Holiday Inn

Don’t pay the extra. No better than the express just dearer. The beds are advertised as King and are only Queen, the air conditioning is noisy and as I found out from the staff after baking all night is not even switched on, pull out beds are unsleepable and to cap it off on the first night the leg fell off the bed. I stayed with my wife and young daughter in December and requested the King size as I have done several times in the past with Holiday Inns and this was sold to me however on arrival the receptionist was evasive as we tried to confirm bed size, as it was late and we had had a pig of a journey from Belgium (M20 shut) I collapsed into the pull out to let my wife and daughter spread out in the double, the room was a bit stuffy so turned down the aircon (a bit noisy)and went to sleep. At 2:00am in the morning the noise of the aircon was becoming unbearable so Investigated and managed to stop the rattle by jamming a tea bag in the vent, the room was still hot so I turned it down further, another hour and I was still boiling so turned the air con off which cured the problem, The staff told me in the morning that the air con for the entire hotel could only be hot or cold and in winter was set to hot, this would not have been a problem if they hadn’t advertised air con as I would just have opened the window (most hotels discourage this with aircon some even seal the windows). I am a holiday Inn Club member and have stayed in their hotels in the UK and throughout Europe and have never felt the need to complain before but in future when staying in Stevenage I will stick to the express, or the Premier Inn which give you what you pay for.

Just around the corner from the HI Express is this Holiday Inn. I preferred it and similar price. Modern fitting to the hotel - step above the HIE.

Evening meal was good. Breakfast was the typical hot buffet so if thats want you want its fine.

Open air Car park opposite the hotel (underpass between the two) run by NCP but can pay on your bill for a few pounds