I always visit Bournemouth in the summer and this year the buzz seemed to be The Cumberland, it did not dissapoint. I booked and standard room and it was as good as any three star rooms i had previously stayed in. It is true that compared to the rest of the hotel, they will need redecorating, mainly due to the public areas are incredible, modern and dramatic art decor. I found the style of the hotel modern too with chill out music played and very stylish uniforms...definitly a must for the younger generation, kind of a hotel babylon feel. The outdoor lido area was the crowning glory for me, although it rained several days , it was great to sit out on the south coast in a mediteranean style atmosphere, the pool is heated and bar servers attend to you every need, i was fortunate to be there on Snday when they have a top Ibiza DJ playing by the pool, lots of cool people were around and i felt like i was abroad. The food and service definitly match the great modern style of the hotel and its right on the seafront. I asked to see a new room but they were all full, they do have signs around apologising for the disruption during refurb of rooms so I am sure the standard rooms will too be in keeping with the public areas soon, but for what i paid it was a great deal. Will definitly return.

From the time I entered the hotel until I left, the standard of rooms and service was appalling. The hotel has been refurbished in the communal parts and looks great, however, when you go to your room it is a very different story, old and shabby wardrobes, fuzzy picture on the television, old carpets and wallpaper. We decided to go the the bar for a cocktail and even though it was 3 minutes until the " 2 for1" cocktail offer was finishing we where told in no uncertain terms the bar was busy and we could not have our cocktails. I then decided to maybe eat in the restaurant but when I entered the restaurant i was greeted with an exasperated YES from the Restaurant Manager. I could go on and on about the lack of manners and customer service from staff, but in a nutshell , the hotel is all front and no substance, even though it does look fantastic on the outside.

The Hotel itself was good & I'd go back if I had the right room and polite receptionist etc... To explain... I called the day before I was staying at he hotel. I had requested a family room & a balcony with sea view. When I called all of this was confirmed. However when i arrived we were given a side double room with no balcony and a single bed for my son squeezed in. The room was also not one of the re-furbished ones I had seen on the web-site. When I complained at reception I was offered one of the sea view family balcony rooms at an extra cost of ?30 per night (we were staying for 3 nights). I reluctantly took this room, but the 2 female receptionists denied speaking to me on the previous day. They both said it was one of them who must have spoken to me but neither would admit which one, which was very annoying. They were very Blazee and had a "take it or leave it" attitude. The new room was nicely decorated but had some faults. The T.V. was a very old unit with very poor reception. Also, the shower was poor - very low fixed head that you had to squat for to wash your hair. I was also very dissapointed with the room service. We asked for an iron and board to be brought to our room & was told that it "was on it's way". I repeated our request about 45 minutes later as it had still not arrived. We were due to meet friends ten minutes later and were far from ready because of this. The female receptionist was very blunt and told me they were very busy but it would be there as soon as they could. The iron then immediately arrived and as I thought we were told by the porter it had been forgotten. I was appalled at the state of the Iron - The cord had split in 3 places and had bare "live" wires on show. I took it back to reception and requsted that it was thrown as it easily could have killed someone if it was used. I couldn't believe that a hotel like this was giving out faulty deadly equiptment like this to guests... The good points (and they were very good), was the breakfast which could not be faulted. The restaurant & bar staff were very polite and could not do enough for you. Food was brilliant and the decor & atmosphere were superb, with brilliant chill out music. Although the weather was poor and we could not use the outdoor pool, it looked lovely & I would love to go back in good weather. They had the "Chill Beds" around the pool which are like massive matresses for sun bathing on and could be reserved by guests. As I said the service at the bar was faultless and I was pleased to bring our friends back for a drink. When we checked out, the male receptionist was very polite & listened to my complaints about being charged extra for the new room. However, although there were lots of apologies we were not offered any kind of discount and was told that "someone must have swapped the rooms around after we had called". I was left with a bitter taste about the hotel even though it was a fairly nice place to stay..

The public areas of the hotel are very pleasant and decorated in an Art Deco style. The pool area is at the front of the hotel on the roadside, with sun loungers and chairs available. The Restaurant cannot cater for guests with food intolerance. I was asked to provide my own soya milk, and even though Eduardo the Restaurant Manager tried to understand my allergy, my main course was still served in a butter sauce and no attempt was made to help with breakfast. The Hotel did have a large function on, and residents were moved to an alternative room for dinner. That evening the food was awful with the kitchen and staff overstretched. The bedrooms are currently being refurbished... PLEASE ... request a refurbished room and book a sea view. The room I was allocated was tired and smelly, unfortunately the windows did not fully open either!! Fabulous views from the front of the hotel and 10 - 15 minute walk into Bournemouth Town Centre, which has everything to hand. Alternatively their is a bus service into town that stops not far from the Hotel. Train station is a 5 minute taxi ride away approx ?4.00.