There once was a place called Ciao, where life was so funny and how, but there soon will be none, 'c...
There once was a place called Ciao, where life was so funny and how, but there soon will be none, 'cos the Deanster is gone, well that's what Ciao thinks .... for now :o)
Member since:02.10.2001
Reviews:145
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Well, as most of you know there were three new lunatics in Liverpool last weekend, what most of you don't know is what we got up to whilst we were there so we have taken on the task of writing not a joint but a Trilogy opinion, look out for Juliemaker's and Pinkprincess' opinions for more gossip, mine is focusing on our accommodation and all the wild parties we threw in our room, NOT!
To start with Jules and I were supposed to be staying at Jo's for the weekend, after a nightmare driving experience, 4 sets of differing directions from drunken Liverpudlians and Taxi drivers we finally arrived on Jo's doorstep at midnight. Of course, girls being girls we had to do the appropriate gossip giggle gossip routine for a couple of hours before turning in for the night.
Jules and I jumped into bed ready for a good .... sleep but neither of us slept very well if at all. Jo your bed is a nightmare girl, how she sleeps in it is beyond me it was like sleeping on a concrete block, Jules ended up with a bad back and I had an aching face from laughing at her most of the night. It was decided there and then to check into a hotel for the following night.
Ringing round that morning though was proving difficult, it was Liverpool's last game of the season and all the hotels were fully booked, good from the point of view that the city center would be full of men, bad because we needed to sleep ... eventually.
We finally found a hotel with one room only for the night, The Holiday Inn Liverpool City Center. It was close to everything, in fact right on the doorstep of the clubs and bars, handy for late night stumbling, but one problem, the only room available was The
Presidential Suite!!
Jules being the die hard bargain hunter she is asked what we would get for our £175.00, we were told it included breakfast and we had a spa bath in our room. Jules' ears pricked up immediately, "A Jacuzzi?, We'll take it". With heavy heart and knowing that plastic was indeed a girls best friend we booked in for the night and shuffled off to inspect our bargain!
As we pulled up at the hotel various signs ushered us towards a multi storey car park for the City Center, we followed the signs and ended up next to an intercom box. First annoyance, the guy on the other end had a horrendously thick Liverpool accent and the car park was far to noisy to hear him. Jules saved the day again by jumping out of the car and shoving her nose up to the intercom, only to be told that we were in the wrong lane and had to reverse back down and get into the other one. Well of course, why were we silly enough to follow the lane that said HOTEL instead of the one that said City Car Park?
The chicken's feathers at this point are beginning to ruffle and I muttered something to Jules about not paying £9.75 for the bloody car park. Second annoyance, we get out of the car and followed the signs AGAIN to the hotel reception. This took us up and down stairs and round in a circle before finally dumping us about 20 feet away from where we started! That was a joke in itself, but Jo is disabled and has difficulty walking anyway, though the little sweetie never complained I sure as hell was going to.
Again Jules stepped in and had a little moan (she was worried I would deck the fella) and we were told they were sorry and the car park would only cost a concessional £3.00. After much 'Tutting' we accepted this and went upstairs to see our room.
We arrived on the 9th Floor (penthouse jobby here!) stepped out of the lift and walked up to the door displaying "The Presidential Suite". After standing there for a while hoping someone would notice us we gave up and went in!
All three of us stood there in awe of the place. We had a little front room, complete with stereo, fax machine and multi channel TV which was displaying a "welcome Maker and Lidbury" notice, how sweet. we walked through into our kitchen diner, this included a fridge, microwave, sink etc., and a six seater dining table with (joy of joys!) a huge ashtray sitting in the middle! A must for us smokers.
We investigated all the cupboard and drawers and found enough cutlery and dishes to serve up a complete dinner party, they even had napkins and gold napkin holders to finish off everything. Shame we had no intention of cooking, but hey we could have done!
The next room along was our bedroom, this housed the biggest bed I have ever seen in my life, honestly you could get 4 people in there (not that we tried of course, *ahem*), we had a full sized ironing board with iron, a trouser press, hairdryer, everything.
There was even a little leaflet on the bedside cabinet which told of their "Personal Pillow Service". I got very excited about this but soon realised it was in fact a choice of five different pillow types which you could exchange your current pillow with if it didn't suit for no charge. Damn! We also had a second TV displaying another welcome message.
Next to this room was another door, yes we had two bloody entrances to our 'room' from the corridor, and next to this was our En Suite bathroom with Jacuzzi! Everything you could possibly need had been supplied, shower gels, shampoos, soaps etc. and hanging on the door were two big fluffy white dressing gowns which would have been chored if we had bigger cases, we had to make do with the usual towel!
Next to the first door was a second little bathroom, with just a toilet and sink but whole lot of new freebies to chore plus a very interesting leaflet that Bargain hunter Jules had read. It stated that if you had forgotten anything to call them and they would try to replace it for you, free of course. Jules was straight on the phone, "Erm we have left our soapbag behind, can we have everything!". Two minutes later our freebies arrived, razors, soaps, shampoos, toothpaste, nail files, toothbrushes, sewing kits ... we were in freebie paradise!
Although we didn't spend an awful lot of time in our hotel room we did use every single thing in there, just so it didn't go to waste of course, the main delight of our stay being the Jacuzzi bath. Jules and I both had a jacuzzi before we went out, complete with bubbles up to our necks and much madness and picture taking! Pictures are available to a select few for the right price. We also had a quickie in the morning before we went down to breakfast, jacuzzi that is, really your minds are utter filth!
As you can guess our room was wonderful, as it should be for that bloody price, but the standard rooms are just as nice, tastefully decorated and very clean as Holiday Inn's usually are. The standard double room would actually cost you £130.00 for the night, so remember for an extra £45 you can have the Presidential Suite, could you resist that? I know I wouldn't.
This Particular hotel has 139 bedrooms in total and 7 meeting rooms. They also have a Health club on one floor, something we weren't going to be venturing into for certain, but nice to know eh? Their restaurant is called 'Signals' and is situated on the 2nd Floor. This is where we ate our breakfast the next morning. The whole restaurant overlooked the City and was really clean, the staff although a teensy bit slow, were helpful and friendly. The selection of food was huge and very tasty, although after a night out on the beer I think anything tastes nice, so I can't be too sure of the quality!
They also had a bar just outside the restaurant, but we didn't actually buy a drink there, whatever for when we could get free ones elsewhere!
They also have someone on duty at reception 24/7 which was rather handy as we didn't have a curfew like you get in some hotels. I did get a rather strange look from the fella though when he had to unlock the door at 5am in the morning, especially as I was followed in by some strange guy who had obviously been partying till dawn too!
Jo and Jules you have been warned, I have spared your reputation in this opinion (just) and I expect the same from you, I will sue you know ;o)
More information and online booking can be found on their website www.holidayinn-liverpool.co.uk or you can contact them by telephone 0151 709 7090.
Oh and Brianlfc missed it all, tut!!
Mel xx
Note: For those of you who don't know Chored means nicked, stolen, before I have to answer everyone in my comments section!!
Another Note: Criteria below is for the Presidential Suite rather than the standard rooms. Disability access was fine inside the hotel but god awful outside from the car park, therefore I have ticked the yes box as an overall view.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Ideally located in the heart of Liverpool, The Holiday Inn Liverpool City Centre is ... more
opposite Liverpool Lime Street Train station and 8 miles (12.9 km) from Liverpool John Lennon Airport.Signals Brasserie, with its panoramic views of Liverpool, provides...
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Price is per double room per night and may vary depending on date booked...
very helpful by (100%):
