A single room at the Holiday Inn
Holiday Inn is a chain of budget hotels found in many countries across the world. However, why it is regarded as a budget hotel is beyond me. A single, one-occupant room at the Holiday Inn in Sutton, Surrey costs over £200 per night. But I’m getting ahead of myself here.
The Holiday Inn, Sutton, Surrey is located about an hour’s drive from Heathrow airport as well as from Central London. The first thing I noticed about the hotel was the staircase leading to the reception. My heart sank the minute I saw the stairs but I bravely started trying to lug my heavy suitcase up them in the hope that a porter would come help once they saw me. None turned up and that was when I realised that when they say Holiday Inn is a budget hotel, they mean it. They don’t have porters.
Inside the single room at the Holiday Inn
Checking in at the Holiday Inn was easy but ordering food was not. I spent a few nights there and it became routine for me to call the restaurant or room service, listen to the phone ring and ring then call reception to tell them what I wanted. After a while, I just called reception whenever I wanted something. While the room was clean and an okay size, the bathroom though also clean, was rather small. The thing that shocked me most about the room was that it didn’t have a fridge. Even the smallest hotels in Lagos have fridges. I once stayed in a hotel in Senegal that didn’t have a fridge but the staff were so friendly, the food so nice and the activities available so much fun that I quickly forgot about the absent fridge. The food at the Holiday Inn was okay, nothing to write home about though portions were generous.
On the plus side, the Holiday Inn was close to the Sutton High Street. The shopping available on the High Street wasn’t very good and I learnt that many people go to bigger towns close by or even Central London to get serious shopping done. Having said that, if you just want to buy a top or have a coffee or something, then the Sutton High Street will do.
Overall, the Holiday Inn, Sutton wasn’t one of my favourite places to stay but if you need to be in Sutton and want to be close to the High Street, it may be the hotel for you.
Address: Holiday Inn, Gibson Road, Sutton, Surrey SM1 2RF
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