July 4th was the day that hotels were allowed to reopen to all guests in the UK as lockdown eases.

I would normally stay at the Holiday Inn Reading West, but that was closed (until September) so I went one junction further down the M4 - my backup option and one I've not been to in a few years. The HI Reading South has been open throughout for certain key workers.

What is your Priority Club status?
Spire

Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Yes, mostly.

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked an executive room and received the same (there are no higher catergory rooms).

How are the rooms?
Relatovely small but they've been refurbished in the past year or two. Nothing really stands out, other than they have central air-con in the summer and heating in the winter, you can't select heating or cooling.

How is the exec. lounge?
There isn't one.

What was good and what was bad?
There was a queue at checkin (builders) who were all chatting with each other and the receptionist - they were obvoiusly regulars! It took a while to be served but when I was checkin was efficient. They have an additional screen to enter your car's registration number, if you don't do that you will get a £100 bill in the post!
Room service was available, with everything served in polystyrene containers with disposable cutlery. I had chips and a cheesecake which were fine.
There was an express checkout, just as well as the reception was unmanned when I left (at 5 AM on a Sunday morning... always a good test of a hotel!)

On the downside, no mention of Spire at checkin but (sneaky edit) welcome points have posted. I was half hoping they'd comp the £5 overnight parking charge, but nope.
There were no complimentary bottles of water as per the hotel's blurb, but that could be covid-related.
The entrance to the hotel car park was also blocked when I arrived, so I had to wait on the road for a couple of minutes while they lifted the barriers to allow a massive builders' van in - not had that before!

Value for $ or Priority Club Points? Would you return?
The room was £71 which is about as cheap as that hotel gets, they had low occupancy. It's entirely generic as a hotel but yes, I would stay again.