When one of my best friends got married yesterday (Sunday 19th December 2005) the location that she chose was the Novotel in Sheffield. This location was chosen for the entire day, which included the Civil Wedding at 2.30pm, the meal afterwards at 4pm and the evening reception which started at 7.30pm.

The first thing that I will say before I begin this review is that I live less than a 5 minute walk away from this Hotel, which is conveniently situated right in the middle of the city centre, so I didn't actually stay here. This review is therefore based on my own opinions as seen from a non paying guest.

My friend was staying at the Novotel (with her sister) on the Saturday night as well as her Wedding night the following day so I first went to this Hotel on Saturday night for a pre wedding drink.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

The Novotel is a very modern looking building , and from the outside it has a large glass front and a small car park underneath. Walking through the sliding glass doors at the main entrance the first thing that surprised me was that there was no reception located here at the entrance. To the right hand side of the entrance there is a small swimming pool, visible through a small glass porthole style window, and at the side of this Pool room there was a glass lift. Directly in front of the main entrance there was a set of carpeted stairs, quite steep but rather plush looking nonetheless.

Having never set foot inside this place before I was looking for the main Bar area where we were all meeting, and unsure where that was I figured that it must have been upstairs. At the top of the stairs the main Bar was indeed to be found off to the right and around the corner, and it was at this point that I noticed the main reception directly in front of this area.

THE BAR AREA

The Bar itself is quite small and there are a large number of different seating options available in this area ranging from high stools against a long Breakfast Bar to sofas positioned around tables. The tables in the middle of the room are well spaced out and very open plan, but there are more private areas against the left hand wall where the sofas and tables are positioned into recesses on the wall. I found my friends in one of these areas which was large enough to seat about a dozen people comfortably, after acknowledging my presence I headed to the Bar to buy myself a drink.

The area was not particularly busy and there was only a very small queue at the Bar but the first thing that I noticed was there was nobody serving at the Bar. In fact more than 10 minutes passed (yes I did time it on my watch) before a girl arrived and began serving what was now quite a large (and totally unnecessary) crowd.

20 minutes is a long time to wait at any Bar in my opinion but I was to discover that this was to be something that was repeated throughout the night as the only girl serving frequently disappeared for periods of 10 minutes or so leaving the Bar area completely unattended. This was made worse by the fact that one of the tills stopped working and the only till left completely ran out of change, resulting in customers being given hand written IOU notes.

THE WEDDING DAY

The main Bar area was the meeting point once again the following day and when we arrived the Bar was once again void of any staff whatsoever, and there was quite a large group of lads (not part of our Wedding party) muttering and moaning that it had been like this all day and that they had been waiting 40 minutes for sandwiches that they had ordered. Somebody did eventually finally emerge to serve the masses but by the time I was served 25 minutes had passed.

I paid £2.60 for a pint of lager (Carling), which is not as expensive as I feared but still a good 30p dearer than the pubs next door, but then again I expected to pay premium prices so this was not a problem. My friend however bought a small glass of wine which cost her a rather extortionate £5.85 for the privilege.

THE CIVIL SERVICE

This took place in a room located off a corridor close the main Bar area. The corridor leading to this room was lined with flowers and piped music was played whilst we gathered and waited for the Bride to make her entrance.

The whole service lasted about 30 minutes and was done very well and professionally. I have been to several weddings at the Sheffield Registrar office and I would describe this as being on a similar level, and the room was set out in a similar way to the rooms within the Registrar office.

AFTER THE SERVICE

After the service we all had drinks in an area next to the Wedding room and then the Bride, Groom and immediate family went off with the photographer to have some photographs taken in the Millennium Winter Gardens, which is next door to the Novotel. There is actually a corridor which connects the Novotel to the Millenium Gardens but this was closed due to building work which was taking place at the back of the Hotel.

More photographs were taken in a small room after they returned including a full group photo.

THE MAIN MEAL

Once the photographs were out of the way it was then time for the main meal. This actually took place in the same room as the Wedding had taken place, with the walls being removed to extend the area, quite a clever use of space, and almost unrecognisable as the same room.

The first course consisted of Tomato and Basil Soup with warm crusty Bread Rolls. Once this was over the main meal was described as a Hot Buffet, and each table queued in turn at the Buffet where the main dish was served by Chefs in big hats, but the rest of the vegetables and salads you helped yourself too. There were several main dishes including, Honey Roast Ham, Roast Beef, Seafood Platter, and Dressed Salmon.

Following the main course there was a wide selection of sweets and then Coffee was served at the tables with Mints.

In summary the food was cooked to perfection and could not be faulted in any way. The beauty of this being a buffet also meant that it was possible, should you wish to go back for further helpings.

THE EVENING RECEPTION

Now this is where things got even cleverer as this took place in the same area as before with further walls removed to expand the area to a larger size.

The food was displayed on a long table in the corridor which led to this room which meant that the room itself and the dance floor area was not cluttered with food.

THE ACCOMODATION

My friend stayed in a suite, manners prevented me from asking how much it cost but I did go up to this room with my present and it looked clean and comfortable.

The room was effectively the size of two standard rooms combined, with a large double bed (described as a Queen Bed) in the right hand room and a TV and deluxe sofa in the other room. There was an large open wardrobe in each area and tea and coffee making facilities. In fact there was a knock on the door whilst I was there and it Champagne arriving.

My friend had some family and friends who stayed at this Hotel also, and in total these had five standard rooms between them. As part of the Wedding party they were given preferential rates of £60 per night, which is roughly half price.

These standard rooms have a large double bed and basic furniture but there is also a bed settee which there is no extra charge for if anyone sleeps on this sharing the main room, this is obviously ideal for kids sharing with parents. All rooms are en suite.

THE HOTEL IN GENERAL

There are a total of 144 rooms (125 are non smoking) and 4 suites. There is only one Bar and one Restaurant. The are also 7 conference rooms.

The Hotel has private parking but this is limited and some guests were being told that this was full and were being diverted to the NCP car park about 5 minutes walk away.

I am unsure of facilities for the disabled and there was no one within our party with special needs, but I assume that any Hotel of this standard (It is a 4 star Hotel) must comply with DDA regulations. I will say however that the rooms are on five floors and although there are lifts to each floor the corridors are quite long so I would imagine manoeuvring around these in a wheelchair would be a bit of a struggle.

The Hotel has a perfect central location situated directly opposite the Hallam University and it is well within walking distance of all of the main shops and department stores.

The Hotel can be contacted direct for bookings at the address below:

Novotel Sheffield
50 Arundel Gate
Sheffield
S1 2PR

Tel : 0114 2781781

THE OVERALL VERDICT

Aside from the abysmal Bar service a thoroughly enjoyable day was had by all and the Wedding went without any hassle or hiccups. The food was excellent and the service was carried out in a very professional way.

Thank you for reading.