The Park Hotel, Sure Hotel Collection by Best Western

Unfortunatley my father became seriously ill and we needed to find a hotel in Diss at the last minute. I rang the Park and spoke to Zara. I explained my situation and she offered me a discount and found a room. However my situation changed for the worse and I had turn down the offer. Although I never stayed I wanted to say that Zara was a star. She was helpful and sympathetic and tried her hardest to help. If all the staff were as kind as her then I am sure my experience would have excellent. Zara only proves that a little kindness can go along long way. Thank you.

First of all, I have to start by saying that the lady who runs the reception and bar is lovely. Very friendly, and is always happy to help when possible. Unfortunately, I can't say much else positive about my most recent stay at the Park Hotel in Diss. I'm here right now - and have stayed here many times - I actually make a point of specifically requesting the Park Hotel over the likes of the more expensive Oaksmere and the White Horse, because it's local to the office and also because the rooms have generally been decent. On this occasion however, I was given Room 18, which is in one of the outbuildings, a bit of a trek from the car park and reception. As soon as I approached the building, I knew something wasn't right. The doorway to the block looked a bit dilapidated, but I tried not to overthink it and let myself in. The smell that greeted me was 'unpleasant' to say the least. Musty, and slightly damp. Looking around the entryway and stairwell, it's clear they don't care about this building, or the guests who are unfortunate enough to have to stay in it. It was FILTHY. Visibly dirty, and in places threadbare carpets, paint peeling from the walls and ceiling. It conjured images of a (slightly) upmarket squat. After ascending the extremely steep, - and again, impressively filthy - stairs, I found my way to my room, following more threadbare carpet. I was presented with a door that (for reasons unknown) had had the wood scraped away from it in various places. Above the door is a wallpapered ceiling - which is split and hanging open. Opening the door to my room resulted in white dust (paint/plaster maybe?) falling from the cracked wallpaper onto me. Upon stepping into the room, things did not get much better. I was again met with the musty smell. I switched on the light and was seemingly transported to a cheap 1980s motel. Drab furnishings, broken blinds, grubby carpets, hugely dated decor. Ok I thought, it's only two nights. So I opened the windows to air out the room. Since I'd been on the road for hours, and it was almost 10pm, I decided I to have a shower in the extraordinarily basic and slightly grim-feeling bathroom. But a shower makes everything feel slightly better, doesn't it? Not this one. I could have spat on myself and had a more efficient wash (sorry, but it really is AWFUL). The water pressure was beyond abysmal. I gave up. Also, I'm only 5'7 tall and I was banging my head on the ceiling whilst trying to wash, the ceiling above the shower really is that low. So be warned. It was at this point that I called reception and asked to be moved to a room more befitting human habitation. The lady at reception was hugely apologetic and incredibly nice, but sadly was unable to help since they were apparently fully booked. She offered to try and secure a better room for me for the next day (which is now tonight). I decided to make the best of things and had a pint in the bar. I then went back to the room to do some work, before turning in for the night. As I did so, I noticed that the bedsheets were scorched/burned in multiple places (definitely from ironing), and there were also huge threads just hanging off the sheets. I got into bed and decided that if I just sleep I won't have to think about this utter hole of a room. Unfortunately the next issue then presented itself. There's no air conditioning in the room, and it was as stuffy as a very stuffy thing. I therefore had no choice but to sleep with the windows open. This *shouldn't* have been a problem, but for the fact there are 3 supermarkets on the same road as the Park Hotel, and therefore delivery lorries were rattling past all night. I'm sure with the windows closed it would have been less of an issue, but then I'd have suffocated and wouldn't be able to write this review... Eventually, I somehow managed to fall asleep, sometime around 2am. I woke to the sound of lorries, several times, but did manage to at least get around 4 hours sleep in the end. As I was here on business, I needed to go to the office this morning, so had to persevere with the godawful shower situation. Seriously... it's so bad. It took a good 10 minutes longer than necessary to shower under the pathetic dribble of water - oh and there wasno shower gel provided either, so I had to make do with the provided tiny bar of cheap soap. People in the refurbished rooms DO receive shower gel, so I'm not sure why these terrible, run-down rooms don't. Perhaps it's simply because they're terrible and run-down? Anyway... After the 'shower', I went through to the room to change and sat down on the stool in front off the mirror, to lace up my shoes. Big mistake. The stool (upon later inspection) was missing a large screw. As I sat on it, it collapsed. I ended up on the floor, fortunately not in (too much) pain. On my way to work, I handed in my feedback form to the hotel reception, detailing everything. On the form is a section asking whether I'd like a manager to contact me about my feedback - and they state that if there are issues, they want to be told ASAP so they can have the opportunity to sort them. I noted on there that I'd be happy to speak to a manager about things, but only if they are prepared to actually do something about it. I left my contact number and email for them to do so. I'll let you guys guess whether or not they bothered to contact me... The company I work for books a lot of hotel rooms in this area, and I have passed my feedback onto them for future reference. I will no longer to requesting to stay at the Park Hotel, even though the other hotels are less convenient/more expensive. Just to add to above, this evening I managed to procure some shower gel after going back to the reception to request it from the very helpful lady there - so I guess that could be classed as another positive, right? ...Right? I should also make clear that the ONLY reason I'm giving ANY stars for this stay, is down to the lady on reception (I'm so sorry, I don't know your name), she has been so understanding, apologetic and has gone out of her way to help where possible. However, for the overall stay and the room itself, it would be a big fat zero. Many years ago, I used to live in my local YMCA and even that was cleaner and more pleasant to stay in. I spoke briefly to chap on reception this morning whilst I was checking out. It was the same person I'd handed the detailed feedback form to 24 hours earlier. The same feedback form they had decided not to discuss with me to try and remedy. "All good?" he said. "Not at all - pretty shocking actually", said I. "Yeah I read your report" was his response. He didn't elaborate further, so I told him he'd be able to find a review on TripAdvisor detailing the problems. "Thanks" he said. And that was it. Hopefully this was my final stay at the Park Hotel. It's a shame that all my previous (decent) visits have been overshadowed by this, but seeing how little the management actually care about resolving - or even discussing - issues with their guests, has made me realise that it really isn't worth returning.

Exceeded expectations! A wonderful family-run gem. We recently completed a 2-night stay at this lovely family-run hotel, and it completely exceeded our expectations. The absolute highlight of our trip was a lady called Zara, who was truly the life of the place! Her warmth, energy, and incredible hospitality made us feel welcome from the exact moment we arrived. Our Experience: The Beds: Incredibly comfortable. We all had a fantastic night's sleep both nights. The Room: Spotlessly clean and very well taken care of. While there were a couple of very minor problems with the room, the staff handled everything quickly and attentively, ensuring it didn't impact our stay at all. You can really feel the care and pride that goes into running this family business. We will definitely be back and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a welcoming, comfortable stay! As a union, we will 100% be returning! Thanks again Zara, Charlie and the rest of the team. As guys from the railway we understand and appreciate how difficult times have been but we hope this review helps highlight just how much we appreciate you all.

It started off as excellent with friendly staff to welcome me whilst checking in and gorgeous scrambled egg on toast the next day at breakfast, but I did not like ice cubes in the jug of orange juice, this being rectified the next day. However, I had an upset tum that morning, which makes me wonder whether the eggs came from overseas rather than being from the UK. Worse than that was the fact that I was unable to have a bath that morning, there being no hot water in the bathroom, whose door would not close properly. I did report this lack of hot water to Reception, whose staff member said, "Sorry, we will get the maintenance team onto it" - cold comfort as far as I was concerned because I was departing from the Hotel at that stage, bound for home. Whilst the first night was quite quiet, the second was rather different with noisy neighbours, whose TV was so loud that I could hardly hear the programme I was tuned into, which was not one with much aggression and gunshots constantly being heard - so different from the programme that I had intended to view.

Poorly trained staff Breakfast not up to standard No Hot water in the Bathroom Comfy clean bed

Stayed for one night, booked a Deluxe King Room. Check in person tried to friendly but put us off with her coughing over everything. Deluxe room was certainly not deluxe. Went to the bar for a drink and it looked like most of the staff both on duty and off duty were drinking there. Dirty glasses stacked on bar service a bit hit and miss. Breakfast service was poor with one member of staff running the front desk as well as trying to run breakfast service, we gave up waiting and left. Certainly wouldn't stay here again

Very clean and comfortable room , good wifi , Friendly staff and special thanks to Zara who a great receptionist, bartender, and breakfast host!

Quite close to Diss town centre. Easy to find. Friendly staff, especially Zara, who was manning reception when I got there & also working behind the bar on the evening. Also when I went to check out, she came out from the kitchen, so she's very hands on. The room was fine. Large tv & a comfy bed. Two fans in there which was a godsend with the heat. The room was a little dusty in places, but the bed & bathroom were both clean. Lots of creaky floorboards around but it's an old building so is to be expected. Would definitely stay there again.

Hotel is not family friendly. They hosted a beer/music festival which we were not told about when booking. This meant there was no parking onsite so parking was a 5 mins walk away which was a pain with all the bags, the music is horrendously loud so much so the bed shakes and it goes on late (although staff told us it wouldn't be late it does!), then unless you are into the young party vibe don't attempt to go to get a drink as it was full of highly drunk people, shouting and swearing and a couple of woman collapsed on the floor by the door. Certainly not a kid friendly place.

We gat a warm and cheerful welcome from Tyler, he is brilliant. Newly refurbished rooms are 19/10

We were on a cycling holiday when we stopped here for a night. Very accommodating staff. Bikes were secured indoors. Shower was powerful and very welcome after a hot day on the bike.

The hotel was lovely and clean . Our room had air conditioning which was a god send . The staff were all great and very helpful. A special mention to Tyler the manager , Zara who worked behind the bar and in the restaurant and the chef who provided us with really tasty food . They were so lovely and nothing was a trouble to them . And finally last but certainly not least , Charlie. What an asset to the hotel she is ! She was a one man band ! Working on the front desk , serving breakfasts helping with the housekeeping , working so hard but always with a smile ! We would definitely stay again .

We had a wonderful stay at the Park Hotel, staff were helpful and attentive. The hotel was clean and comfortable and will definitely return.

charley was absolutely amazing, very friendly and kind bar staff. was absolutely outstanding.

Lisa and Ellie were amazing. Very friendly and professional

I was greeted by lisa she was pleasant and welcoming i would say she is the nicest bar maid ive ever met

Great fantastic terrific , wonderful

This place is very much family orientated ,run by a family who will go above and beyond ,staff are amazing and I feel like I am going home from home , food is also extremely good especially Sunday dinner.

Family run hotel, pub and restaurant with a family feel, but also great for a late night, great vibes. Kind hard working staff. Food is high quality and good value for money. Interesting, fun and varied events. Good beer selection with cask ales.

Warm welcome, knowledgeable and friendly staff. Good range of products and keenly priced for town centre hotel.

Where do I start . Not the best hotel . Staffs attitude terrible. Checking in took ages . Once checked in and took our bags to our room . Oh my god the room was awful . To start with we had steep stairs to climb with our bags . The room itself , the shower was broken, the drawer at the side if bed was stuck open . I kept catching my leg on it when getting out of bed . The bedside table drawer was broken and just left sitting on floor. The headboard was dirty . We went down stairs to go for a drink as we had drove six and a half hours . The bar was busy . The woman that checked us in was now working in the bar . There was a male manager who could not care less in helping serve customers or wash dirty glasses . There was about 40 dirty glasses sitting on the bar to be washed . He was outside with his mates smoking rather than serving people. Later on we went for tea as I had booked a table . My husband complained about the shower being broken and we gad to hold the head of the shower for us to wash. The manager who was sitting at reception desk just looked at him with a face telling us he couldn't be bothered. All he said he will look at ut . Well he never did the 2 nights we were there . The restaurant wasn't busy , but the people who were eating it was awful. There was a lot of items on the menu not available. The meal was very poor . Where I refused to eat anything else there. This has to be one of the worst hotels I have stayed in . The staffs attitude is awful especially the manager . He has no interest in the hotel or his guests . He is more for having fun and smoking with his mates . I understand this hotel has not long reopened again . Well I think it will close soon if they don't do anything with the staff the manager is hopeless. We ended up use a cord we had in the car to tie the shower up during our stay to enable us to shower as the manager never looked at it or get it fixed while we were there . Even although he said he would

Stayed at this hotel for a night to get away with my other half for a change of scenery . Even though it was only up the road from my home town it was a nice change to visit a different town. Diss itself is a nice quiet town with some questionable people to say the least . The hotel was nice but basic and we were able to check in and out with no issues. There was a lovely well placed mirror in the bedroom (wink) . We were privileged enough to have been greeted by a lovely staff member called Zara with vibrant flame red hair. She was really pleasant and helpful so she was a real credit to front of house. We would stay again and try the food next time.

Called in for a drink plus looking at staying on my next visit to Diss If the hotel is happy being a builders hotel and permits foul language in the bar area then they are perfect If they want to get clients that are prepared to pay more and get a better experience then they are failing Won't be considering using again

Ok, so this is going to be a very mixed review, because my stay at the Park wasn't all good, it wasn't all bad, and at times it was just downright odd. Check-in for me was fine, as I had a physical credit card with me, so I could give them those details to hold for any breakages. However, the lady checking in at the same time was having all sorts of issues, as she just had her card on her phone and the hotel wasn't set up for that. So, if you're going – take a card. Then it was up to my room. I'd booked a single room, as it was just me staying the one night as part of a work trip. On first glance, it seemed perfectly fine. It was when I started to look around and get settled that I noticed bits and pieces. Forgiving the weird, but harmless, over-abundance of storage (a normal wardrobe, three over-bed storage spaces, and five large drawers), the poor design was more around the power sockets. There were eight of them - not one of them anywhere near the bed or bedside table, so if you're wanting your phone to both charge overnight AND be an alarm you can switch off quickly so it's not waking up the neighbouring rooms, or check the time on, you're out of luck. On the plus side, the bed was really comfortable and, despite the windows only having wooden slatted blinds and net curtains, which didn't actually keep the light out very well, I had a decent night's sleep. And on a trip like this one, that's one of the key things. However, the room décor was a bit tatty – bubbling wallpaper, for example – and, a key issue was that there was no shower gel. The shower itself was really good, but I had to wash myself with a small round hand soap. It's not that they hadn't put any toiletries in at all, there was shampoo, conditioner and body lotion. Just no shower gel. And the wi-fi dropped out so regularly that I had to use a phone hot spot. So, that was the room. Now for dining. I had dinner in the hotel restaurant/bar. And it was really good and very reasonable. A cracking burger, in a nice brioche bun, with chips and coleslaw, plus a pint of the local brewery's bitter, for £23. Very nice. However, breakfast. Breakfast started from 7.30am. I had my taxi booked for 8am, so it was a little tight, but I was sure it would be ok. Until I came down for breakfast. Given how good the dinner had been, I was really looking forward to their cooked breakfast. I came down just before 7.30am, assuming that if breakfast was from 7.30 they'd be ready to at least take an order then. But the sole staff member was clearly in no rush, slowly bringing out juice and milk for the small cereal boxes, that it was another ten minutes before he took my order. Ten minutes later he thought to ask about tea or coffee. Five minutes later, nothing had arrived and, given I had to wait until after breakfast to check-out, I had to leave with no breakfast whatsoever. Despite having paid for breakfast with my room, I had to buy another at the train station. And this, I'm told by locals, is the better of the two hotels in Diss…

Had a meet up with a few friends. Thought we'd give this a go now it's open again. But menu not very varied and not much choice. Lots missing off menu as in details. Camembert no rosemary or garlic. Warm beef chiabatta not warm. Fried bread and butter pud. Weird. Panacottas a disaster and too runny. Brownie served hot... didnt even say warm on menu. Waitress very helpful but they meed to sort these things out pronto.

Thought we would give the newly reopened Park Hotel a try. Menu was limited with about 5 beef options, 1 fish and 2 vegetarian. Opted for fish and chips which was a cheap frozen cod fillet and what looked like McCain oven chips. For £18 I would have expected a little something more. Waitress was welcoming but doesn't make up for poor quality of food.

Stayed 1 night on 23rd Dec, room was very nice, had a meal in the restaurant which we enjoyed. Had steak and Guinness pie and a Thai green curry. Tyler was helpful in resolving a query. However, at 10:54 - six minutes before checkout - we had housekeeping knocking at the door and rushing us to get out. They knocked twice within two minutes and one was impolite in her tone, pointing at her watch and telling us that checkout was at 11, of which we were well aware. Nobody should be put under pressure when they're on time because of staff's lack of patience.

We are a local community group and we met at the Park Hotel for a Christmas lunch. We were allocated a private dining room, nicely decorated with Christmas tree and lights etc. The food was great, piping hot, served promptly by very attentive staff. All in all, it was a an excellent experience, enjoyed by all. Would recommend this newly refurbished hotel for lunch.

Rubbish! Hotel no longer able to be used by the general public 😡. So Many people who had bookings for functions / parties and wedding receptions were cancelled at short notice! If and when this ever reopens to the general public we will never ever give them our money again.

Nice clean modern room in the new extension, hotel a bit understaffed so had to wait at bar when reception was busy , food mediocre but as a base to explore Diss it was fine , double bed fantastic 111111122222

Lovely place, but when we booked over the phone,we were never told the restaurant would be close and only doing breakfast. We got told when we arrived. It was dirty and cobweb everywhere and no housekeeper over the weekend. The one staff was lovely and help us. I don't know how it can be afour stars. Outside could do with a tidy up.

This review is like the master chef marking contestants in that it does include a "but....". Firstly, I would be amazed if comments about the staff were anything but "excellent","brilliant","amazing". At all times their willingness to go the extra mile was obvious and necessary as they were short staffed. Their cheerful demeanor shone through morning,noon and night. Parking should not be an issue. We had two rooms, one in the refurbished area and one upstairs. Both had very comfortable firm beds, the smaller had two very comfortable chairs besides the desk and accompanying chair. The other room would have benefited having an extra chair but toiletries and tea making facilities fine. Large walk in shower in both with plentiful hot water. The sound proofing was good, especially the windows, as a Discotheque for 130 people was held one night without impacting our sleep. The hotel is very accommodating and our exuberant two year old granddaughter was tolerated by both staff and guests alike. Breakfast is cooked to order and understandably takes time especially if staff shortage is still happening. Guests can stipulate which items and quantities. Usual range of cereals and lovely croissants and muffins along with white or brown bread. Location is excellent with a good children park 100 yards away alongside The Mere with the town centre beyond. Diss is a good place, compact but charming with an excellent riverside pub doing award winning meat pie and prices are reasonable. So what's the "but"? If staying overnight for B&B then relax. However, if using the voucher for the two night package I do strongly suggest you check whether the present chef issue is still there. Hopefully it will be but otherwise the package despite being very cheap is not good value.