Birmingham Central - only if you have to!!! (Travelodge in general)

Member Name: Matty

Product:	Travelodge in general
Date:	28/02/09 (53 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Location to NIA etc

Disadvantages: Horrid

I have returned from one night in the Birmingham Central . I stayed on 24th Feb with my daughter.

After booking in we went to our room (216) My daughter immediately remarked upon the smell in the lift lobby, and suggested that it smelled like her old guinea pig hutch. Indeed it was a smell reminiscent of some sort of rodent habitat!!

We negotiated the lift and went to the room. Upon entering we were met with an ungodly smell, one that reminded me of a gym changing room. The acrid smell of damp sweat and feet was quite disgusting. The room appeared tidy but upon inspection it was only superficially so. There were water marks on the wall under the dressing table - I dread to think.

We were attending a function and due to the 'hotel' reception being busy with 'guests', I was unable to register my complaint at that time. Similarly when we returned at 11pm it was busy. In fact it resembled some kind of youth hostel with people lolling about in the reception area.

We went to our room ( the smell in the lift lobby was as pungent as before), Our room still smelled bad - worse as I had put the heating on. As I prepared the bed for my daughter I noticed the mattress felt damp and it smelled of stale sweat. Upon inspection it was clearly stained.

I prepared the pull out bed which was absolutely foul. It was heavily stained and very smelly. The duvet, although having fresh linen, was equally smelly and dirty. The Bathroom appeared clean , however the taps in the bath seemed to have had the indicators for hot/cold broken and the bath plug was detached from the plug chain which was left dangling in the bath.

Whilst I appreciate the 'Budget' element of Travelodge, I did not expect to find the standards of a third world Back Packers hostel. The web site blurb states; "Our great value clean and comfortable rooms with en-suite provide everything needed for a good night's sleep...."
None of this was true for us.
Simalarly the Slogan " Welcome to the Hotel Revolution" is as equally misleading, although the Birmingham Central did seem as if it had suffred the aftermath of some sort of revolt - that's for sure!!!

I registered my complaint when we checked out - I believe it was entered into a book!!

Summary: URRRRRGH