“There’s budget and then there’s crack house”: Dad claims to have found “worst” hotel in Manchester

A DAD claims to have found the “worst hotel in Manchester” – with holes in the curtains, dated decor and dodgy paintwork.

Rhys Mould was visiting his son in Manchester for a few days over the weekend but, after being quoted around £400 for a Travelodge, opted for a cheaper option.

Choosing three-star hotel DJ Suites The Element near Old Trafford in Stretford however, the Southampton dad was left stunned by the state of the room he was given.

Footage begins with Rhys standing in the entrance of his room, filming the uninspiring interior – consisting of a double bed, a red armchair and a wardrobe along with a deep red carpet and bright light.

He explains his situation, saying: “So, come up to Manchester to visit my son for four days and wanted to book a Travelodge but it’s like 400 quid.

“So, I got this hotel called DJ Suites The Element, in Trafford.”

He moves forward to reveal the double bed covered with a blue checkered duvet cover, beside which is a mismatched set of brown curtains embellished with floral patterns reminiscent of the 1960s.

Rhys teases: “Are you ready?”

He then draws back the curtains, to reveal gaping holes inside the net curtains behind the main drapes.

Rhys then closes the curtains again as he comments: “The drapes are from the sixties; the paint work is f***ing awful.”

Rhys pans the camera round to show a white wall with chipped paint, which has been darkened by the silhouette of the bed against it.

Rhys says: “I mean, I don’t even know what’s going on here. What a s**thouse.”

He then walks towards as the bathroom, which boasts a small bathtub and dirty grout between the wall tiles.

The dad says: “The bath – you know – you might want to have a bath.”

He lifts the plug and attempts to plug it into the bathtub, showing that it is in fact too small to fit.

Rhys says: “Put the plug in. Don’t fit [sic]. The complimentary soap fits, so you can definitely have a bath with that.”

He places the soap into the plug hole, where it fits perfectly into the tub.

He then moves on to the sink in the bathroom and lifts the tap, to reveal that it is in fact incredibly loose and can be easily shaken by those using the sink.

He comments: “For f**k’s sake, mate. I mean, there’s budget and then there’s crack house.”

Rhys then pans the camera to show the entirety of the room as he concludes: “DJ Suites The Element. Trafford. Biggest s**thouse in Manchester.”

Rhys took to social media on Saturday to share the footage, writing: “Worst hotel in Manchester. Will pay for the Travelodge next time”.

The post received over 7,400 likes and more than 780 comments from users left shocked at the hotel’s appearance.

One person wrote: “I knew this was DJ Suites before you even said. Scarred for life, I am.”

Another warned: “Do not take a UV light to that room.”

A third commented: “That’s a trap house and they trapped you into thinking it was a nice suite. It was the plug for me.”

Another added: “The paintwork would be the least of my worries – that bed. I can almost smell the room out of my screen.”

A fifth wrote: “I would not be unpacking in that room, let alone taking a bath or sleeping there.”

Speaking to Rhys today, he said: “My son lives in Eccles, Manchester – usually when I go to visit and spend a long weekend I use the Travelodge at Trafford Park.

“It’s really nice there and I have never had any issues, however when using the comparison websites it was going to cost me over £400 for four nights.

“When I set the [online] search for the cheapest first, it came up with DJ Suites The Element. Seeing it, I did some research and saw some lovely photos and decent reviews.

“It even boasts itself as a 3 star hotel. Four nights came to £254.49, so I was more than happy to book with that price, much lower than Travelodge.

“Upon arrival on Thursday 30 November, it was clear from the off that the hotel had seen better days.

“The two flag poles at the car park entrance (which fly intact flags in the online pictures) had small stands of ripped fabric on them that were once a flag.

“The carpark was full of litter and looked generally unkept.

“Once I arrived at the reception, there were two men on the reception desk – one who I assume was the manger, was loudly chastising the other for not correctly checking people in.

“The reception area was generally old and worn out but I didn’t want to judge until I had seen the room.
Once the manager had completed loudly chastising the member of staff, he called me over.

“I gave him my name and he handed me a key to my room and pointed me in the right direction.

“Once I opened the door, it was clear that this wasn’t the three-star experience that was advertised and neither was it like the pictures.

“The carpet was old and coming up in places, the walls were covered in stains from god-knows-what.

“There was central heating installed, however it didn’t work so we were given a small oil filled radiator – it was minus two degrees on our first night, so we had to sleep fully clothed to stay warm.

“The net curtains had two massive rips in them and looked absolutely terrible, the curtains were from the sixties.

“The room itself was not very clean at all – mould on the plastic seals all around the bath, dirt on the top of the skirting boards, the tap in the bathroom was loose and could be wobbled side to side.

“The bath had a plug that was too small so you couldn’t fill the bath – but the complementary soap was the right size and could be used as a plug.

“When upstairs flushed their toilet, it made our one back wash. We were provided with half a toilet roll.

“I decided to take to [social media] to show people how bad it was because I was absolutely shocked that these guys are letting this hotel in this state.

“It doesn’t cost much at all to put up a lick of paint and change some net curtains. It’s the bare minimum that would make that place better and they couldn’t even do it.

“My stay was until Monday but on Sunday I had had enough and left early.”

DJ Suites The Element has been approached for comment.