dgwright99

HI Sheffield

This is an older hotel - typical UK city center type property (unusual for HI IME). High cielings, and big rooms in the common areas. Showing it's age, but reasonably well maintained.

Was upgraded to Exec room. Nice big room with ~15' cielings; carpet and decor borderline tired, but seemed reasonably maintained. Bath was nice and deep, but narrow in the usual UK style. There was a minibar, with comp water and a kitkit on a tray, plus a fresh fruit plate when I arrived. Plat amenity was coupon for 30 minutes free internet or a free beer at the bar. Breakfast was the usual English style, and reasonably priced.

So far so good. Now the bad points - Web access was GBP10 for 24 hours (20 bucks). Shower was tiny - kept banging my elbows. No AC (didn't care in January, but would be pissed by that in August) and the heating was a wall radiator with a valve control - no wall thermostat. The service in the lounge was very poor - had to hunt around to find someone to serve a cup of coffee.

Overall - At GBP 99 it was reasonable value by UK standards. I'm enough of a point slut that I would stay here again if I needed to stay in the area, as it is the only ICHG property for miles. But honestly, I'd have preferred a new HIX.

AndrewAndDebbie

Holiday Inn Sheffield

What is your Priority Club status?
Platinum

Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Yes.
Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked standard double room, received 1862 suite.
How are the rooms?
Half of the rooms are in a historic Victorian Station Hotel, the other half are in a modern annex.
The 1862 suite is done to much higher standard than a typical Holiday Inn. I'm not sure about the other rooms.
How is the exec. lounge?

What was good and what was bad?
Amazing room. Sometimes you get lucky with upgrades. Great service. Good breakfast. Good fitness room (for a hotel). Easily the most unique HI I've seen.
No air conditioning in the historic part of the hotel. Historic single glazed sash windows means you will hear some outside noise.
Value for $ or Priority Club Points? Would you return?
Incredible value with the upgrade.
Yes.




Dining Room


Somewhat hidden Central Stair Case. Many guests may never see this.


Bedroom


More of the 1862 suite

chrism20

It will be interesting to see how different this place is once it has been converted to a Crowne Plaza.

thunderlounge

Thank you, this is great to see. Booked the 1862 for a 3-night stay in December. Looking forward to the unique charms of the property.

Raffles

I am here at the moment, first visit since it converted to a CP. For reference, my family are in Sheffield and I usually end up in a hotel here once every year or so.

I actually booked the HIE next door with the same ownership. The HIE is still shut and all guests are being moved to the CP. This is a great result as it means you save on room rates AND get the £14.95 per head CP breakfast included.

To be honest I am not hugely impressed. The rooms have been fully refurbished - much improved from the images above - but not the bathrooms (still no separate showers). Very little has changed in the rest of the property, and breakfast has not been upgraded. The refurb was clearly done on the cheap - the outside of my window has not been painted, for example. The internal hotel signage hasn't been changed either - I know this is a weird niggle, but the signage for the restaurant etc dates from the 1980's and looks it and sets the tone.

The property clearly retains its sense of charm as an old Victorian railway hotel and if you are bored of sterile new-builds then you will find this novel. It is substantially below what I see as CP level. If anything, I would have said that it was at risk of being demoted from a Holiday Inn and that the refurbs had done enough to keep it at HI level. There is no logic to making it a CP, especially as the Hilton across the road downgraded to a Best Western Plus.

Last time we were here we stayed at the Mercure in a Junior Suite (my wife refused to stay at the HI any longer due to the number of moth holes in the curtains, luckily now replaced) and it was superior in every respect. The only reason I am not there now is that this is a fleeting visit with my kids in tow and the free HIE breakfast swung it.

EDIT: There is now a lounge! Shut - and possibly never opened - but it is there, in an ex-meeting room on the 1st floor. Small but smart, looking through the window.