Britannia Hotel Coventry — Hotel in Coventry

We stayed in this hotel for three nights as part of a coach trip. You know when you book a cheap coach trip, you’re gonna be in a budget hotel and you get what you pay for. My review reflects this. The Britannia is an ugly concrete high rise, very rundown and in need of major refurbishment which is such a shame because I’m sure the recent two years of scamdemic has really taken a toll on this hotel at a time when we get need the money most. From the outside it’s a shocker..my husband said prisoner cell block H had more curb appeal. A bit of industrial cleaning may help. Our check in was swift and the receptionist friendly and polite. ROOM - The room was very sad and dated but clean. We had a laugh at the decor which was a throwback to the 80s. Even watched a bit of Bullseye on 14” TV for some nostalgia. The bedding was fresh and the bathroom was clean. We overlooked a bus station and some wasteland and the warm weather meant opening windows, but the street noise is immense - but can’t complain, we are in the city centre.! Kettle, iron and ironing board supples. We found the bath/shower a bit useless as there are mixer taps you have to play around with to get the correct temperature. The bath was against the wall with no means to help get out or in. Shower curtain was useless and the floor got soaked every time. In the three nights we stayed nobody came into the room so you have to ask for more teabags/loo roll/towels if required.

FOOD - The breakfast was help yourself style with a reasonable selection of cereals, toast, fruit and English breakfast. The evening meal for our coach trip was three courses and there were choices for each course. We had an evening meal on two of the three nights, opting for one of the many local restaurants on 3rd night for a change of scenery. The food was on a budget and we opted for the home-made chefs meal - jerk chicken then chicken and ham pie which was very nice. (And the lovely chef is very generous with meat in his meals). Veg and roast potatoes however were ‘Iceland’ frozen and just reheated. Desserts also defrosted and were very watery. If you opt for whatever chef makes that day fresh you can’t go wrong. However like I say you get what you pay for and I bet the hotel gets a minuscule budget per person for catering.

AREA. Coventry is a dump. There’s no sugar coating this. Location wise - for a bit of context - the area at the front of the hotel is very rundown, very multicultural - we saw a couple of people being stopped by police so be vigilant. There were some dodgy people about and a lot of homeless/people begging. TIP - If you exit the hotel restaurant via the conservatory and walk straight up through university grounds you come to a lovely area near the cathedral with a whole host of bars and restaurants, which are definitely worth the effort. Two decent Wetherspoons nearby too if you’re on a budget. Hotel bar was £8.50 for their cheapest lager (Carlsberg) and their basic non brand house gin with lemonade. In Wetherspoons we got a premium ale and a double branded G/T for less. If you want somewhere better there’s The Botanist and Slug & Lettuce nearby too.

SUMMARY. If you see this hotel simply as a cheap base and somewhere to sleep, it will do you just fine. Worse than useless wifi, very basic rooms but overall if you want cheap, this is ok. I heard some people complain that all the staff were young and clueless, i would disagree. They are mostly young but the hotel probably pay minimum wage and take on students, but we did not have anything but friendly customer service...

The hotel was chosen by the Travel Company Coach trip that we travelled with for the 2 days. It is set right around the corner from the Coventry Cathedral in walking distance surrounded by concrete high rise buildings but close to many shops and Take Away eateries. As soon as you walk through the glass doors on the ground floor the reception desk and waiting sitting area is in full view, it has 3 lifts further down the hall. The lifts were big enough for 15 people each, basic nothing flashy, The rooms had card key unlocking system but looks like they might had been updated over what previously might have been key locks, The room looked clean and I did circulate a dust finger inspection and it passed. The room was in need of an update like everywhere in the hotel, the t.v was on a dated t.v stand and not big enough for the room, the dressing table lamp did not work but the lady on the desk did try to change the bulb but with no luck so she mentioned it would go into the maintenance log. The room had a double wardrobe with long mirrors which had an iron and ironing board, 2 each of pillows and blankets. The dated dresser had a side which I placed my mum's case on to use and in the draws was a hairdryer. There was a tea and coffee making set, I did not sleep very well on the 2 nights even though I was exhausted from the all day traveling on the coach, it felt like a medium to hard bed. The bathroom again was very dated but clean as you could make a worn out bathroom sweet, the shower leaked and again the lady tried to change it but the rubber seal needed changing as it still leaked, there was no soap in the dispenser for the shower. When we came back down to visit the dining room for our Breakfast and Evening meals the decor was very 1920's but again very worn and tired, as with everywhere there wasn't enough staff especially from the kitchen as food took up to 15 minutes to replace what food ran out and the counter work top was very burnt and outdated. The food was edible but not great and was served with plates that were hardly warm for the food. The staff were friendly but were rushing around bringing clean cutlery out like it was them who just washed them. The cups needed a severe bleaching as I found it very hard to find a cup that didn't have tea stains in them. The tables were cleaned and reset but noticed a member of staff wearing her outdoor jacket whilst cleaning away the table and tidying up. They did offer a 2 for 1 on drinks but this was very limited in selection and didn't even taste nice ( double vodka and coke, Malibu and coke) they didn't taste like what they were supposed to be. Overall the hotel needed money spending all areas to improve, BUT the staff were friendly and obliging, and helpful. Would I stay here again knowing this, maybe for 1 or 2...

When I arrived there was a security guard at the door and the first thing he said was 'Have you booked?' When I confirmed I had, he went inside and called for the receptionist to come out from wherever they were. The receptionist came out and and said exactly the same thing 'Have you booked?'. While I was being checked in the security guard stood a couple of feet away watching. Once checked in I went to the lift, on one side of the reception desk. While waiting, I turned around and again, found the security guard behind me, leaning on the lounge chairs, watching. The hotel itself is a bit old fashioned but the rooms have been updated, in the style of a Travel Lodge or Premiere Inn, so that was ok. However, I didn't have any shower get so had to go down to let them know. A little later a manager of sorts (she was in a suit) came up with a small water bottle half full of shower get. She was apologetic and said that was the only container they had. I asked her to transfer it to the gel dispenser, she didn't know how, probably one of the cleaners would know. Later I went for a wander outside, there seemed to be a few homeless people around and groups of scruffy looking men wandering about. As a single woman I did feel a little bit of trepidation. I slept well, as the bed was pretty comfortable. However, when I woke up the next morning I had a small bite on my arm and a couple of small bites on the top part of my chest. While taking a shower, I thought I heard a noise, then suddenly heard someone actually coming into the room! I had to yell that the room was occupied. It turned out to be a member of staff bringing more shower gel, which I explained from the bathroom that they'd done already. What shocked me was they way she just walked into my hotel room without making sure it was ok to do so. On checking out, the receptionist just took my key card; she didn't ask for my name or room number, which made me wonder if was I the only person who had booked in. On speaking to my work colleagues later, they mentioned that they thought hotel was probably used as a hostel or for temporary accommodation by the council, which made a bit of sense, as I had seen a group of people sitting in the lounge area when I arrived and the same group were in exactly the same seats when I checked out, like you do when you're familiar or comfortable with a place. Personally, I won't be booking this hotel again, apart from everything else, the bites were enough and could only mean one...