**Disappointing stay despite lovely staff and a great gym**
Unfortunately, my stay at Village Hotel Birmingham was disappointing from start to finish, although I do want to say that the staff were genuinely lovely and the gym was excellent.
After a very long drive, all I wanted was a quick power nap before enjoying the hotel facilities. Unfortunately, there was incredibly loud building work taking place directly above my room. The constant banging and drilling made it impossible to relax. When I went downstairs to speak to reception, they weren't even aware that any building work was happening, which I found quite surprising. Surely guests should be informed if disruptive work is taking place?
I decided to escape the noise and use the gym and pool facilities instead. The gym was fantastic – clean, welcoming, well-equipped and a really pleasant environment.
Unfortunately, the pool and spa facilities were a completely different story. The main Jacuzzi was out of order, the smaller Jacuzzis were cold, and the sauna was so overcrowded that I couldn't use it. I managed a short visit to the steam room, which was fine, but that was about it.
What really put me off, however, was the cleanliness of the changing rooms. There were signs everywhere warning people not to use razors around the pool, which initially struck me as rather bizarre. However, after entering the changing rooms, I began to understand why! There were fake nails, toenail clippings and used plasters scattered across the floor. To make matters worse, I actually witnessed a woman using an electric shaver to shave her legs in the changing area. It was honestly disgusting. I felt so uncomfortable with the hygiene standards that I got dressed and returned to my room to shower rather than use the facilities.
I ordered room service that evening, and I will say the food was really lovely. However, it took almost an hour for my food and drinks to arrive, which was longer than I would have expected.
There were also several frustrations with the room itself. The coffee machine had no clear instructions, and despite several attempts, I couldn't get it to work. Around three hours after I'd finished showering, the shower suddenly turned itself on and started gushing water! It gave me quite a fright, especially as it continued for some time before eventually stopping on its own. I have no idea whether this was related to the maintenance work taking place, but it was certainly unsettling.
I was also disappointed that the television wasn't a smart TV, and there was no obvious way to connect my laptop to it via HDMI or cast anything from my devices. For a modern hotel, I would have expected better entertainment options, particularly when spending an evening alone in the room.
I do want to finish by saying that the staff I dealt with were absolutely lovely, particularly when I raised my concerns. They were friendly, approachable and helpful, and I certainly wouldn't want my review to reflect badly on them personally.
However, when you pay to stay in a hotel, you expect somewhere comfortable, clean and relaxing. Between the disruptive building work, the poor hygiene in the leisure facilities, the maintenance issues and the various inconveniences, I unfortunately left feeling that the overall experience fell well below expectations.
**A real shame, because the lovely staff, excellent gym and good food show that this hotel has plenty of potential, but the overall experience really let it down.**
