One of the most notorious hotels in Stoke-on-Trent has been sold – and if TripAdvisor reviews are something, it’s no surprise.
The 16-room hotel on Tower Square has a public bar, lounge bar, restaurant and function room.
But the guests who were unlucky enough to spend the night in one of the 16 “smelly and filthy” rooms were less than impressed.
Out of 74 reviews on the review website, an amazing 43 rated the Sneyd Arms “awful”, with six “bad” and six “average” ratings.
However, 11 people rated the hotel as “excellent” and eight as “very good”.
Unfortunately, everyone who wants to experience the hotel for themselves is too late.
That’s because the building went up for auction this month after the price was cut from £ 395,000 to £ 285,000 before a deal was reached.
Here are just a few of the brutal reviews left on TripAdvisor ….
A terrible health risk!
This place is a health risk!
It’s dirty with broken appliances and windows and it absolutely stinks. The room was freezing because the windows wouldn’t close – not that I would close them anyway because of the terrible smell.
I lay there and listened to the traffic and the doors that banged most of the night.
The furniture was grubby and looked like it might fall to pieces if I touched it so I wouldn’t bother.
I managed to get a couple of hours of sleep – fully clothed, with my shoes on!
I took a walk for some food and some fresh air and had to fight my way through all the weed-smoking, toothless drunks blocking the entrance.
The area is clearly affected by poverty and needs some upkeep and the hotel itself must be condemned! The only positive thing was the helpful man at the front desk and the sheets appeared to be freshly changed.
For the price, I was expecting a very basic, affordable room, but I also expected it to be at least safe and clean!
Someone was stabbed!
The place smells full of drugs and looks awful, stains on the carpets and the sink hung on the wall.
Loud music until 1am, someone was stabbed to death outside our room at 4am and another fight outside our room at 5.30am. Avoid at all costs !!!!!
We would have left the first night if we hadn’t arrived so late. We had booked for two nights but left the morning after the first night.
Bed bugs!
The hotel is mean, I’m pretty sure me and my partner got bed bugs from here, biting all over and scratching for days, can’t even start talking about the mattress condition!
There were dirty diapers and rubbish everywhere in front of the window, the reception staff didn’t speak or wasn’t at the desk.
Sneyd Arms Hotel in Tunstall
(Image: Steve Bould)
Hotel from Hell
Booked this hotel with my brother and his wife when we were visiting Alton Towers and this says it is 14.3 miles away but in fact it is about 22 miles away.
The place was full of drugs and drunkards. The hotel is very shabby with a strong drug smell, sticky carpets, broken windows, sick on carpets in bedrooms, toothpaste still on the sink.
I’ve seen better public toilets.
We couldn’t stay the night as it was so dirty.
You can see from the photos that the place is not a nice place to stay so I won’t waste my time on the s *** hole anymore.
I haven’t slept a wink all night
Before visiting this hotel I have to say that the manager was really helpful. We had to check in late due to chaotic traffic problems. He didn’t mind we were a little late and let us buy a drink to take with us room even though the bar was closed.
However, the hotel itself is messy and dirty!
The triple room absolutely stank, even if you sprayed aftershave around and left the window wide open all night it didn’t help.
The carpet is sticky, the wardrobe is falling apart, some of the lights are not working and the place is full of noises of seemingly junkies or drunks walking around the hotel all night knocking on each other’s doors and yelling at each other.
I haven’t slept a wink all night.
The double rooms had shared toilets and showers. Suffice it to say that everyone else preferred life to trying to shower in the morning.
You definitely get what you pay for at this hotel.
Very simple and dirty
Upon arrival it is obvious that the hotel is old-fashioned and weathered over the years, yet there is something quite nostalgic and charming about the dark wood and worn carpet. Despite the desperate need for renovation, the ground floor and main entrance aren’t too problematic.
When I was shown to my room I have to be honest, it was so awful it was almost funny. I sent photos to my family and friends who all called the decor “something from The Shining”.
My front door looked like a demon had tried to escape, and when I went into the bedroom I could see why. The bedroom smelled STRONG of cigarette smoke and was absolutely toasted considering it was about 2 degrees when you checked in. My room was so incredibly hot that I left my window wide open all night.
The bed was very basic with no mattress protector, which was not very comfortable even though the sheets were fresh (little graces). The bathroom had obviously not been cleaned as there was still a dirty coffee cup in the sink and used bags of shower gel were scattered on the sink. I’m pretty sure the room hasn’t been decorated since the 70’s as the wallpaper and carpet were EXTREMELY worn and marked.
I didn’t sleep well because I opened my window wide to soothe the heat and smell of cigarettes. Trucks kept going past my window (straight to the main street) so I kept waking up. At 1am I heard the staff cleaning the room next door.
To be honest, I was relieved to leave the hotel.
The worst thing about our trip to the Alton Towers
When I got to my room, I heard from the other two in our group that there was a commotion outside our door.
A woman was apparently in her shower when a man walked in and stole her phone.
Someone was covered in blood and was standing at the door.
We didn’t know if this was related, but understandably we didn’t feel safe.
We all slept with no duvet covers as there was a large brown stain. Still, we got a couple of hours of sleep.
Leave within half an hour
My sister’s room has fake nails and cigarette butts in the nightstand, the other sister’s door frame was hanging down, fingernail in bed, hairball under the bed, stained carpets, stained walls, the list goes on! We were really scared and left less than an hour after checking in.
Very seedy men who wonder without teeth, black eyes and drunk …
PLEASE DO NOT STAY HERE !!!!
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Grim
First impressions weren’t great when we went in and found cigarette butts on the floor of the hallway. The man who let us in looked like a crack addict and really scared me. The whole place absolutely stank of urine and cigarettes and looked like it hadn’t been touched since the 70’s. It was hard to believe that this was a bar and restaurant too.
The whole room was shabby, the drawer under the bed was kicked in, the wallpaper was peeling off the walls, the carpet was dirty, and every surface looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in years. The television had apparently been stolen as it had no stand and was sitting unsteadily on a stool in the corner of the room. In the end, I slept fully clothed under a hoodie because I didn’t want any part of my skin to touch this room or the bedspread.
The worst part was when I had to go back to the car to get something. On the way, I met a woman (who looked like a druggist) who said she called the police after her phone was stolen by someone at the hotel who locked her in a room and attacked her. Then later I met a man with blood on his face who said he had been hit by someone else. All of this was terrifying and I had trouble sleeping.
I didn’t stay for breakfast and got out of the hellhole as quickly as possible.
This place is not safe for anyone, especially solo travelers and families with children. It may be cheap but you would have to pay me (a lot) to stay here again.
A doss house
This is a doss house! Swearing and fighting in and around the place, the rooms are dirty, no sheets or towels, the staff were pretty terrifying.
Party in full swing
We arrived at the hotel around 10:30 pm and found the place in full swing with music. From then on it only got worse.
While they waited next to the car while a friend went to a local takeout, there was numerous fighting outside the hotel.
It’s not a safe place to be with kids late at night.
The music got louder as the night wore on, as did the fighting. We fell asleep around 2 a.m. to be woken up by people running up and down the corridors.
We stayed in the room when we were three women and one child who were worried about safety.
I would advise people to stay away from this disgusting excuse from a hotel.
But there were a handful who enjoyed their stay …
Friendly locals
Great rooms, friendly locals, the food was excellent, beer is cheap, no problems at all. The hotel is located in a beautiful historic town square with an amazing history and buildings including a fascinating clock tower.
Shops / restaurants and friendly pubs are within walking distance. I will definitely come back to this gem again. Oh, and the prices are very cheap.
