Apollo Hotel Birmingham

Well, I stayed a night at the Quality Hotel, dump that it was, and came to the Apollo Hotel for my second night. It was nice relative to the previous hotel - our room was pretty large (Hagley Suite for £50 per night inc breakfast) and the bathroom was modern and recently refurbished.

The bar was a bit expensive but the reception decor was nice and we got to watch the FA Cup semi-final in comfort, which was good!

The bedroom decor wasn't fantastic and the remote control only worked if you got out of bed and walked right up to the TV! But it was a million times better than the Quality Hotel and that is a hotel that is truly stuck in a time warp/era of neglect.

I would recommend the Apollo for a weekend hotel - it is right next to TGI Fridays and Ask restaurants, however, it is quite a distance from the city centre.

The room was clean and comfortable, but no mini bar. The place was well heated, and secure. Situated on a busy major route out of Birmingham so rather noisy, and not particularly convenient for a single woman travelling on business.

To call the place a hotel is somewhat exaggerated it is really a motel.

The taxi service is quick and efficient but you need to take into account the rush hour traffic if you are going to get to your destination on time.

The staff are helpful but some showed little knowledge of the dinner menu.

Pretty grim! I haven't seen a room like this for a long time. To sum up - very tatty furnishings (old green nylon carpet, chipped melamine, peeling wallpaper etc), no curtains in bathroom, no shower, mismatched taps, shaver point not working, no remote for tv, cracked mismatched cups, freezing cold when we arrived (heating switched off), no heating in bathroom (control removed), gruesome strip lights (not all working). On a positive note, the bed was quite comfy and the directions to the hotel were first rate, but not enough to tempt me back again (by a long way!).

Stayed there six times July-August 2005 - chose the hotel first because close to where I was working, and went back because it was cheap and cheerful (booked via Laterooms for 35pounds inc breakfast). Some rooms seem very tired, others recently but cheaply decorated. One room had a non-working light in bathroom, another had feeble shower. Staff were helpful with solving problems. Breakfast was OK but not gourmet (good enough for me, anyway). Close to TGI Fridays, Ask (nice chain Italian) and a Chef & Brewer pub with good fish&chips. Sometimes noisy (especially if you get a room on Hagley Road - but OK if you can get a room at the back, and ask for a room above the ground floor).

We had a most unpleasant stay at this hotel.

The rooms themselves are separate form the main hotel recpetion and are designed like flats. I instantly felt uneasy as anyone can walk off the Hagley Road and roam around freely outside the rooms or peer through the windows.

Our room was like stepping back in a time warp. Old carpet and furniture, 1960's style bathroom with chipped tiles and ancient bath. The whole room had a dowdy and dismal apperance and was very dark, even in the middle of the afternoon. It also smelt 'fusty'

But perhaps the worst part of our stay was the fact that we were woken in the middle of the night by someone trying to get into our room. I have never been so frightenend in my life. My boyfriend actually had to lean against the door to prevent them from getting in. I called security, but by the time they had arrived the person/persons had gone and were nowhere in sight. Needless to say we did not sleep for the rest of the night.

We complained to the girl on recpetion the following day, who treated us ast hough we were making a fuss over nothing. We asked for a reduction on our bill and she sighed and said there was no one to authorise it. When we became insistent, she reluctantly agreed to give us £12 off.

I would not recommend this hotel to anyone and will certianly not be staying there again.

I never really felt safe in this hotel. The rooms are in seperate blocks away from reception and on several occaisons I found the main security door to the bedroom block propped open. The blocks are right beside a very busy main road and I was fearful of someone walking in off the street.

I also ate in their restuarant one night but would recommend giving it a miss and trying one of several restuarants within walking distance on Hagley Road.

I stayed in this hotel for one night with friends in October 2004. The hotel is a fair distance from the city centre but there is a bus route, which runs at regular intervals to and from the centre (takes about 10-20 minutes).

The reception area/bar/restaurant is nice and the staff was very pleasant. As for the rooms well they where not: the back lights on the bed where old cracked and broken, the carpet was very worn and old. The room was also very dark. The hotel appeared as though it has been redesigned from council flats which may sound bad but it looked ok. There was very low security on my section of the hotel as any one could walk off the street and straight up to the front of my door/window. The best thing about the room was the bathroom, which was very new and clean.

From visiting my friends rooms it seemed as though I had picked the short straw because I was amazed by the difference. At one time though we did see and flea and it landed in a drink, which shocked us all.

I would only stay here for one night; maybe I picked a room that hadn't been fully refurbished yet(?)

We stayed at this hotel in August, 2004, and found the rooms to be very clean and in excellent condition. Excellent value for the price. The staff are friendly and very helpful. I requested a non-smoking room on the quiet side of the hotel, not on ground level. I was given just that! Full English breakfast was included and was well prepared. Fine location for visiting B'ham U.

My daughter and I arrived very late at the hotel. It was 11:45pm and we should have been there before 10pm. There was a problem with the computer system and so we were not able to have a room key that night but they promised that one would be ready for the morning. We were taken to our room which was clean and tidy and also had things like tea/coffee, wash gear, trouser press etc. The beds were quite firm and for us would have been better if a little softer or perhaps abit more padding. In the morning, as promised, we were given our room key. Breakast was great, food well cooked and hot!! We needed a cab so that was organized for us. We were made to feel welcome. Altogether a successful stay. We will stay there again.

As a base to use for only sleeping OK, no aircon, no room service, some niceish restaurants close by and a short Taxi ride from the city centre. The rooms are very basic, the beds not very comfortable and super hot in the summer.