Holiday Inn Liverpool City Centre (Hotels in Liverpool in general)

Member Name: buttonman

Product:	Hotels in Liverpool in general
Date:	13/04/02 (325 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Location

Disadvantages: Location,only one lift,no £1000 pillow!

I'm fresh back from a week in Liverpool and have found that my scales have broken. Eight pounds on in a week - c'est impossible! In truth a week at the Holiday Inn and expenses are to blame.

The hotel we stayed at couldn't be better placed or easier to find. If you arrive at the city's main railway station, Lime Street, the hotel is the first thing you see. Of course this is handy but it also means that the denizens who hang around the station at night are your neighbours. At first glance the hotel looks dated. The building is a chocolate and cream affair that screams 1970's. This however belies the interior, which is very swish having undergone an expensive refurbishment last year.

Check in was easy although I did get the work experience boy (as usual!) who typed away merrily for five minutes whilst my colleague who was served by the manager tapped his watch. Whilst we waited a couple of ropey characters wandered in and asked for matches and clearly a door man would be a good idea. Unusually they didn't ask for a credit card imprint but as there was no mini bar we had little chance of running up a bill. The familiar key card system is used.

Similar to my Brussels Hilton review an early moan related to the lifts. Despite having ten floors and 130 rooms they have only two lifts and when we stayed one of these was out of order. It didn't work the whole week, which seems strange considering the recent refit. At busy times such as breakfast you could wait five minutes which seems like a lifetime when you are worried about someone finishing off all the muffins before you get there! The lift's voice is very bossy and often it ordered the last person out for making the lift too heavy!

I was on the fourth floor and had a nice room. My work mate bemoaned his lack of sofa but hey you've got to treat the executives right! The room had a living area and a flow through to the bedroom. The fittings were all
as new and it was cleaned to a high standard each day. Teasingly they are running a '£1000 pillow' promotion, which leaves an envelope on your bed each day. It could have £1000 in it but each of my four were invites to join their points scheme.No surprise there!

The television was 21" and had a good selection of TV and radio. Sky 1 and Sky sports 1 & 2 were free but movies cost £7.95 a go. The selection wasn't tempting with 'The Last Castle' being Thursday's offer. Happily there was no free view on the blue movie channel. No matter how often you try! Tea and coffee was free - are you listening Hilton Hotels?!- as were the two free, yet dull, digestive biscuits.

No freebies in the bathroom though with the shower gel/shampoo in a wall mounted dispenser. It was good quality Dove stuff and the endless supply meant you could splash it all over! The bath and shower were operated from the same bath high fitting and I found it tricky to get the shower on. To change the temperature required fancy footwork but the heat and pressure were good.

The hotel does have a mini gym but this wasn't up to much. It only had five machines and no pool or sauna. It was free to use but I didn't get round to it, spending as I did too long in the bar. The bar and restaurant are both called 'Signals' and were pretty good. We never took diner there opting to spend our £15.50 allowance in a proper establishment who would disguise the beer content of the bill. We did imbibe in the bar and the staff were pretty friendly. Despite being residents they improvised a bell out of an ice bucket to shoo us away at the early hour of one am!

The breakfasts which are also served in Signals were excellent. The room is on the second floor and offers a great panoramic view of the city. There is a lot of beech wood in the room and the lack of piped music gives it a nice relaxing atmosphere. The food was great. They boast the best se
lection and I can believe them. The fruit bar was best with acres of figs, prunes, melons and red berries. I piled this high at an effort to de-tox and although it failed I had fun trying. Cereals were also in abundance with Sugar Puffs and fruit and fibre being the order on alternate days. The fries weren't as extensive but I was keeping away anyway. A lady is standing by to cook eggs to order and kippers and porridge are also available on request. Service was good with my only gripe being over the pale toast. The spread costs £13.95 a head but it was a good start to the day.

Overall the hotel was good. Early worries about the area were unfounded although single ladies may not feel comfortable after dark. The location is good in other respects with pubs and shops galore just outside the door. I had no problems with the noise and the alarm calls all came through on time. The company paid around £80 a night, which is on the high side, but I'm sure they'd haggle for a drop in traveller. Well worth a look.

Summary: