Holiday Inn Kenilworth - Warwick, an IHG Hotel

Apr 21st, 2023

Ended up here as part of a status challenge - I needed one more night to move up a level and it was affordable and easy to get to. I chose a "comfort package" that included a welcome drink and breakfast, to make it a little getaway worth having. Good communication from the hotel ahead of time when I asked about parking having read the reviews. It is definitely limited (and a lot of the spaces are tight) but I was there on a quiet night so had tons of choice and it was free, which is a bonus. Pretty standard thing of having to enter registration on a tablet when you arrive though. Warm welcome from reception, although she didn't know anything about the drink and made me follow her to the cafe/bar where the barman said she could give me a voucher. She told me where breakfast was, but that was pretty much it for my introduction. Headed off in the direction of where I hoped the lifts were and to the second floor where my room was. The ground floor of the hotel has had parts renovated so the bistro/bar etc are quite pleasant. Lifts were quite grubby however, and the 2nd floor looked tired and almost creepy. I had to cross over a freezing cold bridge to another section to get to my room, and it reminded me of this guy on YouTube who does reviews of dilapidated old seafront hotels. Room was adequate I suppose. View was of some dumping ground for old rubbish from the hotel, but was quiet. Bed was comfortable enough and there was free WiFi. It could do with a lot of improvement though - e.g. tap in bathroom loose and wobbly, grouting needed a very thorough scrub and can't have been deep cleaned in recent memory, loose soap holder in bath, no soap for sink, room reeked of aftershave, very concerning stain on the sofa which I decided to stay away from. Mini fitness room is weird. There are signs for it on the 2nd floor, but it's actually across from the reception. You have to sign a disclaimer to be allowed in. It was also very cold and contained a treadmill, some kind of arm exerciser (why? Was it free?), bike and dumbbells. Also some kind of metal display thing that seems to just be there for storage?!? Breakfast was buffet and decent. The usual suspects. Nothing outstanding, but it hit the spot. Warm and friendly service at breakfast and in the bar though, which made the whole experience better. So, if you get a good rate it's an adequate hotel, but I felt like I wanted to drag them through it and point out all the areas where they're failing...which isn't quite a resounding endorsement!
Apr 21st, 2023

Apr 11th, 2023

Apr 8th, 2023

Extremely outdated, you can hear a lot of noise from other rooms, AC not working. The only upside was the service staff. Rooms: Poor noise isolation. You could hear noise from the bar and other rooms constantly moving furniture around. AC was not working, and neither would I be brave enough to use it given how much dust there was in the grill.
Apr 6th, 2023