When I was visiting my favorite musical Rock of Ages in Sunderland (including a great Empire Theatre tour), the Newcastle Great Northern run took quite some hotel capacities. Thus, I had to go for a car rental with Hertz and a hotel stay rather outside of the city. Washington is a city South of Newcastle upon Tyne and West of Sunderland. The location felt very handy, so that I went for the Holiday Inn at that place. Here is my review.
Holiday Inn Washington – Location
If you are around by car, the Holiday Inn Washington actually comes with a really nice location. The A1 motorway including a motorway exit are very close to the hotel. Thus, it is not that surprising that there are other hotels around, even though the area is rather commercial. There are also some restaurants, other than the ones driven by the hotels. However, there are no public transport options around.
Holiday Inn Washington – Room
I reserved a premium room for two nights in September 2022, Friday to Sunday. The prepaid (i.e. non-refundable) rate was 234.25 GBP. Due to the major sports event, the hotel did not offer flexible rates at that time. The hotel did make a rather traditional (i.e. user for a longer while) impression – and so did the room here and there with some marks of usage. But overall, the room was really nice and had quite a lot of space for a Holiday Inn room. I loved to have the small welcome greeting in the room as well as the limited filled minibar, which is free to use in the Premium category. It was also refilled after the first day. The tablet with coffee and tea making items was very nice as well.
The bathtub bathroom was in line with the design of the room: clean, a bit of old-fashioned, but very functional. Regarding my needs, the room was a perfect fit, indeed.
Holiday Inn Washington – Breakfast
The breakfast has been served in the restaurant right next to the lobby. The selection of items was good and overall matched typical English breakfast expectations. Some stuff like cereals did even exceed my expectations. However, the breakfast staff was a bit of rude and crossed my walking route to and from the buffet several times – which I feel is not a too kind behavior.
Holiday Inn Washington – Service
The staff was very welcoming. I had no issues with the WiFi. The hotel also drives a “Mini Gym”, which I could locate, but did not manage to open the door, so that there are no pictures. The parking space is huge and there is even an additional entrance if you park at the rear part of the building.
Holiday Inn Washington – My View
Even though the place felt a bit used here and there, I had a really nice stay at the Holiday Inn Washington. Especially if you are on a road trip, the IHG Hotel is a really good option. The location close to the motorway is really handy and the service is overall good.
IHG Hotels
Here are all my postings related to IHG Hotels:
Newcastle / Tyne & Wear on Flyctory.com
Here are all my postings about Newcastle and the Tyne and Wear Metropolitan Area: