My family and I recently stayed at the Holiday Inn Bloomsbury London from Wed 11th-Sun15th April 2007 on a three day advance deal with full breakfast included. We were two adults and two children and it cost £116 on the Wed and Thurs Nights and £107 the Frid and Sat nights. On arrival we were upgraded at no extra charge to an executive room on the top(6th) Floor. I am a Priority Club member (register free for this on www.priorityclub.com) so maybe this helped with the upgrade. Check in was 2pm and even though we arrived an hour earlier we were allocated the room straight way.

Where this hotel wins hands down is its LOCATION in the Russell Square area just a couple of minutes from the tube(2stops + to the West End) and a pleasant 10-15 minute walk to the West End. The local surroundings were pleasant with a shopping centre including a Sushi Bar, Waitrose, Juice bar, Carluccios coffeebar/restaurant and clothes shops. Behind the hotel was a 24 hour Tesco stocking all the essentials at reasonable prices. Russell Square park was lovely with a cafe and fountains and good outdoor space. There was a busy pub opposite and the Hotel had its own Callaghans Irish pub which looked nice although I did not try it out. Apart from the traffic not too noisy for London.

Back to the hotel which is set on six floors serviced by three lifts(talking ones!) which were quick, efficient and working for the whole of our stay. We did experience the stairs on our first night at about midnight when the fire alarm went off and we had to evacuate to the front of the Hotel. Be under no illusion that when that alarm goes off you will know about it! We had just dropped off to sleep and to be honest it was so loud we had no option but to get out! There was no fire but the Fire brigade came quickly and we were soon allowed back in.

The room was spacious with a queen bed and double sofa bed both with nice duvets and pillows all lovely and clean and crisp white. Inside the door was a large wardrobe with plenty of shelf and hanging space plus trouser press,ironing board and iron. TV with digital clock, mini bar(pricey and take care not to remove anything or you will be charged),complimentary tea/coffee/hot chocolate/bottle of mineral water and kitkat chunky. Two white towelling robes and a pair of slippers were for our use also. Inside the pocket of one of the towelling robes was a note saying that if you wished to purchase the robe at the end of your stay the extra on your bill would be £35.00!!!

A spacious modern bathroom contained plenty of clean white fluffy towels(changed each day) and complimentary items of soap, shower gel, shampoo, body lotion, shoe shine, emery board, sewing kit and shower cap. The only problem was that although the basin taps had plenty of hot and cold water the flow through the bath taps was a pathetic trickle so you had to think in advance to fill the bath and of course the shower was not "power". May have been on low pressure to save water but didn't spoil our stay at all.

The restaurant was on the ground floor and was open for breakfast, lunch Mon-Frid and dinner in the evenings. We only used it for Breakfast which was excellent and buffet style. Hot and cold items including many different boxes of cereals, croissants, mini danish(two kinds), fresh bread, sliced bread for toast(do it yourself), butter, preserves, fresh beautifully prepared fruits including oranges , grapefruits, melon, pineapple, mango, apple/pear compote, berry compote, yoghurt, bacon, sausages, baked beans, black pudding, hash browns, mushrooms, eggs scrambled or fried and tomatoes. All very very nice and hot drinks served at the table and topped up for you. Fruit juices were self serve. The restaurant was spacious, modern and comfortable.

There was car parking below at I believe about £17 per day which we didn't use as we arrived by train. There was a Fitness first Gym that was free 8-12 noon outside the front of the hotel and down stairs or lift. Room service 24 hours. Hotel mostly air- conditioned (our room was but we had the window open instead).

We really enjoyed our stay at this well positioned hotel which was clean, friendly and welcoming. Go for it. www.london-bloomsbury.holiday-inn.com