June 7th, 2009
With a 50th birthday Hog Roast booked into our social diary for Saturday, we found ourselves staying a night at the Holiday Inn Luton South on London Road in St Albans, Saturday evening.
We arrived around 1pm to a hotel that seemed deserted of customers. Checking in was quick and straight forward and after we’d dropped our bags into our room, we headed down to the bar for a coffee and a bite to eat.
The coffee was good and the shared platter for two served up in the bar was OK. Lots of fried bits to pick from. Not healthy but did the job.
Later that evening we returned from the birthday party around 8.30pm and briefly contemplated hitting the on site leisure centre, but instead settled for a hot bath and a bit of TV. We weren’t that hungry having being well fed at the party so never got round to trying room service.
The bed was comfortable, but Paul would have preferred it slightly harder. The air conditioning was brilliant. Normally in hotels we have stayed at lately, the air conditioning hardly works, but in this hotel, it was fully functioning. We chose between heat and cooling and both worked exceptionally well.
Another common complaint I have in hotels is that the showers are often very poor. The Holiday Inn Luton South is an exception. The shower was powerful and just what was needed to wake us up in the morning before heading down to breakfast.
Speaking about breakfast. It was very good. The food had been freshly cooked and was presented well. The coffee was good and hot. The only complaint we had was that the restaurant was full of little old dears with sharp elbows and no manners. Even the odd ‘excuse me’ as we tried to make our way around the restaurant was met with blank looks and Nil response. The hotel (which I know of old, having stayed here many times when I worked in Hemel Hempstead) caters for business people during the week, but judging by the fellow customers today, caters for large coach parties at weekends.
All in all though, we fitted in well with the old dears (we can muster sharp elbows when necessary) and had a very pleasant stay. The service was friendly and the overall cleanliness of the rooms and public areas was good.
At £51 for the double room which included breakfast for two, it was also exceptional value indeed.
Pryordurkin rating 4 stars.
Posted in Accomodation