Holiday Inn Express Peterborough by IHG

The hotel has a lot going for it: free parking, lovely staff, dog friendly rooms, and our room was spotlessly clean. They even gave us a doggy welcome pack when we arrived. The layout is a little unusual, with a medium sized car park out front and a larger one along the side. Take the right hand side road to reach it, because the other side, with parallel parking, is a dead end and you'll have to reverse all the way back. One other odd thing is the main entrance door. It's push and pull, not automatic. Holding a handle that's been touched by hundreds, maybe thousands, of people feels unhygienic to me. I put those doors in the same germ category as coins and petrol pumps. Still, don't let the doors put you off, this is a great hotel.

We stayed here for a trip to Wembley. The staff were so pleasant and couldn't do enough for us, and breakfast was fantastic. An Uber to the train station cost £5.60, then the train took 1 hour 20 minutes to London. Couldn't fault the stay, and we'll definitely be back!

The hotel itself was clean and lovely, and we'd stay again. The car park signs weren't much help, though. We arrived late with the front spaces all taken, and thought the road on the left led to the rear parking. It ended in a dead end, so we and another car had to reverse back down. Housekeeping was noisy around 8:30 or 9am, banging doors shut.

The double bed and sofa made for a room I couldn't fault, and the staff were excellent at check in, in the bar, and over breakfast. The Miller and Carter next to the hotel is handy if you don't fancy eating in. The dinner menu and beer prices were okay, as was the parking. There was no air conditioning, which would definitely be a problem in summer, though it was fine in December. Breakfast was the main thing I could fault: no mushrooms, black pudding, or fried or poached eggs, and the sausage and bacon were dry. I booked two days but cancelled the second because I like to wander and there wasn't much to do around the hotel.