Originally Posted by
jphripjah
What are the pros/cons of staying here vs. at the nearby Holiday Inn Express Theatreland?
Also, where would I have the best chance of getting an early check in? My flight arrives at Glasgow airport at 7:30 a.m.
The Holiday Inn and the Holiday Inn Express Theatreland are next door to each other, owned and managed by the same people.
The differences are really your usual HI/HIX differences. The HI is more a full service hotel with full breakfast, restaurant and plenty of amenities/services. The HIX rooms are a lot more basic and akin to a Premier Inn style offering. The HI rooms have ironing facilities, baths, nice toiletries, large TVs, room service, etc etc. One thing that is very much worth noting is that the Holiday Inn Express does NOT have air conditioning, whilst the Holiday Inn does.
Not sure how important food is to you, but I'd say that's a big plus of the Holiday Inn. The breakfast offering at the HIX is very basic and you'll probably want to go out for dinner. The Holiday Inn has a wide selection of breakfast items, and in the evening the French Brasserie built into the hotel is actually a very nice restaurant.
The staff are very nice in both hotels - ultimately the difference is whether you want to pay the extra for the amenities of the full Holiday Inn or stick with the more basic Express - which in turn probably depends how much time you're planning to spend at the hotel.
I stay in Glasgow for work and we always use the Holiday Inn, Hotel Indigo or Radisson Blu (we have corporate rates) as the rooms at all three are nice enough to spend time at the hotel, working or otherwise. People need somewhere to relax after a day at work. You might find though that you're out all day and out in the evening, in which case it's probably not worth paying for the full HI.
As for the early check in, I don't know how lucky you'll be with that - I suppose it depends how busy they were the night before. I have turned up at 12-1pm before and thankfully they've had a room ready so have checked me in. But even if they don't have any free rooms when you turn up, they've always been willing to store my bags, including over the weekend when I'm coming back the next week.
Not sure when you're there but I'm there all next week - will let you know if I have any further thoughts while I'm there.