The Bitterne Park

This is not a hotel in the slightest, you'll just be getting a low quality room in a HMO above a restaurant/bar. Key points: * No one at reception * Noisy road, windows are old sash style and not double glazed provide little sound insulation. * One window boarded up * Noisy bar/restaurant downstairs open until midnight. * Hardly any furniture in room. * Noisy waste pipe in room, very noisy when upstairs flushed toilet etc. * Bathroom fine * Warm * Good clean shower

Excellent value for money. Clean and tidy room with a good en-suite shower. Ideally placed for the Southampton Boatshow (£10 taxi ride away). Charlotte was friendly and welcoming. The hotel is situated only a few hundred metres from the River Itchen which was very pleasant for an evening stroll after dinner.

We booked this on booking dot com under the name of riverside rooms. The price was reasonable and we were only staying one night as we were going to let’s rock Southampton. This is where the good part ends. We couldn’t find it and when we did it was above a cocktail bar. The parking spaces are not designed for the car size nowadays and I only have a little one. It looks grim from the outside and the inside is very old fashioned. We had no toilet roll the music from downstairs went in for ages then the cars were playing loud music as they left. We opened the curtain and one of the panes of glass was a bit of wood. Tried the shower and nearly had second degree burns then went to make a cup of tea and there were no cups. It was cheap but that’s all I could say about it

For the price, good value. My room had obviously been recently redecorated with new bathroom fittings gleaming. Very good shower! Comfortable bed. Large room, big windows. Only minor blemish was a patch of damp high up in one corner which I was assured would receive attention. No breakfast option but there is a very nice place about 1 minute walk. Bus stop for city centre 2 minutes walk away. The bar and restaurant below is a separate business, busy and clearly a popular place. Not suitable for those who cannot manage steep stairs up to the rooms.

We stayed here through wowcher, thinking it would be a great deal for a night away. The hotel is very run down and it has little staff. Our room was dirty, and smelt like burning grease. The staff that were available did help fix our broken door and clean the parts that we complained were dirty so this was thanked. However the stay was still unpleasant, the air in the room felt unclean and made us cough the whole night and wake up with sore throats. I would not recommend this hotel and think it needs a complete refirb before letting people stay in it.

My advice, AVOID AT ALL COSTS. The images available are not representative of this hell hole whatsoever. The area is shady at best, there is no reception or assistance on stand by. Situated directly above an African cocktail bar/restaurant. The smell of burnt fat during the day is rank, this smell only gets worse as the evening progresses. The music runs very loud until midnight at least. In all honesty I don't know how they're Allowed to call themselves a hotel. It's simply disgusting. When we woke in the morning, we initially felt I'll with sore throats and coughing up flem like we'd smashed 100 fags the night before, the fumes were that bad. We tried to contact the reception regularly without any success, we were therefore not able to discuss any of the issues. We left after the first night and booked in elsewhere to (as it turns out) a much cheaper hotel (The Star) the difference was night and day.