Star City Riverside Hotel By Haviland

Really poorly looked after - bed bugs everywhere.. had to get antibiotics from hospital which costs me £70, due to bed bugs biting me in my sleep over several nights. Also was told incorrect price when trying to initially book extra days (which was on day 1, we wish we never extended), which led to us paying an extra £100, real shame.

Unfortunately the room smelt badly of smoke and looked a lot dirtier/worn than in the photos. The bed sheets didn’t feel clean, and there were some specks of blood so we slept on top of the bedding due to fear of potential bed bugs. This is unfortunately the only place I’ve felt the need to do that in 5 months of travels. I feel the photos do not represent the current state of the property.

We booked this hotel because of its high rating (4.9), but unfortunately we had a very unpleasant experience. After a few nights, we started waking up with itchy bites. At first we thought they were mosquitoes, but when the situation got worse, we went to the doctor - it turned out they were bed bug bites. When we inspected the room, we found live bed bugs and black spots on the walls (these are traces of their activity). We reported this to the staff, and when they moved us to another room, there were insects there too. The third room was cleaner, and we, hoping that the bed bugs did not get there, stayed. This was a mistake. The next day, the staff said that we could not stay in a clean room and had to go back to the room with bed bugs. After all, they cleaned it and changed the linens. But that does not get rid of bed bugs! They were still there. We decided to check out early for health and safety reasons. The staff refused to refund the remaining amount for the stay and applied a cancellation fee for 3 nights even though we left due to a bedbug infestation - not of our own free will. It took days of tense negotiations to get a refund. The hotel looks good on the surface but the way the situation was handled was disappointing and it is obvious that there is a serious pest problem. We would not stay here again and cannot recommend it to other travellers, especially those staying long term.