Holiday Inn Express Watford Junction

After arriving in England from Perth, Australia, we spent two nights here and were spoilt for choice at every meal. Everything we ate was delicious, and the amenities were fabulous. The staff were warm, friendly, and helpful, and the rooms had everything anyone could need and were very comfortable. We can’t recommend the Holiday Inn Express highly enough, and we’ll definitely return. Thank you.

The breakfast was lovely, and the rooms and service were top notch. It’s a fantastic spot for catching the Harry Potter bus. I also liked having screen mirroring on the TV so we could use our own TV apps. That helped my daughter relax so much. If you forget anything, they can provide quite a few items.

The buffet breakfast was decent, but the rest of our stay was awful. The room was freezing, and a horrible lingering smell wouldn’t go away. There was no working heating. We told reception, who said they’d look into it, but nothing happened. Instead they gave us a broken portable heater, so we slept in our coats and gloves to keep warm. After checking out, we emailed about the smell and lack of heat. Their reply said the room had new carpets and was “proper,” completely brushing off our complaints. Check-in was fairly quick, but everything went downhill as soon as we entered the room. It may seem tempting because it’s near watford junction train station, but if you want good service and a decent warm night’s sleep, avoid it.

The bathroom was grimy, with a shower head that was 50% black and a brown ring of grime around the sink tap. The beds were lumps and bumps, both the double and sofa bed, with the sofa bed even worse, and the pillows were awful too. I’ve no idea how old they were. We paid £151 and it wasn’t close to being worth it. I wish we’d stayed farther out for some comfort. We were on the sixth floor on a Saturday night, near Watford Junction, for a family visit to the Warner Brothers studio. Outside noise went on all night, as if the windows were single glazed. People shouted and talked loudly below, traffic went past, and cars with explosive exhausts added to it. Trains were so loud it felt like the window was open, especially freight trains, though it wasn’t. We were all exhausted in the morning. Easily one of the worst hotels I’ve stayed in.