Holiday Inn Strasbourg - Nord, An Ihg Hotel

“Perfectly good for a short stay.”

We chose this as a drivers stop on route to the Austrian alps from the UK. It was fine. The welcome was very good in the reception. Stayed with 2 children, and had to open up the sofa bed which was not ready when we are arrived at the room. The decoration was looking a little tired and dark, but... more

We chose this as a drivers stop on route to the Austrian alps from the UK. It was fine. The welcome was very good in the reception. Stayed with 2 children, and had to open up the sofa bed which was not ready when we are arrived at the room. The decoration was looking a little tired and dark, but it was clean and comfortable. The breakfast buffet was very good. We stopped on Good Friday with most things around us closed. We have since stayed in central Strasbourg on our return journey and I would highly recommend getting the bus into the town to eat, lots of wonderful food options available in Petite France that were not around the hotel. There is, however, a very local supermarket which has a petrol station, Intermarché.

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“Mulled wine and energy sobriety - a good hotel for visiting the Strasbourg Christmas markets.”

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Strasbourg Nord in order to visit the famous Strasbourg Christmas markets. We chose this hotel mainly because it is not in the town centre, it is in a business park in the suburbs, just off the autoroute. This is because we had guessed that getting into a town centre ... more

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Strasbourg Nord in order to visit the famous Strasbourg Christmas markets. We chose this hotel mainly because it is not in the town centre, it is in a business park in the suburbs, just off the autoroute. This is because we had guessed that getting into a town centre hotel by car and finding somewhere to park would not be easy in the Christmas period, and this proved to be totally correct - when we travelled in to the town centre on the bus later on, the main interchanges were gridlocked. There is a bus stop about 50m from the hotel. It runs very frequently, and gets you into the town centre very easily – bypassing all the traffic because it has its own dedicated lane. You can buy a 24 hour unlimited pass for about 4 euros. The town of Strasbourg is a textbook example of how to do public transport right. We arrived straight off the autoroute, parked easily in the hotel car park, and were welcomed with free Christmas drinks at the bar. If you like mulled wine then you will like Strasbourg in December! It’s everywhere. The room was spacious, with a large comfortable bed, and a view over some lakes on the edge of the business park. However after about 20 minutes in the room we started to feel weirdly cold. Despite fiddling with the heater controls it was impossible to get warmer than 18C, and we suspected the actual temperature was colder (it was near-freezing outside). Next morning on the way to breakfast I noticed a sign in a corner of the lobby mentioning (in French only) a policy of “energy sobriety”. Basically they had turned the heating off to reduce energy consumption. We were impressed with this gesture, we didn’t mind being a degree or two colder in the room. However on our second night it was so cold that they had to bring up an electric heater and a second duvet, which rather defeated the purpose. “Energy sobriety” also explained the weirdly dark bar at the front of the hotel, where you were dimly aware of other people sat at tables but you had to wait a few minutes for your eyes to adjust to the darkness to avoid tripping over them. Again, once we got used to it, it actually created a very pleasant ambiance. The barman attempted to ply me with more mulled wine, but when I refused he turned out to be very knowledgeable on some of the local Alsace beers so I tried them instead. Breakfast was exactly as expected, a good choice of hot eggs and bacon, and a diverse range of continental meats, cheeses, breads, patisseries. Thankfully no mulled wine. A quick shout-out also to the restaurant. It’s not actually a Holiday Inn restaurant, presumably the owners lease the space. We had dinner there one evening after having exhausted ourselves walking around Strasbourg all day. It was not busy (whereas all the restaurants in town were un-bookable). My burger was however one of the best I’ve ever had and Maureen declared her "well done" steak au poivre was perfectly cooked - to English standards. In summary we are bound to go back to Strasbourg, it’s a great city, and when we do we will certainly go back to the Holiday Inn. The “energy sobriety” is probably a good idea, they just need to fine-tune it a bit. The location is perfect, all the benefits of a city-centre hotel with none of the hassle.

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“Outstanding breakfast buffet”

Well... I booked a room with a view of the lake... but I got a room on the 1st floor and could only see the trees between us and the lake... I am not a friend of the sliding glass door just in front of the bed (instead at the side), so if one of us needs to see the bathroom and turn on the light,... more

Well... I booked a room with a view of the lake... but I got a room on the 1st floor and could only see the trees between us and the lake... I am not a friend of the sliding glass door just in front of the bed (instead at the side), so if one of us needs to see the bathroom and turn on the light, the entire room is bright. The following day, I could eat for free as a Diamond Member. I was first disappointed as the buffet area appeared very small to me. However, I discovered they used a limited space to present the food in such a considerable variation and decoration. They filled up quickly so that you never felt something was missing. Therefore you could go at any time. And felt welcome to continue to eat.

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“Work on points.”

Stayed for 1N whilst visiting Strasbourg, and it was perfectly fine for this purpose. The room was ok, however it was unclear how the heater/air conditioning system in the room was supposed to work. I don't consider myself to be a dunce - but without the aid of instructions I was mystified. Tha... more

Stayed for 1N whilst visiting Strasbourg, and it was perfectly fine for this purpose. The room was ok, however it was unclear how the heater/air conditioning system in the room was supposed to work. I don't consider myself to be a dunce - but without the aid of instructions I was mystified. That said, the room didn't appear to be cold during my stay...so maybe the heater was doing it's mysterious job! If all the rooms have the same confusing panel, maybe some instructions to guests next to the panel would be useful. The hot water in the shower was a little variable - it fluctuated between hot and verging on tepid as I was using it. Either way it was far from perfect. Finally, the matter of the deposit was not handled quite as smoothly as I would like. 150 euros was "per-charged" to my card as a deposit on arrival, and this then showed as "pending" on my card for about 30 days. I kept checking this every few days, as I was concerned it, and eventually after the 30 days the transaction disappeared, presumably when it came to the point where my card issuer voids it automatically. This process was a bit aggravating while I was monitoring the transaction for changes - however no harm done in the end. But overall, it isn't an ideal arrangement.

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