My wife saw a post on Facebook to say Village hotels had a deal on (January 2017), where you could book rooms for £25 with breakfast for 2 for an additional £5 or for an extra £10 you could have a club room, which included access to the leisure facilities, a bigger TV and a Tassimo machine in the room, with the option to also add breakfast for 2 for an additional £5. Well it didn’t take us long to start booking some long weekends away, with the first being Hull in March 2017.
A few weeks before our stay at Hull, I received an email suggesting I should download the Village hotels app (Itunes and Android), which I did and very easily and quickly added our bookings. I wasn't entirely sure what the app was for, along with the mention of checking in, it also mentioned getting your room key.
I won't go through the long boring speech about the first time we went through the check in process, but this is where the app comes in (bluetooth required to be switched on).
A few weeks before our stay at Hull, I received an email suggesting I should download the Village hotels app (Itunes and Android), which I did and very easily and quickly added our bookings. I wasn't entirely sure what the app was for, along with the mention of checking in, it also mentioned getting your room key.
I won't go through the long boring speech about the first time we went through the check in process, but this is where the app comes in (bluetooth required to be switched on).
1. Check in on the app
2. When at the hotel you should now see the slide option on the app "unlock your room" (see picture) 3. When at your room door, slide the unlock my door and you will see another screen of a door handle (see picture), with a countdown, now you have 10 seconds to put your phone next to the pad on the door and the door will unlock |
I can see the app could be handy if your arriving late, but which hotels don't have someone at reception 24/7 nowadays? I can also appreciate you don't have to carry a key card, but you do have to make sure your phone has enough charge in it and if like me you can end up being sent back to the car, if it’s your wife’s phone you sued, then it’ probably in the room and your knocking on the door asking her to let you in when she’s just got in the shower.
Personally, apart from having visibility of your upcoming bookings, I'm not sure the apps unique feature of being your room key makes it anymore worth having and If you don't have the app you can still use the self-service check in anyway.
Personally, apart from having visibility of your upcoming bookings, I'm not sure the apps unique feature of being your room key makes it anymore worth having and If you don't have the app you can still use the self-service check in anyway.
Cardiff – Stayed December 2017
Another stay in one of the Village hotels we'd booked early in 2017, with the first day travelling down via Gloucester for a bot of Christmas shopping, then McArthur Glen Designer outlet at Bridgend, with stop at Frankie & Benny's for food. The hotel is located just off the M4 at Coryton, about 20 minutes from Cardiff centre or we used the Cardiff East Park & Ride, which is 15 minutes from the hotel.
As previously we used the app to check in and unlock the room, (for some reason it never works on the first attempt though). Being a 2 night stay, we'd chosen the upgraded club room, so as with our previous stay at the Coventry village hotel, we had a lovely large room, large tv with Sky channels, Tassimo coffee machine and Dyson fan. Again a lovely modern room, love the striped wallpaper, especially in the bathroom.
Another stay in one of the Village hotels we'd booked early in 2017, with the first day travelling down via Gloucester for a bot of Christmas shopping, then McArthur Glen Designer outlet at Bridgend, with stop at Frankie & Benny's for food. The hotel is located just off the M4 at Coryton, about 20 minutes from Cardiff centre or we used the Cardiff East Park & Ride, which is 15 minutes from the hotel.
As previously we used the app to check in and unlock the room, (for some reason it never works on the first attempt though). Being a 2 night stay, we'd chosen the upgraded club room, so as with our previous stay at the Coventry village hotel, we had a lovely large room, large tv with Sky channels, Tassimo coffee machine and Dyson fan. Again a lovely modern room, love the striped wallpaper, especially in the bathroom.
Coventry – Stayed August 2017
The Coventry hotel is located west of Coventry town, not far from the A45 and Coventry Park and Ride, and is one of the larger we have stayed in, meaning it has a very large car park.
We’d booked a two-night stay and opted for the upgraded club room, which meant we were supposed to have a comfier bed, although we didn’t find it particularly any comfier, the large flat screen tv was a nice to have, which also included SKY hd channels, sports and movies, however when we did return to the hotel and put the tv on, we didn’t watch any movies. The club room also includes a Tassimo coffee machine, we did have to go ask for more tea pods and milk and I don’t think having it was of any real benefit over a standard kettle. The room also had a Dyson bladeless fan, which we really needed, as the room was very stuffy, even with the windows open. Village hotels are known for their gym and the club room gave us free use of the gym during our stay, which if we hadn’t had plans, we may have used.
The room was really nice, beautifully decorated, very modern and in comparison, to the room we had at our stay at the village hotel in Hull, it appeared to be an upgraded room, the shower was especially nice, with large cubicle, rain head and standard shower head, (albeit more prestige version) and very modern.
The Coventry hotel is located west of Coventry town, not far from the A45 and Coventry Park and Ride, and is one of the larger we have stayed in, meaning it has a very large car park.
We’d booked a two-night stay and opted for the upgraded club room, which meant we were supposed to have a comfier bed, although we didn’t find it particularly any comfier, the large flat screen tv was a nice to have, which also included SKY hd channels, sports and movies, however when we did return to the hotel and put the tv on, we didn’t watch any movies. The club room also includes a Tassimo coffee machine, we did have to go ask for more tea pods and milk and I don’t think having it was of any real benefit over a standard kettle. The room also had a Dyson bladeless fan, which we really needed, as the room was very stuffy, even with the windows open. Village hotels are known for their gym and the club room gave us free use of the gym during our stay, which if we hadn’t had plans, we may have used.
The room was really nice, beautifully decorated, very modern and in comparison, to the room we had at our stay at the village hotel in Hull, it appeared to be an upgraded room, the shower was especially nice, with large cubicle, rain head and standard shower head, (albeit more prestige version) and very modern.
Hull - Stayed March 2017
The hotel is located closer to Hessle than Hull town, just off the A63 in amongst all the car dealerships and is easy to find, although I had maps on my phone, once we come off the A63 my wife could see the hotel and just headed in that direction.
The hotel the reception area is very open and modern, the staff were friendly and helpful, showing us the self-service check in and explaining the app to me for the first time, so at our next stay we’ll be able to do I ourselves.
We’d been given room 308, which was just off the exit from the stairwell and the app worked perfect for unlocking the door. On entry, the first thing we noticed was the size and space, mainly due to the layout, with the bed at the furthest end of the room next to the window and having a sofa instead of having to sit up in bed was much better.
The bathroom was off the main area next to the wardrobe, also a very good size, with a very wide door, this also meant (couldn't test myself), but anyone in a wheelchair could easily get around. The shower was nice, hot and powerful, however the bath was either a little too narrow or curved in at the bottom too soon, as my feet were on the slopes of the bath sides. They'd also chosen to have a shower screen, which along with the hand rail (I appreciate the handle is a good safety feature) made it feel a little tight, whereas Premier Inn use a shower curtain with curved rail, providing a more spacious environment for showering.
Having a room so close to the stairwell became a bit of an issue, as the night went on it got very annoying as every time someone went through it, it banged, which actually sounded like our door and had we been staying more than the 1 night, we would have asked to switch rooms, we did report it to reception in the morning, however they said it was due to it being a fire door and was much heavier, I’m not convinced they couldn’t add some draught seal to soften it when it closed. The other issue we had during the night was the room was too warm and dry, I had to open the window, but it was a little windy, which caused it to whistle through the quite large gap around our room door.
Breakfast was really good value at the £5 we paid (normally £15), there was no split choices, if you pay for breakfast, it includes the hot buffet and continental options.
Overall, we enjoyed our stay, albeit for 1 night, the room was really nice and we look forward to staying at the other hotels we already have booked in 2017.
The hotel is located closer to Hessle than Hull town, just off the A63 in amongst all the car dealerships and is easy to find, although I had maps on my phone, once we come off the A63 my wife could see the hotel and just headed in that direction.
The hotel the reception area is very open and modern, the staff were friendly and helpful, showing us the self-service check in and explaining the app to me for the first time, so at our next stay we’ll be able to do I ourselves.
We’d been given room 308, which was just off the exit from the stairwell and the app worked perfect for unlocking the door. On entry, the first thing we noticed was the size and space, mainly due to the layout, with the bed at the furthest end of the room next to the window and having a sofa instead of having to sit up in bed was much better.
The bathroom was off the main area next to the wardrobe, also a very good size, with a very wide door, this also meant (couldn't test myself), but anyone in a wheelchair could easily get around. The shower was nice, hot and powerful, however the bath was either a little too narrow or curved in at the bottom too soon, as my feet were on the slopes of the bath sides. They'd also chosen to have a shower screen, which along with the hand rail (I appreciate the handle is a good safety feature) made it feel a little tight, whereas Premier Inn use a shower curtain with curved rail, providing a more spacious environment for showering.
Having a room so close to the stairwell became a bit of an issue, as the night went on it got very annoying as every time someone went through it, it banged, which actually sounded like our door and had we been staying more than the 1 night, we would have asked to switch rooms, we did report it to reception in the morning, however they said it was due to it being a fire door and was much heavier, I’m not convinced they couldn’t add some draught seal to soften it when it closed. The other issue we had during the night was the room was too warm and dry, I had to open the window, but it was a little windy, which caused it to whistle through the quite large gap around our room door.
Breakfast was really good value at the £5 we paid (normally £15), there was no split choices, if you pay for breakfast, it includes the hot buffet and continental options.
Overall, we enjoyed our stay, albeit for 1 night, the room was really nice and we look forward to staying at the other hotels we already have booked in 2017.