chrism20

We had Sunday lunch in Picolino last time we were there and it wasn't too bad.

The hotel restaurant (Recess?) isn't too bad but nothing special.

wizla

Cheers, yes I saw picolino across the square, looked nice !........ the hotel restaurant was fully booked as with just about everywhere else, we managed to get in at cafe rouge down by the canal......it was really nice ( I recommend the duck with cherry sauce! ) .

Now back in room , considering we are on the 6th floor ( of 7 ) we can still mildly hear the music in the bar downstairs, nothing bad but if you are here at weekends make sure you get a high floor!...... not much else to report really apart from its very lively down in the bar with the party crowd, I went to he gym , very small indeed, took photos and will upload tomorrow.
In the morning we aim to get to breakfast around 9-30am.....breakfast at weekends is 7-11am.........will report back!

wizla

Disturbed nights sleep, we had upstairs competing in the ahem......bedroom Olympics and noisy folk coming beck to the rooms.......I did notice there is a small gap under main door , this certainly doesn't help with the noise, nothing really bad but sleep was disturbed none the less......definitely pick top floor and end corridor if here again via OLCI.
Now in lobby.....I'm not ready for breakfast yet ( my lady is still asleep ) but they did let me grab a coffee from breakfast area, nice cappachino via self service machine, take away cups available......breakfast selection looked fairly nice , did notice waffle iron and egg station too.
Here are the gym photos-

wizla

..... Breakfast was nice, good service, egg station and waffle iron.....had an omelette, cooked to perfection!, only negative was the cereal selection was fairly poor, I think I counted 3 or 4 different types, that said the granola was nice.
Checked out 11am, swiftly on our way and with this my 30th stay that's Diamond in the bag for next year!

CONCLUSION- yes , nice hotel, I liked the modern decor.....there was some signs of wear if one looked hard enough but it was spotlessly clean and comfy albeit a little noisy during the night.
I would happily stay again but if at weekends or holidays top floor / end corridor is the way to go!

ROOM NO - 634

NEXT PLANNED STAY - Hilton Nottingham ( 27-12-18 )

:D!

Booked about a week in advance, got email asking to bring card used. Did OLCI and chose room.

Parked for free outside Birmingham Unitarians church (no restrictions at all) and walked 5 mins to hotel. Car visible from the even-numbered rooms 10-18 on each floor.

No welcome letter (she looked through the pile - even some Silvers got one) and keys not ready, not sure why. Was asked for card used to book, but when I got my wallet out she said no need to show... so what was the point of asking... proactively offered 3pm checkout which I accepted.

Room looked very similar to the one I stayed in at HGI Glasgow. No need to insert a card to activate electricity, excellent functional aircon, lots of plugs. Free water bottles in room (non-elites have to pay �1.50).

There was a severe plumbing problem as there was no cold water from midnight to 8am from the tap, and no water from the shower at all. When water started flowing again the hot water was brown, after running it for 20 minutes it was still very dark yellow. Mentioned this at checkout and he seemed a bit uninterested just saying that they knew and they had fixed the initial problem.

Went to breakfast at 0630, very quiet and calm, excellent quality of bacon. No staff around but when it got busier at 0700 then they started emerging and making omelettes and coffees. Didn't notice any waffle iron, it might have been there but I'm a bit sick of waffles at the moment.

Took advantage of the late checkout to move my stuff to the Hampton (in order to get another stay from the current promo) without having to go back to car.

Hopefully Amex offer works like it has in the past, then I effectively paid �30 (using value of 0.25p for the 4000 extra points from the promo). If the plumbing thing was a one-off then would happily pay about �70 for this property as location is not that great for where I need to go in Birmingham especially with all the construction going on.

scottish minnie

I've stayed here a couple of times in the last few months. I've found the hotel to be really good value, breakfast is excellent quality and a good selection.

The rooms are smallish with tiny bathrooms however definitely have everything needed.

I've never had a welcome letter or status upgrade (currently diamond as a result of a status match) so not sure if this is a thing of the past.

Will certainly be my choice as it's nearby the plenty restaurants and seems pretty peaceful at night.

:D!

Just stayed here for one night again, non-refundable rate 3 weeks out was �50, but I hesitated and it went up to �56 for a Queen a few hours later.

At OLCI it was not possible to choose a room, so I didn't bother, but at check in I did ask if an upgrade would be possible. The staff member initially declined then said she would ask her boss in the office, who let me have a King.

The street parking situation has changed from 2019 - while everywhere is still free from 1930 Saturday to 0800 Monday, outside these times the completely free spaces on Ruston St have become 1 hour only, and there are only a few paid spaces (some phone only and some coins only) with everywhere else within 15 minutes being residents only. Yet some nearby streets were completely empty even on weekends.

Compared to previous stays, there were no more water bottles, the fridge in the room was off and couldn't work out how to turn it on. The max water pressure from the shower was still extremely high, and the sink still had the annoying spinning plug which is directly in the path of the water which forces it closed so you have to constantly push it back open.

Only saw 1 staff member and about 5% of guests wearing masks.

Breakfast was quite crowded at 0830. Last time I said the bacon was excellent, but this time it was poor; the sausages were thin and stringy and the hash browns were not crispy, however the omelette chef was great, and I made a waffle.

The nearby tram stop has been built, but is not yet in operation. This would have saved me the 15 minute walk to the city centre, which was not comfortable as it was extremely windy and freezing in the evening. Not really a fan of Birmingham right now, the whole inner city was under construction 3 years ago, it still is, and I expect will still be in 3 years' time. I had hoped to try out the upcoming DT but not sure what is happening with that, and could not postpone this trip any further.

richardhall99

Staying on points tonight which were bought for �120 instead of the �160 the hotel were looking to charge at the time of booking so call that a small win.

Hotel text this morning and confirmed I could check in early and got an upgrade from Queen to King.

Caught the tram from outside New Street to the Brindleyplace stop. Downloaded the app and pretty easy to navigate






​​​​​

richardhall99

Didn't close out my little write up here

Despite being very small, the water pressure in the shower was really good and warm.

Got back to my room in the snow at 1am so no disturbance from hallway. Didn't have breakfast

​

​​​​​

adobbing

Any recent stay experience here, planning a stay next week?

I�ve stayed a couple of times over the last few years, but struggling to remember parking options.
I seem to remember they have their own spaces underneath the property, but always remember using the Q Park around the corner.
This time I�m looking to maximise Hilton spend for an American Express offer, so ideally looking for parking to be charged to room.

Anyone remember whether you can charge both options to room?

adobbing

Response from Hotel regarding parking tonight 16/04/2024;

Good Evening,

We have a car park on site which can be pre-booked via the following Just Park link: https://www.justpark.com/checkout/303440/ . JustPark
Find parking, wherever and whenever you need it, online or via the JustPark app. Reserve a space at over 45,000 locations. Trusted by 10 million drivers.
www.justpark.com 

The parking charges are �24 (twenty four) for overnight.

Should our car park be unavailable, the multi-storey Q-Park next door offers a 20% discount with the code HGIQPBP20.
Link: https://www.q-park.co.uk/en-gb/citie...brindleyplace/ Birmingham Brindleyplace Parking | Birmingham Car Parks | Q-Park
Q-Park Brindleyplace is a multi-storey Birmingham car park located in the heart of the business and leisure destination Brindleyplace. Parking is a short walk away from restaurants, shops and attractions such as The National SEA LIFE Centre, The Crescent Theatre and the Ikon Gallery.
www.q-park.co.uk

Neither of the car parks are owned by the hotel, so these will have to be paid for online.

wizla

I always use q park when in the area, it�s pretty secure and reasonably priced.

adobbing

I have done previously as well.
I was just looking for an option I could charge to the room, my Amex card has a spend �200 get �50 back offer on it for Hilton spend�.

Land-of-Miles

Apart from the breakfast quality and restaurant/bar this property is worse in almost every respect than the Hampton on Broad Street or Jewellery Quarter. It is hugely overpriced for what it is and the cheaper properties have better gyms, bigger more modern rooms, better TVs, generally quieter and with far cheaper or even free parking.

I see no reason to pick the HGI over the Hampton broad street (which is literally 5 minutes walk away) unless you are looking to hit your stay count for diamond renewal (which I completed last month).