I stayed at this hotel in February 2011 for work; I was attending a conference at the ICC in Birmingham and had this hotel booked for me. There were a number of us travelling up from Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire and we were all booked into the Jury's Inn hotel.

We had a fairly traumatic journey, as Birmingham city centre is a bit of a nightmare to navigate around. Even with the sat nav, we still managed to get lost several times before finally finding the hotel. Upon finding the hotel, the next difficulty came when we tried to find somewhere to park. We eventually came across the car park that is slightly behind the hotel and is payable separately.

Once parked, we made our way into the hotel and were all pleasantly surprised. I worked for a regional charity at the time, and 'posh hotels' were not normally within our price range! The reception area was very bright, open and welcoming - it looked more like a 4/5* hotel - needless to say, we were thrilled. The reception area is at the front of the hotel and raised up, easily accessed by going up a few steps (although I'm not sure what I would have done if I had been travelling with someone in a wheelchair!). I found the reception staff to be fairly friendly and helpful and we were soon all sent off to our various rooms. One thing I found a little odd was that there were about 10 of us, booked as a group booking, but all of our rooms were on different floors. It didn't really bother me, I just thought it was a bit of a strange thing to do!

So, I got the lift up to my room on the 9th floor. Unfortunately, the rest of the hotel isn't as plush as the reception area, but it was perfectly adequate. My room was pretty large (it was only me), with 2 double beds, a desk and chair, wardrobe and plenty of space inbetween! The bathroom was average, but I guess it was as expected for a 3* hotel in a city centre.

We were due to meet downstairs to go back to the ICC for a dinner in a couple of hours, so I unpacked a little and started to get ready. There were tea and coffee making facilities (a godsend), so I put the TV on and relaxed. I had a shower and was a little disappointed to find that they don't seem to do the little toiletries anymore. They have the shampoo and shower gel in dispensers on the wall in the shower - I guess they were losing money by providing them, and I've known plenty of other hotels to do this now (a shame though as I loved the little ones). The shower was absolutely fine and within a couple of hours, I was back down in reception to meet my colleagues.

The hotel is really well situated for a trip to the ICC, it is only about 10 minutes walk. This walk will take you right by the canal, which is surrounded by bars and restaurants and really looks like a nice area. Unfortunately, the walk back to the hotel after the dinner was not so impressive. The road that the Jury's Inn is on is a little scary to say the least! It's full of rowdy bars and even a couple of strip clubs (with one of these being right beside the hotel). This wouldn't normally bother me that much, but you really couldn't avoid it. I was walking back with a much older colleague and we were constantly being harassed into going into one of the bars - which we CLEARLY weren't going to do. Once back in the hotel, I quickly got in the lift and hurried back to the safety of my bedroom. The bed was fairly comfy and I managed to get a good night's sleep - luckily I wasn't near the main road to be able to hear any of the noise, but I'm not sure if all rooms were this quiet.

The following day, we met up for breakfast. This was included in our room rate and I was certainly grateful for this! The restaurant area was not far from reception and, again, was very bright and open. There was a lot of choice for breakfast, including your traditional fry up, pasties, toast and condiments and fruit. There was tea and coffee available as well as a selection of fruit juices. Everything I tried (which I think was pretty much everything), was really tasty!

I asked colleagues how they found it and everyone seemed to have nothing but praise for the hotel, although it seems that some had rooms with 2 double beds and some had rooms with 1 double bed - although we had all booked and paid for the same.

I have had a look on the Jury's Inn website and you can get a room from around £60 per night, this is fairly good value for a city centre hotel.

Overall, I would recommend this hotel. It was perfectly located for the ICC, but I certainly wouldn't feel comfortable coming here if I had a young family as it isn't in the safest location. The rooms were large and adequate for a 3* hotel, and the breakfast was really nice with a large selection. I am giving this hotel 3stars (with a couple taken off for the slightly dodgy location).