Novotel Hotels in Reading

Choose the hotel basically as it looked good on the photos and it was nice when I got there, location wise its not the best, it basically feels like you're on an industrial estate. Rooms and air-con all nice in the few weeks i stayed, restaurant food was OK did expect better and the menu choice was limited. But sleeping well is the most important thing for me and I didn't hear anything from other guests whilst there, which for a light sleeper is great and probably the best I'd slept away from home in a good while. If there is a soccerball game on then they seem to shut the restaurant early unless that was just a one off and expect plenty of fans to be in and around the hotel. Whacked the prices up so doubt I will stay again, moved to the Donnington Valley hotel near Newbury which is very nice

Clean and well lighted room. Great facilities with fitness room and multitude gaming setups. Even have a bar in the lobby. Serving great foods. All and all really enjoy the stay. Well recommended!

The good part: Staff are very friendly although check-in seems to take a little longer than Premier Inn, the reception area and seating to relax looks fantastic and the pizzas that the staff make 24/7 are absolutely delicious. The drink & pizza prices are reasonable. Location wise is spot on, just a two minute walk from the train station and central to everything. They provide more variety of tea & coffee in rooms, such as fruit & herbal teas, and decaff coffee, this totally beats any other budget hotel. Bad points: This is a cashless hotel & this is something i'm firmly against for a variety of reasons they lost £200 in sales due to this from myself & friends. The pillows are rock hard and kept waking up with a sore neck, the beds are also uncomfortable and feels like your sleeping on the floor. The noise from housekeeping is absolutely atrocious all you hear from several floors above and below, are the staff dragging large heavy trollies around and this goes on from 11am to 4pm if you need to sleep during the day forget it. The toilets smell of sewage & urine so sometimes you return back to your room and it stinks. There is also construction work ongoing Monday-Friday until Nov 2022 yet the prices are still very high. The cooling systems seem to work fine for an hour or so but then quickly the room becomes stuffy and warm, due to the location having the window open is very noisy especially at weekends.

Lianna on Reception desk was simply a star so helpful professional and friendly as was everyone on reception desk. The Spa was lovely and the treatments were divine Sarh is amazing. Unfortunately The restaurant staff let the hotel side down Very embarrassing unprofessional and quite frankly what service. Was left waiting to be served and for our drinks to come. They didn't tend to ther tables people came in waited yo be served took so long they left. One server before our food has come had the check to ask us yo pay the bill as her shift was finishing and would be easier for her to do it now she hadn't even been serving us. When our food finally came mine the supreme chin was dry the potatoes were hard overdone My friend had the tuna which was served well done she wasnt asked how she'd like it cooked she also asked for chips on the side which didn't come with her main she had almost finished meal by the time chips finally came out Very disappointing However the change-over staff they were lovely it's a shame we didn't get served by them. Andrea and Sarah

Overall this is a really nice hotel, but what would make it really great is a little more staff training. The staff are all really lovely, but they lack a bit of common sense and management. The hotel appears to be aiming for a high end of the market, so we were surprised by the poor training of some of the staff. The chap behind the bar on the two evenings we were there was really nice, but oh my goodness he was so slow. Each time we ordered a drink we had to tell him two or three times what we wanted. They didn't have the wine I wanted, but instead of handing me a list of their wines or telling me what wines they have, he just looked blankly at me and waited for me to ask if he had a certain wine. When he had poured the drinks he never told us how much they were, he just got the card machine out (they don't take cash) and we paid. We had to ask for the card machine receipt, but never gave us a till receipt so we still have no idea how much each individual drink cost. By the way the drinks are really expensive. The first night we had a pint of larger and a large white wine which came to £15.30p and the next night two large glasses of wine (one red, one white) which came to £23.50p. At no time during our stay were we offered a till receipt. We were shocked by the half pint and pint glasses given to customers (even ladies) which were the old fashioned ones with handles, which we hadn't seen for many years. Some ladies were struggling to drink from them. I really think the hotel should reconsider this and at least offer ladies a tall glass. The same chap was on his own behind the bar for both nights, but at no point did any other member of staff come to help him, especially when quite a bit queue had formed (because he was so slow), even though there were plenty of staff in the area. The waiting staff were friendly and polite, but again lacked a bit of guidance and training. One of the young waiters was wiping a table while the plates etc were still on the table. We wanted a table that people had just left and he kindly said he would clear the table for us and re-set it. He did re-set it, but didn't wipe it over and left the jug of water from the previous people. It is a large hotel and there were two coach trips booked in as well as quite a few other guests, so it was quite busy on both evenings. Having said this the hotel rooms were lovely and we enjoyed our stay. Our room was on the first floor which was nice and quiet. Rooms were extremely clean and tidy and well maintained. We were on a coach trip, so not in the hotel much of the time during the day. A few tweaks and this could be a really top notch hotel. Top tip: if the bar prices put you off, pop round to the local shop (turn left out of the main entrance of the hotel, turn right at the end of the road and there are a couple of shops up there and a cafe). You can buy drink there to put in the fridge in your room. Also, ice machine on the first floor by the lifts

This is possibly the worst hotel I have stayed in. The building looks beautiful from the outside and when arriving I thought I was in for a treat, however as soon as I stepped inside I was contemplating paying £200 for a room at Premier Inn. The place is really run down, falling apart at the seams. On check in I was directed to the “Kendrick Building” and was told my room was on the first floor. Unfortunately there are about 5 different staircases each leading to 4 or 5 rooms, there aren’t any connecting corridors linking them all. Eventually I gave up and went back to reception and was escorted to the room. The room numbers follow no logic, I was in a room that started with a 9 and the room next to me started with a 5. On entering the room I was again thinking about walking back out and paying over the odds for a Premier In . It was really bad. Peeling paint, bashed up walls and a strange smell. At least the bed would be comfortable right? No. It was rock solid and seemed to be very short compared to most other budget hotel beds. The sheets had a few faint stains but were otherwise clean. It was fairly noisy so I thought why not close the window - oh wait, how do I raise the blinds? The pull cord to raise and lower them had been chopped off. Not that it would have mattered anyway, the windows were shut but single glazed, badly fitting and draughty. The room faced a fairly busy road so there was constant traffic noise, sirens, and drunk people passing by throughout the night. The bathroom was roughly half the size of a shoebox. To use the sink I had to stand in the doorway. The toilet was shoved up so close to the sink that my knee was touching it. The shower was quite small but adequate, although the shower head sprayed in every direction except where you pointed it, and looked like something from the 80’s. Which was probably the last time it was cleaned too - it was filthy. After again contemplating an expensive late-rate Premier Inn I decided to go out for dinner rather than risk the restaurant. I came back around 11pm planning on getting a good nights rest before a long day of meetings the next day and I fell asleep at about 11.30pm. BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZS!!!!! What the HELL is that? It was a very loud fridge located behind a wardrobe door, whirring away like a potable AC unit. Nice of them to provide a fridge, but I would much rather not have one than be woken up by a very loud electrical buzzing sound every 30 minutes. The final straw was the guest next door whistling for about 10 seconds at 30 minute intervals until about 3am. At this point I gave up and slept in my car for a couple of hours. I would give this place 0 stars if I could. Do not waste your money.

Good location, five minutes walk from Reading Railway Station. The entrance is a street garden. Opposite is the office building. The room was on the back floor and looked like a new one, but it didn't taste much. The room is large, the bathroom is large, and it is very comfortable. Breakfast is not bad, there are not many options, but it tastes good. There is a parking lot.

We reserved a 5-day period, including Christmas, because we were looking for a comfortable and quiet place. They first placed us in the 6th tower in the apartment 6B, but it was extremely noisy. The apartment is wide, was well clean and the team seems to be well professional, there is also a safety that is staying in the parking, but this detail with the floor and acoustics left unwanted. They moved us upstairs, 6C, to try to threaten the noise problem, but when other guests entered 6B, it was possible to hear TV, conversation, floor, everything! So if you are someone who needs quiet and a little silence to work, find another place. P-S: TV is not smart and almost no channel options, the washing machine wasn't working. I think that for £100 a day, they could improve these aspects!

the second i checked in got a very warm welcome from Safia and Prachi which made me feel very happy and is clear that the staff care about their jobs, even though the staff where polite the food was undercooked on multiple occasions during my stay which had also made vomit, i personally think the managers should be more on top of food quality.