Principal Hotel Reviews 5

Fantastic hotel. Stayed 3 nights and cannot fault the service from reception and concierge staff, room quality and the cleanliness and location of the hotel. If I return to Madrid in future there is no doubt that I will stay at The Principal hotel. Well done to all staff and thank you.

Where to start?

Stayed 26th August 23 for 1 night
2 double rooms cost £818

We arrived too early to check in so left our luggage at the check in desk. No issues staff were pleasant and helpful..

Returned after the races to check in. Receptionist was rude and didn't listen to what was said to her. We had paid £748 through booking.com but had contacted the hotel to upgrade the rooms fir which there was a £70 charge.

The receptionist tried to charge us the full price again despite being told we'd already paid. Again not listening and no apology for her mistake. Customer Service was non existant.

Our rooms - Both were garden rooms following the upgrade We paid £409 fir each room. They were bigger than our original choice but still not huge and we both had a view of the garden beyond the car park. We were on the second floor.

Our room - had sash windows with a hessian blind. The blind was damaged but still worked enough to pull up.
There was a sash window that opened properly allowing lots of fresh air. There is a stone facade on the building's windows which gives the impression of a small balcony. The floor of the balcony was filthy. There were cigarette butts and an empty pringles tube among the huge amount of pigeon droppings. It was disgusting. No idea when it was last cleaned.

There's plenty of storage and a Dyson fan which were positives

The bathroom is very small. The door will only open so far because it hits the toilet when you open it, which doesn't leave a lot of room to get in past the sink.its also very dark and the lighting is dreadful.

Not the cleanest room we've ever been in either.

We also discovered after returning from an evening in the centre that there was no TV remote in the room.
When we went told reception they said there were no spares. No TV for us then.

We were with my sister and her husband. They weren't overly impressed with their room either. The window didn't open properly so they ciuldbt comment on the atate if their 'balcony' There were 2 fans in their room but one didn't work and the other was so noisy it kept them awake. This meant they were too warm all night and didn't sleep well. They also said the bed was really uncomfortable which we also agreed.

The bar - We had dinner in the town centre and on returning to the hotel we decided to go to the bar for a night cap. We asked for a Bloody Mary in addition to 3 other drinks. We were told they couldn't provide a Bloody Mary as it wasn't on the cocktail list for that day. I don't consider a Bloody Mary to be a cocktail and, how difficult is it to poor a shot of Vodka in a tomato juice and add some tobasco? Maybe I should have asked for a tomato juice with tobasco and then a separate shot of vodka and made my own. I know there's often more to it than this but it would have sufficed.

The public areas of the hotel are beautiful, but unfortunately the rooms and service don't match.

We have stayed in many hotels and are appalled at how much this was and what we received in return. Prices are always increased during Ebor weekend but these are London prices without the standard.

Myself and my wife arrived at the Principal in York around 2pm on the 17th December, for a one night stay which we had booked around 6 months ago for my wife's birthday using IHG points we had built up on previous trips.

When arriving at the hotel, the member of staff could not find our booking, so told us to come back after 3pm when we could check in and not to worry it would be sorted. When we went back after 3 the staff still could not find our booking so give us a free drinks voucher for the bar, which was fine we were in no rush.

A manager then approached us when we were in the bar to inform us the hotel is no longer part of the IHG group and our booking would no longer be honoured, the best they could do is give us the room at a cost of £150, which was not an option for us so close to Christmas. This manager then told us our only other option was to speak to IHG to arrange a room in another hotel. After spending over an hour on the phone to IHG they closest accommodation they could offer us was in Manchester!

We went back to speak to the manager in the hotel and unbelievably she had finished her shift and gone home without coming back to speak to us, the new manager who was left to handle the situation could not have cared less. Luckily I had not had the free drink they had offered, as if I had I would not have been able to drive the 2 and a half hours back home and would have been stranded in York, which the management in the Principal did not care about.

Both the hotel and IHG blamed each other for this situation, I have received no emails or phone calls to let me know it was cancelled and the booking was still in my app for the correct dates. The whole situation was handled terribly by the management of this hotel so please be careful you do not end up in a similar situation, and use a different hotel in

I stayed at the Principal hotel in York this week. The communal areas are lovely, and great location. Staff generally friendly. However, as soon as I arrived in my room there was an overwhelming smell of drains. I called reception and housekeeping came up while I went out for dinner. When I came back, the smell had been disguised by room spray and the extraction fan had been left on. During the night, I actually woke up because the smell was so awful again, and I had a very disturbed night. I called reception again, and housekeeping came up with drain blocker. That evening I arrived back and it was absolutely revolting, so I had to call again. When housekeeping arrived with the same drain unblocker, even she expressed revulsion at the smell. Only on calling reception for the 3rd time and saying it was just not acceptable and I hadn’t slept the night before, did the lady very begrudgingly say they would move me to another room. Nothing offered to apologise either. A very poor experience for a 5 star hotel.

Lovely hotel. Great Stay. Bed was super comfortable!