Hampton by Hilton Birmingham Broad Street is Hilton's more "budget" hotel chain, offering free breakfast and a cheap rate of £47.20 I decided to give this hotel a chance, especially with no Hilton or Doubletree elsewhere in the city which for the UK's so-called "second city" this was a surprise. (We all know the real second city is Manchester). The price is generally quite cheap but based on the quality the times it reaches £97 is just bonkers, even £47.20 appeared to be bonkers for what is arguably my worst hotel stay since 2017, also at a Hampton.
I just couldn't sleep for three reasons: comfort, noise, light - the bed was far too uncomfortable and the pillows were too small and comforter too thin made it worse, it ended up hurting my legs just being on it, the fact the corridor light seemed to go through the door also made it bright, and external and internal noises into the night past 3 am (sounded like a faint buzzing) to a loud vibrating noise at 4 am which lasted around 30 seconds and happened every couple of minutes, this combined to make a chaotic hotel hell - to make matters worse the hotel didn't seem to care that it was noisy, when I phoned down they seemed tired, like I'd woken them - they just didn't care.
Even the carpet felt rough, it looked like they hadn't softened it since they found it in the '80s
Other internal noises, which were at times so loud it felt like I was in the room myself (including shower noises), which led to a really loud construction/razor sound alongside a series of external fireworks after 01:30 outside the hotel - on a Sunday night in July with no festival? - Breaking UK law!
The hotel is out of the way location-wise towards the end of Broad Street in Westside, around a 10-15 minute walk away from New Street, however this seems to be common for many Birmingham hotels of which seem to be nearby, including the Hyatt and Hotel Indigo, which looked much nicer, to say the least, and I could see them from my hotel, other nearby hotels include Crowne Plaza, Hilton Garden Inn and a few more.
Going into the hotel felt like going into a cheap nightclub up a few steps or perhaps the worst entrance is the disabled entrance - operating the lift is like morse code, there is a key you need to use and then holding down a button for a good 10-15 seconds before it even starts moving, there is a sign of how to use it however in case it isn't working you have to phone the hotel but on the sign it doesn't state the number for the hotel, so works on the presumption the guest has not just a phone but one which can connect to mobile data/the internet to find the number for the hotel and then phone them from there - luckily I did but having to ask staff multiple times for assistance due to the lift being such an old, horrible mobility lift was awkward especially later on that day where I had to shout over around 50 people trying to check-in at once. The hotel was swamped and didn't seem like they could cope. Surely adding a phone to contact reception next to it, in event of something going wrong (which judging by the two members of staff who "fixed" it seems to happen regularly)
The main lifts weren't any better there were too many lifts which were too spaced out, you'd literally have to follow the sound and hope you're quick enough to catch one- this makes no sense surely? Surely adding fewer lifts which aren't through A DOOR would make more sense?
The hotel is one of the taller hotels in the area, which isn't surprising considering it is 17 floors - I originally checked in via the Hhonors app to a room on the 17th floor because I like good views and requested a higher-floor room, so I was a little disappointed to be placed on the 6th floor.
My room was basic: they could only provide a bucket of ice in lieu of a fridge. The view was also good, however, looking over multiple houses & hotels, the latter actually made it depressing looking over on some rather nice hotels, the view was probably the only good thing about the hotel. Even the phone in the hotel didn't work (the wires were missing?), even when it was fixed the hotel rarely answered. Even my digital key didn't work until I had to go back onto my app to request one, rather than being done automatically as the norm.
The bathroom was perhaps even more basic, with hard towels, no shower curtain & not enough TP! The chair at the desk seemed a little old, dirty and far from comfortable - is it from a skip? The uncomfortable bed/pillows & thin toilet paper topped it off.
The hotel seems to be closer to Faulty Towers than relaxing luxury you'd expect from a Hilton, judging with room sizes on par with London, I can't help think "Fuck Hhonors, I'm off to the Hyatt."
The price makes no difference here, a hotel with 0 sleep quality is like a football team without players, £1 or £1000 for a night, a hotel must deliver a good night's sleep. read more