Holiday Inn Gosforth Park is one of a handful of Holiday Inn Hotels in Newcastle and the immediate area, we were expecting an unpretentious, clean and comfortable stay, in keeping with what you should expect from the Holiday Inn chain.
This Holiday Inn has 151 rooms and boasts a gym, pool, Jacuzzi, sauna, steam room, spa services, conference facilities, restaurant, free parking for residents, and EV charging.
Given its location and functional style, this hotel is likely to be used heavily by business users and those needing a convenient stay near Newcastle airport. Is it a good option? Read on and find out in our review…
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Location
The hotel is in a great location for convenience, being one of a few hotels near Newcastle Airport, it is a perfect base for an overnight stay as you leave or return from a holiday or business trip.
This is very much a functional and convenient hotel, and as such it’s not going to win any prizes for having a romantic location near the must-see sites of Newcastle. It is in a service station area, with a Travelodge and an Esso garage nearby. We were driving up from the South for a conference, hence its location just off the A1 was perfect.
Check in
Starting off from outside, we parked for free as guests in the barrier controlled car park. Approaching the two storey hotel’s exterior, it’s fair to say we were not inspired. I’m thinking 1970s council offices here.
Fortunately, the inside of the hotel is much much nicer. A modern and airy space with up to date interior design which fits with Holiday Inn’s current interior styling.
At check in we were seen to immediately, and the staff were friendly and efficient. After a four hour drive, this efficiency was most welcome. We were given two room access cards, the WiFi and car park exit codes, and directed to our room on the first floor.
Given the number of rooms over just two floors, the sheer size of the hotel is reflected by the sheer length of the corridors on the first floor. Mercifully our room was not too far down this immense passageway!
Facilities
In additional to the large and comfortable bar area, plus several conference rooms, the hotel also boasts a gym plus spa services, a small swimming pool, sauna, steam room and Jacuzzi.
Chenai made use of these facilities (my excuse for skipping the exercise was that I was watching the Chinese Grand Prix in the room on my phone!). She found the gym reasonably well equipped and spacious for a hotel gym. She also enjoyed using the steam and sauna area. Our room contained a price list for various spa treatments.
The room
Opening the door to our room, we were greeted with a neat and spacious room with an utterly immense bed, a small sofa, TV, desk, and a separate armchair with footstool/cube. Tea and coffee making facility was provided. The bathroom had a shower over bath, with full bottles of soap and shampoo provided attached to the wall.
As we have come to expect from Holiday Inn, the room and bathroom were spotlessly clean, and this high standard cleanliness extended to the rest of the hotel’s public areas as well.
Considering the hotel’s location at a service area the view was better than expected. We didn’t see Krakatoa erupting or anything like that, but at least we weren’t overlooking some aircon units or a bin store!
On the downside the ironing board provided was comically small, and only came up to mid-thigh height, making it quite uncomfortable to iron a shirt.
Also, the room’s heating was via a control pad operating a fan outlet mounted high on the wall. This was quite noisy, but fortunately it was possible to turn it off at night.
I hope that Holiday Inn plan to upgrade their standard Samsung TVs to smart TVs sometime soon, as it would be great to be able to long into Netflix or other services during your stay.
Food
Starting with breakfast, this is in the typical hotel buffet breakfast style. There was no waiting around to be seated, and we were able to order eggs or omelette cooked to our preference.
Everything else is self serve, with the usual pastries, cereals etc., as well as English breakfast staples like bacon, sausages, beans.
Coffee is self serve from a machine, and was passable. The breakfast food was largely pretty good, and there were plenty of staff on hand clearing plates and replenishing the offerings.
As part of the conference we attended, a three course dinner was provided which was specific catering for the event, so I can’t comment on the usual restaurant offerings. What I can do though, is review what was offered on the night.
The starter was an excellent tomato soup, well seasoned and with notes of garlic, we really enjoyed this one.
The main course was roast beef and veg. Effectively a Sunday roast, which was a slightly odd choice for a Saturday night. This was decent but less impressive. The veg was a bit overcooked but okay, and the beef was also passable, being tasty but a bit tough. I’m not a connoisseur of Yorkshire Pudding, and left most of it (sorry Yorkshire readers), so I had to reserve judgement on this.
Dessert was a cheesecake with raspberry sorbet. The cheesecake was nice, with the base having a good texture. I really liked the sorbet, which had a little tanginess to it and was not overly sweetened. A thumbs up for this one.
Generally in terms of serving drinks, the staff were fast and friendly. No complaints on that front.
Final thoughts
We paid around £200 in total via a booking site for two nights bed and breakfast, which is pretty good value indeed. Full marks for value really.
The hotel itself easily surpasses the low expectations that might be set when you consider its dull exterior and its location. If you’re visiting Newcastle for a city break however, then you may want to consider hotels within the heart of the city centre’s action instead.
However, judging this hotel on what it is intended for – business travellers or those looking for hotels near Newcastle Airport to break up their journey a little – the service, cleanliness, and the features such as the spa and gym at Holiday Inn Gosforth Park make it a very good option.
APTT rating : 8/10
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