Holiday Inn South

The Hotel is ideally situated just off the A55 and a couple of miles from the City Centre with plenty of free parking and close to the Park & Ride (£1.50/person). Easy access to the motorway with Manchester, Liverpool and North Wales all within 1hr drive. First impressions were that the outside looked a little dated but inside was bright and public areas were maintained to a good standard throughout. Understand the hotel had a pool/fitness area, although didn't make use of this so unable to comment. The room was of a reasonable size, clean and with comfortable furnishings and bed. Closer inspection revealed a heated towel rail in the bathroom complete with suitable warning sign but this was unlikely to get hot when there was no connecting cable between said rail and the nearby power outlet! Still, as it wasn’t needed it didn’t present a problem. Although you can eat in the bar, this was particularly busy with a large coach party so opted to eat in the restaurant upstairs on the first night. Although this didn’t appear particularly busy, on enquiring about a table, was told there would be around 1hr wait so returned to the bar for a drink beforehand. Duly returned at the suggested time and was shown to a table. Having left the menus with us, I made my choice, only to be told it wasn’t available, so picked something else. When the food was delivered, my Wife’s rice dish was not only cold but actually still frozen! On complaining, was asked if we wanted this replaced, which we didn’t. When we paid the bill, we noticed we had not been charged for 2 drinks that we ordered at the same time as we had complained about the food but as nothing was said, unsure whether this was intended by way of an apology or simply left off the bill in error. The 2 remaining nights we ate in the bar which was fine. Returning to our room, we completed the in-room Room Service breakfast request form and when this arrived the following morning, one tray was missing a cup and various items were missing (eg, one plate had had no bacon, the other no sausage etc). When the room was made-up later, the form was not replaced and for the remainder of the stay, we had to request this each night from Reception. Although the breakfast would arrive at the requested time, there was always something missing. Why offer you a choice if this is going to be ignored? Being on the ground floor, we were concerned to find that on returning to our room after a day out, the window had been left open when the room was cleaned, giving a potential thief easy access to our room. With a 12noon check-out time, we were rather surprised to be woken by a knock on the door at 8am by Housekeeping wanting to clean the room. Apology accepted but they must have known we were checking out later that day. Staff in general were friendly and helpful but there was the odd one who could certainly have gone further than simply grunting a response. Being a Priority member counted for nothing and although we had prepaid, it was disconcerting to find we were charged again for each night's accommodation, albeit this was cancelled out with a credit on the final bill. Maybe there is a good reason for this but seems strange and unsettling when you only see the charges when checking your bill on the tv in the room. Overall, despite the above, I would say it just about achieved value for money but only because we got it at a promotional rate. Although certain to return to Chester again, unlikely to return to this hotel. Mind you, completing the hotel's questionnaire was fun!

Carlsberg don't do hotels, but if they did, hopefully they wouldn't turn out like this one. Probably the worst hotel in the world. Reception staff rude, barstaff rude. Bar area dirty, particularly in areas they seem to think no one would look. Room 239 in a pitiful state, chunks of wood missing from clothes shelves, front fell off bedside table when drawer shut. Walls dirty. Light switch set at 45 degree angle (modern art perhaps?) and extremely dirty. Room dusty, tea & coffee facilities filthy. The management seems to be under the impression that folding the corners of the toilet paper will compensate. Its only saving grace was that the beds were comfortable, but after reading the infestation comment below, the gilt has rubbed off that too ! Next time, we'll take a tent.

We have just returned from a weekend at the Holiday Inn Chester South. The hotel is average for this chain if a little featureless outside. We never ate in the hotel as there was so much to do in Chester itself and i would recommend this town to anyone. Especialy welcome was the French Market that we found although I understand this visits maybe once or twice a year. Now for the hotel. Our first night passed off with no problems whatso ever but on the saturday night we were subjected to the most noisy eventful night I have ever had in a hotel. Right bebeath our room a group of men had booked 4-5 rooms. The noise started at 1:00am and went on right through until 6:00am. We could here fighting, trashing of the room, swearing etc. Despite many phone calls down to the reception they were unable to deal with them. I hindsight I wish I had called the police as there was blood in the corridor the next morning! We complained to the hotel again as we left. They agreed to hold our final bill until we had spoken with their manager the next week. They only waited until we had left the building then charged our credit card! Despite writing manay letters to the hotel and via the website, the best they could offer was apologies and a free weekend room only stay. I am only glad that we did not have our children with us as I would bee fearful for the langauge and the experience they would have undergone. As such a birthday treat was completely ruined.

I stay here pretty often on business and have found it to be consistently above average. The rooms, whilst not huge, have everything I need and have always been clean and nicely furnished. The food is pretty basic stuff but good value and I can always find something to suit me on the menu. The only criticism, and what stopped me giving an excellent rating, is that the dining room service can be spotty with long waits for service at times. The hotel is in a good location for getting both in to and away from Chester and has plenty parking facilities. I haven't used the fitness facilities so can't comment on those. Remember it's a Holiday Inn. not a Ritz Carlton and for the price pretty good value.

The problems started as soon as we booked online - they mistakenly booked an extra room for us and then refused to refund the cost of this, claiming it was our booking error. We arrived to find the cup in one room was chipped - this was replaced when requested, although a dirty facecloth was removed and not replaced. While the food was excellent the service was a little slow - on one night we waited half an hour for a dessert menu - they claimed they thought we'd already ordered. I also felt the room was poor value for money and was disappointed that breakfast was not included in the cost of the room.

We have stayed at this hotel on numerous occasions. The hotel is out of the city center about 5 mins but the park and ride service is just over the road to the hotel so you could use this if you didnt want to take your car into the city. The pool is a good size as hotel pools go and is included in the hotel price. We always book on the net and get exelent value for money, I would not think so if I payed the £140 a night you could be asked to pay if you ring up to book. The rooms are well equiped, spacious and quiet. Looking forward to returning soon.

DON'T BE PUT OFF BY THE OTHER REVIEWS BELOW! We booked this hotel as we wanted a cheap & cheerful weekend in Chester, and that's what we got. It worked out at approx £80 for two nights (the wonders of the internet!) and we were checked in very quickly. First impressions weren't great, it looks a bit of a tired building from the outside but once you're in it's fine. The property is based on only two floors, which means the rooms are VERY spread apart, it was quite a walk to our room (228), but once we got there, the room was clean & tidy, bathroom was large and you couldn't hear the main road next to you! We used the swimming pool twice, which isn't the biggest in the world, but is very adaquate. The jacuzzi had slightly too much chlorine in for my liking, but was lovely & warm. Men's changing rooms were being refurbished so men had to use a bedroom further down the corridor, but that wasn't a problem. City centre was only about a 5 min drive away, petrol station right next to you, and park & ride right opposite. If you're looking for a nice place to eat & fancy a drive, try going out to Dodleston, we had a lovely meal at their village pub, and was only £30 for the lot! I would definitly use this hotel as a base for visiting Chester again, at the end of the day, all you do at a hotel when you're on holiday is sleep & clean yourself anyway! And it was great for this

We booked in here because every other hotel in Liverpool and Chester seemed to be full. It is about 2 miles from Chester town centre, a taxi costs around £5. Room was clean, shower was good. A bit annoying when fire alarm went off at 7am, suspect this was due to someone not shutting the door when they were showering. Swimming pool was fine and gym well equipped.

Stayed with the family for only one night only. We had two rooms which had an inter- connected doors. The rooms were clean. The only negative thing was there was no non-smoking rooms left with an inter-connecting door. The staff were friendly and helpful, Manager came around a few minutes after i fused the lights and fixed it for us. The pool was clean and pleasent. However, the men's changing room was having a refit so was out of actions so a bedroom was offered as a changing area. Finally the breafast was excellent and was available until 11 am. So don't be put off from the photos and the reviews.Also very easy to find ! So not bad at all.

Having read some of the reviews here I must admit that I was dreading staying at the hotel (was booked and chosen by a friend), however I was pleasantly surprised by the general standard of the room (clean, good sized bathroom and decent shower) and for a 3-star hotel seems decent value for money. There was plenty of choice in the breakfast buffet (fruits, cooked breakfast, brand-name cereals etc.) and a free newspaper on both days that we stayed there. The staff were fine - nothing exceptional but all friendly and polite.