I have read the many reports on this hotel, and I must say I had some trepidation about our forthcoming trip with National Coach Holidays. But we arrived on 19th Feb 2008 staying until 22nd and I have to say that the horror stories I read do not apply to our stay.
The reception was pleasant, our room, clean, yes maybe a little old fashioned, but none the less, the fixtures and fittings were of a reasonable standard. Clean crisp towels, and a few complimentary toiletry items, and a pleasant plus, tea and coffee, along with clean cups, kettle, milk and sugar.
We were booked in as breakfast/evening meal, and again in our experience the food was plentiful and well prepared, the waiters/waitresses were pleasant enough, bringing round refills of tea and coffee if needed.
We saw a little of the rest of the hotel and again the splendour of the Adelphi's former glory is still there to see.
My main reason for visiting Liverpool was The Beatles connection but we found enough to keep us busy the whole time we were there, especially the docks area. There is a coach tour, Magical Mystery Tours, that take you to all the Beatles former homes, places from their songs, Strawberry Fields, Penny Lane, and is a very good way to spend a couple of hours, Beatle fans or not. The Cathedrals and The Cavern, are also worth some of your time.
So yes, we enjoyed our trip to Liverpool, and our stay at the Adelphi, there is scaffolding outside one wall of the hotel, so some sort of restoration seems to be going on. I certainly wouldn't put people off this hotel, but to book a room for yourself, instead of through a holiday like us, I'm not sure if it is such good value for money compared to more modern hotels. But for what I paid for this trip it was certainly good value for money.

The Britannia Adelphi is no more! It has ceased to be. It's expired and gone to meet its maker. It is - as you might have guessed - an Ex-Hotel.

I should have known. An eavesdropping woman on my train to Liverpool lent across the aisle to make dark mutterings about the place, before suggesting I stayed elsewhere.

I arrived. Men in fluorescent vests walked about. They were builders who were put up there because they were rebuilding the McDonalds opposite. They laughed, and said that of course they wouldn't be so daft to pay money to stay there. What did I think think they were - crazy? It was just their base. And they were locals.

I checked in. Reception had no record of my reservation and couldn't retrieve it because they had no way of accessing the internet.

I arrived in my room. Imagine a Soviet-era student halls of residence awaiting renovation and you're half way there. A previous resident had trailed a marker pen across the carpet. Maybe this was his last protest.

In the next few days I enjoyed an argument with the woman who purported to clean the room (she started it...), an alarm bell that rang early each morning and may or may not have been a fire alarm, and everything that the guest next door said and did.

Tripadvisor reckons there are seventeen or so worse places than this to stay in Liverpool. I can only guess they include the bus shelter and John Lennon airport. Stay away.

Cracking building, though....

I stayed at the Adelphi for a conference recently. It is ideally located in the heart of Liverpool and is contained behind a grand facade, fit for ladies who lunch.

However, there aren't any ladies who lunch in Liverpool. At least, not here, because inside it lies the most dreadful hotel I have ever stayed in. I understand that Brittania are in the business of buying up old hotels and 'extending their commercial lifespan'. I.e. they haven't been painted in years, smell of fags and resemble the set of Fawlty Towers.

Some of us stayed in 'renovated' rooms, others not. It was impossible to discern the two by inspection. It was easier to find a mouse than a hotel employee, and our shower rail was held up by a tesco bag tied to the ceiling. We were offered alternative rooms twice, but both were worse than poking your own eye out with a knitting needle, so we had to grin and bear our original. We laid awake whilst bedsprings slowly made their way beneath our skin, before we decamped to the sofa. The corridors were decorated by dangling fire alarms, bare wires and lumps of plaster hanging from the ceiling. The room corners were thick with grime and the radiator was jammed on all day, turning the room into an impromptu sauna.

In summary, the Adelphi has all the character of a fully catered Romanian orphanage, except the staff are less endearing. Only go there if you need somewhere quiet to take your own life.

Looks can be deceptive and as a psychiatrist (attending a conference ) it is my stock in trade: this is however Grand Deception. From the outside with its clean square lines, very early art deco in its form, a large and imposing landmark centrally located, it suggests luxury and classic values. Beware: once seduced by its appearance you are about to be taken for a ride for underneath the fur coat is a sloppily run joke that you are going to pay for. The word cleaning clearly is not in the Adelphi's vocabulary or if it is, the adjective annual is in fixed proximity to it: shame we stayed there 11 months after its previous outing. I can only assume that the staff training package was lifted from a soviet era Moscow hotel manual. Do not smile, do not be helpful just do nothing. Do not clean the toilets, sticky floors are so much more enticing. If you want to supply 300 delegates with coffee just put the one urn out and when it runs out do nothing. Mice have to live somewhere don't they so why not in a guest's bedroom. If you find dirt and rudeness erotic then this is the hotel for you otherwise go somewhere else.