Holiday Inn Express Birmingham N.E.C. Hotel

I visited Tripadvisor after I had already booked the hotel and was horrified with some of the reviews on here. So I was a bit apprehensive until I arrived. But then the real thing really was not that bad. My only two problems were that the website was misleading about wifi access and vicinity to the NEC. It has been arranged since then (maybe after my vociferous complaints). It costs STG12.00 for 24hrs wifi access, STG5.00 cab fare to go to the NEC and around STG30 to go to the Broad Street in the city centre. There's a super fine pub just outside the hotel, which has great food, beer and an authentic British Pub feel. The hotel is clean and well maintained. Sure you don't get five star but that's not what you're paying for. Breakfast is good and diverse, but no bacon and eggs :-( Next time I'm going to the NEC I'd look for a hotel closer to the NEC and/or city centre. However if I don't find, I'd be happy to stay here again.

We stayed here for one night as part of Business Trip. The hotel has 40% smoking rooms and when we arrived they all give us the smoking rooms that stuck to high heaven (only i smoke but still i thought it was horrid) The Receptionist was rude and the manager looked scruffy and could not explain why the rooms which we had booked (non smoking) were no longer avaliable! To top it off the first room i was given had a Mr Roach in it which nearly landed on my face, i then switched rooms (at 1am) and was put in room 201 DONT GO IN THERE!! The room vibrates due to it being next to a generator!! The whole room vibrated! I then rang reception again and once again switched rooms. The funny thing was they put me in a non smoking room....the rooms that they told us earlier were not avalible!! Either way i had about three hours sleep and then in the morning was greated by a stale crossiant and some horrid coffee. I will be never stayin there again!!!

Oh dear. A single issue in the hotel trade can overshadow everthing else.... I am a platinum member of Holiday Inn's priority club. I use the express chain a lot. I've even stayed at this hotel before. However, its decision to start charging customers £6 to park is simply a joke. The rooms are basic, the service is poor, but the car park is terrible. Its not like you are in a city centre or anything. Even other local hotels don't charge. And to make things worse, the machine only takes coins, doesn't give change and doesn't issue receipts. Take my advice and avoid, only then will the local hotel management realise that they've crossed the threashold of tolrance when being seen to openly rip-off customers.

I arrived late 7pm in the pouring rain. It took 20 minutes to check in. I was asked my name 3 times and then the computer told my sullen receptionist that I had booked two rooms. No only one I said. I tried to make a joke but it fell on stoney ground. Then I was asked for my credit card. My agent who books my accommodation for me always sends a confirmation fax and credit card details. This hotel chain always loses them so I have to hand over a card whilst I arrange for another fax to be sent. Be aware of this. This hotel charges for parking your car what ever you do do not lose the paper card it will cost you £126 for another one. The notice is nowhere near the enterance - there is one but you have to get out of the car and walk to it in order to read what could happen if you have the temerity to lose it. I nearly did and they were neither sympathetic nor polite. I recommend you avoid this hotel chain its very poor value.

A very downmarket modern plastic hotel, not deserving association with the Holiday Inn brand. I booked well in advance, requested a Non-smoking room and was told I'd been allocated a double. When I arrived at 10pm hungry after a 3 1/2 hour drive, I was told they didn't do food. There was an attached faux-country pub but it stopped serving food at 10. No other suggestions apart from some take-away menus. Phoned for one of those which arrived, cold, 2 hours later, and they tried to short-change me (admittedly not the hotel's fault). But being on the NEC site, don't they expect people to arrive late and want to eat something? The room was a twin (which didn't matter to me) and one of only a very few on the floor that weren't Non-smoking. It stank. Breakfast was "Continental" - everything in plastic packets, no service at all. I had to root around in the cupboards myself to find a bowl to eat my (tinned) grapefruit from. The only time anyone seemed to care was when I checked out and the girl asked me if I'd enjoyed my stay and I said sorry, no, I was disappointed - though I appreciate none of this was her fault either. Recommendation: spend a few quid more and stay somewhere better. I see also they're going to start charging you £6 a day to park there in a few days' time.

I needed a fairly central place to organise a get together for a group of friends who all suffer from multiple sclerosis, that had enough disable facilities to cope with people in wheelchairs. Twenty of us arrived from as far afield as Carlisle and Southampton - we had four people in wheelchairs, and they commented how disabled friendly the hotel is. We sat in the bar till 1am (note: drinks are VERY expensive in there - £5 for a single Baileys). The rooms were clean and adequate, I am no stranger to Holiday Inn express and this was very typical of most of their hotels. The staff were very helpful and friendly, and nothing we asked was too much trouble. There is plenty of parking on site, and whilst it was free during our stay they are going to start charging from Feb 2007 on a daily rate for it. There is an excellent restaurant right next door, The Little Owl, that serves above average pub food and that too has full disabled access and friendly helpful staff. This hotel is excellent if you want to go to NEC, but is a good base for Solihull too, and even Birmingham is only down the road. Would we use this hotel again? Yes!! We will be back there for another get together in the Autumn.

Overall our stay in this hotel was pleasant enough. We had opted to use our precious Priority Club Points for our two night stay, and we wonder if this is why we were put on the fourth floor. The floor space appears to be the same as rooms on other floors but the sloping ceiling makes the room feel very small, and given the very hot weather during our visit, the lack of air conditioning made the room very hot and oppressive. Generally the room and reception, also dining area, were clean. But the corners of the shower were very grubby. Breakfast was adequate. Reception staff were inclined to ask 'alright?' when they found you standing in front of them wanting to check in or out. This is something which really annoys us. Of course we are alright, but 'good morning' or 'can I help you?' would make more sense. There is a barrier system on entering the car park. What reception staff neglects to tell you is that you need to know the code in order for the barrier to lift to let you out. It is extremely annoying to be at the barrier and have to reverse back to the hotel, or to wait for someone in the know to turn up with the correct code to let you out. Yes, it is near the NEC and the airport but I don't think we will be using this hotel again to boost our Priority Club Points!

We used this hotel for an overnight before an early flight. It is easy to find, but was busy on the saturday night we arrived. It only has a dining room for breakfast, nothing for evening meals. There is a pub nextdoor that serves food. As it was busy we opted to use the take away pizza option. Menu's can be found on reception. It took and hr to deliver,(they said 40 mins)and was passable. We will eat on the way down in future. The room was clean and comfortable but there was a slight "fried food smell" which was probably from other guests ordering pizza in. We had a good night's sleep before our flight. We will use this hotel again

The holiday inn website claims that this hotel is 0miles/0km from the NEC hotel, however this is not true. It is not within walking distance and the staff advised us to drive or catch a cab. However this was the reason I booked this hotel, to walk to the centre and avoid paying the parking fees! We booked a double room but were given a twin. The hotel was unable to cope with the amount of people at breakfast and ran out of food and cutlery. Also the shower cubicle has a flawed design which results in the floor getting soaked by the shower curtain. Apart from this the hotel is modern and clean.

A typical Holiday Inn Express – basic but clean Rooms are satisfactory & the staff are pleasant & friendly. Breakfast included in price. Very convenient for the airport & NEC. Gets very busy during exhibitions at NEC. Fine for an overnight stay – or if you need somewhere to house a family overnight in 1 room.