Hilton Warwick

I spend a lot of my time in hotels with work, and generally I pick the nearest Hilton to where I need to be, mostly for ease of booking and so I can collect Hilton HHonour Points, with the hope of finally getting something for free.

Generally they are fine. They're not the cheapest hotel on the market, but they are generally very easy to book online or on the phone I have very few problems, except if you book on one and modify by the other, I don't think the two systems talk to each other very well. They normally have some form of offer on too, so you rarely pay the full £150 per room per night price. A standard double with few thrills is about £100 a throw.

The Warwick Hilton is a low flat building just of the M42, easily found (it's a hard left just after you come off the round about - watch it - I nearly rolled the car there once), and is a bog standard Hilton with a newly refreshing restaurant. The staff are friendly and I've never had any problems, but compared to some of the newer Hilton's (Gateshead for example) it is looking a little sad and tired. The Phone in my room doesn't work properly, and the bathroom could do with a good refurbish, but for the purposes of sleeping and going into the office in the morning, it is fine.

I ate in the restaurant this evening, and the food took an age to appear. Our group ordered a Hilton Burger, a fish and chips and a Chicken Cesar Salad. They took about 45 minutes to come, and the salad was distinctly "chicken light". Apparently the fish and the burger were fine, though they are pretty difficult to mess up.

All in all, it's perfectly functional, but it is very much a working hotel, with the majority of people looking like single blokes in the IT industry, and the odd couple who are probably heading to the airport in the morning for an early flight. There's a pool, but I've not ventured into it yet.

Two things worth noting however. Firstly - if you need a taxi in the morning then book one the night before, because they are booked solid with the school run in the mornings. Secondly - there is an amazingly portly security guard who patrols round the building and grounds in the evening. He can normally be found asleep at the benches which overlook the car park, and more power to him!