Holiday Inn Winchester, An Ihg

Massive room, food reasonable, service good Rooms: 5 Service: 5 Location: 4 Hotel highlights: Great value

Good standards from most staff. Most need at least some customer service training, a smile seems to be not known about. Sarcasm seems to be freely available without extra charge. Rooms: Heating in the room seemed to but set at cold, adjustable to **** cold. Nearby activities: Local science and planetarium are a must. Winchester 10 minutes away. Food drinks: It's was very tasty but bordering on expensive. Break fast looked good but mostly dry and tasteless. Many items of food and drink not labelled and butter nowhere to be found near the bread, toast etc. Oh, I found the butter on the other side of the food hall in the sausage and bacon section. Large quantities of flavoured tea and only 1 tea bag left of normal breakfast tea, still rather pointless trying to getting a cup of tea or coffee due to the cups being on a high shelf, out of reach of me and most others that wanted a drink. Plenty of shot-glass size glasses for the water and gravy, or was it prune juice, no labels. Noteworthy details: Lots of staff wasting time either doing nothing or not using common sense whilst doing most tasks.

Spent the night here after using a meeting room for the day. Rooms are spacious, staff are friendly and the restaurant food is very good. My only issue is with the IHG welcome amenity. I asked for the voucher as opposed to the bonus points but when I asked, at the bar, if it included a snack. I was told no, yet three weeks earlier, it had. After checking the IHG app, it confirms I should. Disappointing. Rooms: 5

Hotel highlights: Luxury, Great view, Quiet, Great value, High-tech

Stayed here for one night to make use of the adjoining spa. For context, I arrived on a Sunday afternoon so it was fairly quiet. First impressions upon walking up to and into the hotel were great. The entrance felt quite grand, and the lobby you walk into was visually full of life, colour, and great design. I was greeted by a friendly receptionist who checked me in. This hotel doesn’t use self-check in, as it is still using key cards at the time of writing this review. Saying that, it was quick and easy and I was swiftly directed to my room. My room was OK. I got a fairly reduced rate as I was staying on a less popular day. However, if I was paying full rate that was advertised at reception I would probably have been slightly disappointed at that price. There were two, what looked like, red wine stains on the carpet at the entrance of the room’s door, and the surface of the unit that contained the kettle was damaged. However, I was greeted by a hand written note so that was a nice touch. My first impressions walking in the room weren’t initially great, but neither of these issues affected me or my stay directly as they were just cosmetic issues but I wanted to mention them in the review. The bathroom was squeaky clean. In the evening, after my spa treatment, I had dinner in the onsite restaurant. It was delicious. I can highly recommend the lamb shank, and I would like to send some compliments to the chef. It was prime dinner time, but that didn’t seem to be an issue as I was seated immediately and received fast and efficient service from the restaurant bar team the whole time I was there. I headed back to my room with a drink to relax after dinner. After waking up after a restful night of sleep and a comfy medium-firm bed, I had breakfast in my room. This was another great experience. All of my breakfast preferences were catered for, and nothing was missed from the list. They arrived promptly at my specified time, and the person delivering it was very friendly and professional. I would have no hesitations to return to this hotel in the future. Thank you! Food drinks: Delicious food and great selection. Lots of variation to keep everyone happy!