Best Western Plough & Harrow Hotel

Carly and Tom have made each of my business stays really special. They’re both lovely and went out of their way for me. Whenever work brings me to Birmingham from Somerset, I’d happily stay here again. Great employees, service and food. I wouldn’t choose anywhere else.

It was very quiet while I was there in mid March. I saw only about five other guests. The room was spacious, but the hotel controls the heating, so adjusting the temperature yourself could be awkward. It’s in a good spot near the city centre. Breakfast was a nice full English, and the car park next door is spacious, though it charges a daily rate. Bullring is about a 30 minute walk away, the botanical gardens around 10 minutes, and there’s a cinema nearby, roughly 5-10 minutes on foot.

I had a good stay at the hotel, but afterwards I needed a receipt for work expenses and got no reply. I phoned three times and emailed three times. Still nothing. I can’t work out why, and I won’t make my original review more negative just because of this. The room was sparkling clean and fresh smelling, with a new, comfortable bed and great shower pressure. It’s a peaceful, quiet location, about a 40 minute walk from the Bullring, with a Morrisons and a pizza place on the same street nearby. You can’t adjust the room temperature yourself, only reception can, but the receptionist was friendly and getting more heat wasn’t a problem. Parking was £15 a day if you didn’t book through the hotel website, so I felt stung when I arrived. I hadn’t noticed the next door car park at £7 a day when I drove in, though I think the hotel car park is probably safer.

The evening was going well until the neighbours got back and started banging the door, playing loud music and talking loudly. We called reception to ask if they could get them to quiet down, but it didn’t help. Even after they fell asleep, his loud snoring kept us awake. I won’t book a room with an adjoining door again. What should have been a lovely day followed by a relaxing drive home turned into something quite different.