Holiday Inn - the niu, Hop Forchheim by IHG

The rooms were nice, and Tracey at reception was a gem. Breakfast might have been good, but there were no plates or cups, and apparently the entire French nation had arrived at once for petit dejeuner! We'd paid for breakfast, but went next door to a very nice cafe instead.

Terrible is the right word. I arrived late and was apparently told there was no space in the car park. Someone from the staff sent me to park nearby, then let the next guest park at the hotel. At reception I had to wait with my bags while a few drunk guests were served beers and sweet bars. I've never had such an unwelcoming reception at any Holiday inn site, and I'm a gold member of IHG, so I've seen a lot of them. Forget hearing words like welcome or thanks for staying with us again.

The room we got on arrival had dirty sheets and felt unclean. We waited a long time at reception for another room, while several other guests were complaining about similar problems. The only room available for us was on the ground floor. Its windows barely opened, so there was little fresh air, and the air conditioning wasn't working properly either. We'd also looked forward to using the advertised Chromecast feature to stream to the TV, but it wasn't available. Staff said they'd need to check with headquarters, and no solution came. Reception wasn't very helpful or proactive, and it often felt as if our concerns were brushed aside. Noise was another issue. We could hear loud party music late at night and even early in the morning, and sound isolation was very poor. Church bells were clear from 6 AM, then rang every half hour. All in all, we can't recommend this hotel based on our experience.

Checking in was scary. Two older ladies with colored hair yelled at us, and the treatment felt rough. We were assigned a ground floor room close to the bar, with lots of noise and smoking. There seemed to be many empty rooms, but we weren't given one higher up. We asked for an underground parking space and were told it was full, though I saw so many empty car spaces down there. Avoid at all costs.