University of Manchester

Not hot water and pitiful shower. There is a sign in the bathroom saying that the building is over 200 years old and it takes a while for hot water to arrive, but the fact that I ran the bathroom tap for an hour with nothing at all proves this a lie. The shower works by a push button that turns itself off after about two minutes and nothing but a trickle of cold water came out even though I pushed it a dozen times, no pressure. When I complained to the lady on the desk she made it clear that this was normal, and that I was welcome to use the communal showers on the top floor, which is not an ideal solution, I didn't pay hostel rates, but something is better than nothing. On investigating the top floor I found two unisex bathrooms, both were occupied, so I had to go out without a shower. When I returned that night, I again went to investigate the communal showers, only to find they were both occupied again. Eventually at 2am I found them both empty, they turned out to be toilet / electric showers, the one shower was entirely broken, same as in my room, no pressure at all, just a trickle of cold water, the other shower had pressure, but could only deliver scalding water or freezing water and the bracket on the shower riser was broken so it wouldn't stay. Its absolutely unacceptable for a room sold as en-suite to not have proper washing facilities available anywhere, it really ruined my weekend. The view was good, but the hotel had no character and substandard facilities