I recently stayed at the Holiday Inn Express Burnley. This was part of a competition prize so my accomodation, evening meal and breakfast was all included. It was originally supposed to be for 2 nights for 2 people, however due to the short notice of being advised as a winner, I was unable to arrange childcare and so asked if it was possible to change it to 1 night for 2 adults and 2 children instead. I recieved a very fast response advising me that this was no problem whatsoever and I replied also asking if it was possible for them to attach a copy of their menu for me also. Again, I recieved this back very fast within the hour, so immediately was very impressed with their customer service and prompt and polite attitude.

There is a very large car park outside the front of the building which provides plenty of spaces which are all free of charge. There are also spaces provided for disabled persons nearer to the front of the hotel.

On arrival in reception, we recieved a very polite welcome, check in was both fast and easy and I also noticed above the desk that the room rate for the Sunday evening was £110. It was a bank holiday, so Im not sure if this was therefore reflected in the price.It was very quiet and there was absolutely no-one else to be seen in the foyer area when we arrived. We were provided with our room number and key and provided with directions. The room was fine, it featured a double bed and a double rollaway bed for the kids. There was a tv, trouser press, iron, telephone and internet access available at a cost. I didnt use this facility so I am unsure as to the exact cost. The room was nothing amazing, but very clean tidy and had everything you could need. I would personally pay around £60-£70 a night for a room of the standard that it was, so felt that the £110 a night advertised in the foyer was quite excessive. Anyway, it was free for my family and I, so was very pleased with it overall. The rollaway bed hadnt been made up when we arrived and there were no sheets or pillows in the room for us to do it ourselves. My husband walked outside the room to try and find someone to assist and within minutes someone was at the room. It did take a while to try and explain what we needed as the maid did not speak english, apart from to say 'Im sorry, but I don't speak English'! We got there in the end though and the bed was made up.

We checked with reception as to what time dinner was available from and were told that we could eat in the restaurant from 5:30pm. We went down just before then and had a drink in the foyer, there were only two other people in the foyer at this point. It also transpired that the lady working on reception was also the bar manager and waitress and throughout the night as it did get busier she didnt seem to get a minutes rest, yet she was always happy, smiling, and very polite and was more than happy to answer any queries that anyone had.

As with most hotels the bar is overpriced. £4 for an alcopop as they are known, I feel is ridiculous, especially when you can get about 6 for that price in the supermarket. I therefore only had one drink as wine was included with our meal anyway and since my husband wasnt drinking as was looking after the kids whilst I relaxed, I therefore had the bottle to myself.

The menu is basic and features a couple of starters, about six mains and a couple of desserts. The mains appeared to be food which could be prepared a few hours earlier and then just reheated when required as it only took about 10 minutes from ordering to recieve all our meals. It is worth noting that there is no childrens menu, however they will gladly provide you with a smaller portion of an adults meal. Although when they arrived, I wouldnt say that the childrens meals were any smaller than hours and there eyes lit up when the plate was placed in front of them. The food as basic as it may have been was still very tasty and the prices were reasonable at around £5-£7 per main which considering the portion sizes was very good value.

We were also surprised in the morning as we had been told that it was a buffet breakfast. We assumed that this would be the usual hot buffet breakfast as served in most restaurants, however when we went down in the morning, we realised that it was in fact just a very basic cold buffet. There were a few items of fruit available, yoghurt, a small selection of pastries and toast. The thing that I didnt like was that the condiments were not individual portions, so if you wanted marmalade for example, then a full size jar was kept in a small fridge, meaning that everyone got their serving from the same jar. Of course it was therefore full of crumbs and butter from peoples knives who had just buttered their toast and then stuck the same knife in the jar which I didnt think was very nice at all.

I have stayed in Holiday Inn hotels before but not the Express hotels, however I had assumed beforehand that these were just the same. In fact the Holiday Inn Express' are alot more basic. They are predominantly focused on the business traveller requiring a quick stopover. I cannot fault the cleanliness of the hotel and the staff work so hard it is highly commendable. It was a great break away for free, however if I was a paying customer, I would personally be looking to book something with more facilities and more luxurious rooms. If you are looking for a nice and easy stopover however, then I would most certainly recommend it.