Holiday Inn Milton Keynes - East M1, Jct. 14

I contacted customer services more than a week ago and still haven't heard back. We stayed in room 14 at Holiday Inn, Milton Keynes East on Saturday 25th October for the Fawlty Towers themed weekend, booked by my partner. The package included Afternoon Tea, but the whole visit left us feeling like we'd actually checked into Fawlty Towers. The tea room was cold because the heating wasn't working. Staff brought in oil filled electric heaters, but there weren't many people on hand, and we waited a long time for hot drinks and food while they were still setting up. On the way there, we also had to step over large pipes running into what looked like a boiler room. Our room was cold too. The radiator stayed cold when I turned up its thermostat. Reception said two other rooms had reported the same problem and there was no maintenance staff or housekeeping available. They said they'd try to find an electric heater. We went to our friends in room 2 while we waited, since their radiator wasn't working either and they had a heater. When we returned, there still wasn't one in our room, so we got changed for the dinner disco in the cold. The events room had warmed up a bit by then, fortunately. Around midnight, there was still no heater in our room. Dinner itself was very good, but the soup came with a dessert spoon instead of a soup spoon, and I had to ask for condiments. At breakfast there was only one staff member at first, then another arrived later. Fried eggs, bacon and mushrooms were running low. We were told a kitchen gas problem meant a 40 minute wait to replenish them. They came sooner, but it was still about 15+ minutes. We weren't impressed.

On several stays at Holiday Inn Milton Keynes East M1 Jct 14, we've found the staff, including the kitchen team, consistently kind, welcoming and polite. Himali Ali at reception and the rest of the team have made each visit feel warm and dependable. They even helped get a coat I'd forgotten back to me without any hassle, going well out of their way. Thanks for always doing that little extra for guests. We're looking forward to coming back soon 😁🙌🏻

The heating was out across the hotel, staff told me, and none of the rooms I was moved to was any warmer. My first room also had a large brown water damage stain on the ceiling, and I found small curly hairs on the duvet. The rooms need a complete overhaul and were dirty. After raising the heating problem with maintenance and reception, I was offered yet another room, colder still. I ended up leaving for somewhere else. Be careful booking here, it's an awful place.

The place looks good and was in a handy spot for what I needed, but service was 0/10. At 6:30pm on a Saturday night in a "full" hotel, the bar was covered by one person part-time. They'd work for 10 minutes, then vanish for 20. Neither of the two rooms I booked had working air conditioning. There was an error message on the control panel, and the hotel said nobody could check it until Monday and there were no other rooms. One room was supposed to be a twin with two single beds, but we got a double. I had supplied my car registration, yet still received a £100 parking "invoice". I raised all of this in the post booking survey and asked for a call back, but nobody rang. I then escalated it to IHG. They tried to help and said a senior manager at the hotel would call within 48 hours, weekends included, but that call never came. That person also needs to cancel the parking notice. As I write this, I'm on the phone to IHG again, waiting 25 minutes while they try to find this "senior manager".