The check-in went without a htich. The room was basic. Despite the national no smoking policy we would smell cigarette smoke it was coming in through the bathroom and separate toliet air vents - incidentally the separate toliet was a plus. Breakfast (currently ?12 and self service) Eggs were rubbery and the bacon tough.. My kids would not eat them. The continental option looked more appealing, the restaurant staff did not seem to notice when any of the items ran out. The restaurant was in partial darkness when we were shown to a table and another guest had to ask for the lights to be switched on! The bar was pleasant enough though the decor a little dated. Complementary newspaper if you read The Independant. They seem to promote their conference rooms more than their family appeal - the main Novotel website makes a point of being a family orientated hotel and gave the impression with a picture that there would be an indoor area for children with a games console...! There was a small outside grassed play area but the weather was foul and it could not safely be used. I chose this hotel in preference to a Travelodge and as we were staying for more than 1 night - My kids were bored - they are not fussy or spoilt. We made good use of the ironing board, iron and hair dryer - unplanned. We got soaked to the skin and used them to DRY our clothes and shoes. You had to collect a token from the Reception for the car park barrier this would have been OK if it had been manned 100% of the time but they was rarely anyone on the desk and no button to summon anyone. If asked to rate this hotel out of 100 I could not give it more than 60 due to the inaccuracies and the staff who although not unhelpful could not be described as friendly. Would I stay there again if in the area? Probaby not - a Travelodge would probably offer me as good an experience - though maybe without the bar - but probaby at almost half the price.

Stayed here in February for 2 nights on business. Unfortunately I got the train and the hotel is at least ?10 in a taxi from the train station. As the office which I was working in was in the Centre as well I managed to run up about ?60 in taxi expenses in 2 days! The hotel itself is directly facing the M6, probably the worst view imaginable although to be fair I wasn't on holiday. The bar and restaurant area was better than the exterior of the hotel suggested. I ate in the restaurant both nights, the 1st night was very good but the second was awful. Hard to say which night was a true reflection. I did venture out to try and find a local pub and found 2, both of which i'd never visit again. I've been in some rough pubs in my time but they both were up there with the worst. The room itself was big enough but did need some updating but I found the bed to be extemeley comfortable. Wouldn't come again unless I drove as it's miles away but OK hotel

We stayed at this hotel in December 2007 as it presented a convenient location to stay prior to going to The Clothes Show Live at the NEC. Having read some reviews before going, I was a bit worried about what we were going to find, but what we were presented with was a nice hotel in a good location with decent rooms and a very good standard of food in the restaurant. Although close to the M6, we had a rear room and heard no road noise, but it had a connecting door and we did have a very loud baby in the next room, which was rectified after a brief chat through the door. Not the hotel or the parent's fault, but would ask for a non-connecting room if we stayed again. The restaurant was nicely styled and had a very good menu, wth the food being cooked and presented to a very high standard, and attentive staff on duty. The room was typical of its kind, but was warm, comfortable, spacious, clean and had plenty of storage. Outside there is a swimming pool, but only for summer use - worth bearing in mind if that is when you are going. I am please to report there were no surprises lurking under the bed for us, as per a previous review ! All in all this was a good hotel, which entirely suited our purpose and presented good value for money. After all, if you want a five star luxury hotel then book one and pay the aking price ! Otherwise, for business and leisure use, this will do the job.

Stayed here expecting a nice hotel! What we got was Fawlty Towers reincarnate! Do not stay here! The hotel lobby may look presentable but the rooms are dark, dingy, stuffy, dirty & small! The mattress was filthy & half way during the night it had fallen off the bed while i was sleeping! The Hotel staff didn't do a lot to help & the bathroom was also cracked & worn & the tap didn't have any water pressure, so safe to say that this Hotel stay was not a pleasent one. The Restaurant doesn't have a great selection of food, location isn't great & the room had no fan or air-conditioning. The only positive here is that it is a reasonable price yet it isn't good value.

Stayed here on business recently and it's absolutely fine. It's not the prettiest of buildings, inside or out, but the rooms appear to have been recently refurbished, have very nice bathrooms, are spacious and clean. The food in the restaurant was above average, though like all hotel restaurants, a little over-priced, and the staff were really friendly. For events at the Ricoh Arena, this is probably one of the most convenient and reasonably priced places to stay.