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Review rated by 46 Ciao members on average: very helpful
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If anyone is wondering about the title, all will be revealed later.
Seven years ago I stayed in the Novotel, Coventry and during my stay was ill which meant I couldn’t eat what I considered at that point to be one of the scrummiest breakfasts ever. As you can imagine, sitting opposite my other half watching him munch away while I writhed around in agony was too much. I have spent the period inbetween then and now looking for an excuse to return. A Shania Twain concert at the NEC combined with the opportunity to see some of my old friends was all I needed. Mind you, having stayed at the NovotelMaastricht where the waiter trying to force me to sit with a party of Japanese tourists I should have known better.
BOOKING The Novotel chain belongs to the French chain, Accor, who are also credited with bringing us, among other outlets, Sofitel (Luxury), Mercure, Ibis, (Budget) and Formule 1 (Ultra budget). Like most reputable hotel chains, rooms can be booked on-line, and this hotel offers an internet rate of £45 per room per night at weekends, during the week you are looking at the slightly more costly price of £72. The rack rate in the hotel is stated as £80 per room.
Your booking confirmation does not make it explicit whether the rate includes breakfast, it doesn’t.
On booking you will need to register with the company website and will receive a confirmation e-mail outlining your requirements, your booking reference and cancellation policy, typically 4pm on the day of arrival. Although with the arrival of special offers it may be worth checking as more and more chains are extending the cancellation periods. Rooms can also be booked at places such as www.laterooms.com but are not particularly cheaper, although we did speak to a guest who booked 20 minutes before arrival and got the room for £40.
Score 9/10 (because they don’t make the situation regards breakfast clear)
LOCATION If you want a hotel in the hub
of this vibrant city then this is not for you. If you want a reasonably priced hotel situated literally on the motorway network selling reasonably priced drinks and wide-screen TV in the bar then you won’t go far wrong. Situated about 2 minutes off junction 3 of the M6, 5 miles from Coventry centre and 8 miles from Nuneaton, it is close to the NEC and Birmingham International Airport,. You will also be able to get to Coventry airport with a relatively straight run, if Thomson Fly do get permission to fly from there.
There is large amount of parking at the hotel and strategically situated CCTV cameras all around. This is mainly an industrial area with a small amount of housing so you are unlikely to face any problems.
Score: 8/10 – this rating depends on your personal preferences for location – but it is easy to get to.
RECEPTION & CHECK-IN The desk is arrived at through sets of automatic glass doors. Reception is a large area alongside an open-plan bar and seating area, there is also a pool table (£1 a game) with one not good quality cue and plenty of chalk provided.
Check in was prompt requiring my personal details, car reg number and a customary swipe of the credit card. We were advised that breakfast was not included in the rate, but was chargeable, per person, at £9.95 for each one taken.
Score: 10/10 – very efficient, explicit and friendly
THE ROOM I gather that some of the rooms may well have been refurbished in this outlet, and we had a notice advising us that we would soon be staying in the lap of luxury. The hotel is set on three floors and we were honoured with a ground floor room. I was glad to see the smoking rooms were situated at the end of the corridors. You would however be forgiven for thinking the corridors resembled something you could see in a horror movie and continued for about 100 yards or more.
The room itself was, as expected en-suite with a bath/shower and sink with vanity mirror. The toilet was separate and sheltered from the rest of the room by a door with a small hall area housing an open-plan cupboard area. There was a double bed (sheets rather than quilt) and a single bed-settee and I believe that children under 16 sharing a parents room stay and eat breakfast for free.
It had Tea / Coffee making facilities, telephone, a TV with limited Sky channels (mainly news offerings and a Sky Plus demonstration), 2 chairs and a large MFI type workbench area. The walls were pure white and a woodchip type paper. There were a few modern bedside and table lamps with a mixed white/dark-brown shade, this combined with the fact there was no central ceiling light meant that despite the clinical whiteness of the room, the light quality was appalling.
Early morning calls could be booked through reception and programmed through the alarm facility on the TV. Newspapers were supplied daily (chargeable). However, the hotel has been having problems with them disappearing from outside people’s rooms, and therefore on the final day they tried keeping them at reception, although apparently this often fails as customers end leaving without them. This is not an isolated problem and something I have faced in several outlets. What bemuses me is that if people can afford to meet the hotel charges, how can they be so tight that they won’t put their hand in their pocket for a 40p newspaper?
There was no minibar and if I had one complaint about the room it would be the severe lack of electric points, 1 outside the toilet and 1 above the workbench – this was in fact so poor that we found ourselves having to buy a 4 gang extension lead on the Saturday.
Internet access was typically through the telephone and I connected at the miraculously slow speed of 28.8K. I was getting seriously disillusioned about hotel offerings on this front until I arrived in Glasgow Monday afternoon, but shall save that op for another day. Reception couldn’t give me any clear indication of costs other than to say that it was about the same as a phone box and cost 20p, they couldn’t tell me whether this was per minute or unit. 5 minutes cost me around £1 cheap rate so I would gather this s 20p a minute, this is quite low for UK hotels, although Novotel Coventry has probably provided one of the worst connection speeds so far.
Score: 4/10, poor lighting, inadequate electric points and separate toilet - aaaagggh
FOOD As I said at the start, I had been looking forward to staying here because of the range and quality of the breakfast. Sadly, I discovered that while the range of products hadn’t changed too much, the quality and temperature (hot food) left a lot to be desired. I used to be a big fan of buffet breakfasts, but I am quickly moving to the opinion that freshly cooked, well prepared plated hot meals are usually of superior quality.
BREKKIE There was an interesting range of • half cooked croissants and chocolate pastries, • cold meats and cheeses, • yogurts, • fresh fruit, • juices, • cereals, • eggs (scrambled or fried), • herb sausages, • bacon, • mushrooms, • beans, • tomatoes, • cold fried potatoes, • black pudding
All washed down by tea or coffee. Toast was a DIY job if you dared and there was French bread to cut to your own size and with butter and various jams and marmalades. This all sounds nice, but I found many of the plates and juiceglasses to be grubby and the hot food was cold. Plus cutting your own French bread, you could be forgiven for wondering who might have been handling it before you.
OTHER MEALS The hotel houses a reasonably priced restaurant with starters ranging from about £4 upwards and main courses from £8, compared to other hotels I have stayed at, the choice is broad and includes something for every budget including several pastas and sauces, steaks, burgers and combo meals. you can also take advantage of a reasonable bar menu in the restaurant.
There was also room service and I enjoyed a pasta carbonara, garlic bread, a piece of French bread and fries accompanied by ½ lager for £11.50, and it was tasty, piping hot and served with a smile.
The hote has reasonable size public bar here and drinks were competitively priced, about £2.60 for a pint and around £5 for a double Gordon’s and Tonic. The bar was scheduled in all the brochures to shut at midnight, but according to the bar-staff would shut at whatever time everyone went home.
There was a small choice of burgers and sandwiches served from 11am in the bar.
Score: 8/10 – choice was good on breakfast and the selection for the restaurant menu is excellent.
ENTERTAINMENT FACILITIES There is an outdoor heated pool open from May to October. There is also a small children’s play area containing a play station and various other games, with a sign clearly pointing out that adults ventured in at fear of great pain, i.e. they were banned.
OTHER POINTS OF INTEREST I noticed from the tariff board that dogs are welcome at this outlet for an extra charge of £10 per night, this was quite interesting as Crufts was on at the NEC during our stay, and as the walls were not soundproofed, their presence was sporadically felt by their neighbours.
IN SUMMARY Most of the staff, except for reception, were young and French, with varying degrees of English fluency, although all were very friendly and professional.
I suppose we can’t really complain, it wasn’t brilliant or horrendous. It served a purpose and staff were friendly and helpful.
This years visit was more by accident, we had booked an executive room at the Holiday Inn, only to be presented with something beautifully decorated but not big enough to swing a cat in. When the chair on the work-bench was in use, you had to climb across the bed to get to the other side, suddenly the Novotel seemed very appealing.
Our basic rate for the room was £45 plus £19.90 for breakfast each day, however we obviously did some serious damage to the bar during out stay as 3 nights cost us £268; my bill in the rather more upmarket Milton Hotel, Glasgow was considerably less.
2005: Bed and Breakfast was £95, evening meal £23, quite reasonable and very filling, and the service was superb. We were also impressed to note that many of the same staff were still here from our visit this time last year, always an encouraging point.
For more info:
Wilsons Lane Longford M6 Junction 3 CV6 6HL, Coventry
Can't think of anything else I'd need to know, and entertainingly written, too, Sue. Mind, you, having been brought up in Coventry I've still got friends (as well as relations) who would put me up there...Les
Very few hotels allow dogs nowadays, so I should take a note of this. Having said that, I don't want to have to sleep anywhere near my snoring dog - LOL. I would have loved to have seen (but not heard) all the Crufts dogs though.
ve from the centre of Coventry, Birmingham International Airport (BHX), the NEC, Coventry Airport and train station. Novotel Coventry offers en suite bedrooms, each with...
am 1000pm Novotel Coventry is within walking distance of the Ricoh Arena Approx 10 min walk 5 min drive Situated off J3 of M6 10 mins from M42 5 mins from M69 10 mi...
by (15%):
by (85%):
28.12.2004 18:31
yet another great review
20.03.2004 17:50
Can't think of anything else I'd need to know, and entertainingly written, too, Sue. Mind, you, having been brought up in Coventry I've still got friends (as well as relations) who would put me up there...Les
18.03.2004 23:35
Very few hotels allow dogs nowadays, so I should take a note of this. Having said that, I don't want to have to sleep anywhere near my snoring dog - LOL. I would have loved to have seen (but not heard) all the Crufts dogs though.