Holiday Inn Birmingham City Centre by IHG - Birmingham

HotelGuestIreland

I was in Birmingham for a night with work and stayed here. It is a very good choice for business travellers.||Location wise the hotel is across from New Street Station. As I was travelling to and from Birmingham via train, this was ideal for me as I’m not familiar with the area. ||I had a very warm friendly welcome from Kareena at reception. My room was an older room but extremely clean with some new furniture. Reading other reviews it seems the hotel is doing a refurbishment in stages, so I’m sure the more dated elements of the room will be addressed. ||The bathroom was quite compact but ideal for a solo traveller. The “Soak” toiletries were of decent quality as well. ||I didn’t dine in the hotel as New Street Station has a variety of decent food concessions on the first floor and I was also able to catch breakfast at the Wetherspoons across from the hotel. | |If you need a hotel in Birmingham city centre that is no frills and good value for money, this is a great option. I would definitely return.

Simon1296

First time staying at this hotel and I was welcomed with open arms. The staff dealt with queue so efficiently and gentleman at desk mentioned I was the 'guest of the day' and gave me an upgrade to suite level. I was pleasantly surprised and grateful. He also gave me a complimentary drink at the bar.

When I got to room it was amazing. Cleanliness was excellent with loads of amenities. I could of just stayed in room all night and enjoyed but had plans on the night.

The bed was so comfortable and the shower facility was amazing. The staff were there at hand and were so polite. Made me feel welcome throughout my stay.

When I checked out I had left my luggage to explore the town and the reception staff were more than happy to store luggage and collection was just as easy.

Amazing stay and will be staying here again. Security staff on the night were pleasant and welcoming also.

Bravo to the staff recruited there and you're staff are an asset to your company.

Thank you.

Mark

We have just checked out of holiday inn Birmingham city centre wow where do I start…… I booked on the IHG app members corporate rate for a king premium room, which we certainly didn’t get!!! After a perfect 5 night stay in holiday inn Oxford with work I thought this would be the same standard here, wow how wrong was I!

I emailed the hotel a few days before check in to request a QUIET room and to discuss parking options. Had a reply saying request added to booking and allocated quiet room, parking was at the britania/train station accross the road payable at the hotel.

We arrived at 2.55pm, 5 minutes before check in to be told room not ready even though many other guests were able to check in at this time, around 3.10pm I went and joined the queue and was told she will check if room ready and she tapped away at the keyboard. I told her I requested a quiet room away from the road and asked if she had changed the room we was allocated. We were given room 423 which we was assured it was a quiet room, the room was on the 4th floor above the duel carriage away, certainly not quiet! I went back to reception to be greated with signs from the staff for us then to be given room 809 (even though a colleague of the receptionist told her that all odd numbers are road side and even numbers on the back of the hotel).

Wow this room was like going back to the 1950’s with the fusty pungent smell to match said decore, and yet again road side!! These rooms are not fit for purpose especially when booking a king premium room paying over 127 pound a night!

Off back to reception where 2 duty managers get involved and can see the notes on the booking yet all 3 reception staff I dealt with cound not answer why I was not given a quiet king room we booked and requested, one receptionist had ALOT of bad attitude arguing with me stating I had been given 4 different rooms proving they had swapped the room that I had been allocated originally, she even said to me I can cancel and go else where. I told her at this point I would have been better off at the travel.lodge and if I had not booked and prepaid on the app I would have left and gone elsewhere. I did not see her name as her hair was conveniently covering her name badge!

By this time it was 3.30pm and I was told they were nearly fully booked and didn’t have many rooms left to choose from even though I had been there since before check in time, we was then given room 602 being assured it was a recently refurbished room and we was also given 2 complimentary drinks vouchers for all the the issues so far (which we did not ask for).

This room was a corner room on the back of the hotel so was quiet but the room wasn’t in the best condition, and it looked nothing like the pictures on the app and website, clearly not a king premium room we had booked and paid for. It didn’t have the complimentary mini fridge items in the fridge, so I had to call to reception and guess who answered but little miss attitude!!! I asked what should be in the fridge and told her these were not there to be told by her “well we have given you 2 drinks vouchers!! ” in the end she shouted for a duty manager (Jeff) to come to the phone who was very nice and apologetic on her behalf and got the mini bar sent up to the room. I think this receptionist really should not be customer facing until she learns how to deal with people.

Part of the room seems to have been refurbished and part hasn’t. The baths have all been removed yet the signs about bath mats and bath mats have been left in place. The shower curtain is way to short meaning the floor is flooded after your shower. The TV is to the left of the bed meaning you have to lie on your side or sit on the bed to watch tv. The bathroom extractor fan is PERMANENTLY on meaning you have the constant drone from that all day and night, and the shower head falls down when you turn the shower up to a decent speed.

All doors in the room including the wardrobe door was battered and chipped and the bulb right at the door not working, so clearly no checks by housekeeping or supervisors have been done.

Giving the room just a lick of paint is not an acceptable refurbishment and it needs FULLY refurbishing and then actually checked by housekeeping/management with damaged/broken items replacing.

The only decent thing about this hotel was the buffet breakfast, even though it was busy the staff were very attentive and smiley, constantly replenishing the freshly cooked hot food and asking if we needed anything else!!

Reception is the first impression and first staff interaction customers have and should be greeted with smiley knowledgeable staff and not argumentative, sour faced staff that have no clue which room are quiet and which rooms and road side. All the reception staff I encountered certainly need to learn some basic customer service skills and how to talk to customers or even just to do their jobs to a basic standard.

I have had a lot better stays in the travel.lodge in Birmingham paying half the price of the holiday inn, where the reception staff seem to actually want to do their jobs and know how to smile. So in future we shall just call here for breakfast!!

Fiona

Really nice room, very spacious, clean and tidy. Staff were very helpful and the breakfast was good. Located very close to New Street station and the Bullring, as well as Chinatown. Would definitely stay here again!

ChloeODee

Stayed here as it was close to the station and only needed to stay for a night. ||The lobby area looks recently done up and the staff at reception and in the bar were really nice and friendly. The foood at the bar was nice and the buffet breakfast gave a good offering.||Once you leave the lobby it gets very shabby and the room was in need of a refund and touch up. It was clean but definitely needs some touch up and repairs. We had no tv remote so couldn’t use the tv and it was quite noisy through the windows and also other guests. ||It’s grand if you need to stay for a night near the train station.

missrjw

II have stayed at this hotel previously for work, so although the staff were friendly and very helpful, I did not have time to really get to know the hotel or staff.

I cannot fault the hotel staff at all. Mo, on reception, is an absolute star. He goes over and above to be helpful and friendly. Always cheery and a smile on his face.

In my room the coffee machine did not work, so the reception staff did not hesitate to send lattes to the room.

I did not get the names of the other staff, only everyone deserves acknowledgement.

Look forward to staying again

Owen

Once again we received a very warm welcome at the hotel.

All reception staff are very friendly and efficient and always exceed our expectations.

Thanks again for our Gold member recognition and as always we were extremely grateful for the room upgrade.

Another most enjoyable stay at this bright, clean & friendly hotel.

emmanuele753

Absolutely excellent service and I am very grateful for Prasand and Kareena—they truly went above and beyond during my stay. As this was my first solo trip, I was naturally a bit nervous, but their warmth and professionalism instantly put me at ease. From the moment I arrived, both of them were incredibly welcoming and attentive. They took the time to ensure I was comfortable, and patiently answered all my questions, no matter how small.