White Hart Hotel

Back when I lived in St Albans, I often put family and friends up in the White Hart so I am reasonably familiar with the property, but this was the first time I stayed there myself. Its location is excellent, not far down the vertiginous Holywell Hill, opposite the cathedral and just steps from the city's great variety of restaurants, shops and sights. Cab to/from St Albans City Station was £10; when we didn't have luggage, it was about a 15 minute walk away. Altho' the property has its own attractive restaurant, we only dined there for breakfast -- which was very tasty and complete -- as the evening menu was a bit pricey. Good beers on tap in the pub, which has two comfortable rooms with windows to the bustling street outside. As with many old inns, the stairs up to rooms are steep and rather narrow. I won the Lucky Room Lottery and had a fine four-poster bedroom complete with Edwardian tiled bathroom, deep-dish tub + shower, and huge beaten copper sink; the dual-aspect windows (and a room fan) kept the room cool despite heat wave. A bit of a drawback is that one window overlooked the hotel's outdoor seating area, but once the pub closed, it was quite quiet in the parking area. Staff were unfailingly helpful and pleasant, printing various tickets and ensuring I caught my 3:30am taxi to Luton Airport.

While the room, bathroom and bedding were very clean, I thought the bedroom carpet could do with a good cleaning and the shag-rug by the desk was possibly beyond help.

Having read reviews, I wasn't sure what to expect. So here goes... St. albans is full of history, and if you decide to embrace it, you can't go far wrong staying here. If you want sparkling plastic spotless rooms, forget the place. We loved the quirky old place. Thank goodness no-one has tried to modernise this hotel. It is so well placed in the town for everything. Our room was room 7 and had a brilliant bath with lots of hot water. Very comfortable bed.

Nothing that's worth criticism, in my opinion. Yes, carpets could be replaced, I guess. A bigger information pack on the hotels history to save goggle!

The hotel is OLD and has loads of character. I really liked the idea of staying in an inn that dates back to 1470. The room was clean, the twin beds were comfortable, the room was well laid out. The staff was friendly and very helpful. The Tudors Restaurant had great food at reasonable prices. The location was fantastic - blocks from the pedestrian area, walkable to the public transportation, and easy access to the roads in and out of St. Albans. The parking lot is very tight entering and leaving the roadway and does not have much room for maneuvering within it, but it was very convenient to have parking so close and included in the price of the room.

Because the building is old, the floors are not level and the ceilings on the upper floors are low. I am 5'5" tall and had to duck my head in the 2nd floor hallway and in the toilet in my room. The beds had toppers on them that were too soft for my liking and made me feel like I was sleeping in a taco. The shower was very narrow, had no shelves for soap/shampoo, and the spray felt like needles.

The hotel is a very basic inn above a pub and on the main road so there are sounds associated with the pub and the roads. I knew this in advance and was not bothered by it at all. The inn is very very old and has not been mucked about with too much so the room, whilst having a wonky floor was enormous and and comfortable. Everything analogue and easy to use. No electric keys, no need to read a manual to learn how to operate a light switch. All delightfully simple. A wonderful residents lounge with a small library of books on local archaeology and history. Please do not upgrade this hotel. It is great as it is.

Nothing

The hotel is quintessential "historic england", both outside and inside. I was so happy to be right next to the Cathedral. I loved the architecture, the heavy beams, the small pub, the more spacious dining room, the small stairs, etc. The staff were generally very helpful. The bed in my room was incredibly comfortable! The bed had lovely fresh linens, everything was very clean and I had my own bathroom, in spite of being in a tiny room. The food in the restaurant was extremely tasty. People in the pub were very happy to be there, and there was a remarkable young pianist at the piano the night I was there.

I had ordered a single room and it was tiny, with a view of a brick wall. I'd paid extra to check in early, and there were many other empty rooms, but they were apparently doubles and I was not allowed to change.

Very old with a lot of history, location was good, parking great if you are able to get a space (it is not just for hotel use, others can pay to use it), the room was big, the bed was big and comfortable, the bathroom was clean and the shower fine.

£20 for a small dog is a little on the high side, especially as my dog doesn’t moult at all and we always bring her own bedding with us to use. £10 would be more reasonable and more in keeping with a lot of other establishments we’ve stayed in with our dog.

My husband's wake, which I hosted in the Function/Dining room. The food was excellent, & the room exactly the right size for the number of people who came (25). I & several members of my family also stayed over at the hotel, & we all liked our rooms (tho' see my comment below). We all appreciated the historic character of the building, & the reasons for the small size & quirky shape of the rooms.

The stairs! I am aged over 70, & although perfectly able to walk unaided, & indeed travel alone, 3 flights of very narrow stairs, plus umpteen tricky-to-manage fire doors, with a large heavy suitcase was almost too much. I & my doctor would have appreciated my having a room on the first floor.

Lovely welcoming staff , friendly and professional. Very good value for money and I feel the management are making the best of the space available. Lovely food in restaurant, clearly top quality sourced and chef 🙂, I stayed here on business and sampled some of the menu over the week. Just a very warm nice feeling in this place 👍 very nice clean character charming rooms. Superb location and parking available too, 10 mins from the rail station

Nothing really, rooms need a few minor maintenance and decor items but for a 600 year old building I think it's pretty well maintained

If you like history, particularly the Tudor era, you will love this hotel. It has a lot of the original features, low ceilings, slightly wonky creaky floors and original beams. There is a small restaurant which delivered a most delicious Sunday lunch; well recommended and pretty reasonable in price. The location is ideal for visiting the city cathedral and the town centre. A must for anyone visiting Saint Albans. The staff were very friendly and professional too.

I cant think of anything I didn't like.

Chose the hotel because of its excellent central location and the fact that it has a car park. Stayed in for supper in the cosy bar - chose just a prawn cocktail and cheese and biscuits and both very good. The breakfast was wonderful - all freshly made and plenty of choice i.e. the scrambled egg was perfectly cooked and the French toast (eggy bread) with maple syrup sublime. Well done, Chef.

This is a Tudor building so quirkiness was to be expected as it was built with wooden beams so consequently the floor in our room on the top floor was undulating to say the least and the window was too high to see out. The shower/toilet was bijou but the water was hot. The bed was very comfortable but the central heating didn't work. However, we discovered an electric heater in the wardrobe which did the trick.