Actually Scarborough itself is very disappointing and the hotel just made it worse.Now the place for stag and hen parties, Scarborough is now a scruffy town with seedy amusement arcades, pound shops and condoms on the beach. Although looking promising on the outside, the St Nicholas was the usual seaside hotel. I can put up with scruffy shabby chic but not dirt. I was alerted by my colleague who had an unrefurbished bathroom. The tiles had more than 6 months of un-cleaned grime on them.I was pleased that I had a refurbished bathroom with new tiles and a plastic sealant around the bath which probably was just hiding the mold. Imagine my horror when I ran a wet tissue down one tile and realised that they had not been cleaned either. The hotel had agreed to change the room of my colleague the night before, but to be honest we got in late and couldn't be bothered.They didn't offer to move her whilst we were out.We just didn't bathe or shower. We did approach 'C' at the reception desk however who was so rude we just wanted to get out and go home to our 'clean' houses.

This is a copy of a letter I wrote on 12th May 2008. Well over a month later no reply. Stay at Hotel 3 nights – commencing 2nd May 2008 – Loss of Hot Water in Room 127 As you are aware I recently stayed at the St Nicholas Hotel, over the period shown above. Upon arrival in our room, there was a notice stating that there was a temporary interruption to the hot water supply, due to some maintenance work. We assumed that this really was temporary and that the matter would be resolved. On the evening of the 2nd May 2008, I spoke to the Duty Manager Joe, who stated that there had been contractors working on the heating boilers that serviced my part of the hotel and that the water really should have been heating up, but was stuck at 30 degrees. I assumed that this matter would right itself overnight. Joe stated that the hotel was full and this had increased the demand for hot water. Nice idea, but of course that was not really a good indication of the situation. On the morning of Saturday 3rd May 2008, I managed to have a brief, but bearable luke warm shower and my wife managed to draw some similar water off for a shallow bath. But it was obvious that the heaters and boilers were not working. I was aware that Joe, the duty manager was under some pressure from other customers and stated that Head Office had been informed about the situation. It was Bank Holiday week end and obviously there were no plumbers in the area or the company did not want to pay the going rate. The former is probably untrue and the latter is probably true. This situation could have been resolved, by employing an emergency plumber. I have to say that I did not make too much of a fuss at the time. The duty receptionist, who was working with Joe, a blond girl called Ness, was appreciative of my restraint. So much so she stated that it had been decided that I had been selected for a 50% discount off my bill. This was going to be slightly complicated, since I had booked my week end through Superbreaks and had already paid the total. The Saturday night was not really better, than the Friday for water temperature and we were offered a spare room in which to shower and bathe, which we accepted. Although, it meant searching the other side of the hotel for this room. Sunday was no better and the same procedure took place, with another room to use on the other side of the hotel. I mentioned the idea of a discount to the other receptionist on duty on Sunday. She was an Asian girl and of course she had never heard of this arrangement. This is actually quite strange, because she had said she was preparing some letters the night before. She made some phone calls and gave me a note with the following written on it. Ness (receptionist) and Duty Manager (Joe) has promised to refund half of the amount because of the water problem. She also said that she would look into the matter herself and ensure that my query was dealt with. But of course it is now the 12th May and I have heard nothing. I would be grateful if you could arrange some recompense in respect of this water situation. We could not bathe or shower when we wanted to. I had to shave in cold water. If we wanted hot baths/showers we had to walk around the hotel with our sponge bags and towels. It was not really what I expected of your hotel and I thought that the General Management, should have taken more responsibility for the situation and not left it to the Duty Manager, who was put in a very bad position. Beside the above, the staff were helpful and the food was ok. It is obvious that that management are CRAP.

We stayed at St NIcholas hotel on Thursday 19/06/08 after booking online. The time specified 1400hrs to arrive for the room. Having a family of six and booking into the family room, we were told that the room was not ready yet. After waiting 45mins , and 3 nappy changes in car, for our 10mth old son, we finally managed to check in. Reception staff were slow to attend to our needs at the desk but when we finally were given the key we had to use the lift to enable us to get to the fourth floor!! The lift was horrendous. It fitted max 4 and with our baggage, we needed several trips. Trying to get out of the lift was another battle. As we got to the fourth floor, if somebody on the ground floor pressed the call button before we arrived up at the forth, it would automatically descend back down to the ground without letting us out!!!. This became extremely annoying carrying a 10mth old boy in your arms. When we arrived on the fourth floor and in our room, we found that there was not enough beds for all of us. I had to use the lift again to return to reception to explain the problem to which they provided us with a Zed Bed. A very tight sqeeze for the night. Attending breakfast we then found that they had to make a table up for us because they only had allocated rooms for paid breakfast. Of course not having enough beds in the room, also accounted for not having enough room for all of us for breakfast. Finally checking out to attend a funeral the following morning I was bombarded with seagull droppings on the steps!!! I was going to complain to staff but i thought I had given them enough stick!!!! Very disappointed, never again. P.S Staff told me that the hotel has been bought out by Travel Lodge!! Makes you wonder hey???

We were attending a wedding and were told to stay at The St Nicholas as they had secured a discounted rate and it was close to the wedding venue. After a 6 hr drive we arrived only to be given what I can only describe as a joke of a room. It smelt of mould and urine, was about 10 years behind on a referbishment and was something you'd expect if you had traveled back in time. Everything about this room was wrong. When I complained they did offer to move us but the next room wasn't much better, this too had an odd smell, was tatty to say the least and like other parts of the hotel, gave you the feeling that no-one cared much about the hotel or you as a guest! It was like stepping onto the set of a 1970's carry on film which had been left standing for 30 years! Our friends who had a small child found there room to be little better, including urine still on the toilet seat as well as broken bunk beds. So we checked out with a full refund although they did want to charge us for the 1st night which was a disgrace. I rang 118 118, asked for a 4 star hotel, got the details for The Crown Spa, which was an amazing hotel, had great facilities and the staff were all very helpfull. The rooms cost a little bit more but were 100 times better.

I have just returned from two nights at the St Nicholas. We were attending a wedding in Scarborough and the bride had arranged the accommodation for us. I read the reviews the night before we left and although I don't normally take any notice of these 'personal' opinions I was a bit dismayed at what I read. I must say, however, that although there may be a grain of truth in what some guests are saying I really wonder what people expect! This is a very old building designed before ensuite bathrooms were the norm and when people didn't arrive in cars. So we really can't expect fantastic bedrooms and lots of parking spaces. We had a pleasant weekend. We were able to park in front of the hotel to unload and then with the advice of the very helpful reception staff found a space outside. My daughters who didn't arrive until 10.00pm were both able to park in the hotel garage. Our room was small, a little shabby but adequate and very clean. The bathroom was a good size and equally clean. Breakfast was exceptional - wide choice and plenty available. The pool is small but clean and we enjoyed using it. The same goes for the changing rooms. The staff are very friendly and seem to remain so in spite of the rudeness which they suffer from some guests. To sum up - this not a luxury hotel but we didn't pay luxury prices and as with most things you get what you pay for.