Thank you for your r/r/c. I'm a former air stewardess, now working as a desk officer in a Civil Serv...
Thank you for your r/r/c. I'm a former air stewardess, now working as a desk officer in a Civil Service department. Studying part-time with the Open University for an English and Politics degree.
Member since:01.11.2002
Reviews:89
Members who trust:106
I’ve stayed here a couple of times with work. My stays have been fine but I always feel a bit spooked in this hotel. It’s a grey 1970’s style block with other 400 rooms. It’s main purpose seems to be to cater for conferences, it has 23 meeting rooms. It is basically your typical Holiday Inn 4 star hotel (not three star as Ciao seems to have it listed)
Now don’t laugh, but on my stays I have kept my bathroom light on and pulled the duvet over my head! The hotel does freak me out a bit, a slight atmosphere. It always seems to be very quiet and it’s quite gloomy inside which doesn’t help. I’ve heard all sorts of rumours about guests staying under the reception desk to sleep, to scared to go back to their rooms, that it’s built on the site of a old hospital that burned down with many deaths, that someone rolled an orange under their bed and it came out peeled. Hmm. If you don’t believe in ghosts then you will have a comfortable stay!
Checking In: This was very quick and easy, there were two receptionists
on duty. Myself and a colleague were rather less amused to find that our key cards didn’t work and we had to trek all the way down to reception. The main area is quite large with a marble floor, a bar on one side and the pub on the other as well as a small seating area.
The Room: The room was quite big. Large double bed with 4 pillows (the Holiday Inn chain also offers a pillow menu with options like goose feather or anti allergen) and was a good, firm bed. A wardrobe, desk, chair and table. I am pleased to report that the television had BBC1 and 2, MTV and Sky News. The room lacked an ironing board, kettle, or trouser press. Apparently the Executive Rooms and Suites offer all these and other luxuries such as robes. There is also a small minibar. I also had a long, narrow balcony running around the room with views over the city. The aircon also worked well which was good.
The Bathroom: This was very small and clean and very white! The bath curtain did have a musty smell though. Plenty of white towels were offered but no toiletries-just a small bar of soap and a Dove shower-gel dispenser. This of course helps the environment but I do like little bottles of shower gel, moisturiser etc.
Amenities: A small sauna and gym are onsite, I didn’t visit but my colleagues seemed impressed. The website also states that a shoe shine service is offered, there were no details in the room of this. There is a business centre on the second floor, you access with your room key. There are 3 computers but only 2 seemed to be working. Free internet access but I was slightly dismayed to find that this isn’t monitored, and all sorts of websites such as dodgy ones were all saved on the Google search bar-not nice if you had children with you.
Eating and drinking: The options are numerous. There is a restaurant ‘Le Chef,’ ‘Kaffeemuehle’ which is the breakfast room, the pub/sports bar or the bar downstairs. On my wanderings around I came across the 24th floor conference area-a huge room with a view over the city. It was deserted though with dust clothes over the chairs and tables and seems to get little use. I can’t help but feel that this area would be better served as a restaurant.
Room Service: I ordered room service. The menu is quite limited and there is a pizza menu too with five pizzas shown. The menu consists of soup, salad or steak mainly. I had a club sandwich and a hot chocolate, total cost came to 16 Euros. It was delivered within 25 minutes and was quite pleasant, the club sandwich was served with potato wedges but the chicken was rather tough and the bacon a little streaky but the omelette style egg was nice. A few sachets of mayonnaise and ketchup were also served. The hot chocolate came with the hot milk in a pot and a sachet of powder to mix. There is also a room service breakfast which is the typical continental style but is a rather over-priced 21 Euros!
Customer Service: This was very efficient. The staff that I encountered were generally pleasant and helpful. They all wear a distinctive uniform-white shirt, yellow waistcoat and maroon scarf or tie.
Location: I didn’t really like the location. The hotel is located in a residential suburb with lots of apartment blocks and very little around-no shops and very little choice in places to eat. It’s a couple of miles from the centre, apparently the bus service is good and inexpensive but I would really prefer to be in the city centre. The hotel is about 20 minutes from the airport.
Price: I wasn’t paying for my stay, but prices for an ordinary guest room seem to average between £50 and £80. There is also a car parking fee of 12 Euros.
The bottom line: I wouldn’t go out of my way to stay here again. I prefer city centre hotels and like the hustle and bustle of them. This hotel does seem largely catered towards the business market. Very average hotel but good value for money if you get a decent rate.
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