Nope it wasn't Fawlty Towers but it could have been!
The Ciao meet in Birmingham, more specifically the hotel. The Britannia Hotel is huge, situated in New Street in the centre of Birmingham it is easy to get to and a great location for first time visitors wanting to be in the heart of the city.
Now for the bad bits, brace yourselves! Myself and Bubblecat arrived at the hotel at about 1.15pm after a gruelling coach journey from Liverpool. We were already hot and knackered when we arrived and so were looking forward to getting to our hotel room, dumping our baggage, having a shower, getting changed and having a rest. Nope, after waiting at reception to check in for a while we were told that a room wouldn't be available
until after 2pm so we had no choice but to make our way to the suite where the meeting was taking place and plonk ourselves down in there until we could get to a room.
Second discovery - the meeting suite was a windowless, airless room above the kitchens heated to approximately 405 degrees Celsius with no bar open and just a water cooler for refreshments. Being rather overweight I thought I may have the advantage of sweating away at least half my body weight in half an hour. Bubblecat's shades had melted into his face by now and become a permanent part of his anatomy.
At about 2.30pm we decided to go back to reception and see if there was a room available for us yet. Luckily there was so we checked in and made our way to our room. It was on the eighth floor so we needed to take a lift - ummm, well, there was only one of the two lifts working that weekend and you needed to allow a four and a half hour wait to catch it and then take an oxygen cylinder into the lift with you when it finally arrives.
So at last we hit room 816 and eagerly piled in (fell through the door with heat exhaustion). It was clean and spacious with an en suite bathroom, TV, a mini kettle with a few sachets of tea, coffee etc and a window that OPENED! Bliss! Wellll, not quite, we discovered by accident (i.e. brushing against it) that the radiator was on full blast - they were obviously expecting a cold snap! We didn't seem to be able to switch it off so I tried to ring down to reception to ask.....I hung up the phone after listening to it ring for about half a day or so and decided we would enquire at the desk if we ever made it back there again.
The light swtich system was quite amusing - no main light in the room but a few wall lamps and free standinglamp shades. A main switch controlled the whole lot, then indiviual switches around the room controlled various other bits and pieces - very entertaining, nice touch!
I smoke and there was no ashtray in the room so again, after waiting an age, I spoke to reception on the phone to ask whether the rooms were non-smoking - "I will allow you to smoke" the voice said - well, that's kinda tough cos I was going to anyway! I asked if they could send an ashtray up to the room.....by our departure a day later it still hadn't arrived.....
So, our next visit to the desk on the way out and we told them about the radiator in our room - "Have you tried switching it off?" they asked, well, ummm, duuuuuuuuuuuh - YEAH! They said they would try to sort it out for us and when we returned a few hours later they had actually done it! The radiator was off!YAY!! The room was now a slightly more comfortable temperature.
While we were lying on the bed allowing the steam to rise and evaporate from our bodies and trying to cool down we discussed why the coving around the ceiling only went half way round the room and why the cold tap in the bathroom would gradually get hot if we left it to run for a little while in the hope of some cold water! Nope, I guess we must have had two hot water taps on our sink.
Oh well, on the plus side the hotel room was a good price (with our group discount) at £45 for our double room including a buffet-eat-as-much-as-you-like breakfast. Unfortunately neither of us are great breakfast eaters so we didn't really take full advantage of that but considering the normal room rate was about £100 and breakfast about £14 it was a good deal.
Been back home for nearly a day now, I wonder whether that ashtray has found its way up to our hotel room yet......
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
The Britannia Birmingham is a first class hotel located 15 miles from Birmingham Airport ... more
and 30 miles from the East Midlands Airport. This hotel is a smart refurbished property in the heart of Birmingham surrounded by major stores, designer shops, jew...
Information:
Price is per double room per night and may vary depending on date booked...
The Britannia Birmingham is a first class hotel located 15 miles from Birmingham Airport ... more
and 30 miles from the East Midlands Airport. This hotel is a smart refurbished property in the heart of Birmingham surrounded by major stores, designer shops, jew...
Information:
Price is per double room per night and may vary depending on date booked...
With its central location, Britannia Hotel is within easy reach of most tourist ... more
attractions and business addresses in Birmingham. This 3-star hotel was established in 1953 and offers 195 guestrooms. Each guestroom is fully equipped with non smoking r...
This traditional hotel maintains most of its original architecture The hotel stands in a ... more
prime position within walking distance of all major stores and the Bullring shopping centre The 195 en suite bedrooms are refreshingly decorated and comfortable ...
Information:
Price is per double room per night and may vary depending on date booked...
A smart refurbished 3* hotel in the heart of Birmingham surrounded by major stores, ... more
designer shops, jewellery markets and shopping centres. The hotel\'s restaurant and bar offer a range of hot and cold food. The 9th floor of the hotel is devoted to con...
Advantages: Convenient for shopping, relatively cheap...and Oh the breakfasts!! Disadvantages: The lack of air con, the decor, the lack of communication between staff.
kazziebears 20.08.2002 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Britannia Birmingham
Advantages: We had the Ciao meet there, some of us didn't pay much for the rooms. Disadvantages: The seagulls, the clock, the heat, the fire hazards, the crap service, oh just knock the place down and be done with it!
Cheekychicken 24.08.2002 (24.08.2002)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Britannia Birmingham
Aug 19th, 2002
very helpful by (99%):
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