Ibis, Swindon

My wife and I stayed at the IBIS hotel in West Swindon last weekend as we were going to a friends 40th birthday party that evening and neither us fancied the lengthy drive home in the early hours of the morning.

We booked in for 1 night, planning to arrive on Saturday afternoon and leave on Sunday morning.

We chose the IBIS because we wanted a budget hotel and because it was located very close to where the party was ...
...anytime after mid-day and didn't have to vacate our room until mid-day either so we could have a lie-in after the party if we needed to.

~~ Booking ~~

As I had found this hotel using the web, it made sense to book the same way - this can be done from the IBIS website (www.ibishotels.com/ibis) quite easily and you receive a confirmation email straight away with your reservation number.

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My wife and I stayed at the IBIS hotel in West Swindon last weekend as we were going to a friends 40th birthday party that evening and neither us fancied the lengthy drive home in the early hours of the morning.

We booked in for 1 night, planning to arrive on Saturday afternoon and leave on Sunday morning.

We chose the IBIS because we wanted a budget hotel and because it was located very close to where the party was being held.

Also, we could book in anytime after mid-day and didn't have to vacate our room until mid-day either so we could have a lie-in after the party if we needed to.

~~ Booking ~~

As I had found this hotel using the web, it made sense to book the same way - this can be done from the IBIS website (www.ibishotels.com/ibis) quite easily and you receive a confirmation email straight away with your reservation number.

If you don't like giving out your credit card details online then you can book by telephone instead - the number is on the website.

~~ Getting There ~~

We travelled by car as the main railway station is quite a way from this hotel and a taxi would have cost a fortune !
The IBIS hotel is located just off junction 16 of the M4 motorway and is easy to find if you just follow the A419 as it is signposted from the dual carriageway.
I logged on to their website and printed off directions but didn't really need them.

~~ First Impressions ~~

The hotel is located on a business park which I found quite unusual but this does have a number of advantages - oodles of parking space and, as it was the weekend, it was very quiet.
The entrance lobby is quite large being dominated by a water feature surrounded by a sumptuous leather seating area.
Reception is just on the left next to the bar area and is fairly standard.
As I gazed around waiting for the receptionist to finish with the guest in front of me, I started to notice how drab the decor was, especially the well-worn carpet.

The receptionist was extremely pleasant and booked us in quite swiftly - I was pleased that the internet booking was on record as my wife kept nagging me to confirm by phone but I didn't get around to doing so.

Overall, first impressions were of a comfortable, friendly establishment which had all the essentials (bar, restaurant) but could do with some new furniture and a lick of paint to brighten it up.

~~ Our Room ~~

Our room was on the 2nd floor (there are 3 floors in total) and was easy to find after getting out of the lift and was towards the rear of the hotel.

We had a bathroom with bath, shower, toilet and sink - and a main sleeping area with double bed, small TV, dressing table and a double wardrobe.

The first thing we did was to flick all the switches on and off and marvel at the various lighting effects we could achieve - why do we do that ?!

Then we unpacked - it was nice to have "normal" coathangers rather than those ones which are designed to stop thieves but are fiddly to hook back together.

The TV had 5 or 6 channels but no SKY package so it's a good job we didn't plan on watching it too much.

The bathroom was very clean and bright - and the shower was perfect so no complaints there.

In fact my only complaint was that the pillows were a little small and there was only 2 of them - had we thought about it we could have asked for some more I'm sure.

It wasn't luxury but then we deliberately booked a budget hotel as it was only for 1 night.

~~ The Bar ~~

After unpacking, we headed for the bar to get a drink.

The receptionist also managed the bar during the day it seemed so we had to wait for her to deal with her other duties before getting served but she did acknowledge us with a friendly smile when she saw us waiting which was nice.

It cost £2.40 for a pint of lager and £2.80 for a bottle of Smirnoff Ice which is comparable with the pubs - I didn't fancy anything on the wine list as it didn't seem to stretch beyond the kind of selection you would get in Tescos for £3.99.

The glasses had been well used and could have done with being replaced but at least they were clean.

There was a TV showing SKY sports (football) and a fruit machine in one corner.

The tables and chairs again, were in desperate need of replacement and it didn't help that the tables were filthy with cigarette ash and spilled drinks which hadn't been wiped up.

I don't know if there was any air-conditioning but it certainly wasn't working too well and it was quite stuffy so after an hour or so we retired to our room to get changed.

~~ Meals ~~

The room tariff did not include any meals so we decided to eat in the bar before going out - we could have gone into the restaurant but decided on the bar as it looked more comfortable.

We ordered 2 quarter-pounders but they had run out of buns, so we declined their kind offer of placing the burger between 2 slices of bread instead, and ordered a surf and turf (steak with scampi).

I took less than 20 minutes before our food arrived piping hot and looking very appetising - the steak was perfectly cooked and came with chunky chips, 4 pieces of scampi, tartare sauce and salad - all that for £6.99 (each).

Breakfast was served from 4am up to mid-day but after 10:30am there was only toast, fruit and cereal to choose from and a few leftovers from the continental selection.

It was all self-service too so you just helped yourself - you could have tea and coffee from a machine.

We paid £4.95 for breakfast but it really wasn't worth it to be honest although I don't know what the cooked breakfast had to offer as we got up too late .

We did order a snack at around midnight after returning to our room from the party and although this wasn't a problem, we did have to walk down to reception to collect it as the staff would not deliver to the rooms.

Not sure why this was the case but thankfully, I remembered to put on my pants before wandering into the lobby ........

~~ The Staff ~~

One thing I noticed was that the staff were all foreign - French I think with an Italian thrown in for good measure !
The evening barman was English but wasn't particularly talkative so might as well have been foreign too.....
However, they were all extremely friendly and helpful and greeted you with a warm, cheerful smile whenever you caught their eye.

No complaints at all.

~~ Cost ££££ ~~

Now then, we wanted a budget room and that is what we got - all for £37.95 per room per night.
It's slightly more expensive during the working week at just over £42 per room per night.

By the time we added on our food and bar bill, the whole trip cost us £106 which wasn't too bad at all considering some hotels wanted that just for the room.

~~ What I Didn't Like ~~

It doesn't matter where you go in this country, there are always those people who will act in a selfish manner and unfortunately for us, we had to endure some of them at this hotel.

There was a wedding party who arrived back at the hotel around 1.30am and decided that they would make as much noise as possible en route to their rooms which just happended to be in our corridor.

Their final act of selfishness was to slam their doors as loudly as possible which, thankfully, allowed us to go back to sleep.

Apart from that, for the price we paid, there wasn't much to dislike about this hotel.

~~ Conclusion ~~

If you want a relaxed atmosphere, budget hotel and aren't a "picky" person then I would say that this hotel is an ideal choice.

We would definitely use this place again if we ever have cause to stay overnight in Swindon.
 

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