Hilton Birmingham Metropole

While I think the hotel was quite pleasant (nice but small rooms, cozy bed, great shower), this review is specifically about the small store within the hotel. I went to buy a US plug adapter in the little store, which is where the front desk told me to get one. Just my luck, the guy working there said they had only one left! It was opened but the guy said it was because he tested it. So I purchased it and went to try it. It didn’t work. When I went back 10 minutes later to return it, there was another one there on the shelf– I knew pretty quickly I had been scammed. The man there wouldn’t return mine, refund my money, or exchange it. He laughed and told me to leave his store, clearly entertained that he had totally scammed me. I went to the hotel front desk and they admitted that they knew he was scamming people (mainly Americans) but couldn’t do anything about it. Come on Hilton, maybe don’t let people sell things in your hotel that are known to scam an entire group of people… makes me not trust your hotel.

Stayed here whilst attending a show at NEC. The service was pretty shoddy from all members of staff I encountered. Was barked at for trying to join my colleague at breakfast without giving my rank and file to the extremely rude drama queen at the restaurant.
Room was adequate, nice pillows. A bit cramped with two beds, table and chair. Air con very efficient. Antiquated TV which took a bit of working out. Extremely noisy neighbours made for a pretty uncomfortable night’s sleep.
Prices in hotel restaurant were not good value.
All in all, glad I hadn’t paid for it, as was underwhelmed by a Hilton!

We went to the Green Room Spa at the Hilton Hotel following a deal on Groupon for 2 treatments and afternoon tea.
I must say that the deep tissue hot stone massage and Elmis facial was amazing. I have 2 muscle knots and she really tried hard to work them (they are sore as I type).
The afternoon tea was equally as nice, the scones were freshly baked and so tasty. I was upset that I could not eat them all. The staff (especially the catering staff who served us) were lovely. Shoutout to you guys !!!

Stayed here so far twice while traveling for work (most likely the case for most that stay here). While I would most likely not stay here on my own dime (hotel is way too pricey for my personal budget), Hilton Metropole offers everything you’d possibly need for a relaxing evening after work. Included in the regular fee is the room, of course, and entrance to the fitness club and spa as well as wifi and breakfast.
Customer service is very friendly and excellent, in my opinion – when wanting to go for a run outside, I asked the concierge if they had any maps of nature trails or places to run, which they promptly provided to me. Only drawback was that the lake is way to small to run around, leaving running in the expo parking lots :(but could be worse, I guess?
Foodwise, the breakfast buffet is excellent and offers a large selection of warm foods as well as cold. There are a number of healthy options to choose from, including fruit, whole grain/​dark breads, low fat yogurts, leaner meats, etc.
For dinner in the evening, there is nothing in the area (but that will change soon with the new shopping center being built, which will include a movie theater, restaurants and shops) so best to stick to the restaurant (s) located in the hotel. The restaurant located at the main entrance offers a good variety of foods, more than enough for vegetarians. Price is reasonable and quality of the food is good.
The only downside is that there are a lot of conferences and business groups that tend to make a lot of noise and can be disruptive while trying to sleep, then again, it’s never been so bad to make me complain.
All in all, a great place to stay, located right next to the NEC!

I was only here for a convention and did not stay in the hotel. It’s very big and pretty clean. My only warning is to bring your own coffee and teas. £3.60 for a normal tea and £5 for a latte– Yikes!!!

This hotel is pretty nice and the rooms are quite comfortable for smaller rooms. Minutes from the airport is great if you are flying out of Birmingham.
I give only four stars because I feel that at most Hilton’s only deserve four stars and I wish for shorter than a 50 minute train ride to city center. But I am not paying for the hotel room… so it is what it is.
If you are in the mood to drink there is a wonderful bar centered in the lobby. This hotel is one of the older and more intimate Hilton Hotels.

I stayed here last night after the Crowne Plaza decided not to honour my three pre booked and pre paid rooms. The check in girl had to call the CP to eventually get booking confirmation but she didnt complain and got on with it. The room was very nice, very comfy bed and nice well equiped bathroom. Just a 5 min walk to the LG arena which was perfect in the winter time. Next time I am here for a concert I shall book direct with Hilton.

I had a great experience here all around (other than parking lot was full, so we parked across the street, but at least that was free).
Registration was perfect and expertly handled. We got a room on the executive floor. Room was perfect, the only exception being a two bed room, was really two single beds pushed together and only able to separate by about 6″.
The executive lounge was brilliant with a nice selection of food and drinks. We finished off a bottle of scotch and some beers. The free breakfast the next morning in the same lounge was perfect.
Wifi…kept coming and going.
When I come back to NEC, I will stay here again.

Shocking.
I’ve worked with this hotel many times over the years on various projects and was quite shocked at some of their recent reviews. No I get it.
Is this the same place that accepts nothing less than 8.5 customer rating?
We booked afternoon tea before Rush (I know, so rock n roll & it was in the bar which was packed & warm. There was a games conference going on too which can’t be helped. I just didn’t think I’d be sharing my afternoon tea experience with hundreds of people in jeans drinking pints. (although to be fair, I was in jeans too but you know what I mean.
Our tea came with champagne or costa Coffee. Even though I was looking forward to a coffee, we both went with the bubbles which calmed as down somewhat.
The tea was perfectly adequate although I’m surprised they didn’t ask about or dietary requirements first. The champagne and tea tray came all at once and I have to say, the staff were pleasant and courteous, clearly doing everything they can within the confines of management decisions.
3 of the 4 cakes came with cream which was excessive after normal sizes scones with lashes of lovely clotted cream
The jam was in mini jars rather than made in-​house.
Even if we had wanted coffee, Costa don’t offer pots so it wouldn’t have seemed like afternoon tea.
Not recommended unless they serve this in the separate restaurant, rather than bar. And with pots of coffee!
We got a deal but I believe normal price is £15. Check if that includes champagne though, as that would be startlingly good value!

Picked this hotel because it was closest to the NEC, but now that I’m here, am wishing I was staying anywhere else even if it means walking an extra 10 min to the centre! Here are the 3 strikes:
1 Reception took ages and was served by a trainee with no supervisor support.
2 £15 for wifi is extortion
3 Got served barely room temperature hockey curry, which came out 2 min after ordering. Was fearing salmonella…
And all this at the hotel that’s far from the cheapest in the area!

How does this place hold a Hilton franchise? Spent 5 nights here for a trade show. Diamond member with Hilton Honors. This is the worst run hotel I have ever experienced with Hilton chain.
1) 4 complaints that phone had no dial tone, engineer never showed to room to fix it.
2) Business centre was down for 3 days. Fixed on the 4^th. Go buy a new PC if it doesn’t work.
3) Room temp control doesn’t hold. Set at 23.5, leave the room for 10 minutes and it is set back at 21.
4) Description of how to meet shuttle from airport is inaccurate. The «free phone» doesn’t exist. Noboby, not even the hotel staff, knows where it is.
5) Internet is better with dial-​up then wifi. If you get 3 bars on your system, you are lucky.
6) Remote needs to be shaken or battery removed and then put back in to work. Again, asked 4 times to have it fixed (new batter, switch out the remote or tape up the back door) but nothing.
7) Channel 13 has a picture but if you want to watch it you need to ignore the «No Signal» sign in the middle of the screen.
This place has to be the worst managed property in the Hilton chain.
Stay here if you are coming for a concert or night before a flight out the next day but for business stay clear. Stay at the Crowne Plaza if you plan on staying a few nights for a conference at NEC.

My 2^nd stay here, and I really do love this hotel.
I was attending a convention both times and have stayed in two different rooms. It is a tad bit annoying that the single guest room are whisked away from the main reception/​bar and it’s quote a trek back and forth, but both that and the larger room were both pleasant enough. The staff are very pleasant as well (except maybe a bit slow in the main bar), and it’s fairly easy to understand and get around the hotel.
I can highly reccomend the veggie burger in the main bar, it’s very yummy! The hotel breakfast is nothing short of completely amazing with loads of things to choose from, and if you ask, they also have alternatives for various diet needs. I reget to say I haven’t tried out the spa facilities but they do look lovely through the glass. :)
Free wifi in the main lobby/​bar, ask staff for the password.

Didn’t actually stay at the hotel, but was there for four days for a convention. The facilities are very nice, good for a convention (very very large main hall, plenty of medium and small conference rooms). The people were very pleasant as well.