Review: the Holiday Inn Brent Cross hotel

This is my review of the Holiday Inn Brent Cross hotel in London.

Just in case you were getting the impression from my recent Middle East trip report that my life is one long Krug-sipping vacation (instead of one which involves writing 21 articles and reading 700 emails per week ……), let me introduce you to the joy of the Holiday Inn Brent Cross.

Being a night short of completing my IHG Accelerate target, I was looking for a London-based mattress run target.  The recent IHG flash sale proved the perfect opportunity, with rooms at the Holiday Inn Brent Cross being offered for £49 for a Monday night in December.  How could I refuse?

The Holiday Inn Brent Cross is directly across the road from the Brent Cross shopping centre.  Unfortunately, the road is more like a super-highway which is why the hotel runs a shuttle bus to take you there.

Because of its age, built at a time when these things were not seen as important, the shopping centre is not connected to Brent Cross underground station.  You can see the hotel clearly as you pull into Brent Cross station but there is a mini Spaghetti Junction separating you from it.

It is walkable.  There are some interesting sights on the way, such as the local residents who have chosen to keep their fridges and old mattresses in their gardens.

I wouldn’t say that the walk is dangerous, since there are footpaths in place, but I wouldn’t feel happy doing it at night because you could easily be hit by a driver who couldn’t see you.  It also isn’t a walk you want to do with luggage.  Luckily, there is a minicab office outside the station.  The hotel will also pick you up for free in their on-demand shuttle bus.

Joking aside, the welcome I got at the hotel was the warmest and most cheerful I have received at a hotel all year.  The guy on the front desk seemed genuinely pleased to see me.  Filled with the Christmas spirit, he gave me a free Jacobs Orange Club biscuit and let me have both welcome amenities (eg 500 IHG Rewards Club points and a free drink and snack from the bar).

The bedroom was what I expected from a Holiday Inn heading towards a refurbishment (the lobby has already had a full makeover):

and:

and

and (note lack of wardrobe, which is a bit odd for a Holiday Inn):

with a view that did not exactly inspire although could have been worse:

All in all, to round off this review, I would say that the Holiday Inn Brent Cross is a perfectly acceptable place to spend the night.  It is one of the cheaper IHG properties in London and, if you are driving from the north, it is easy to find and has plenty of – chargeable – parking.  The on-demand shuttle bus will run you to and from the underground (Northern Line) and the shopping centre so you won’t have any problems getting around.

What I do NOT recommend is redeeming IHG Rewards Club points here.  For 30,000 points per night, there are many better options in Central London.  You’d be crazy to stay here when, for example, the Holiday Inn Mayfair is just 35,000 points per night or the Indigo Earls Court is an identical 30,000 points.

You can find out more, and book the hotel for cash or points, on ihg.com here.

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IHG One Rewards update – April 2024:

Get bonus points: IHG One Rewards is offering 2,000 bonus points for every two cash nights you stay (not necessarily consecutive) between 1st April and 31st May 2024. You can read our full article here and you can register here.

New to IHG One Rewards?  Read our overview of IHG One Rewards here and our article on points expiry rules here. Our article on ‘What are IHG One Rewards points worth?’ is here.

Buy points: If you need additional IHG One Rewards points, you can buy them here.

Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from IHG and the other major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.