Detailed review by sue51
sue51
Swansea, United Kingdom98%
The Novotel outlets belongs to the French chain, Accor, who are also credited with bringing us, among others, Sofitel (Luxury), Mercure, Ibis, (Budget) and Formule 1 (Ultra budget). Like most reputable hotel chains, rooms can be booked on-line, and this hotel offers an internet rate of £45 per room per night at weekends, during the week you are looking at the slightly more costly price of £72. The rack rate during our last stay was £90 per room.
If booking on the Accor website, your on-line booking confirmation does not make it explicit whether the rate includes breakfast, however, in keeping with all Novotels, the room and caterings rates are completely separate.
BOOKING
If booking directly on-line with Novotel, you will need to register with their website and will receive a confirmation e-mail outlining your requirements, your booking reference and cancellation policy, typically 4pm on the day of arrival. Although with the arrival of special offers it may be worth checking as more and more chains are extending the cancellation periods.
Score 9/10 (because they dont make the situation regards breakfast clear)
LOCATION
If you want a hotel in the hub of this vibrant city then this is not for you. If you want a reasonably priced hotel situated on the edge of the Midlands motorway network selling reasonably priced drinks and wide-screen TV in the bar then you wont go far wrong. Situated about 2 minutes off junction 3 of the M6, 7km from Coventry centre and 12km from Nuneaton, it is close to the NEC and Birmingham International Airport,. You will also be able to get to Coventry airport with a relatively straight run now that Thomson Fly have started commercial flights there.
There is large amount of free parking at the hotel and strategically situated CCTV cameras all around. This is mainly an industrial area with a small amount of housing so you are unlikely to face any problems.
RECEPTION & CHECK-IN
The desk is arrived at through sets of automatic glass doors. Reception is a large area alongside an open-plan bar and seating area, there is also a pool table (£1 a game) with one not good quality cue and plenty of chalk provided.
Check in was prompt requiring my personal details, car registration number and a customary swipe of the credit card. We were advised that breakfast was not included in the rate, but was chargeable, per person, at £9.95 for each one taken.
THE ROOM
I gather that some of the rooms may well have been refurbished in this outlet, and we had a notice advising us that we would soon be staying in the lap of luxury. The hotel is set on three floors, on our second stay, we had a ground floor room, and the last time an upper floor. I was glad to see the smoking rooms were situated at the end of the corridors. You would however be forgiven for thinking the corridors resembled something you could see in a horror movie and continued for about 100 yards or more.
The room itself was, as expected en-suite with a bath/shower and sink with vanity mirror. The toilet is separate and sheltered from the rest of the room by a door with a small hall area housing an open-plan cupboard area. There was a double bed (sheets rather than quilt) and a single bed-settee and I believe that children under 16 sharing a parents room stay and eat breakfast for free.
The room has Tea / Coffee making facilities, telephone, a TV with limited Sky channels (mainly news offerings and a Sky Plus demonstration), 2 chairs and a large MFI type workbench area. The walls were pure white and a woodchip type paper. There were a few modern bedside and table lamps with a mixed white/dark-brown shade, this combined with the fact there was no central ceiling light meant that despite the clinical whiteness of the room, the light quality was appalling.
Early morning calls could be booked through reception and also programmed through the alarm facility on the TV. Newspapers were supplied daily (chargeable). However, the hotel has been having problems with them disappearing from outside peoples rooms, and therefore have now started keeping them at reception, although apparently this often fails as customers often leave without them. This is not an isolated problem and something I have faced in several outlets. What bemuses me is that if people can afford to meet the hotel charges, how can they be so tight that they wont put their hand in their pocket for a 40p newspaper?
There was no minibar and if I had one complaint about the room it would be the severe lack of electric points; there was one outside the toilet and one above the workbench this was in fact so poor that we found ourselves having to buy a 4 gang extension lead on the Saturday.
Internet access was typically through the telephone and I connected at the miraculously slow speed of 28.8K. Reception couldnt give me any clear indication of costs other than to say that it was about the same as a phone box and cost 20p, they couldnt tell me whether this was per minute or unit. 5 minutes cost me around £1 cheap rate so I would gather this s 20p a minute, this is quite low for UK hotels, although Novotel Coventry has probably provided one of the worst connection speeds so far.
Score: 4/10, poor lighting, inadequate electric points and separate toilet - aaaagggh
FOOD
As I said at the start, I had been looking forward to staying here because of the range and quality of the breakfast. Sadly, I discovered that while the range of products hadnt changed too much, the quality and temperature (hot food) left a lot to be desired. I used to be a big fan of buffet breakfasts, but I am quickly moving to the opinion that freshly cooked, well prepared plated hot meals are usually of superior quality.
BREKKIE
There was an interesting range of
croissants and chocolate pastries,
cold meats and cheeses,
yogurts,
fresh fruit,
juices,
cereals,
eggs (scrambled or fried),
herb sausages,
bacon,
mushrooms,
beans,
tomatoes,
cold fried potatoes,
black pudding
All washed down by tea or coffee. Toast was a DIY job if you dared and there was French bread to cut to your own size and with butter and various jams and marmalades. This all sounds nice, but I found many of the plates and juice glasses to be grubby and the hot food was cold. Plus cutting your own French bread, you could be forgiven for wondering who might have been handling it before you.
OTHER MEALS
The hotel houses a reasonably priced restaurant with starters ranging from about £4 upwards and main courses from £8, compared to other hotels I have stayed at, the choice is broad and includes something for every budget including several pastas and sauces, steaks, burgers and combo meals. you can also take advantage of a reasonable bar menu in the restaurant.
There was also room service and I enjoyed a pasta carbonara, garlic bread, a piece of French bread and fries accompanied by ½ lager for £11.50, and it was tasty, piping hot and served with a smile.
The hotel has reasonable size public bar here and drinks were competitively priced, about £2.60 for a pint and around £5 for a double Gordons and Tonic. The bar was scheduled in all the brochures to shut at midnight, but according to the bar-staff would shut at whatever time all the customers left.
There was a small choice of burgers and sandwiches served from 11am in the bar.
ENTERTAINMENT FACILITIES
There is a large outdoor heated pool open from May to October, although having stayed here three times in March, I have not had the pleasure. There is also a small childrens play area containing a play station and various other games, with a sign clearly pointing out that adults ventured in at fear of great pain, i.e. they were banned.
OTHER POINTS OF INTEREST
I noticed from the tariff board that dogs are welcome at this outlet for an extra charge of £10 per night, this was quite interesting as Crufts was on at the NEC during both our second and third stays, and as the walls were not soundproofed, their presence was sporadically felt by neighbours.
IN SUMMARY
Most of the staff, except for reception, were young and French, with varying degrees of English fluency, although all were very friendly and professional.
I suppose we cant really complain, it wasnt brilliant or horrendous. It served a purpose and staff were friendly and helpful.
Novotel Coventry7
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