I have debated whether or not to post a negative review as it's not something I have ever done before but I was so disappointed by my experience here that I felt I should.
I visited Bath for the first time last year and decided to stay at The Royal based on its star rating and website. It looked like it was in a good location and would be comfortable and welcoming. The service I received over the phone was good so it all seemed rather promising.
When I got there however, I was hugely disappointed. I had booked a single room and for the price was expecting something much more inviting than what I received which was a sloping box room, I wasn't allowed to open the windows and I just didn't feel secure. It was constantly noisy and I was very unhappy. Later that evening I requested to be upgraded - I was willing to pay any extra costs- but the staff were extremely unhelpful and I was told that there was nothing available. So I took them at their word and had a very disturbed night's sleep.
At breakfast the next morning (which was as unimpressive as the room - the service was cold and unfriendly) the restaurant seemed empty for a supposedly full hotel, so I got someone to call and make a room enquiry. Surprise, surprise there had been other rooms available despite what I had been told so I requested a move again, this time they had to accommodate me and I was subsequently moved to a bigger and slightly more comfortable room but I was made to feel very uncomfortable about the whole thing even though I was paying for the upgrade. The next morning, the breakfast was worse than the day before, I had a poached egg with half a shell still on the plate when I tried to ask for a replacement I was ignored and then it was taken away before I was finished.
I was too disheartened at the time to complain but the whole experience left me feeling very upset and ruined what was otherwise a very pleasant holiday.

I shall not be returning to the Royal and would not reccommend it to anybody else either. I think that there are other places in Bath which offer much better value for money and understand the principal of good customer service.

I took my girlfriend here for the weekend to see the wonderful sites of bath. The location was literally a 10metre walk from the train station which meant there was a lot of traffic outside and thus was very hard to get any sleep at all as the windows were not double glazed and you could hear everyhting outside. I wouldn't recommend this place if you want piece and quiet. We woke up to one of the worst breakfasts we've ever had. Bacon and eggs were barley cooked and the service was terrible - then again the breakfast was included so I guess that puts meaning to the saying - 'theres no such thing as a free lunch'. If I went to Bath again I would stay a little closer to the restaurants where you can enjoy a very nice breakfast or dinner for half the price than the Royal hotel was offering. To add to the nightware we paid £130 for the night - the worst £130 I've ever spent. Theres plenty of really nice and affordable places to stay in Bath. This isn't one of them.

Let me start by saying I am not a complainer and fortunately have never felt the need to place a negative entry onto Trip Advisor

We have just returned from a 'two night special spa break 'at this hotel and were very disappointed with the whole experience. I spent some time on the phone with a receptionist prior to booking, she was very friendly and helpful and she recommended I upgrade to a "Superior" room as she could not guarantee the normal rooms would be up to my requirements as I was looking for somewhere special to take my husband to celebrate a special birthday.
The "Superior" room was very noisy with constant rattling of pipes , creaking of floorboards in the corridors and the noise of a door slamming down below which we later realised was the service door between the restaurant and the kitchen. This banging reverberated up through the room until late at night and early in the morning.
I reported this to the General Manager and she was not even prepared to come and listen. I asked to check out as we did not want to spend another night here . She insisted I would have to pay the whole price of £400.00 but would deduct £10.00 each off our bill for that evening's meal and also the price of the room may be refunded should she let it but could not predict if she would as there was not a rugby match that day. I said that I was happy to pay for what we had had but wanted to check out . She replied that as she had my credit card details she would just take the whole amount of £400 anyway. I got upset at this point and said I was so disappointed as I had wanted my husband to have a special time on his birthday , she then grudgingly offered me another room which we took as it seemed better than the room we had occupied initially and we found that this was indeed the case, the room was smaller but at least quiet.
The problem really was her attitude and unwillingness to accept that there was a genuine problem. I asked if she had heard of Trip Advisor and she replied that I would not be allowed to put my comments on it.
My husband is a qualified surveyor and immediately recognised that the constant banging of the service door could be rectified by adjusting the door closer to prevent the door from slamming agaist the door stop. Better still to install double hinges to allow the door to swing both ways unimpeded. The General Manager was unwilling to listen to what was a genuine complaint. and a desire to help.

With regard to the menu . We were only allowed to have food on the menu indicated by an asterisk . This was not mentioned when I booked ,although I was sent a sample , As the hotel claimed it served the best steaks in town we wanted to try one but found we were only allowed the rump steak ( the cheapest) as part of our £200 a night package and not the Fillet, T bone, or Sirloin therefore as we had fillet we incurred an extra charge of £30.00. Both of these were burnt despite us requesting one medium rare and one medium. They also tasted very stringy and tough. the rest of the meal was fine though, if uninspired. The scrambled egg my husband had for breakfast was very poor
The refurbished bar was modern and attractive but the actual retaurant was time warped with peeling damp stained wallpaper where we sat ,as far away from the banging service door as we could.
All the restaurant staff were competent and friendly. Also both of the receptionists we met were very helpful.
Every cloud has a silver lining though and by choosing to eat elsewhere on Saturday night we had a fantastic meal at Tilleys Bistro and then we felt we could start to celebrate!
To summarise, this break at this old fashioned red drayloned hotel was a very expensive mistake but one we shall learn from!

Pleasant hotel which is having some refurbishment work going on. My room had been completed and was of a good standard, especially the bathroom.

The hotel is opposite the railway station, which is has it's advantages and disadvantages such as traffic. It also very close to the centre, but also opposite a major redevelopment of shops. The work that was ongoing did not cause any issues, and this hotel will benefit when complete. I took the opportunity to eat in the hotels restaurant and had an excellent meal.

Overall a good stay and good service, would stay again.