Basic hotel, in a good location for shoppers, and nightclubbers, but definately not the best location for Lincoln tourists. It is at the bottom of the hill, just on the edge of the town centre. The waterfront has several new restaurants, but they're nothing special. There is a cinema two minutes' walk from the hotel, that's cool. But the area can get rough at night. We know Lincoln well, and often visit friends here. We wouldn't have chosen to stay here but unfortunately we booked last minute and the hotels worth staying in on the hill were full. We spent most of our stay driving around Lincolnshire villages visiting friends, so it didn't really matter that we weren't in the nicest area of town, and as I say, we already know Lincoln. But if you don't know Lincoln, and you want to get a good taste of this lovely medieval town, I recommend you stay in the charming old part of the town at the top of the hill, in the cathedral/castle district - very romantic, safe area, with the best restaurants in Lincoln and traditional cosy pubs with live music! It's a nice (ten minute) walk down to the town centre during the day for all the high street shops (or you can get the bus!), it is a bit of a climb to walk back up the hill (again - there's always the bus!) but unless you're clubbing, you wouldn't want to be in the centre at night. The holiday inn is no better than an ibis hotel (2 star rated hotels), so I have no idea how it got its' three stars. Ibis hotels are ok - they're cheap and cheerful, and they don't break the bank. But I would resent paying these prices for them! This holiday inn charges unjustifiably high prices for nothing more than basic travelodge accomodation, and on top of all that you have to pay extra to park in the hotel car park, and a £2.50 is added to your bill each time you order room service, on top of the already expensive £6 supermarket-style sandwiches!) And the food is TERRIBLE - I mean: cold watery beans and dry, stale bread used to make sandwiches - and that was just what I ate so I didn't dare try the rest, but reading the other reviews it would seem it's just as nasty. The breakfast was ok - basic service station quality buffet, but not great. we wouldn't have paid for it if it wasn't included in our room-rate. As for the noise factor of being next to a student night club, we had opted for a room at the back of the hotel, and we weren't disturbed by street noise, however, we were disturbed almost every night (until 2/3am) by the opening and closing of doors and talking in the corridor. One reviewer said that this place was good for families - you can certainly hear that from your room - the place was full of screaming kids when we were there, and the rooms are not soundproof. The worst time for the noise though, was in the morning when the cleaners chatted loudly and played the music channel in the bedrooms as they cleaned. Luckily, they didn't start too early in the morning, but if you're counting on a quiet lie in, this is not the place for you! On the plus side, the rooms are clean, and big enough. The car park has CCTV which deters thieves.The staff are ok - if you're lucky you'll get the nice ones, if you're not, they'll be grumpy - a bit hit and miss, but no horror stories to tell there.There are even a few 'gems' - really lovely, helpful people who should really be working in a five star place. And the rooms are warm and well lit, but this shouldn't be a plus, it should be standard! As for leisure amenities, the 'gym' is a joke (not so funny when you're paying for it) - 4/5 machines shoved together in tiny room (little bigger that a bathroom). I'm not surprised Marriott got rid of this hotel - it can't have done their reputation any good! I'm not a hotel snob - I like good hotels whether they be cheap or luxurious, it's just that when I pay upwards of £100 in small towns like Lincoln, I expect something nice. At the end of the day, if this place was cheap (£45-50 per night including breakfast would be fair), you'd expect these negatives, (not to mention a cheaper room service menu!) but at the prices they're charging, it's not acceptable. Needless to say, we won't be staying here again!

We stayed at the Holiday Inn on December the 9th for the Christmas market and booked two double rooms with breakfast at £98.00 per room.

We arrived early and was allocated upgraded rooms to executive suites which was a nice surprise.

Although we get the larger executive rooms they were nothing special and were not much larger than the standard rooms, just had a table and a small sofa in the corner.

One small annoying point, was that there was only one bedside table so I had to put my drink and glasses on the floor at the side of the bed, not something you would expect in an 'executive' room.

The rooms were a bit dated and need modernising, the room had a large noisy wall mounted heater under the window which was obviously on its last legs!

The room was very clean and tidy, as was the rest of the hotel and all the staff were very friendly.

Breakfast was good and had a good selection of food to suit all tastes.

A hotel with a great location but needs modernisation and seems a little expensive for what you get.

I stopped here for a night in December with my wife as a weekend treat away.
What attracted me to this hotel initially was the location as it's on the quay front, a stones throw away from 3 or 4 very good restaurants and only a 5 minute walk to the shopping centre.
Sadly the stay at this hotel left me feeling disappointed.
When I entered the hotel via the car park, the button I had to press to get into the car park was not working, so my other half had to walk into the hotel to fetch a member of staff who apologised and gave us a swipe card to gain access to the car park. (The charge is £3 to park the car here).
Then came check in. The girl at reception could not find our booking, which we made online via the official website. After 5 minutes of sweating it out she told us not to panic as she'd found us. Then she tried to check us in, thinking she had found us only for me to point out that the booking was not actually me, but someone else with the same surname. Ten minutes later I was given a key card and my room number (19) as I eventually "appeared" on the computer..
The room was of a decent size and seemed relatively clean. That was until I lifted the lid off the ice bucket, to discover a load of rubbish left behind from previous guests.
Our room had an obscure door in it, when I tried to open it I realised it was a connecting door to the room next door, and thankfully their door was locked. At this stage this didn't seem a problem.
Unfortunately this door made the noise from the room next door almost unbearable when the guests of the said room did arrive. When the people in the next room came in after a party at 2am, I literally bolted upright out of bed due to the noise and thankfully got to sleep 45 minutes later when they quietened down.
Next morning (still feeling tired after my distrubed sleep) I had my shower, but there was no soap left in the soap dispenser attached to the shower wall. I squeezed best I could but I think even popeye would have only managed a trickle at best.
No one at check in had told us what time breakfast was served and there was nothing in the room telling us so, therefore I phoned reception to find out. At this stage I was getting really cheesed off with the sloppiness of this hotel and I was on the brink of asking to speak to the manager. If I was stopping more than one night I probably would have checked out at this stage.
Thankfully the breakfast was very good. It was of buffet style with a very good selection of both cooked and continental, with the hot food being topped up whenever it was running cold.
It is only because of the location and the breakfast that I have given this hotel 2 out of 5.
The staff and the management who run this hotel need a good kick up the backside and need to ensure they start focusing a bit more on customer service and not just taking peoples money.

Having searched most hotels in the area, I stayed in this hotel recently and in my experience this hotels is ok but not as good as I expected. On the plus side, the location was excellent, staff were friendly, room was clean, the bathroom was clean, and breakfast was ok. However, I expected a little more for the price and considering that I had an Executive room. The room size was pretty average and interior was very ordinary. I made a mistake by asking a room with a view of the water front. Since it was a warm night, I decided to leave the window open and it was extremely noisy at late night with people enjoying their Saturday night out -in this case it happened be just outside the hotel front.
Overall this hotel is ok but since I have stayed in other hotels in the are for lot less money, I am not sure if this place offers value for money.