The Haven  

The location.

I have stayed at the haven many times. This time I was placed on the car park side of the hotel. The walls are paper thin and the doors make a very loud noise when closing. Hence a very bad nights sleep. I would stay again but only if guaranteed that my room was in the sea facing block.

Location, fittings, clean, good staff, good breakfast, good internet

The Haven is well-located being by the sea, and has a beautiful piano room and restaurant. The food is great quality, though it is certainly not cheap.

I would not recommend the Haven. The carpets on the second floor hallway stank of must and dust. Pool and jacuzzi were cold. The red-headed german girl in the spa was rude and liked arguing too much - very mean. We booked for twin and got a double. The room (room 225) was very pokey and basic. The bathroom was a mere closet with no lock, and a huge gap preventing any privacy. There was no aircon and the heating was ineffectual.

Quiet and beautifully site by the sea.

The £21.00 two course meal was not value for money. The meat was poor quality.

A very clean, relaxed hotel with excellent staff

The doors on all rooms needed strength to be closed and subsequently made quite a noise

A great base from which to explore Poole, Sandbanks and the surrounding area. The staff where extremely pleasant and efficient without ever becoming "stuffy". The sea views are second to none. I'd recommend the hotel to anyone.

Smell in the restaurnt. Expensive and disappointing menu.

I love the location and the size of the rooms.

Having to walk through the restaurant from the spa having had treatments.

Wonderful location, happy atmosphere, good pool

Prompt attention to disappointment with allocated rooms. Changed to much nicer rooms after visiting reception

Following on line booking I was disappointed to find that the two rooms allocated were very tired and seriously ready for refurbishment. Not even properly serviced, i e insufficient towels Soon sorted for us by move to better rooms but why allocate such poor rooms when other nicer ones are empty?

Very Good Location Staff very good

Ceiling tiles in bedroom room carpets very old Stairs to rooms difficult to find. Lift very old

Best thing about the Haven is the location. Stunning views of the mouth of Poole harbour. Wedding reception was on at the time of arrival and staff were delivering hot food to the guests via the main entrance lobby, we felt like we were in the way whilst checking in. We had a cheaper room, therefore not a great view, although if you paid top dollar you could request a sea view overlooking Brown Sea Island which would be outstanding. A few annoyances, considering price and league of the hotel.. Tatty looking loose door handles, no lift to the third floor, which was not easily accessible, (we saw a family struggle down stairs, along the corridor with two small children one in a buggy). No porter at the front of house, my husband helped a grandmother with a buggy down steps in the lobby, which he had no problem doing, but a member of staff should have been on hand for this kind of thing. We carried our own bags but we were asked if we needed help with them. Most staff were friendly and helpful, some were a little terse at times. Although the restaurant staff were very helpful and attentive, they did not have specific areas within the restaurant to service resulting in at least three different people enquiring that our meal was satisfactory while we were eating our main course. Staff did not inform us that meal was paid for by family as a surprise. My advice to anyone visiting wanting to take advantage of the spa facilities is to book treatments prior to the trip as we left it until arrival and all were reserved apart from one half hour slot, which was disappointing. The highlight though was sitting in the small very hot tub with the sun shining in late September overlooking the fantastic view… Priceless.

If you pay good money (£260) for a one night stay, you expect the best. It did not quite live up to predicted standard.