Ramada

Far from the promise of a luxury stay in Birmingham, this drab, and grotty hotel is in dire need of an overhaul.
The entrance, and foyer to the hotel is nice enough. As a first impression of a three star hotel in one of Birmingham’s hottest postcodes, it’s ok. There is a Starbucks in the foyer, so the smell of coffee helps I guess.
The two lifts are tiny. Good luck if you need to get a wheelchair, suitcase, and more one other person in there.
The hallways are dirty, and very run down. There are tea stains on the walls, as well as worn paintwork on the skirting boards, and door frames. In addition to this, there are areas of carpet, which have been repaired with the use of gaffer tape. An interior design move that I’ve not seen since a visit to a (ahem) charming hostel over a decade ago.
When we went inside the hotel room with its canal side views, we had hoped that there would be some comforts… some pleasant surprises perhaps. Well reader, we were left wanting.
Dirty marks on the walls from floor to ceiling, plenty of mould decorating the shower, and unidentified strains on the carpets, and pillows. Also, a not so healthy addition of dust on the desk fan provided in lieu of air conditioning, and also in the corners of the room. All creating that peaceful, haven for a night away from home. Or not.
Just to run salt to the wound, the bed was uncomfortable, and moved about across the floor on its wheels with any slight turn. The only good thing was that the sheets were clean.

I come to Birmingham quite regularly. Each time I stay I like to stay in a fairly decent hotel close to the city centre. I got a room for 3 at Ramada over Pride weekend for a great price, so considering it was at the swanky mailbox I thought it was a steal!
Unfortunately the entrance is stupidly difficult to find. We spent ages driving around trying to find it (3 people that know birmingham really well as well as a sat nav!) once we had a managed to park it was really unclear how to get to the Ramada, and we somehow ended up in Mal Maison (another hotel in the mailbox) another friend that came to meet us at the hotel also made the same mistake.
I wasn’t greatly impressed with the size of the room, it was essentially a double room with a sofa bed in it. It was fine as we had no intention of spending pride weekend in our hotel room, but still — we have stayed in other hotels for a similar price that were far better. The room was also pretty drab, but adequate I guess.
I’d stay here again if I got the room at a good price, but not unless I had exhausted all other options first.

The entrance to the Ramada is difficult to find… and it’s really not worth the effort. The reception area smells of food blowing through the building from the brasserie. The team on reception were fine, but as a converted non-​smoker I didn’t appreciate being given a smoking room without being asked. Changing to a non-​smoking room allowed me see that both were «mediocre».
The cheapest and most uncomfortable mattress I have ever slept on can be found in this hotel. I even considered sleeping on the floor.
The rooms do not have a bath athough the shower is a fine. The furniture is drab. There isn’t a wardrobe in the room; instead there are a couple of rails which are a nightmare to hang a suit on (the trouser-​press was appriciated). No air-​conditioning, but weirdly both rooms had an electric fan sitting on the floor, why would I need this in December?
I ate in the hotel brasserie. The food was fresh and tasty; the only redeeming feature of my stay.
The MailBox (where this Ramada is) gives great access to Birmingham’s picturesque canal network by foot. It also features another hotel which is much better than this one.