Etap Birmingham Centre, Birmingham

Advantages: cheap, clean, friendly staff
Disadvantages: quite a walk from town centre

...Etap Hotels are another budget hotel chain created by Accor, the creators of hotel giants Ibis. This 250 room complex is situtaed in the centre of Birmingham and all rooms cost £35, whether its a weekday or the weekend. But for this price, don't expect luxury acommodation, as luxury is probably the worst word to describe this hotel. The rooms are clean and modern and sleep up to 3 people. In most cases, this is either a double or twin beds with a single bunk on top - not very glamourous but good for the money. You do get a television (complete with an array of English and European channels), but I can't guarantee that you'll get coffee and tea making facilities, as some rooms seem to be missing these. There is also no hairdryer or anything like that, but you can get one if pay a £10 deposit at reception - you will get this returned to...

jdeacon_162 11.11.2006 (12.11.2006) · Read review
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Review of Etap Birmingham Centre, Birmingham

Botanical Birmingham

Advantages: Plenty to see, a relaxing escape from the city.
Disadvantages: Expensive for a one-off visit. Disappointing restaurant.

...botanists could see exotic plant varieties brought back from around the world. The gardens opened in 1832 to members of the Birmingham Botanical and Horticultural Society. During the later part of the nineteenth century, glasshouses were added, but the basic layout of the gardens remains still very much as Loudon planned. Arrival at the Gardens The Botanical Gardens are located in Westbourne Road, Edgbaston. This is to the south-west of the city centre, approximately 1.5 miles away. The gardens are well signposted from the ring-road, with brown tourist attraction signs. If you are approaching the gardens by car along the main Westbourne Road, be aware that the entrance is immediately left after a set of traffic lights. It's very easy to miss the entrance when driving, which means you then have to go back round the block as this...

JoannaPiano 31.10.2008 (02.11.2008) · Read review
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Review of Birmingham Botanical Gardens

Cheap and cheerful

Advantages: Cheap, clean, easy to book
Disadvantages: Basic, few car parking spaces

...clean and for £35 for a night what more can you want? Any other items such as shampoo, shower caps and toothbrushes are available from reception for £1. Location: The hotel describes itself as ?Birmingham Centre? but it took us about 15 minutes to walk to the NIA. It?s not exactly a salubrious area and it looks like it is undergoing a major regeneration. The street opposite the hotel has a couple of restaurants, neither of which looked remotely inviting! We felt safe walking back at midnight and there are plenty of taxis around if you don?t. The service: The staff were all dressed in white shirts and seemed friendly and helpful. Breakfast: Breakfast is served downstairs for an extra £2.95 per guest and consists of juice, pastries and hot drinks. We were up to late and missed breakfast! Checking out: Check out was very simple...

Katieshaz 22.04.2007 · Read review
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Review of Etap Birmingham Centre, Birmingham

Birmingham International Airport - 2008

Advantages: Big enough to get the destinations, small enough to care
Disadvantages: Complex road system to get there

...life I suppose. Other than that, I'm very happy with Birmingham. If it's in an area that's good for you, why not have a look at the airport website - www.bhx.com - where you can find out more about the airlines that use the airport as well as information about trains from the nearby Birmingham International Station. Unfortunately I can't tell you anything about that as I've never been. One final point to make would be to point out that Birmingham airport is only a few minutes walk from the NEC (National Exhibition Centre) which is an important venue for concerts, sports events and trade show....

koshkha 11.02.2008 · Read review
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Review of Birmingham (BHX)

Birmingham National Sealife Centre

Advantages: Interesting, factual and a great one for the kids!
Disadvantages: None in particular

...Having been to the Sealife Centre a couple of times when I was younger and living at home, I found this to be an extremely interesting attraction. Now I have my own 7 month old daughter, I decided to take her to the centre at Birmingham when we were visiting family for a week. The price was very reasonable, £14.95 per adult and free for our little one as she is under 3. We wondered round for a good 2.5 hours, looking at a number of different fish, all in tanks with bright colours. It is very well designed to keep the attention of young children, even as young as 7 months. There is a feely pool for children who are able to get close to the creatures, including sea anemones and crabs. There is also a seahorse breeding facility at this particular centre, which provides and interesting look at these sea creatures. You can also see giant...

halawin123 07.02.2008 (06.02.2008) · Read review
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Review of The National Sealife Centre

Area 51

Advantages: Nice graphics
Disadvantages: boring weapons, weak voice

...Area 51 The age-old conspiracy theories that revolve around the once secret research facility of Area51 have spawned ideas for almost of contemplation and study. Area51 the computer game by Midway games features Ethan Cole a hazardous materials (HAMAT) division soldier who has been sent in with his team to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a previous investigation team sent into the quarantined facility. The base seems to be under attack by an alien virus that infects any population with in its vicinity and turns them into flesh eating zombies. Apparently the aliens are in league with a secret organization known as the illuminati who are benefiting from the human and alien collaboration for unknown reasons. The story revolves around several US military conspiracies which are revealed through classified documents e...

spider3 17.08.2009 · Read review
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Review of Area-51 (PS2)

The Centre MK

Advantages: Vast range of stores
Disadvantages: Some duplicate stores

...and with the accessory stores I just think they do superb job having such a wide selection for people to choose from. Banking ------------ They do have banking around the place and these are just the basic banks like HSBC, RBS, Abbey, Nationwide, Barclays, Halifax and more. So there is a big range of banks there and you can withdraw cash from these places, or do the normal banking you would expect to be doing in a local town centre. I think they are well scattered throughout the centre they are not close together and it means that you're not walking around and finding one area with no stores but just banks. Very nice idea and it works really well. I think the best banking store they have might be the HSBC bank as this is a huge bank they have outside in Midsummer Place. Audio and Visual ----------------------- They do have an audio and visual section...

tink-er-bell 25.11.2009 · Read review
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Review of MK Shopping Centre (Milton Keynes)

A bridge too far in Birmingham

Advantages: Now unique in the UK - the only representative of the Hyatt
Disadvantages: Very average compared against the standards of this chain

...take advantage of additional services. These facilities include a Club Room where a complementary breakfast, canapés and drinks are served; a supply of newspapers, a quiet reading room and a separate concierge service. THE HOTEL The hotel prides itself on bringing ?that celebrated Hyatt Touch? to the city. It is a modern 24 storey tower block built on Broad Street which is just outside the pedestrianised city centre. It has 319 rooms and suites. The main entrance is from Bridge Street where there is an adjacent taxi rank. This is presided over by the bell captain and his staff. The revolving and swing doors lead into the main atrium area. This is a two storey open plan space with columns holding up the peripheral mezzanine level which is reached by a sweeping staircase. The general décor is cream and beige. Over-reaching the whole...

Newfloridian 14.09.2003 · Read review
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Review of Hyatt Regency, Birmingham

A cheap fun day out

Advantages: A brilliant kiddies day out, really cheap
Disadvantages: Layout can be disorientating

...I remember going to the Nature Centre with my mum and dad when I was about 5 so I know its been there for at least 20 years and I'd say its been there MUCH longer than that. I hadn't been for about 10 years and then one day we were trying to think of something to amuse the kids and we ended up at the Nature Centre. Its a smallish looking place on the Pershore Road in Edgbaston right opposite the Pebble Mill studios. From Birmingham City Centre you can catch either the 45 or the 47 from Corporation Street and these both drop you outside the door. Or you can catch the 61, 62 or 63 from Corporation Street (next stop up from the 45 and 47) and walk from Bristol Road past the Pebble Mill studio - its a nice little 5 minute walk and last time we saw Fern Britton coming out of Pebble Mill! If you're travelling in the car drive down...

Fruity_Tart 06.01.2003 (09.05.2004) · Read review
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Review of Birmingham Nature Centre

Victoria Centre Nottingham

Advantages: -
Disadvantages: -

...Nottingham has two large shopping centres, the Broadmarsh Centre and the Victoria Centre, situated at opposite ends of the city centre .The Victoria Centre is the bigger of the two, containing 120 shops (not counting all the various stalls in the market area.) Getting there is easy - if you drive, there's parking for over 2700 cars . If you don't drive, don't worry - almost all the Nottingham City Transport buses stop either directly outside the Victoria Centre, or within a few minutes walk of it . Other bus companies from slightly further afield, such as Trent Barton , terminate at the local coach station within the centre . If you're walking, the centre is signposted from various points in the city centre, and at the end of the day when you're weighed down with shopping, there are 2 taxi ranks directly outside the main entrance...

Thehonesttruth 02.09.2009 · Read review
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Review of Victoria Centre, Nottingham