The Crowne Plaza Birmingham NEC hotel located close to Birmingham airport, offers a convenient and easily accessible location if you are flying out from Birmingham airport.
This is our review of the Crowne Plaza Birmingham NEC.
With an early morning start to catch our flight to Barcelona with Jet 2 City Breaks from Birmingham, we decided to stay at the Crowne Plaza Birmingham NEC and it’s a great option for those with early morning flights.
We had seen this hotel during a previous visit to the NEC last year and liked its lakeside setting and being in the perfect location for visiting the BP Pulse arena, the NEC or the Resorts World shopping and dining complex, so we were really keen to try this hotel out – especially as it had been a while since we were last at a Crowne Plaza.
What’s it like?
You might think it’s a strange combination staying at the NEC Birmingham when we were flying out from Birmingham airport, but with limited onsite hotels at the airport (the only options are the Novotel, IBIS and the Hilton Garden Inn) the Crowne Plaza Birmingham NEC is a good option, especially given its close proximity to the airport which was just a 10 minute drive away.
What was even better was that the hotel offers park, stay and go packages in its secure on-site car park for 200 cars which meant us not having to worry about finding a car parking space in the early hours of the morning at the airport before our flight.
As you enter the hotel, the smart lobby area made for a great first impression which leads through to the stylish Lobbyist Lounge bar and a spiral staircase leading down to the hotels Pendigo restaurant.
It looked as though this area had been recently modernised and I loved its contemporary fixtures and furnishings and the large windows that provided great views out over the lake.
From the moment we arrived, we were welcomed by friendly and attentive staff who really went above and beyond to meet our needs. Whether it was arranging transportation to the airport or ensuring that we had everything we would need for a comfortable stay, the hotel’s staff were a credit to the Crowne Plaza brand.
Check in was fast and friendly, and we were settling down into our spacious family interconnecting rooms within a few minutes of arrival – which is just what we needed after a long travel day. Although there were many conference attendees using the hotel, it very much had a family friendly feel – the girls in particular were made to feel like little VIPs from the moment they checked in to the moment they left.
Our Family Interconnecting Rooms
There are nearly 250 rooms here including standard rooms, larger family rooms with a sofa bed and suites to their premium rooms which is what we reserved for our stay here. We stayed in a premium king and twin interconnecting rooms, which are worth the extra cost as they have been recently refurbished. I find that interconnecting rooms are perfect for families, providing the extra space we all require and the children don’t have to sleep on sofa beds.
I liked the modern and contemporary look and feel to our rooms which were tastefully decorated and spotlessly clean and featured comfortable king-sized and twin beds with soft linens, black-out blinds and good noise insulation so we all had a sound night’s sleep.
Of course the rooms come with the types of amenities one would expect from a hotel of this calibre – a Nespresso coffee machine, two bottles of water, as well as a safe, fridge and air conditioning. Plus, a large smart TV in each of our rooms for streaming the kids favourite Netflix shows and high speed wifi.
There was also a spacious work desk and plenty of plug and USB B and C sockets in each of our rooms to ensure that all of our gadgets could get charged before our flight the next day.
One surprise that we had when opening the door to our room was the warm welcome awaiting us inside, the girls in particular loved their Halloween chocolates and drinks and our welcome platter with drinks was another really memorable start to our travels.
Our rooms had lakeside views and toward the large resorts world shopping and entertainment complex, which was the perfect place to do some last minute shopping at the outlet mall here before our flight.
The two bathrooms were clean and functional and I did like the artwork with references to Birmingham on one of the walls. Whilst my preference is a walk-in shower, the shower over bath in our room was powerful enough for a refreshing shower, and was well stocked with premium amenities. Another bonus of booking the premium rooms here is that that they also come with added extras such as fluffy robes and slippers.
Food & Drink
Because of its great location, there are so many restaurants to choose from literally next door at Resorts World. These choices included Nando’s and Zizzi to Miller and Carter and Las Iguanas, but after a long travel day we made a reservation at the Lobbyist Lounge Bar, one of the two dining options here at the hotel.
This was a really popular choice as the restaurant was busy on a Saturday evening which I thought was a good sign given the amount of alternative options on your doorstep and we were not disappointed with our decision.
We had a lovely table by the floor to ceiling windows with views out toward the lake as we relaxed with drinks before enjoying our meals here.
There’s a decent selection of “classic” mains, including gammon steaks, butter chicken curry and crispy battered fillets of cod and chips to lighter bites to choose from. Prices were reasonable for a 4 star hotel and our dinner experience was excellent with very attentive staff. The drinks choices are extensive, something for everyone including an on-site Starbucks for hot drinks.
We skipped starters and went straight for mains. I chose a club sandwich whilst my husband selected the gammon steak and chips, both of which were delicious. The girls went for margherita pizza and classic fish & chips.
We shared two desserts between us – the warm apple pie and the honeycomb cheesecake – which were as good as they looked.
Breakfast at the Crowne Plaza is held at their Pendigo restaurant but given our early start we missed breakfast so we opted for breakfast in the No1 lounge at the airport after check in.
Where is it?
Just a stone’s throw from the dining and shopping at Resorts World, BP Pulse arena and Birmingham NEC. The hotel’s close vicinity to the airport makes the hotel a great choice. We would typically use the airport official meet and greet parking but as the Crowne Plaza NEC had its own 200 space car park we decided to park there on their park and fly package which was so convenient.
Although it’s not technically an airport hotel, it sits just on the outskirts of the airport and was only a 10 minute drive away. We made use of the Jet2 twilight check-in service at the airport that is open the night before a flight between 4:30 and 9pm and drove to the premium set down car park which is located across the road from the terminal.
I would highly recommend this service for an early morning flight as it meant that we could avoid the stress of rushing to check in early in the morning whilst also avoiding the large queues of people checking in for their flights. The morning of our flight, with our car in the car park of the hotel, we prebooked a taxi with the hotel to get to the airport which cost £15.00.
Alternatively, you could catch the free monorail train from the train station at the NEC which takes you into the airport terminal. We took this option we returned back into Birmingham and it was only a 10-15 minute walk back to the hotel to get back to our car.
Overall and is it family friendly?
Definitely, from the moment we arrived, the whole family was taken care of. The level of service received during our stay was exceptional and this high level of customer service is a credit to the hotel management because it really does make a difference to your stay.
If you are looking for an airport hotel to stay at when flying from Birmingham, you won’t be disappointed with the Crowne Plaza Birmingham NEC.
It’s proximity to the airport makes it ideal for travellers jetting off on early morning departures, and their park and stay packages are really good value and often cheaper than booking your hotel stay and parking separately. We highly recommend it – but go for the premium level rooms, they are definitely worth it.
Ready to book?
Prices at the Crowne Plaza Birmingham NEC start from a very reasonable £133 for a park, stay and go stay with 4 days parking when booking direct at the hotel.