Holiday Inn Express Taunton East, an IHG Hotel

The room was spacious. The beds were comfy. We only stayed a night. The bathroom was clean, and the shower was good.

When I checked in, the lady who was at the reception desk was emphasising about booking through Booking.com. I asked about late check-out, and she said that's not available for bookings made through Booking.com. She wasn't friendly, and after a tiring day, I wasn't expecting to be treated that way because I used Booking.com. The room was very cold despite the AC temperature set to 25. I have not heard this in any of my previous bookings made through Booking.com. I have booked rooms in Europe, USA and India.

Our room was ready when we arrived an hour early which was amazing as we only called in on the off chance as both boys needed the toilet!

The staff at breakfast did everything they could to avoid eye contact. I was alone with two young children so it would have been really helpful for someone to help me carry the high chair to our table/open it etc as I was holding my 1 year old and struggled a fair bit! Another guest helped me while staff busied themselves polishing the sausage container lid! Also dinner didn't start until 5.30 which is quite late for my children so we tried the harvester nextdoor who didn't have a table until 8.30pm which meant we ended up in the nearest Macdonald's. We would have preferred to have stayed at the hotel for a proper meal if it had been available.

Location was good for me, excellent price. Staff friendly and welcoming. Very good selection at breakfast, hot and cold choices, soya milk provided without having to ask. Clean comfortable beds. Nice clean fluffy towels. Well lit large free car park.

The room and bathroom were very clean, however the carpet under the beds needed a good vacuum. Before anyone says why was I looking under the bed, I dropped something which rolled under the bed, it was very dusty and a boiled sweet stuck to the carpet. I couldn't work the heating but that was probably down to me but there was an electric heater in the room which was perfectly adequate.

THE HOTEL WAS IN A GREAT LOCATION JUST OFF THE MOTORWAY BUT QUIET, PLENTY OF PARKING, ROOM WAS EXCEPTIONALLY CLEAN AND TIDY, BATHROM THE SAME, GREAT SHOWER. GOOD OVERALL FACILITIES INCLUDING TEA AND COFFEE, DOWN STAIRS A SITTING AREA AND SMALL BAR WERE YOU COULD GET A DRINK, BREAKFAST WAS GOOD, SELF SERVICE BUT IT WAS KEPT CLEAN AND PLENTY OF FOOD ALWAYS BEING TOP UP AND IT WAS FRESH, CHOICE OF CONTINENTAL OR ENGLISH, STAFF FRIENDLY. HAD A HARVESTER RESTURANT THAT SERVED GOOD FOOD NEAR BY BUT OTHER VENUES AS WELL THAT YOU COULD DRIVE TO, ONLY A FEW MINUTES FROM THE TOWN CENTER. WOULD STAY HERE AGAIN AS OVERALL GOOD HOTEL

COULD DO WITH A BIGGER BED AND PREHAPS SOME FRUIT TEAS IN THE ROOM AS NOT EVERYONE DRINKS TEA AND COFFEE,

The welcome staff for checking in was very friendly and easy to talk to, the hotel was very smart and up to date with technology. The room we had booked was very spacious, clean and comfortable and the hotel was not far from the city center.

Figuring out the light system was a bit difficult at first and we were not aware that you had to swipe your door key to get back into the hotel late at night. There wasn't any staff at the front desk at that time and the only member, that was there to help happened to be smoking outside and wasn't very professional in the way he spoke.

The breakfast selection was excellent and exceedingly tasty. Having a Harvester next door within walking distance was excellent. The staff were very polite and always available if needed. The reception seating area was nice. It was near the motorway. There was free parking on site. You could buy 'eats' in the foyer. You could replenish your coffee and tea supplies.

There were no shops or train station within walking distance. The road layout nearby was very busy. There was no bath in the bathroom. There was no evening meal at the hotel due to a broken freezer. There was no scrambled egg for breakfast on the second day. There was no whole milk at breakfast. There were no sealed packets of gluten free food available.

The room was good ,the beds were comfortable.The breakfast was excellent.Plenty of choice and the scrambled eggs were perfect.The staff were very pleasant and helpful.We enjoyed our overnight stay which we us3d as a half way stop to our holiday.

Whilst the self service breakfast was excellent as it was in a narrow aisled room with similar narrow entrance and exit spaces there was a one way system in place with arrows on the floor to donate the direction of travel.We noticed it but many others didn’t or didn’t want to and hence those that went the “wrong” way were an accident waiting to happen.Better signage at eye level would go a long way to prevent that,however I appreciate you cannot account for those that don’t want to cooperate.

Nice you could get out of hours goodies but the prices of confectionary and soft drinks selection were extortionate..

Breakfast would have been lovely if it had been hot, to say it was cold would be unfair but i dont understand how the bacon which had just been put in the serving tray (hotplate) was barely warm, all breakfast items were below the minimum 75 degree temperature that it should be held at on the hotplate and the only dinner plates that were not cold were those that had just come out the dishwasher. Coffee was hot tho..

The room was nice and clean. The bed was comfy. Pillows were comfortable. I really liked that you could help yourself to more tea/coffee/milk sachets in the lobby for the rooms. I've never seen this before. I thought this was really good. Our bedroom window wouldn't close but the staff member came in straight away and showed us how to close it. The hotel is not near a main road so it was quiet. There's a garage close by with a subway. Everything worked in the room.

Breakfast was a little basic. It's buffet style and the sausages were cold. It was good enough though for the money. The dining room is too small so if you don't go early you won't get a table. Then you're asked to have breakfast in your room.

Panic booking due to bus strike, didn't expect much, got there, bags in room, out to restaurant next door, packed out, back to holiday Inn, asked where can l get a meal please, oh said the lovely lady we do food here, what a relief, lovely meal, nothing fancy but did the job, the room was fully equipped as top London hotel, no robes, very comfortable bed room heated quickly, big telly, full cooked breakfast included, paid £66, believe it. Will definitely be using Holiday Inn again.

Nothing not to like.