In the last year or so I've become a bit of a convert to the IHG chain of hotels. A number of reasons really - but I find them to be good value and a bit more consistent than my previous chain of choice with Accor. Due to location of meetings though I stepped away from the usual Holiday Inn or Holiday Inn express and stayed in the Crowne Plaza in Basingstoke.
The hotel is situated just off a main road quite close to the city centre. As always I arrived quite late in the evening - so didn't really have time to explore the neighbourhood around the hotel. Parking was ample for the car and was free (which makes a change from a few of my recent stays!)
On first impressions the open and spacious foyer was modern, clean and had a touch of class about it. Not a tired class, but a class that showed it to be knowing it's target market well. A very simple and easy check-in process (I do love being a platinum card holder for this) and I went along the corridor to the room.
The room looks modern and was in a good standard of upkeep. The traditional toiletries in the bathroom plus some small items in the mini bar free of charge - which is always a welcome gift.
As I had managed to avoid food during the day the dinner in the restaurant was very welcome! A quick Pie (TS standard fair) and cider (again TS standard fair) was a reasonable £20 and was served quickly and efficiently.
