and chose it because of its location. We were spending the weekend at Henley Regatta and wanted to be close to the station. The double bedroom was small, it was a tight squeeze for us both to be getting ready at the same time, the bed was extemeley comfortable and we would have had a great nights sleep apart from the noise from the nightclub in the early hours!!! THe bathroom was lovely and all the staff in the hotel were excellent, from reception to bar staff to the restaurant. The decor and lighting is dark and atmospheric which intially is really nice but after a while for me it it felt abit oppressive.

Just had our 2nd visit to Malmaison, and now convinced how much we like it! Location is city centre, right opposite train station - not good views from your bedroom window, but easy to get to, and a 2 minute walk to the centre of town. Reading seems to be a bit more stylish than when I used to live nearby about 6 years ago, and it has shaken off its down-at-heel reputation and has a lot of smart (chain) shops and restaurants. Although it is in a busy area, with a vodka bar right next door, there is absolutely no outside noise within the hotel - as soon as the glass doors slide closed behind you, you are in a different world and the ambience is cool, clubby and sensual. We went for a romantic getaway, and it seemed there were a lot of couples staying overnight, but the bar and Brasserie had a mixture of businessmen, big tables of 30-somethings, and older family groups (though not children.) It seems the pricing is geared up towards business, so Sundays and midweeks are pricier, but we got a good rate for Saturday night - ?89. The staff throughout the hotel were charming, friendly and courteous, and actually seemed interested in whether you had enjoyed your stay/meal etc! We have been lucky enough on both stays to be upgraded to one of the suites (always worth asking!), so this time we asked to see the other rooms, all of which have luxurious soft furnishings, wonderful bathrooms with large bottles of great toiletries to take home and lovely wallpaper! Strangely, but of particular note, the water pressure is really good, so not only are the showers fantastic, but the baths fill so quickly there are notices on the taps warning you not to walk off while running a bath! They all have free wireless internet access, and I-Pod speaker docks. Apparently just a couple of rooms are particularly poky – I’d advise checking with reception on booking that you haven’t got room 310! – but they are mostly a decent size, especially the garden rooms, and all have good sized bathrooms. My choice (if not a suite!) would be a garden room, but don’t expect too much – it just means there is a wall and a bit of laurel hedging between you and the road! The best room is Mallard which has a lobby, a screened bedroom area, a fantastic bathroom with an enormous beautiful wooden bath with twin shower heads over, a lounge area with patio, a second toilet…and it even has it’s own train set! On our first visit we stayed in "Ghan" –which has a lobby (with cupboards and coat stand!), huge tiled bathroom, dark-ish lounge area (although there are candles for added atmosphere - bring your own matches), and bedroom area. This latest visit we stayed in "GWR", which has a good-sized bathroom, nice leather sofas in the lounge area, and steps up to the bedroom area, which is behind a partition screen which has a tv facing the bed, and another facing the sofa. It also has lovely wallpaper that you can’t help but touch! It has a door which opens out onto a very small balcony, but there is no view, so only used it for ventilation! GWR has two (empty) fridges – we always take our own drinks and nibbles but you can buy lots of things off a menu from reception to fill it, rather than it being stuffed full of things you probably don’t want at exorbitant prices! The beds are supremely comfortable (the only place I won’t ever have to take my own pillow!) There is good lighting – both bright task- and ceiling spot- lights, and softer lamps, and good mirrors. My only criticism was that our room was uncomfortably hot on arrival, although they do all have individual air con, and some have a door to a terrace or patio. The bar has a train theme, with cleverly designed carriage-type seats (and tables with integral wine coolers!) but it is not overly themed. Slightly weirdly, they have huge TV screens which whenever I have been there seem to play an endless channel of bikini-clad girls…I wouldn’t have felt comfortable taking my parents, but then the place isn’t aimed at that demographic! Similarly, in the toilets, they play borderline comedy shows – personally I prefer musak, but I guess if you happen to be in there on your own for a while, it might help pass the time. We have eaten at the Brasserie both times, and I am surprised it isn’t busier, because the service, food, wines are all excellent – and we are very picky customers! The modern-British styled menu has some Malmaison-group dictated dishes, but also a good proportion of the menu is apparently designed by their own chef, and it all sounded good! Notably, I really enjoyed the bread – warm, freshly-cut French bread with a fantastic tapenade – and for starter I had a perfectly cooked duck’s egg with asparagus soldiers beautifully served on a wooden board. For main I went with the waitress’s recommendation of the trout dish on the menu - not what I would have chosen, but she made it sound so good - and I was very pleased with it. The staff really seemed to know their stuff – more so than you’d expect from a Brasserie, and they were all very pleasant and attentive without being intrusive. The restaurant manageress was particularly friendly and charming. The French sommelier was very knowledgeable, especially at matching the wine with the food order, but trying to remember his verbal recommendations after he left the table was a bit tricky – I would have preferred it if he had pointed them out to us on the list – and although they have a good range of prices, I felt the ones he recommended were all the expensive ones! Even so, we had a Pouilly Fuisse (?48) which was perfect with all our dishes. Next time I will try a couple of their wines by the glass as they had an interesting selection, and also apparently (I read later) you can have the wines written out for you in case you want to buy them elsewhere – nice touch. Breakfast is very nice (better at the weekend – but maybe that’s because midweek the businessmen have all snaffled the nicest pastries before we get up!) and their Eggs Benedict is excellent. Sunday morning had Radio 2 playing Steve Wright’s programme, but that was ok. The chairs are very comfortable for a relaxing meal, but try for a big table if you want to actually read your Sunday paper! All in all, one of the best hotels I've stayed in, with great ambience and excellent food.

Well, it's all very chic and trendy, but after you pare all that down and look at the actual service experience it was very average. Our room was noisy, and the air conditioning was broken during our stay so the room was too hot and the restaurant was too cold. The standard room we stayed in didn't have a minibar (you had to go down to reception to buy things) which was a bit of a hassle for the price of the room. The restaurant was one of the most pretentious things I've ever seen. Average food (some dishes had gone cold by the time they got to us) and staff that didn't really know anything about what they were serving. When the vast cheese board was brought over the girl (she was very nice) was only able to divide them into "English" or "French" and didn't seem to know which one the brie was ("that one... no, that one next to it... no not that one *that* one..."). The bar was extremely slow - we waited twenty minutes (no kidding) for a fruit juice and a pretty simple vodka cocktail (the bar wasn't especially busy, and there were at least four barmen on). When they did arrive, they arrived with decent nibbles (olives and so on), but this was pointless because by now we were late for our dinner reservation. My partner said something very perceptive about Malmaison Reading - that it was the kind of place that the bright young things fresh out of university into city jobs go to, because it looks posh and trendy but they don't know any better about what really counts yet. I think that's about right.

I booked a one night stay at the Malmaison Reading as a treat for my husband. I was a little worried after reading some of the reviews on trip advisor about the noise generally and I am pleased to say this was not an issue while we were there. The nightclub next door was closed for work to be done on there sound proofing. We found the staff very helpful particularly in the restaurant We had our evening meal there and it was very good I would recommend you book as it is very popular. Our room was very cosy and clean and the lighting was not fantastic but this was not a problem to us as we were not on a buisness visit . I would reccomend this hotel as it is in a very central location for exploring Reading. It wa smy first visit to a malmaison hotel and I would return the hotel was very clean and new and also had nice lounges to relax in.

Previous reviews criticise its suitablilty for a business hotel - I would agree. However, if you are are looking for a funky, sexy hotel experience, this goes a long way towards realising it. The bedrooms, whilst on the small side, are well appointed, DVD, swish bathroom etc.. On the downside, they can be a bit dark (e.g. wife stuggled to 'do her hair' in the dim lighting - disaster for husband!!) One criticism is that it is difficult to get away from outside noise as it is located next to Reading railway station and many bars. We've asked for quiet rooms on both occassions that we have stayed there with mixed results. Good friendly staff - interesting restaurant - comfortable (but expensive) bar. Our visit has encouraged to try other Malmaisons...