Holiday Inn Express Hemel Hempstead

We booked 2 rooms at this hotel, when temps were in the high 20's, one of our rooms had air cooling ours didn't, we reported this to the reception staff, who said they would try to move us (we had booked for 4 nights) but were then told that this wasn't possible and that the hotel wasn't advertised in having air cooling, even though they has advised us that some of the rooms had broken units! There were 3 fans in our room, with nowhere to put them, pointless. The carpets weee in need of a good clean too...Such a shame as the location is great, as was the breakfast each day. The Paper Mill pub just opposite was great, and the train station was just a 2 minute walk away for a 30 min trip into London.

We stayed here with our dog. The hotel is very clean and the amenities are great. Breakfast was lovely.They think of everything. The most important part - the staff… The staff are what makes this place so good. All super friendly and helpful. Our dog received a goodie bag on arrival and then a wonderful lady from reception cut her some sausages for breakfast. They all say hello cheerfully as they pass. I hope corporate read this and reward the staff. If the good ones like these are overlooked it could lose its current amazing standard. Photo of our dog.

Pros - Staff couldn't have been more helpful and friendly - 10/10. Nice location on the canal and free on site parking. Free decent breakfast too. Cons - the room was incredibly stuffy and hot (no air con just a very noisy fan) and windows hardly open so sleep was hard to come by. Also poor security - anyone can walk into the hotel and access the rooms (premier inn you have to swipe your card to enter the actual room bit of the hotel).