Holiday Inn Express Stevenage

«Fantastic for Me, A Few Minor Tidbits»
I was by myself, and the compact room was perfect. Even though it’s a five star, and I’d go back to this hotel in a minute, I won’t make you search my text for the tidbits. Here they are: Two things got me here over the Holiday Inn a few blocks away… free wifi and free parking. The wifi was fine for light work, except in the evening, when it bogged down to just barely usable. The parking was free if you left during the day (9am) and didn’t return until 5pm. Outside of that time, there was a slight chance you could get one of their six (6) parking spots. My only other picky thing is the heat (I was there in January). The room never got toasty warm, despite cranking the thermostat. It wasn’t cold, but I would have liked to really warm up after being out in the cold windy mess. The heater seemed to cycle off, maybe because the heat blew onto the thermostat.
Like I said, the room was on the small side, but perfect for me. The bathroom was small, but efficiently laid out. Think «cruise ship bathroom», but bigger. The first week I was in a room that overlooked the fabric store parking lot and the roundabout (where busses were constantly zipping-​by). Yeah, there’s a bus depot a couple of minutes walk, not to mention the train too. The second week I was overlooking the six parking spots (there are really fewer, but it seems customary that six cars squeeze into the space). Not a great view, but both rooms were quiet enough for me.
So with all of that, you might wonder why I gave it five stars! It’s because everything else was awesome! The staff was friendly and helpful. I thought the breakfast they offered was great. They had more than what I got (plain yogurt and fruit, scrambled eggs, sausage, croissant with real butter and jam). The price was reasonable (pre-​paid, so got it a bit cheaper).
Location was adjacent to an outdoor mall that had a whole bunch of resturants. Quite a few were only open during the day, but there had to have been ten or so open at night. And there was another batch of resturants to the west (about a 5 minute walk). Walking around there was great… never having to deal with crossing busy streets since they have bike/​pedestrian access.
Also, there was a superstore (ASDA) within a few minutes walk, where you could pick-​up a microwavable, then heat it in the breakfast area. They offered pizza right there in the hotel in the evenings, along with a few varieties of beer (mega brew lagers, but a nice touch). Just north, in the mall, there are two chain pubs that have cask ale, if you like that kind of thing.

Ordentliches Geschäftshotel in ruhiger Lage im Ortszentrum von Stevenage.
5 Gehminuten vom S-​Bahnhof entfernt, Fahrtzeit nach London-​City knapp 30 Minuten.
Ich habe das Hotel währen der Olympischen Spiele besucht. Preise für den Zeitraum überzogen, ansonste eher günstig.
Zimmer Holiday-​Inn Express-​Standard, aber alles sehr neu und sauber.
Für englische Verhältnisse sehr gutes europäisches Frühstück ohne Zuzahlung.
Hotelbar 24 Stunden geöffnet.
Freundliches Personal.

This is a step up from staying at a Travelodge, but in reality doesn’t do much more — it’s just a bit better turned out.
Is close to Stevenage town centre if you fancy going there, although the less said about that the better, and not far from the station and just a short drive from the A1.
The price of the room includes breakfast, which is all you can eat continental style (eg croissants, cereal etc). This is fine if the hotel is quite or you get up early, but during one stay they started running out of some things.
A big problem is there is only very limited parking. I had to park in a public car park nearby overnight which I wasn’t too happy about.
The rates for the hotel can vary depend on when you book and when you stay, but is good value if you get the cheaper rates

As another reviewer said parking is the problem. A few street parking spots available (free overnight) but I wasn’t too happy about leaving car there.
Otherwise a typical HI Express (thats why I like them — all the same so no nasty surprises).
Asda (24 hour) 5 minutes walk from the hotel (through the underpass)