I stayed at this hotel for work purposes on Monday 3rd March in a single room on the sixth floor. We paid £70 B&B.
My initial reaction was to be extremely negative about this hotel, however, on reflection i think it is important to point out some of its good points. I would not say it was an enjoyable experience, however, it was adequate and i've had worse!
On the plus side -
This is a proper city centre hotel - right in the centre of town, close to shops. If you are visiting Birmingham to shop, this is perfect.
The kettle and toilet were clean, which is always a good start!
The member of staff who booked me in was pleasant and helpful. There was an error with our booking, we had 4 rooms booked, but only two of us were on the list. She gave me the list to check through - which had other guest's names and personal details on - i thought at the time this was a little unprofessional, but she was doing it for the right reasons, not laziness or anything else.
The heating in the room was adjustable and ideal, often hotel rooms are boinling hot or freezing cold - i could adjust it easily to what i wanted without any problem.
I had the most fantastic shower in the morning, it was hot and pwerful - very unusual for a hotel.
The not so good -
Finding your way around this place is interesting. There are mezanine floors, few signs and its all a bit of a trek...
There is major renovation going on at this hotel. I should think in 1 years time it will be a much more pleasant experience. I arrived to find that one of the lifts wasn't working, and the other didn't seem to want to come to the floor i was on, so i had to walk up 6 flights of stirs with my suitcase.
There was wallpapering going on on the floor my room was on. So, all the signs had been taken down - i couldn't find my room, although the decorator was helpful! There were wallpaper pasting tables everywhere, workmen playing their radio and generally a mess! The mess was cleared away by 3pm, but not when i arrived.
My room was newly decorated, but the carpet had been laid and it didn't look as if it had been hoovered afterwards, there was fluff everywhere. I wasn't impressed with the beige nets either, they looked grim.
The windows were absolutely filthy on the outside. The window looked out over a courtyard, which was just full of rubblish and really sad looking.
There was a constant noise from a generator outside.
Cigarette burns in the arm chair. The furniture was old, marked and really distracted from the updated decor - i hope they do something about that.
It was a single room. Actually, not a bad size really, but the view really made it freel dreary.
The towels were shabby and far too small. I don't ask for much, but a towel that wraps around all of me is an advantage! The shower curtain had a brown stain on it.
One thing which made me laugh was a light fitting in the bathroom that just looked like a giant nipple!!
Breakfast was chaotic, i didn't get any coffee and sat at a table that hadn't been cleared as nobody appeared to want to direct me anywhere.
In Summary -
If you want town centre and reasonable, without any luxury, this is fine. Don't eat here unless you have to. Breakfast was average. Try this place after the refurb is finished, i suspect it will improve a great deal.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
incl. Breakfast - HRS Rating: 6,48/10 - Britannia Hotels offers 214 bedrooms all en-suite ... more
with TV, telephone,Tea/Coffee making facilities, Trouser Press and Hairdryer. Also available is Jennys Restaurant and Harveys Bar. The nightlife is on your doorst...
Maintaining elements of its original architecture and traditional style, this superbly ... more
situated hotel is at the city’s heart, a short walk from The Bullring with over 140 shops alone.Surrounded by major stores, designer shops, jewellery markets and sho...
Information:
Price is per double room per night and may vary depending on date booked...
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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Review of BritanniaBirmingham
Apr 18th, 2008
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