DoubleTree by Hilton York

Room had tray under the air conditioning unit suggesting it leaked. Not a great advert for hotel maintenance standards. The bath had a chip in the enamel which could easily have been repaired - again poor maintenance. The radiator in the bathroom did not work. Had to use oil filled radiator in the bedroom to generate heat as the temperature in the room got chilly late afternoon / early evening. Early on New Years eve two members of bar staff struggled for at least 10 minutes trying to pour a pint of lager leading to a frustrating wait to be served a drink - not sure what the problem was (Staff training?). Car Parking charge of 25 per night is extortionate - akin to Ryanair practices of squeezing customers for every last penny. Worst part of stay was the Hotel having a Dog Friendly policy. Something I did not know at time of booking. This policy is not made clear unless you deep dive the Hotel's website and then it is not transparent how " Dog friendly" friendly means. I am not a dog loving person myself, and take extreme exception to seeing a dog sitting beneath a table at breakfast with 2 dog bowls beside its owners having breakfast. Also, seeing a very large dog, similar to an xl bully breed eating a steak in the restaurant on the evening alongside its owners. Furthermore owners and there dogs using lifts in the Hotel. For heavens sake, a dog is a dog. I think that the Hotel is taking its "Dog friendly" policy to the extreme. Not sure if dogs are allowed in all rooms? Finally, we returned back to the Hotel circa 11pm on New Years day evening to find that the Hotel bar was closed and in darkness. The night duty staff said that we could not get a drink? If only the Hotel treated its paying customers with similar priority as its guests dogs then we may have got a nightcap drink at the end of our night having specifically returned to the Hotel with friends to finish of our night and stay at the Hotel. Instead we all felt very disappointed.

We arrived at the property at 11am checked in and was told that the full amount had been paid for via booking.com We returned to the hotel at 4pm and collected our key cards (rooms 202 &204) as mentioned in previous reviews 204s bathroom was tired and chipped not sure how this can be classed as a deluxe room, my room had a broken toilet seat and furniture was stained!! My friend was then woken up by a male member of staff banging on the door and then subsequently he banked on my door to inform us that our card had been declined, both rooms had telephones so not sure why this hadnt been picked up on the two previous visits to reception or why they couldnt call the rooms instead of disturbing the neighbouring guests! I paid immediately on the same card that was listed on booking.com and this worked straight away as it has done on previous bookings we only sampled the breakfast once and that was enough , tinned mushrooms, rubber eggs not what I expect from a Hilton.