I stayed here as part of a boys weekend away. Despite the relatively low level of expectation, the Russell Court is without question one of the least pleasant hotels I have ever stayed in. - The staff could not have been less welcoming: short of finger-prints and retinal scans being taken, there was little that could be done to shift the weight of being under suspicion at every turn (they had huge trouble with a stag weekend a few months ago according to a talkative cabbie on the way home) - The photos on the website are clearly an artist impression of what it should look like once the guest-funded renovation is completed. - The bar is almost eligible for entry into the Victoria & Albert museum, as was one of three rooms I slept in (lock broken on number one, not enough beds in the Victorian number two and a semi-permanent smell in number three (and it was not one of my room mates)). - Breakfast is so deep-fat fried, it would not have surprised me if the plate it came on had followed the food in to the fryer too! - Requests for little things, like booking cabs, having more tea or coffee at breakfast, were met with incredulity. Please spend the ?100+ per night you'll be charged on a nice hotel somewhere else in Bournemouth and leave this place well alone.

I booked this hotel for my son-in-law and his family at the last minute as his father was dying and he had to get to Bournemouth as quickly as possible. He had driven from Italy and was therefore very tired when he arrived. The hotel gave him a very small room (not suitable for a family of four) which was very dirty. The beds were old, and again dirty. Small and old can be acceptable, but not dirty. Don't book here if you have a choice!

I was booked into here for a conference at the nearby BIC on 16/06 and was so concerned about the reviews I had read beforehand that I took my credit card with me in case I needed to move to another hotel! It must have been timing, because the Hotel is still undergoing a refurb, but I have few criticisms to make and found quite a few positives. Believe me, after 30 years of staying in British hotels, some of which were truly unspeakable, the Russell Court was a pleasant surprise. My twin-bed room was large, clean and comfortable with air-conditioning, phone, tea/coffee facilities and a flat-screen TV. The bathroom was huge, and probably newly installed , but again was clean and everything worked. Breakfast was of a good standard (I had no problem choosing a vegetarian option), the waiting staff were efficient and friendly and the dining room itself is well laid out with a fabulous view of the sea. A couple of minor criticisms- the lock on the newly installed bedroom door was not working properly, the reception front-desk staff seem a little harassed and ?5 to leave your bag at the hotel, for collection later on the day you check out, is an unnecessary rip-off. All in all, this has the potential to be a good hotel and they certainly seem to be spending money to make it better than it apparently was.

After reading the reviews on here before staying at the hotel I was extremely nervous and even considered cancelling! I’m pleased we didn’t cancel. We checked in easily – slightly annoyed about paying ?5 a day to park mind you. The hotel appears to be being refurbished at the moment and we had to walk over lots of dust sheets heading to our room. Hotel is a bit of a rabbit warren so would have liked to see better signage to rooms. Our room was recently refurbished – to the extent that the room number was written on a piece of paper pinned to the door! Nice size rooms (we had a family room), bathroom was a lovely size, bed was not too bad – double bed bit hard, single bed too soft but suppose you can’t please everyone in that respect. Tea and coffee making facilities in room sufficient and nice new LCD TV in bedroom. Brand new air conditioning unit in room but we were unable to get this to work. Breakfast was ok, although they messed up our order on both mornings – I think this was due to the staff not speaking English brilliantly and not understanding what we wanted. Staff were generally helpful. The lock to our door kept sticking and we were unable to open our door every time we went to our room. Staff did come up and help us but also think these problems are due to the refurbishment. Location of hotel is really good for town centre and the beach and you have a lovely view of the sea from the ballroom (where breakfast was being served due to the restaurant being refurbished). I think the hotel is suitable for a short break, I wouldn’t stay there for longer – think it’s overpriced for what you get. But felt it important to put a semi positive review on here for future travellers to this hotel.

We stayed at this hotel for one night last weekend and I can honestly say that it is one of the worst places I have ever stayed in almost every category. Whilst reading this please bear in mind that for the price of a room at this place (?100 a night for 2 people), you usually get a 4 star hotel with ALL of the luxury trimmings on the continent e.g. slap bang in the centre of Barcelona. Reading over the other reviews it doesn't seem like any of the experiences were one offs either. And as for the "refurb" that other people have spoken about, if it is now in an improved state, I can only feel sorry for those who have stayed there before. I will summarise: - Very rude and abrupt "welcome" when we arrived by the Director of the hotel, launching into a list of all the extra costs we didn't know about (e.g. parking, leaving luggage for a few hours on check-out day), and restrictions (e.g. no same sex rooms - now if that isn't blanant discrimination what is?) which we were told were all explicitly cited on the website before we'd even opened our mouths - nice and friendly then - had to pay 100% upfront for the room even though we couldn't see the room before we checked in as it was being "cleaned" (reading other reviews I'm starting to think this is a ploy to keep guests as had we seen it we probably wouldn't have stayed, and neither would any other self-respecting person) and had to leave our baggage in the reception and head out - surprisingly we weren't charged for that "service" - When we arrived back to stay (and saw our "room" for the first time), it was dirty, extrememly dark, dull, dated and basic, with no extras at all, not even shower gel etc - there must have been a problem with the boiler as the room was roasting all night, so bad that we had to keep both the window and the room door open for the whole night to make it bearable - not safe for two girls. Both the hot and cold taps were running boiling hot too so there were no means to cool down! - breakfast (which finished at 9:30am on a Sunday - thanks for the lie in on my holiday - no doubt another cost cutting scheme as most people probably don't make it in time) was served by miserable wait staff (who wouldn't be working in a place like that and for that man) who barely spoke any english - when we complained in the morning, we were met by silence and blank looks, and the only man who was able to make any decisions on potential compenstation, the very Director who was so keen to take our money off us at check-in, was mysteriously absent at check-out time and not contactable. Coincidence?