Holiday Inn Express Birmingham Snow Hill

"Where do I start…. On arrival the check in staff were extremely kind providing us with fresh water, cheeky chatter and a smile! This stunning reception clerk said to us “I see you have breakfast booked. If I was you I’d get down here for 8:30” then winked at us. Ok???? Anywho… on to the room. It was bloody beautiful. 2 single beds, an iron, a kettle, a hairdryer and dove body and hair wash! However. As I went to find a plug by my bed all that there was to see was a foreign like socket which did not accept my UK plugs. I had to plug my phone in to charge by the bathroom and kept having to get up and down to use my own mobile. I even fell during the night to get my phone as the hairdryer was in the way. Now the staff here… you can’t fault them! (Apart from 1 lady who I will get in to later) on our first night the staff were so kind to provide us with a bucket of ice and 2 wine glasses to take up to our room. Were the glasses smeared? Yes. But that isn’t the point here. As me and my lover were on this trip as a sort of get away we decided to be BIG and GREEDY. Ordering the likes of Slim chickens, McDonald’s and Nando’s. Staff were so kind and cleaned up our big greasy takeaway bags which we left outside in the hallway. On to the next day… my lover and I woke up extremely ill. Too much alcohol? Too much greasy food? Perhaps… but none the wiser none of the staff came to check in on us which would have been nice. apart from ONE cleaner. As we were in our bed she came in to clean and a shiver shocked down her spine hearing me being BIG and snoring. She gasped then slammed the door shut. Don’t come in maybe? This also meant during our entire stay our room was never refreshed or cleaned. Meaning my lover had to use sopping wet towels on covered in her red lippy and I had to use urine stained bath mats. Now my lover had been taken extremely ill so I thought as a romantic gesture I’d go and get some breakfast. As I arrived to the canteen I was shocked with how feral it was. Children running loose, people kicking off at staff and soppy scrambled egg on the floor. I tried to keep the sick in and went in for it. As I wanted to take it to our room I asked a kitchen clerk if they had a box for me to pack some food in. She looked at me with disgust, looked me up and down and said “we have a BAG”. What do you mean a BAG? You want me to slop my hot breakfast into a bag and bring it up to bed? Not ideal. Another kitchen clerk saw this situation unfolding and came to me and said “you can take the plates up to your room”. I was then handed a blue school like tray which barely just fit 2 plates on. Anyways.. I went and slapped on our hot breakfast on to the plates juggling it all around trying not to fall. No one helped me. I had to find a seat and rest for a moment to catch my breath. As I gained back my strength I went to get some juice to take up to the room. I filled up some cups and they didn’t even fit on the school tray. I had to leave them there. On my way back with a tray full of hot breakfast the lift door opened and a maid put in a black bag filled wish rubbish. She then ran to get her other bags but the lift had SHUT. She ran to open it again but it was too late. Sad for her. Yes. But I was stuck in the lick juggling our hot breakfast with a dirty bin bag which filled the lift with a stench I can’t even put in to words. My lover was so thirsty and I was too weak to go back down and she stumbled down to the canteen to collect these drinks. We spent all day in our room as we were resting to get better for our concert to see Benson Boone. After queuing up out in the cold for an hour it was announced the show was cancelled. Can this getaway get any worse? As we arrived back to the hotel none of the staff wished us our condolences which wasn’t the nicest as they know what we’ve been through. Could it had been a blessing in disguise? Me and my lover were still extremely ill and would have exploded on Benson. There is a vending machine in reception with paracetamol and ibuprofen in. Would have been nice if they also had pepto bismol. When we got back to our room all we could hear was little girls crying all night screaming “BENSON NO BENSON NO BENSON NO” it was heartbreaking but we tried to keep the sound out. We watched strictly on the iPad. We would have watched it on the TV but unfortunately it broke when I was playing with the buttons. Maybe if the maid came in while I was snoring she could have noticed that and got a mechanic out to have a look. There is a telephone in our rooms which my lover used many a times to call reception. They were very kind and if they missed your call they’d call us back and say “HELLO YOU 2!!!” It was so cute. Although 1 thing to note… they told my lover they don’t serve lunch but later in the day we were told they serve food 24/7. So what is???? They serve Toasties with chips, pizza and ice cream 24/7 for BIG BACK PEOPLE. Anywho…. Time for bed! Check out was easy but do you know what wasn’t? BREAKFAST. That god awful woman who offered me a bag earlier was there. She sat me and my lover on a table and it was fine whatever. We finished our first plate then decided to get up for a second plate because we’re BIG and GREEDY. On arrival back to our table there was a stranger on the table. The lady who sat us there seemed unbothered and when the stranger piped up then she suddenly cares? I’m telling you… idk what I ever did to this woman but she does NOT like me. They don’t do Panna chocolate here either BTW. Overall - 4-5 hotel. Enjoy it here! X"

"Excellent check in with Brent on reception who was amazing , friendly and so professional. Great hotel, really clean, great Bar/ Restaurant area. Good sized room, comfortable bed and very quiet. Would highly recommend when visiting this amazing city."

"Stayed here for one night on Friday to Saturday - booked on the Friday morning for £60. Thought that was pretty reasonable for central Birmingham. Previously stayed at the same hotel in August 2015 Friendly greeting check in and was told I could check out 2 hours later due to being IHG member - nice touch. Hotel is central Birmingham, so excellent location - very easy walk from New Street station, or Snow Hill even better. Its a straight line walk, 5-10 mins into central Birmingham Square Rooms at the top of the building have outstanding views of Birmingham, especially at night Bathroom was modern, clean and great for shower. Nice touch with quality Dove toiletries Free breakfast as with all HIEs - great as usual There were some down points, which was pretty disappointing for the normally excellent IHG Wanted to sit on the room chair on Saturday morning - as the picture shows, it was absolutely filthy! Also noticed 2 large stains on the carpet on Saturday morning :( And also that the lightbulb on the bedside right cabinet was missing? Bathroom door had damage but this didnt bother me as was on the outside of the door/bathroom Went for breakfast at Saturday 8.45am - was absolutely rammed! Hotel could look at ways of making the breakfast area bigger. Staff were doing their absolute best working overtime Worst bit was on final day - just one poor lady dealing with lots of queries. Waited 20 minutes in queue to collect my luggage from the store! Missed my train sadly I would probably stay again because its part of the IHG brand, and an Express, but not sure it was as good as I remember 10 years ago"