My new husband and I stayed in this hotel prior to an early flight to Turkey from Birmingham International Airport. My husband was in charge of sorting out a hotel for us to stay in and the airport parking. The Novotel was the first hotel he found after doing an internet search and he promptly booked a night in a double room for us at a price of £69. This price I felt was rather expensive but we were in honeymoon mode and didn't really care!

My husband hadn't looked to see exactly whereabouts the hotel actually was in terms of the airport, he just decided it couldn't be too far away and we'd be able to walk to it from the long stay NCP carpark (he had no idea where this was either). Once we parked our car we really didn't have a clue where the hotel was so we rang up whilst still in the car and the receptionist told us it'd be an 8 to 10 minute walk or we could simply get the park and ride bus which does regular circuits around the long stay NCP carpark at the airport. The receptionist informed us that the hotel was right in front of the airport terminal and as we looked over in the direction of the airport, we saw the Novotel, a tall building with smart looking black glass windows.

We got the bus and were dropped off at the rear of the hotel and we saw an Ibis and another similar hotel right next to the Novotel. I wondered whether these hotels would have been cheaper to stay in but the Novotel looked much nicer than the others from the outside and, having stayed in a Novotel in Manchester previously, I knew something of the standard the hotels have.

We eventually found the entrance to the hotel and we were pleased with the modern, minimalist look of the hotel. Very clean with funky artwork on the walls. As we approached the reception desk I noticed two stations with iMacs at them to be used by customers. I didn't look to see whether internet access was free (although I did try the wifi access but I wasn't prepared to pay for it). We checked into our room quickly with the friendly guy on reception and went to find our room. As we went up in the lift and along the corridor there was a smell of new carpet (I love that smell!) and fresh paint and there was polythene sheeting on the floor indicating a bit of decorating being done which was nice to see. Things were obviously being kept fresh and up to date.

We entered our room which had everything we needed for an overnight stay. We put our keycard into the slot to make the lights work and after a while, they flickered and went off, sporadically coming back on and off again. This was no good as we had to be up at 4am and so lights were a must. My husband went down to reception while I sat in the dark and a member of staff came to solve the problem. She found that the switch kept being tripped by our lights and so she promptly moved us to an identical room on the floor above which had working lights!

In the room we had a very comfortable double bed, a sofa, dressing table and chair, bathroom with bath, a very snazzy sink and a shower and a separate toilet room. The wardrobes were spacious although we didn't need to use them, there was a safe, tea and coffee facilities, a VERY expensive minibar (£1.30 for a Mars bar! We just sniffed it in its wrapper, that cost us 50p!) and a telly on which my husband watched the England match after we'd had dinner!

We ate in the restaurant which was decorated beautifully and the service was very good. The food was simple, yet rather expensive. We were brought a bread basket with a selection of breads and some butter which was well received after a three hour drive down from Carlisle and we ordered our food. Jon had a burger and chips with salad and I had a goats cheese tart with green beans and new potatoes. We drank a beer and a diet coke. Both meals cost just under £30 altogether (phew!). The same menu was also available to have in the bar if you didn't want to sit in the restaurant.

After our meal, we sat in the bar for a while which was comfy and then we retired to bed. We looked out of our room window and saw, right in front of us, terminal 2 of the airport and a hive of activity.

The alarm woke us up at 3.45am and on looking out of the window, the same hive of activity was there - the secret world of airports! We noticed that the windows were double glazed with about a foot of space between each pane, making the rooms so very quiet considering we were right next to a very busy airport!

The time came to check out and the girl at the desk was very helpful. I don't think she liked our joke about having a sniff of the Mars bar but hey ho, it was probably a rubbish joke anyway! We walked a couple of hundred yards to the airport terminal and eventually got on our way to Turkey.

Although the Novotel was expensive, it was lovely, staff were friendly and helpful and the beds were comfy, what more do you want?!