Holiday Inn Express hotel in London Chingford

We were taking our son to university in Hackney and wanted two rooms in a hotel for two nights. Given the fact that most of the hotels offered rooms at ridiculously inflated prices, this one seemed a good option, being only 10 miles from the university.

WHERE IS IT?

The hotel is located in East London, minutes from the North Circular Road, and within easy reach of the site of the Olympic Village. After a rather arduous 9 hour journey from Newcastle (accident on the A1), we found the hotel easily and noticed it offered excellent transport links. With London City Airport being only 12 miles away. This meant that when we turned up at midnight, there weren't many small roads to try to negotiate.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS...

Given that we were arriving late at night, we didn't notice much but there was a large car park The hotel is a modern building, and is purpose built, with light brick, and does look much the same as any other Holiday Inn hotel I have seen.

When we went to check in, the staff were pleasant and helpful and check in was quick and easy. The reception area is bright and airy with tables and chairs dotted around the room which also doubles up as the breakfasting area, and which also contains the bar which seemed to be open for 24 hours for guests.

We were directed to the lift and found our room easily since the rooms were all clearly numbered and there were signs to the different room numbers.

THE BEDROOMS...

There are 102 bedrooms at the hotel and ours was exactly the same as our son's room, although our sofa bed was ready for an extra guest. It seems that generally the rooms have a double bed with a very soft duvet and the choice of soft or firm pillows. If the room is set up for a family then the sofa bed is set up again with a soft white duvet and pillows. Inside the bedroom there are plenty of lights so that the room can be as bright as you want it. There is also a noisy air conditioning system, a table, tea and coffee making facilities, hairdryer,. Guests can get online with WiFi access from just £4.95 or go into the lounge to take advantage of free WiFi facilities.

The bathroom isn't actually a bathroom, but is actually a shower room. Featuring the usual sink, large shower and toilet, there were plenty of clean white fluffy towels in the bathroom and the bedroom. Although there were no freebies in the form of bottles of shampoo etc, there was plenty of soap and shampoo dispensers in the shower and by the sink. There is also the option to ask for free toiletries including razors, toothbrush etc if you have forgotten yours, which I think is better than a small bottle of body lotion I will never subsequently use.

AND SO TO FOOD...

At Holiday Inn hotels, breakfast appears to be free, regardless as to how many people are staying in the room. This represents excellent value.

Breakfast is taken at the tables in the reception area. These tables and chairs are set out with a good distance between them and when we went down in the morning, there was a breakfast menu. Breakfast was a tad fraught, with the food being displayed in a very small area and with lots of people wanting their breakfast at 9am. There was pork sausages, scrambled eggs, beans, toast, cakes, cheese, and plenty of different types of teas and also yoghurts, fruits and fruit juices. One of the guests complained about the fact that the sausages were pork and asked for chicken sausages but the manager explained that a survey had been sent out and most guests wanted pork. This didn't pose a problem for us, even though himself is vegetarian, as there was plenty of other food, and we could keep going back for as much as we wanted.

OTHER INFORMATION:

Check-out 12:00 noon
Check-in 15:00 pm
For anyone interested, there are also Priority Club Reward points

CONTACT DETAILS...


Address: Walthamstow Avenue London E4 8ST
Tel: +44 (0) 208 501 9000
Fax: +44 (0) 208 501 9051

VERDICT...

We paid about £105 for two rooms for one night and one room the following night. Given that Little Miss was going to be with us and there would have been 4 people having breakfast this is tremendous value. Even with three people eating breakfast this is tremendous value.

The rooms are clean and comfortable, the food is good, and the whole place is relaxed and comfortable. Granted it's not a boutique hotel but it's a great hotel to stay in for anyone wanting good value, close to the centre hotel.

We will be going back in October.

Thanks for reading


Daniela xx