Jarvis Penns Hotel, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands

...mother suggested checking out the Jarvis web-site after seeing some cheap deals on Teletext. Up until this point, I did not associate the words cheap and Jarvis in the same sentence. I checked out their web-site for prices and availability, and contacted the hotel directly, who confirmed, that whilst they did not normally honour web prices over the phone, they would on this occasion. We booked to stay for a Friday and Saturday night at a rate of ...
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The hotel is an old country house in large grounds, with its own lake, that has been converted and tastefully extended into a hotel with 170 rooms. There is a very large space for free, on-site parking. Upon arrival, we started to get very worried that maybe we had misheard the price, the hotel was very posh, in an upmarket area. On booking in, we kept asking the receptionist to confirm that we had understood correctly, the price on the notice ... more

Towards the end of last year, my partner and I were looking for somewhere to stay for a short weekend break. After trawling through a lot of newspapers and websites, my mother suggested checking out the Jarvis web-site after seeing some cheap deals on Teletext. Up until this point, I did not associate the words cheap and Jarvis in the same sentence. I checked out their web-site for prices and availability, and contacted the hotel directly, who confirmed, that whilst they did not normally honour web prices over the phone, they would on this occasion. We booked to stay for a Friday and Saturday night at a rate of £49.98 per room per night including breakfast.

The hotel is an old country house in large grounds, with its own lake, that has been converted and tastefully extended into a hotel with 170 rooms. There is a very large space for free, on-site parking. Upon arrival, we started to get very worried that maybe we had misheard the price, the hotel was very posh, in an upmarket area. On booking in, we kept asking the receptionist to confirm that we had understood correctly, the price on the notice board for a one night stay was £150 per night for a basic room.

Getting to the room was quite difficult, the hotel was like a maze, and the signposting was quite poor. The room itself was basic and small, as hotel rooms go, but offered all the general facilities you would expect to see, including en-suite, Sky TV and tea and coffee making facilities.

The Leisure facilities were second to none, like a small 'Sun Parcs', but with a lot of rain. There was a reasonable size swimming pool, sauna, solarium and turkish bath, overlooked by a bar selling drinks, coffee and hot snacks. There was also a hair and beauty salon on site, whose prices were comparable to the High Street back home. We arrived on the Friday night and made immediate use of the leisure facilities, we were however over-run with children from families who were members of the club. Not overjoyed, considering we had left ours at home, and Jarvis's policy indicates children under 12 are not allowed to enjoy these facilities. We used them again early the next morning, but again encountered quite a few young children.

The hotel was located in a residential area of Sutton Coldfield, about 20 minutes brisk walk from the local shops, pubs and restaurants, which were quite good, but not cheap, but more economical than eating in the hotel restaurant.

Breakfast was on a 'serve' yourself basis, and offered a wide range of hot and cold foods which set us up for the day. The hotel bar was relatively 'cheap' as hotels go, and drinks could be charged to your room. The natives were very friendly and we spent a very entertaining evening chatting with them and joining in some video games they had brought with them. The hotel is about 1½ miles from the train station, and trains run on a regular basis into Birmingham. Upon our return to the station in the evening, we spent a frustrating, cold 1½ hours waiting for a pre-booked taxi to turn up and take us back to the hotel. It was walkable, but after a long day in Birmingham, my feet just did not want to take me there.

In summary, an enjoyable, relaxing weekend in a pleasant environment, representing good value for money. I would not have been overjoyed if I had been paying the prices advertised in the hotel. To find some good deals check out the website at www.jarvis.co.uk - BEWARE - read the small print as there cancellation fees are charged, graded dependant on how far ahead your booking is. Quite unusual in British Hotels.

 

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