About me:Sheesh - seems like ages since I've been here. So many changes, business up and running - bred my f...
Member since:20.03.2001
Reviews:275
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Review rated by 52 Ciao members on average: very helpful
As much as I enjoyed the comfortable bed and leisure facilities at the Sheffield Park, the solid sausages deterred me from booking a second time. Therefore, it was back to laterooms to see what was on offer for my second visit to the area.
I stumbled across the Novotel Sheffield, which said, “Ideally placed for Sheffield Hallam University”, with limited on-site free parking and an indoor heated swimming pool, this captured my attention. A quick check on the Accor website showed I wasn’t going to get it cheaper than £49 room only, and the deed was done, booking through laterooms. You can also book direct with the hotel and through the Accor Hotel websites, where they sometimes offer special internet rates, although proceed with caution as Novotel rates generally EXCLUDE breakfast.
Standard Rack rates at £86 and £96 room only.
It was only when I received the meeting agenda that I realised the significance of the statement about its location. It wasn’t just ideal, it was bang, smack opposite. I almost felt like I had won the lottery. The meeting didn’t start until 11am; that wasn’t enough time for me to risk travelling in the morning (250 miles), but late enough for me to have a minor lay in, and take my time getting ready. Plus, I wouldn’t have to worry about finding the place or getting parking.
LOCATION The Novotel is in the centre of Sheffield, a short walk from the shops and opposite Hallam University. It is accessible from Junction 33 of the M1; Simply follow the signs for the city centre, and then Sheffield Hallam University. You cannot miss it, it is the easiest to find of any hotel I have ever used. It is also next to the Millenium Botanic gardens.
Sheffield, however, appears to have this irritating habit of dual carriageways everywhere. This meant I had to go around the roundabout and turn back, a small inconvenience. Free parking here is limited, and non-hotel guests will be clamped in their under cover car-park. On check in, you need to get a pass for the car. With all the paperwork clearly stating that expiry time would be
12 Noon on the day of check-out, I humbly appealed to the receptionist’s better nature and got 3 hours grace. If the free parking has run out, there is parking at £2.50 a day close by. Be aware that if your car is parked without a permit, you risk getting clamped.
RECEPTION The hotel is a little misleading. You enter on the ground floor and then take the lift to the first floor where you can’t fail to miss the vast expanse of reception area and adjacent bar, complete with Wide-screen Sky TV and pool table.
Check-in was swift and friendly. I was offered a choice of smoking or non-smoking, this was in stark contrast to Novotel, Maastricht where I had to go down on bended knees. I completed a comprehensive registration form requiring details of almost everything but my bra size and produced the credit card for authorisation. You are responsible for stating your early morning call time and what newspaper you want. I was then issued with the room key card and form for charging extras to the room, and despatched with directions to the 5th floor.
THE ROOM I could be forgiven for thinking I had been transported back to the Novotel Coventry, the room was identical; the Coventry outlet was being refurbished, but I didn’t see any evidence of that here.
The hotel is on five floors and I had the privilege of a 5th floor room, with an interesting view of the University and the street below. Just as in Coventry, I was glad to see the smoking rooms were at the end of the corridors.
The room itself was en-suite with a bath/power shower and sink with vanity mirror. There was the usual complement of free toiletries of reasonable quality, plastic cups, and midget size towels. The latter really irritates me, as when stopping over at a string of hotels for one night at a time, carrying towels is an encumbrance I could do without. One thing that did intrigue me, and that I didn’t notice in Coventry or Maastricht, was the fact that the television audio was piped into the bathroom, novel, and very handy. The toilet was on its own and separated from the rest of the room by a door with a small hall area housing an open-plan cupboard area. Being the third Novotel I’ve stayed in, I am guessing that this is standard across the chain. There was a ‘queen’ size bed (looked like a double to me) and a single bed-settee; children under 16 sharing a parents room stay and eat breakfast for free.
The room had tea and coffee making facilities (complete with shortbread and Nescafe), telephone, modem point, a TV with limited Sky channels (mainly news offerings and a Sky Plus demonstration). You also had access to Playstation games, but not sure if there was an extra charge for this.
There were 2 chairs and a light pine coloured long MFI type workbench area. The walls were again pure white painted woodchip paper. There were a few modern bedside and table lamps with a mixed white/dark-brown shade. This combined with there being no central ceiling light meant that, despite the room’s clinical whiteness, light quality was appalling.
There was numerous drawers for storage, but no minibar (there is a plug for one, and they did have one in Maastricht, although this trend doesn’t appear to be taking off here. Again, if I had one complaint about the room it would be the lack of electrical points, 1 outside the toilet , 1 above the workbench and one alongside it. It didn’t help that muggings omitted to pack the extension lead; you would think I would learn wouldn’t you? A ‘hold your finger on the button’ hairdryer was supplied.
The first room I was allocated had a tilt and turn double-glazed window, that had obviously been jammed by a previous occupant. Reception did try to resolve the problem, but when they couldn’t, happily moved me to the room next door, which was identical, just the other way around.
There was a modem point in the room, and local calls were charged at 25p a unit. I thought it was 25p a minute and spent a mere £5 on calls for about an hour, not too bad, although at a connection speed of 26.6K, you needed the extra time. Freephone numbers were subjected to a 25p connection charge each time they were used, how do they get away with it?
I did not get either my early morning call or my newspaper, so if you are tight on time, then I recommend you set the TV which has a built in alarm, and another form of alarm. I accidentally reset the alarm to midnight and forgot to tell reception, so someone could have a shock this evening.
FOOD EEEK – I am in the habit these days when travelling of taking advantage of the hotels room service. I ordered Spaghetti Carbonara, garlic bread and twirly fries with a pint of lager, cost £13.35. It arrived within 20 minutes and was piping hot.
All I can say, is whatever the French might be notorious for in their home country, purported to be tasty, but small portions, is definitely not true of Novotel Sheffield. The meal arrived, the pasta portion was huge, the twirly fries enough to feed 2 people, 3 slices of garlic bread, a green salad and a third of a French baguette with butter. It would have easily fed an army, let alone, little ole me, the remainders stayed outside my door until well into the morning.
There is a restaurant serving the same menu as room service, a range of steaks, pasta’s omelettes and veggie dishes ranging from £6 upwards, and a bar serving various sandwiches and light bites such as burgers and steak sandwiches. Service in the bar was friendly and it was quite busy at 10pm, interestingly, unlike the Sheffield Park, which adheres strictly to licensing hours, this one stays open if customers are present. A pint of Carling Extra cold set me back £2.40, and a double G&T with a large bottle of water, £8.80 – now where did I put that application form for the second mortgage?
BREAKFAST It was comprehensive, although the hot range could have been hotter.
There was the usual suspects of bacon, sausage, fried and scrambled egg, potatoes, hash browns, beans and mushrooms and DIY toas. Being a French hotel, there was also a large range of cold meats and cheeses, pastries, French bread, a myriad of fresh fruits and cereals, the usual fruit juices and very tasty coffee (or tea of course if that is your wont).
For £11.50 on top of the room fee it was just about worth it.
LEISURE FACILITIES The hotel boasts a ‘heated’ swimming pool and……free use of the gym next door during certain hours, up to three on Sundays, so sorry, fellow ciao’ers, I couldn’t check it out.
The swimming pool is around 10 metres long and on the ground floor alongside to the hotel entrance. There is no attendant on duty and clients are required to complete a questionnaire before using the pool. Once done, you will be issued with a key-code to access it, and a towel that wouldn’t have gone around my daughters size 8 friend, let alone my rather generous frame. The changing area was 8 lockers (no keys), a toilet and a single shower. Around the pool there was a ‘dry’ area of three sun loungers and 4 chairs, I elected to take my stuff with me and left it on one of the chairs. Children under 16 are not allowed to use the pool without a supervising adult, and the hotel absolves itself of all responsibility should any harm come to you. I would however like to see them defend themselves in court if push came to shove.
FOOTNOTE: The hotel has 4 suites and 4 adapted rooms for the disabled and 7 meeting rooms.
========================== UPDATE 26/05 I have been suitably chastised for making reference to the fact that the hotel caters for the disabled, not having experience of their rooms, I can merely reiterate the statement made by the hotel, which is why I have said yes it is suitable for the disabled.
However, with hindsight, I should have made a comment about the lift, as you do need to use two to access the bedrooms. This, for an able bodied person is inconvenient, for someone manouvering a wheelchair or limited mobility or sight impairment, this would be considerably harder. The DDA stipulates (sad that it had to come to that) that businesses should take reasonable steps to ensure that goods and services are accessible to disabled people. Sadly, as it sounds here from someone else's experience, compliance is through lip-service. I have no experience and therefore will not comment further on this matter.
=========================To combat the lack of mini-bar and extortionate prices at many of these outlets, my partner has bought me a mini portable fridge that comfortably sits in a ruck-sack, although try to be subtle when taking it into the hotel.
Total bill for bed, breakfast and evening meal, telephone calls & 1 pint came to £77, reasonable compared to many places I've stayed.
SUMMARY Would I stay there again? Undoubtedly, if I were visiting Hallam University or the centre of Sheffield. The food was good with generous portions, the staff were friendly, the beer wasn’t too expensive (the same can’t be said of the Gin) and the swimming pool provided a pleasant interlude.
If you don’t get your morning newspaper, the hotel has complimentary issues of the Independent and the Yorkshire post.
For more details visit:
www.accorhotels.com
To contact the hotel directly:
Novotel Sheffield 50, Arundel Gate S1 2PR SHEFFIELD UNITED KINGDOM
I decided to drop in and read one of your reviews (us taffs have to stick together), so to my surprise found this excellent review. Small world, because in 1999, I stayed here for a week while I worked for the civil service, there head office is there, I was doing some reserch for a new project. My stay was paid for except for lunch and dinner. This is where the breakfast came in handy. I have a milk allergy, so they bought in soya milk for me. I used to have a cooked breakfast and load my plate with meats and make lunchtime sarnies from the buffet, also had a banana or apple. Your review brought it all back and I can confirm everything you say Cheers. Lisax
sorry, i didn't make myself very clear there re room service - i didn't mean for it to sound like a disabled traveller issue, it was just more of a general musing on the service being slightly lacking. the husband has just pointed out that they did have yellow spaces marked out, it was just they had been taken by other drivers without blue badges, and someone had parked across the entrance to the underground car park and we couldn't get past in our van, so that isn't actually the hotel's fault. urm, what else did i get wrong?? lol
tion and the Crucible Theatre, this stylish and modern 4-star hotel offers luxurious rooms and an indoor heated pool.The Novotel Sheffield centre is just 5 minutes' walk fr...
ps Restuarants Nightclubs The Crucible Theatre Don Valley Stadium Local Theatres Hallam FM Arena Meadowhall Shopping Centre and not forgetting Both Sheffield United a...
H BRAND NEW 4 STAR NOVATION BEDROOMS, IN THE CITY CENTRE, A FEW MINUTES FROM THE RAILWAY STATION, CRUCIBLE AND LYCEUM THEATRES AND HALLAM UNIVERSITY. DON VALLEY STAD...
by (17%):
28.12.2004 18:27
brilliant
10.07.2004 00:57
I decided to drop in and read one of your reviews (us taffs have to stick together), so to my surprise found this excellent review. Small world, because in 1999, I stayed here for a week while I worked for the civil service, there head office is there, I was doing some reserch for a new project. My stay was paid for except for lunch and dinner. This is where the breakfast came in handy. I have a milk allergy, so they bought in soya milk for me. I used to have a cooked breakfast and load my plate with meats and make lunchtime sarnies from the buffet, also had a banana or apple. Your review brought it all back and I can confirm everything you say Cheers. Lisax
26.05.2004 21:02
sorry, i didn't make myself very clear there re room service - i didn't mean for it to sound like a disabled traveller issue, it was just more of a general musing on the service being slightly lacking. the husband has just pointed out that they did have yellow spaces marked out, it was just they had been taken by other drivers without blue badges, and someone had parked across the entrance to the underground car park and we couldn't get past in our van, so that isn't actually the hotel's fault. urm, what else did i get wrong?? lol