We had an early morning flight from East Midlands airport and despite only living about 45 minutes away we always like to stop near the airport the night before as it means it's much less hassle on the morning and there are no worries about getting stuck in traffic.

I have to say I booked this on a bit of a spur of the moment straight after I booked the flights as it was only £19 for a room so grabbed the deal. I then read some reviews on another review site and began to get a little worried. I have stayed in many Travelodge's before and have only had one bad experience (in London). As a general rule all Travelodge rooms are the same, if you stop in a newer one they are definitely nicer with more modern features but overall they are very similar.

Now I really needn't have worried...I can see where some of the complaints have come from - this hotel as well as being near East Midlands airport is very close to Donnington Park and when there is an event on becomes full very quickly as it is the cheapest option in the area (apart from camping!). Like any hotel I can imagine on these weekends it will get very busy and noisy. When we stayed it was reasonably quiet and I would say empty and therefore we didn't have too much of a problem - however the floor boards were very very creaky! I'm please we were getting up early as the people in the room above us were up early too! Our floor was just as bad so I don't know if it is a common theme!! You can hear people in the corridor and doors banging so I can see this being a problem on busy weekends.

Everyone knows a Travelodge is basic, so it really annoys me when people moan when you don't get the little luxuries of other hotels! It clearly states you don't get them!! If there is anything you want it is usually available at the reception.

The rooms were clean and tidy, nothing to complain about. The shower was really powerful and soap provided. I don't really need anymore than this for a hotel before a flight - I don't look for luxury I look for ease and convenience.

The location of this Travelodge is at a service area and the entrance is inside the main service area which has the usual shops, cafes, games areas etc. The service area is like a massive atrium and the Travelodge rooms are at either side of this, half the rooms overlook the service area (no natural light) and half overlook the surrounding area - the motorway/car park or petrol station.

The website does warn people that not all rooms have natural light, so if this is a problem for you avoid this hotel. We were lucky and got an outside facing room the opposite side to the motorway, therefore I can't comment on whether the other side suffers from motorway noise.

Your car can be parked in the service area free of charge - just make sure you give your reg number to reception when you arrive to avoid the fine for staying more than 2 hours!

Overall, this hotel was clean and served it's purpose, it's nothing fancy but was fine for what we wanted. I would probably avoid it on race weekends and wouldn't recommend it for a romantic weekend away, but for a cheap stopover en-route along the M1 or before flying out of EMA it's ideal - especially at £19!