Holiday Inn Express London Victoria

What is your IHG Rewards Club status?
Gold

Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
No

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
I booked and stayed in a double-bed standard room. I did not receive an upgrade. I received a choice of point coupon or a free drink upon check in. Took the coupon.

How are the rooms?
Clean, but very small. Bathroom is standing shower only. Although the 2nd night of my stay, the room in the floor above decided to leave their water running and caused my roof to leak water and they moved me to a slightly smaller room on the floor above because there was nothing else available.

NOTE: There is no air conditioning in any of the rooms! This is not typically a problem in London as the weather is never usually unseasonably hot. However the week I was there, it was in the high 80's and I was on a high floor and heat rises, so it was unbearable during the day. Fortunately I didn't spend much time there in the day. Night required my room window to be left open, which could be a safety issue if you're on a lower floor.

How is the exec. lounge?
NA

What was good and what was bad?

Good:
Front desk staff is polite and helpful.
Offered points or drink upon check in.
Rooms were clean.
Wifi worked well.
A very nice neighborhood, lots of restaurants in the area to explore.
A 3 minute short walk to the Pimlico tube station.
A 15 minute walk to famous attractions like House Parliament and Westminster Abbey.

Bad:
No Air Conditioning (May not be good for summer travel).
Small room.
Housekeeping did not always replace my used cups and glasses (unless I left a note asking them to).
The free breakfast downstairs was pretty awful, short of the coffee or fruit they provided. But that is a matter of opinion.
One small elevator for the entire building. Prepare for long waits in the morning, or take the stairs.

I suggest you request a room that faces the back, or on a high floor facing the street. Unless you enjoy hearing street traffic at all hours of the night. But remember in the summer the higher the floor, the hotter the room will get!


Value for $ or IHG Rewards Club Points? Would you return?
All IHG London hotel properties are VERY EXPENSIVE, unless you want to stay outside of London (Heathrow & Surrey). This was the cheapest one in London, and I was on a budget, so I decided to try it. For me, I was there on business and it served me well as a quiet place to sleep at night, before I took off to work the next morning. It was also 1 tube stop away from Vauxhall railway station, where I needed to go. I would be careful if this is someplace you are traveling as a couple, or worse, as a family. The rooms are too small to support more than 1 person comfortably. I barely had enough room for my suitcase.

If you are using points, unless this is one of the point-break properties, I suggest another IHG property, probably one that's a HI, or CP.

For 10-20 pounds a night more, I would suggest the Holiday Inn London Kensington Forum (where I stayed previously). The rooms are bigger. The area is even nicer. However, the tube station next to that hotel is closed until Jan 2015 and that was a deciding factor for me, as I had to travel back and forth every day on business.