For the most part of summer 2005 I was based in Birmingham, and my lovely bosses picked the Malmaison hotel to be my home away from home. Of all the places I have been fortunate enough to stay in this has to be one of my favourites.

Location:
I was told this hotel was located in the mailbox, which instantly confused my dopey head. A hotel in a mailbox? Only the mailbox is a designer shopping mall home of Hugo Boss, Bang & Olufsen, Armani and DKNY to name a few. (You always know a highbrow shop when they don't put the prices in the window.) This sets the tone for this hotel. As soon as you walk through the door to this place and enter to dark wood and leather sofas this place screams class. Apparently the name the mailbox comes from its origins as a Royal Mail sorting office in the 60's. It is about a 10 minute walk to all the main shopping, eating and drinking establishments in Birmingham.

Checking in:
At the reception desk I never had any trouble checking in. The staff were friendly, informative and told me about things like coming back in at night. (They have added security at night, meaning you have to swipe your room key to get back in the entrance.)

The room:
I have stayed in a number of these rooms now and they are all beautiful. The calming brown and beige colour scheme, large beds, thick wooden doors and white bathrooms are perfect for relaxing in. The rooms come with coffee making facilities, a bath and shower, sky tv, cd player and room service.
The room was always immaculate when I came back to it in the evening.

The restaurant:
The meals in the restaurant are absolutely lovely. They are about £15 to £20 for a main course and I recommend anything from the chargrill menu - the steaks are delicious. The bar offers some scrummy cocktails and is well worth a night in testing them.

The facilities:
On site there are boutiques, a spa and a gym. The spa is the most relaxing place in the building - the scented candles and treatments are worth a look if you have had a stressful day.

Cost:
The rooms vary from about £90 to £250 per night. The malmaison range does offer a number of special offers so if you can get hold of one of these it can be worth going.

Overall:
As I said above I really enjoyed this hotel. It is in a prime location for Broad Street so even if you don't want to eat in the restaurant, you aren't ever far away from a good place to eat. The rooms are spacious and relaxing with great facilities. I wouldn't suggest using the tea making facilities - it is about £4 for a cup of tea!

With the town centre location it is good to know they employ added security measures.

The only real problem is that with it being in the middle of Birmingham parking is very expensive. You must park in the Mailbox which is £15 per 24 hours. If you don't need you car I would suggest getting the train and using taxis.

This is a lovely hotel, that isn't pretensious and has a great range of people in it. The staff are lovely and always happy to have a chat. I checked out of the hotel one day and had left my mobile phone in the room - the cleaners had rung my home number to leave a message and were prepared to post it to me - I did realise and go back before I had driven all the way back to Lincoln though.

The hotel is 4* and I would recommend any of the malmaison range from my time staying in Birmingham.

(Sorry if you have already read this, but I accidentally posted it in the wrong place and don't know how to delete it)