Hotel Wingate by Wyndham Matthews, NC (Matthews, USA)

It’s clean, reasonably priced and benefits, beyond measure, as the result of renovations and updates. Rooms are appealing, clean – and the beds are really comfortable.

Management and staff are brilliant. Very helpful, they offer flexibility and assistance in bucket loads … resulting in insurmountable problems just disappearing. Everyone here is exceptional. There are many other good things too, including the pool. It’s a tad on the ‘cool’ side though.

Don’t worry if you aren’t a pet owner. Guests’ dogs seem to understand that they should be on their best behavior and they are a delight. As for other guests’ kids; well, that’s another matter. They can ruin a session in the pool without any effort at all.

Breakfast isn’t great; a bit of a tasteless experience. The breakfast room is small and cramped. To be fair, it is very clean and well managed. Later cookies are a nice idea. So too are the freebie dog biscuits in this pet-friendly hotel. *'You’ll' probably prefer the cookies though!

Watch it! The entrance isn’t actually at the hotel. You need to be aware of this in advance to save time and  frustration later. Once you do find it, there’s still a problem ‘getting in’ with luggage, as the main door is manual and cumbersome. Maybe any renovations will result in a helpful, swish automatic door?

There’s still that familiar smell of smoke hanging around and – not unusual – there is a noise problem in the room. This is due to lack of sound insulation coupled with inconsiderate neighbors.