Ibis, Graz

If like me you are the sort of person who prefers to stay in more moderate hotel accommodation in order to have more money to spend on things like eating out (or the purchasing of horrific souvenirs) you may be interested to know that to celebrate their 30th anniversary, some of the brands that fall under the Accor umbrella are offering a limited number of rooms at special rates this year. It does mean that you can't alter your reservation and won't ...
...travellers who are willing to risk that, there are bargains to be had.

In mid-June we are going to Hanover and have booked a double room in a very central Mercure hotel for just 39 Euro per night and have just stayed in the Ibis Graz, the subject of this review, for 59 Euro for a double room, a saving of some 20 Euro based on two people staying in the room. Breakfast is not included and should be paid for in situ priced at a hefty ... more

If like me you are the sort of person who prefers to stay in more moderate hotel accommodation in order to have more money to spend on things like eating out (or the purchasing of horrific souvenirs) you may be interested to know that to celebrate their 30th anniversary, some of the brands that fall under the Accor umbrella are offering a limited number of rooms at special rates this year. It does mean that you can't alter your reservation and won't qualify for a refund if you cancel but for those travellers who are willing to risk that, there are bargains to be had.

In mid-June we are going to Hanover and have booked a double room in a very central Mercure hotel for just 39 Euro per night and have just stayed in the Ibis Graz, the subject of this review, for 59 Euro for a double room, a saving of some 20 Euro based on two people staying in the room. Breakfast is not included and should be paid for in situ priced at a hefty 9 Euro 50 for the buffet breakfast.
The Ibis Graz is situated just fifty metres from the Hauptbahnhof - the main train station so it is ideally situated for travellers arriving late or departing early. We were staying at the hotel with my parents the night before flying back to England from Graz airport which is a ten minute train ride or twenty minute bus journey from the Haputbahnhof. Our rooms were on the station side of the hotel and there was no noise disturbance from the station at all. A busy road runs past the other side of the hotel which I suspect might be rather more of an inconvenience.

The Old Town is situated some fifteen minutes away on foot or five minutes by tram and trams run into the early hours.

The Ibis website would have you believe that this is a rather special building in architectural terms and while it is not an eyesore, neither is it what you might call attractive: modern looking with dark glass is what it is.

You walk straight into the reception area/lobby where there are a handful of bistro tables and a bar counter. I informed the rather handsome receptionist in (even if I say so myself) impressive German that we had booked two rooms and he responded in perfect English - much to my annoyance. If I have spent eight years learning German I expect to demonstrate my skills in a German speaking country and not be addressed in English!

Without any fuss we completed the registration cards and we given our keycards - one for each member of the group even though we were staying in just two rooms. To my (minor) irritation we were given neighbouring rooms - but how could the receptionist know that having had my parents sleeping across the hallway in our Slovenian flat for a week we wanted to be at the opposite side of the hotel (actually make that city!)?

We requested and were allocated non smoking rooms which meant that we would be on the first floor and we were directed to the glass lift by the door. It was just big enough for four daft Geordies, each carrying a holdall. The corridors are wide and well maintained although as sparse as one would expect in this kind of hotel.
First impressions of the rooms were good: bright, airy and much larger than expected. The décor was neutral and the furniture was well considered with enough hanging space for a couple of nights, suitable chairs for using at a desk, adequate task lighting and a very comfortable king-size bed. An extra quilt was stowed in the wardrobe although there were no extra pillows and I certainly would have liked an extra one.

The en suite bathroom was spotlessly clean and there were wall mounted containers of bodywash/shampoo beside the washbasin and inside the shower. There was non-stop hot water with excellent water pressure and it was easy to adjust the water temperature to suit. There was a hair drier in the bathroom and an excellent magnifying mirror over the washbasin. There were two full length mirrors in the bedroom area.

As it was a very hot day and the sun was beaming fiercely into the room we were pleased to note that the curtains actually did meet in the middle (without leaving gaps at the edges!) and that there was also a roller shutter that could be operated from a button situated on the wall beside the bed. However, it was clear that the shutter could also be operated from outside the room too because it twice descended at times when we would have preferred it to have been raised. All rooms have air-conditioning though this is not controlled individually but responds to the general temperature of the room: however small changes can be made by guests although we would have preferred to have cooled the room down much more (27 degrees at nine pm!).

For those who need to know there was a television with many, many domestic and international channels. I must admit I rarely switch on the television in hotels but I wanted to check the football results so I did avail myself of this facility. Frustratingly the channels could only be altered by entering the channel number on the remote control and it wasn't possible to change them with a +/- button which was tedious if you couldn't remember the channel number.

We decided not to take breakfast at the hotel but found plenty of cafes and bakeries in the area for a cheap and quick breakfast. What I can tell you is that the buffet is available between 6.30 and 10 am but if you require breakfast before or after these times, there is a limited continental breakfast available between 4.00 - 6.30 am and 10.00 am and 12.00 noon.

The lobby is used as a café and bar throughout the day and there are some vending machines in this area when the bar is not open. Unfortunately smoking is still permitted in public areas in Austria and the lobby of the Ibis is no exception which I think is somewhat disappointing given that you have choice but to go through this area when entering or leaving the hotel. We found it very smoky and as a result the lift and the first floor corridors were also quite smoky at times when the lobby café was full of customers. Newspapers and free wi-fi internet access are available in the lobby.

As far as our own requirements go we found no problems with this hotel. The room was clean and comfortable and the limited contact we had with the staff was positive. However, I would suggest that the special rate we paid was about the right mark for what we got and that the full price is a shade too much. Given its location I would think that most guests are business people whose companies are footing the bill.

At this price the hotel was superior to the nearby Hotel Strasser for which we paid 70 Euro for a double room including breakfast earlier this year but I probably wouldn't pay the standard rate when the anniversary price ceases to apply.

Ibis Graz
Europaplatz 12
8020 Graz, Austria

Tel : (+43)316/7780
Fax : (+43)316/778300

http://www.ibishotel.com/gb/home/index.shtml

http://w ww.accorhotels.com/gb/home/index.shtml

Check in/check out - noon; there is a free and secure luggage room should you wish to leave your luggage before or after check out.

Secure underground parking is available to residents for a daily charge

There is a small number of wheelchair accessible rooms 

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