Holiday Inn Basingstoke, an IHG Hotel

The hotel was just 3 minutes from the M3 motorway and was very easy to locate. The hotel car park was very big at the front of the Hotel and at the back of the hotel has an overflow carpark with a back entrance into the hotel so room for everyone. Also at the back entrance you can shop in a small Co-op supermarket and a petrol station both open late at night. The hotel is only on 2 floors with around 90 rooms so is very quite at night. The hotel bar (we did not use it) is by the main entrance with plenty of seats to relax in. The breakfast room is again on the ground floor with seats for all in the Morning. Free newspapers at reception and in the Breakfast room. The room was a nice size with a large TV with freeview stations also a safe, iron and hair dryer are also in the room along with bathroom shampoo and soap.

The only problem was at breakfast time when many items on the menu where missing. Only 1 of the 3 fruit juice's listed on the menu where available. Croissants run out at 9.30 along with pancakes and the Coffee machine was out of order for around 15 minutes. Black pudding was also missing and the bread for toasting was so thin it just fell apart. The price was breakfast is £16.50p very over priced for the few items on offer. This was reported at checkout and the lady told us other people had complained about this, we await a reply from the Hotel manager ASAP.

Staff were most helpful and attentive to our our requests and needs. On our 2nd day we went for breakfast at 9:30 not realizing the breakfast service closes at that time. Despite our faux pas the chef went out of her way to cook my partner fresh eggs.

When the first piece of waster was put into the room bin, the plastic garbage inside the bin collapsed unto it. irritating. Having mobile connectivity issues, I tried the access the internet using the hotel PC in the lobby. It proved unsuccessful. The process was required many steps through a HOLIDAY INN Interlace and was too complicated !! I was not able to access the internet

The whole experience was first class.From our arrival,plenty of parking spaces,a warm welcome from front of house staff.I was so impressed that Francisca on reception could see that my friend had limited mobility and although we already had a ground floor room,moved us onto the first corridor to make it easier,something we both appreciated.the room was exceptionally clean,comfortable and welcoming.Breakfast was of a high standard with food replenished as necessary.All the staff including housekeeping were friendly and courteous and seemed to take pride in their jobs.Thank you for an excellent stay,and a special “muchissimo gracias”to Francisca.

To my mind it was all well done.

Comfortable and spacious room with plenty of hand rails round bath which were a great help to me as I have a bad back. Dinner was good. Food good at breakfast.

Short staffed at breakfast so had to wait for food. Coffee machine not working so had to wait for small coffee pot to be refilled. Plates were exceptionally hot - had to pick them up with folded serviette and could not put plate down on food counter as it was too narrow so had to put lids on other food trays to get food one handed. No teaspoons available for yoghurt pots, 2 found for all to share at Tea station.

The very convenient location for the M3, excellent buffet breakfast and very comfy bed. This was a same day booking made from Zurich when it was clear our plane would be delayed, and we didnt fancy doing the whole journey back to the West Country that night. It is actually only 45 mins from LHR T5 long stay.

Was surprised that room had no water "glasses" - not sure if this is based on a desire to cut down on plastic waste but, as someone who likes to sip water if I wake up, having to wash out a coffee mug was a bit annoying. Also, as I have observed before, the position of the shower/bath gel dispenser requires one to be a contortionist! As some of the bathroom generally looks a bit tired, can the next designer of an update get this detail right please!

Staff were very friendly and the restaurant food was great, small and cosy but not over populated :)

The only reason I gave and 9 and not 10 was because I think there should be some sort of vending machine, snacks or sandwiches to buy as there is no food anywhere late at night. We had gotten back from a wedding and I was starving, there was nowhere around to get food and the petrol station was also closed so just something on offer incase guests are hungry would of been fab.

A surprisingly lovely hotel. I say that because I don’t travel a lot and if I do I choose 4- or 5-star hotels. Having said that I have been in a fair number of hotels in my life and this is the best hotel I have ever been privileged enough to stay at. In fact, this was a stopover to a 4-star hotel in Poole. The 4-star hotel on retrospect had little to offer in comparison! Following my visit to Holiday Inn; I will never make that mistake again. The staff go above and beyond to make your stay comfortable – even heating milk on a cooker because the machine milk was not hot enough to my liking (I drink very hot milk with my coffee). Lovely rooms, spotless and very upmarket including a private safe in the room. Something I really needed which the 5-start hotel in Poole did not have. Modern big screen television, beautiful bedding with down pillows and not the usual knobby synthetics. Spacious bathroom mirrored on one entire wall. Crisp, lovely towelling. I had two meals there which were fantastic – 10/10 to the chief. Top notch on service and cleanliness. This is a perfect hotel even for long stays. I made a point on my way back to London to sleep over once again. It truly felt like home and I am generally a very fussy person, but this hotel is on the top of the list of best stays ever. Plus, it has a fully lit private car park with CCTV and you don’t have to pay £10 per night to park your car! Absolutely free. Overall, 5 stars without any doubt.

We arrived at the hotel having had our reservation for a large rented house in Basingstoke (booked months ago for a family wedding) cancelled by the owner 15 minutes before we arrived, so we were scrabbling to find 4 rooms over the Jubilee weekend. The staff were excellent, not only sorting us out with rooms for the weekend (despite already being busy with wedding parties on both days of our stay) but making room in the kitchen's fridge for our daughter's wedding cake which would have otherwise had to stay in the boot of the car overnight (and doubtless spoiled). In fact, we all commented on how friendly and helpful all of the staff were.

Nothing.

The staff was excellent. I arrived earlier than expected and I was able to check in right away. The lady at the desk was very helpful and answered all of my questions very well, and she was very friendly. Location was great. It is right beside a gas station that also has decent food, drink, and snack options. Taxi from the train was a very quick ride (so, it was inexpensive) walking to the mall (which has everything!! ) was only a 20-ish minute walk.

The bed felt cold and damp. It must have been from the humidity, but it made it not as comfortable as it could have been. A mini fridge would have been convenient to have as well. There was a space for it, but the space was empty.

Good location and quiet surroundings. The room was ample and the beds comfortable.

Breakfast: Do not like buffet style breakfast. Food can be under lights for how long? Food should be cooked fresh and to order. Several items on the evening menu were not available on either night due to supplier problems. Should not have happened with a chain of quality hotels. Staff were under some pressure and I felt understaffed. The meals that I did have were good and well presented and very enjoyable but I lacked choice.