Holiday Inn London Bloomsbury

Well, I don't want you to think I'm being negative, but when you've stayed in enough of these types of hotels, you can pretty much make your way around blindfolded. They are usually pretty consisitent in what you get, which is, in the main, why people use them. In this particular case we chose the holiday inn because our friend Tracy, managed to get some amazing rates for the weekend. We live in Nottingham, Tim and Tracy live in Reading, so we left the car in Reading and got the train into town. Now the train wasn't cheap, and Tracy doesnt do buses, so we got a taxi to the hotel from the station, all in all at a cost of about £30 per couple, plus the aggravation of carting cases around etc. On arrival at the hotel I noticed there was an underground NCP carpark right next door, that did a weekend rate of £15. So, if we were going to do it again, I'd drive right in (no congestion charge at the weekend either), and it would have been cheaper and more convenient.

So, the hotel was typical holiday inn standard, ie higher middle business class. Some us older types remember when a lot of these Holiday Inns were Trusthouse Forte, who charged half as much, but Holiday Inn bought them, painted them a different colour, and doubled the price. Anyway, the first thing I noticed was the amazing array of exotic accents amongst the staff there. I don't think I heard a single "cockney" accent anywhere in the hotel - not making any kind of political comment here, its just an observation - but the upside of it is that you kind of feel like you've travelled abroad, which all adds to the excitement.

Breakfast was nice, but busy. A little bit of queuing but we werent in a hurry. Food was nice, we obviously went for the full fatboy, and the girls ordered poached eggs which were cooked to order.

OK so I can't say too much about what the hotel is like during the day because we headed off into town to be tourists. What I would say is that you've got Russell Square on your doorstep and the British museum, which is just a totally fab place, soho and theatre land just down the way, and of course you are minutes from central london by tube.

We had a cracking time wandering around London. If you are a Brit and you haven't been for a few years, go check it out one weekend, it really is a superb city to visit now. I always poo-poo-ed it in favour of Paris or Rome but I am willing to admit I was overlooking a jewell on my own doorstep.

Both evenings we didn't eat in the hotel, we went out, and had a great time. On Saturday night we returned to the vicinity after our meal, and rather than drink in the hotel bar (which like many hotel bars, despite what they try, does lack ambience) we headed for a local pub. It was about 10.45 I guess, and it took a while to get sorted out, and the guy behind the bar talked me into buying a bottle of red for the girls instead of two glasses because it was better value, then on the dot of 11, he rang the bell for drinking up time! Once again, I think back to all the hoo-har about 24 hour drinking in the UK, why is it whenever I go to a pub (with the exception of my own local), we are still back in the 70's calling time at 11 on a saturday night. There was no negotiation, so we headed back to the hotel bar for a nightcap, unfinished bottle in hand!

Even in the hotel, after midnight, it was night porter service, which always makes me feel like a bit of desperate alky!

Hey ho.

Anyway, long and short is that if you want to do the touristy thing in london at the weekend, shop around to see whether you can get a discount voucher for this hotel, check first about the carpark, but unless its changed, I'd drive my car here (its dead easy to find) and park in the NCP, and if want to have a late nightcap with your mates, buy a bottle of wine and a 4 pack of stella in Sainsburys before you leave home, pack them in your suitcase, and have your nightcap with your friends in your room (whilst being considerate about noise of course!).

Hope that helps, and like I said, London is a cracking place now - give it a try.

Great hotel, great location.

Staff were helpful and welcoming. Although we arrived before check in time they made every effort to make at least 1 of the 2 rooms, we required ,available.

Rooms very nice - clean and modern.

Parking in public car park a little steep, pity no reduction for guests.

Hotel 1 min from Tube so idea for sight seeing.

Great weekend - made ,in part , by a great hotel.

Will use it again.

Although we live in one of the busiest streets in Amsterdam and we are used to a lot of city noise, we found this hotel extremely noisy. As well as from the inside as from the street. The double windows do not help at all and in the hallway there are extra double doors to reduce the noise, but all these doors do is create a lot of extra noise. They close them at night and every time someone passes the doors it's like they try to open the door to your room. The rooms are very small, but I guess that's normal for a London hotel room. I would not recommend this hotel to anyone that is looking for a place to sleep.