Where am I? (Holiday Inn Express)

Member Name: andymcf

Product:	Holiday Inn Express
Date:	26/11/02 (96 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Clean and comfortable, Great Value, Earn Holiday Inn loyalty points

Disadvantages: They are all identical

On a whim, we decided to visit France for a few days away; this really is the way you should conduct your business! Just go! We caught the ferry, drove to St Omer, sat outside a pleasant pavement cafe, opened up a map and stuck a pin in it. Well - it might have been a pen. It's mightier than the sword and, by chance, it selected Amiens. Totally at random. Off we went.

We arrived and were impressed; it's a great place to visit. Now to find somewhere to stay. A trip to the VERY helpful local tourist information office, and we selected the Holiday Inn Express, turned up and tried to book two rooms. Simple!

"Yes - we have rooms" they said. "But our computer's down", they added. "Come back in half an hour!" We did, a few drinks later. The computer, miraculously, was "up". The rooms were free - well, available and cheap - and we gladly took them. End of both gloom and doom. Time to explore the city in comfort!

The room rate was very good value and the room was clean, comfortable and - as we subsequently found - exactly the same as any room in any HI Express anywhere in the world; and I mean "exactly". It's a tried and trusted formula. You get a very clean en-suite bathroom, a really comfortable double bed, a colour TV with the usual channels and decorations which are strangely familiar to anyone who's stayed in a HI Express anywhere in the world!. We could have been anywhere, to be honest. Quite frankly, though, we didn't mind - it was a very comfortable room with which one couldn't really quibble.

Breakfast was included. Great, buffet style breakfast which suited this particular non-breakfast fan down to the ground. Tea, OJ, croissants etc. Pretty French. And we were in France. When in Rome......yet we were in Amiens. It's a bit colder than Rome.

We again picked up the infamous map and pin and it chose Reims as our next destination. Another
very successful choice of location. Nice pin! Another HI Express. It was identical, internally, to the one at Amiens. I probably won't write another op on HI Express, since one HI Express is identical to another - and there is the only criticism. It's a minor one. At least, at the end of the day, you know what to expect.

The bottom line...We really enjoyed it. Nothing terribly special, but it was very comfortable and superb value. I think they've probably got the formula spot on. We returned at a later date which, I guess, speaks "recommendation".

By the way, there's no decent hotel restaurant but don't let that put you off. Go to the beautiful cathedral and find a restaurant called "La Taupe". Their Creme Brulee is to die for!

Holiday Inn Express is a good, well-tried formula. You certainly know what to expect! The rooms represent great value and are comfortable. Every room in every hotel is the same as any other, or so it seems. The rooms are very modern in design and are spotlessly clean. You get a functional, en-suite bathroom. You get a large, comfortable bed. The rooms are all the same colour - dark-blue and gold. The headboard is the same curvy shape, the halogen lights are the same. You get a colour TV with the usual channels. The entire design is the same. You could probably drug me, take me to a Holiday Inn Express and - on waking me - ask me where I was. I wouldn't have the faintest clue - even when sober - other than knowing, without a shadow of doubt, that I was in a Holiday Inn Express, somewhere in the world. It's not really a criticism - just an observation.

The room rate represents very good value and includes a tasty continental breakfast. I'm not really a huge fan of breakfast (OK - so it's the most important meal of the day), but a selection of fresh juices, hot drinks, croissants and pastries suits me just fine. If an hotel is going to charge an absol
ute fortune for breakfast (as is so often the case - we're staying at the Langham Hilton in London on Saturday and breakfast would be a whopping £21.95 each), then I'll happily do without. When it's included in a very reasonable room rate, on the other hand, I'm in there!

The reception staff were helpful and very friendly, with a very personal touch that was really appreciated. There was a comfortable, reasonably-priced, bar. Recommended if you don't stay at too many - they'd become very dull

Summary: