Bartley Holidays from £258

Friendly staff, very helpful Great location of the hotel You get what you pay for , no doubt, for the price paid we're satisfied

It's such a shame! The building of the old Mercure hotel holds ok. The double room was spacious, clean, comfortable and with an amazing close view of the Winchester cathedral (practically over its grounds). But there was no milk for the tea in the room and the television did not show a single BBC channel (not even radio stations), had no access to satelite, internet or cable. When I called reception to ask if perhaps there was something I was not doing properly with the remote control, I was asked if the TV was showing other channels. When I said that only commercial channels seemed to be available, I was told that this was what was on offer and that's it. In some way, I'm grateful for the experience because it opened my eyes to how miserable life would be without the BBC service. I'll certainly pay the BBC licence with gusto now!

Good room with a sea view. Good breakfast.