Land-of-Miles

Talking about the Executive lounge, the last time I stayed at the Metropole, we had breakfast in the main restaurant but checked out in the lounge. Whilst waiting to be checked out a "gentleman" arrived in the lounge wearing only his bathrobe and slippers and proceeded to eat breakfast. I am not sure if this is normal practice but does highlight the "informality" of the lounge

UTA_flyinghigh

Was that in September or October by any chance?

I am sometimes guilty of such practises on Sundays

UTA

Wembleygal

Can I just confirm -- is the Exec Lounge at this property open on weekends and/or Public holidays?

thanks !

Land-of-Miles

Not been there for almost 12 months but it was open on Saturday then.

stifle

Does anyone know if executive floor guests may bring an additional person into the EL here? Several Hiltons I've stayed at before have been OK with this.

mookie10

Have been able to have +1 in EL on several occasions here - never an issue for me

One family had about +7 on one occasion meaning the dinner food was demolished in less than an hour .

IIRC EL wasn't staffed at all times, particularly off peak times

dickieducker

this is one of my favourite lounges in the UK (partly because it's one of the cheapest - 33gbp a night if you pick the right dates), and the staff are great (had a nice chat with the chef who was bemoaning the fact that there were so few people in the lounge that night considering some of the more inventive food items that had been prepared - needless to say i devoured most of them, just to keep them all happy!).

but i have suffered from a leaky Airconditioning unit in the rooms on at least two occasions.

stifle

I'll be here tomorrow night. My ER upgrade has already cleared ^ and I've checked in online. Will report back.

stifle

I'm home from what has been a stellar stay. After an online check-in, I got to the hotel at 2pm and the room was ready. There was a generously-sized bed, nice desk and chair, sofa, glass table, an oldish TV, tea/coffee making facilities, bathrobes & slippers, and the bathroom had a separate shower and bath. Not that I spent much time there, as there's an executive lounge

Service-wise, this hotel seems to have adopted a policy of researching all the dumb policies that are applied at other hotels, and ensuring they are not in appearance. Examples:

1. Can you have your complimentary gold/diamond breakfast in the restaurant? Yes.
2. Can you have cooked items? Sure.
3. What if you want cooked items but you want to eat in the EL? They're there.
4. And if you want a Coke with your EL breakfast? No problem.
5. Can you bring in a friend to the EL for evening drinks? No worries, just don't be silly about it.
6. Are kids allowed in the EL after 6pm? Technically not, but if they're well-behaved, then no sweat.
7. What if you get to the EL 10 minutes after the evening service ends? They'll sort something out for you.
8. Would you like to use your complimentary gold/diamond internet in the EL? Why not? (although you do need your own wi-fi capable device; the two computers available are chargeable, but see the next question)
9. Can you get a complimentary voucher for the EL computers if it's quiet? I can't answer this, for fear of getting a lounge dragon in trouble
10. Do you want a pizza in your room/the EL/your car/the NEC? Just order it up, it'll be £6.50 and would you like that boxed?
11. Not that hungry? Sandwiches are £3.

The last two items are possibly not always going to be permanent. Vampire Diaries had a convention in the hotel this weekend (which resulted in the hotel's public areas being thronged with girls in their teens and twenties, although not the EL or restaurant, as the convention was charging £90, plus more to take photos).

The EL is on the 5th floor and has seating for around 40. Breakfast service is between 7am and 10:30 (goes on until 11am in the restaurant), afternoon tea (including cakes, sandwiches, scones with jam and cream, etc.) from 3pm to 5pm, and evening drinks service from 6pm (not 5pm as mentioned on the hotel website) to 8:30pm, although it finishes half an hour earlier at the weekend.

Outside the above hours, the offering is fruit, cookies (complete with Hilton logo on top in icing sugar, or confectioner's sugar if you're American ), salty snacks/nuts, tea and coffee (from a coffee machine), milk, Coke, diet Coke, bottled water, tonic water, lemonade, and lemon juice, and there are jugs of other fruit juices.

The breakfast service has just about everything that the normal Hilton restaurant breakfast has.

The evening drinks service is fully self-service. Three or four varieties of hot spring rolls and similar items were accompanied by three types of cheese, crackers, various canapés, and a few other bits and pieces. Alcohol choices were Becks and Kronenbourg, red, white, or rosé wine (I didn't look at the bottles as I don't drink), port, and premium spirits (Bacardi, Grey Goose, etc.), on a self-pour basis. It did lead to some unedifying stockpiling when the lounge dragons called time, but that's hardly something you can hold against the hotel.

There is not always a lounge dragon on duty outside of the morning and evening service times, so don't rely on being able to check in/out at the lounge.

We didn't use the swimming pool, fitness facilities or the restaurant. This is a large hotel (approximately 500 standard rooms and 140 executive rooms) and conferencing/banqueting are big. Other than those items mentioned above, bar food ran to starters at around £5-7, mains at £10 for vegetarian, £14 for burgers, £16-20 for other items, and £23 for steaks, with desserts around £6. Cheaper items can be had at the NEC (5 minutes on foot) where there are several Subways, cafés, and a Wetherspoon pub, but they operate odd hours and may not open at all when there are few exhibitions on. The airport (10 minutes on foot plus another 2 minutes on the monorail) has a further selection, including Burger King and the marvellous Frankie & Benny's.

There is not one thing I woould have sought to change about my stay and the hotel engenders loyalty both to the individual property and to the Hilton brand.

Skimanant

Just my quick two pence worth. Have stayed here many times. They always get it right. Upgrades are frequent, the exec lounge is good, pool superb and front desk staff personable. I like the hotel and would certainly recommend it.

stifle

I forgot one other thing, I got a personalized text message from the FOH manager (I know it was personalized because my first and last names were transposed) the morning of my arrival mentioning how they were looking forward to seeing me.

Ausländer

Firstly great review stifle - totally sums the property up as I recall it.

I've stopped here 4 times over the last two years, always due to proximity to BHX. I echo all of your above sentiments virtually in their entirety.

An interesting point of note for the intrepid traveller is that this huge property is EMPTY when there is not a convention or something on nearby that weekend. Whilst I imagine that this in itself is rare, I genuinely felt as though I had the place to myself during a stop in Q1 earlier this year.

Land-of-Miles

I agree this is a pleasant property although the top floor suites are in need of some work and a wholesale upgrade of the TV's would be welcome too. I would stay here more as it makes a convenient stop over point for me when heading Northwards but the place is a total zoo on a convention weekend. The lovely lounge lady apologised but I assume they sell upgrades aggressively to the convention guests who then enter a "value for money" mindset in the lounge. This makes the lounge somewhat unpleasant (no disrespect to the lovely lounge staff). On a normal night it is a very nice property and has excellent corporate rates.

Due to the sheer unpredictability of what will be going on at the property on a weekend stay though I tend to prioritise stays over at the Hilton East Midlands (which similarly meets my stopover needs when travelling North). It has no Exec Lounge (although you do get a couple of free drinks as a Diamond), but if you pick the right room (and room type is critical here) it is a much more reliable proposition. I frequently pay more for a nightly stay and travel a little further out of my way to overnight at East Midlands rather than Birmingham Airport.

stifle

I'm back, in an executive room again but the afternoon tea service is nonexistent in the lounge There is no dragon on duty or indication of whether there is a facility to request anything. Quite disappointing.

stifle

And I've just been informed that due to low occupancy, there will be no evening reception either If I'd been advised of this in advance, or on arrival, I would not have sat around waiting for it to start until now. I'm trying to decide what compensation I should look for.