Holiday Inn PORTSMOUTH by IHG, an IHG Hotel

This place desperately needs money spending on it. Broken lamp stand, toilet roll holder falling out of the wall and generally in poor condition. The staff in the restaurant were clueless and the food was cheap deep fried rubbish. Massively overpriced !!!

There was a VERY long line to check in and the staff seemed overwhelmed. The staff member that checked us in gave no greeting but was very quick to get our key, she did not mention that the room’s a/c was not functioning and that a fan would be provided. We met another couple in the lift that explained all air conditioning was broken on our floor. It was brutally hot in the room. The fan did not come close to producing a level of comfort . We only had 1 night stay- thankfully. After we checked out and were in the shuttle, we found out that some of the rooms were given a discount for the inconvenience. We were not offered that. I guess we needed to be more aggressive in complaining.

Ideal base to explore Southsea and the historic dockyard. Breakfast was really good, but the coffee and the queue for it was disappointing.

Convenien

I rarely write reviews, but I feel compelled to share how deeply disappointed I am with my recent stay. I had planned this night with my daughter as a special moment — something to look forward to, a chance to unwind and connect. Instead, we spent the night in a stifling room with a broken air conditioner, sweating and restless, unable to sleep. What made it worse wasn’t just the discomfort — it was the hotel’s complete lack of accountability. No compensation. Not even the courtesy of a partial refund. I booked through Hotels.com, and the hotel used that as an excuse to wash their hands of the situation. It felt like they were more interested in deflecting blame than in making things right. I didn’t just lose money — I lost a moment I’d hoped to cherish with my daughter. The indifference we were met with was honestly insulting. Hospitality should be about care, not just transactions. Sadly, this hotel failed on both fronts. I won’t be returning, and I strongly urge others to think twice before booking here — especially if you value comfort, integrity, and basic human decency.

Air conditioning not working during my stay, with no explanation or pre warning, shower was cold (which was a blessing due to the hot room) To top it off I was charged nearly £250 to my credit card, I had to question it on checkout to which they replied they had made a mistake earlier, it would have been nice for them to come clean first! Still not sure if a refund has actually been issued!

This is one the worst stays that we have experienced. We paid a high price for a hotel where we were expecting a good service and adequate room accommodations. We spent (3) full nights without A/C in the middle of the summer and the only thing the hotel management were able to offer was a tiny fan for our room. Management did not offer any means to change us to a different room with AC or with any sort of action to be taken to accommodate us. We asked for the Manager and he was never available for one reason or the other. We asked for a discount and nothing was offered even after requesting for it. Unmistakably one of the worst accomodations given by a hotel such as a Holiday Inn. We will take time to write a letter directly to headquarters to see if they are willing to take action to this matter.

Well located property near to the pier. We stayed during a very hot weather period, disappointingly the a/c in the room was out of order, a fan was provided but it was insufficient to cool the room. Also no fridge in the room

Room was clean and quiet. Stuff were friendly breakfast was great with lots of selection to choose. Air conditioning system in the room was not working or controlled by central try to adjust the thermostat but no response

Good stay, helpful staff well located hotel

The staff have improved customer service skills. Some made you feel very welcome and were polite and helpful. Others still need training. I had no hot water on one day and I was offered some refund which I was shocked but very pleased about. I honestly didn’t think anyone would have cared! The customer service has improved greatly. This all makes a difference to your stay!! I will be booking here again this year. Ps I am waiting on a refund from hotel.com. I hoping to receive this soon.

Great location, friendly staff, good breakfast

Staff friendly breakfast lovely great location

Hi room was clean, service was very slow at dinner tine, dishes were very dirty had to ask for disposable dishes to have our breakfast.

Awful. Absolutely awful- put into a room at the back of the hotel overlooking a car park! Baking hot - air conditioner broken (hotel was aware) tv broken - my stay was so bad the hotel refunded me on check out!

I will start this by saying that I have worked for many years in hotels, so I do understand the dynamics of what goes on behind the curtain. the check in was quick and pleasant, and perhaps that was about it for pleasantness. We got into our room where the window can only open about 2 inches (I am sure no one can jump out of a window if it’s 3 to 4 inches) on a very hot day and of course AC was not working. Went to reception and of course there is an engineer on site (on a Saturday afternoon at 5pm, sure) but they’re not sure they’re going to fix the issue (yeah right) - maybe next time stop lying to your customers, because anyone can smell lie. Then we showered, left the AC on as something was coming out of it so we thought “better some than nothing” and went out for dinner. Came back to a room that stank of mould, so heavy that it made us both cough as we walked in. My boyfriend is asthmatic so we couldn’t stay in the room. They changed our room, not before saying the usual “we are fully booked, we don’t think we can” but then a room was there… going to our second room, the smell of mould in the corridor was horrendous and I was worried the same thing was going to happen in the room, but we were surprised to smell a clean, albeit stuffy, air in the room. The bed was comfortable, but the mattress cover sheet was only covering 3/4 of the bed, and the carpet seemed to have been eaten by some bug by the bathrooms and in some of the corners of the room. Not good.

It was a nice hotel for a 1 nights stay. Booked it because it had a pool and a hot tub but could not get into the pool in the morning as it was full of kids.

Close to but away from the busy centre. Parking was available only because we came early from Surrey as we had plans throughout the day.. the carpark was full later on in the day when we returned to check into our room. Lack of staff, so it took ages for check in.A dirty bathroom room, broken/no hook behind bathroom door, dirty shower tray, yellow towels, toilet didn’t flush properly and then the button got stuck. Very noisy slamming doors above us late at night and early hrs, so the rooms were not soundproof at all. The entrance to the reception smelt too strong of chlorine coming from the pool area. Not pleasant at all, so we didn’t get to go in the pool. I’m glad we did not arrive Sunday as there would have been no parking with the organisers of a charity.

Staff very friendly and helpful. The hotel in general needs updating. Swimming pool needs updating and repairs. Reception/seating area, sofas very dirty, heavy stain marks on sofas and chairs, need deep clean. Otherwise its location is excellent. Also meals like dinner or lunches, nice to have a discount if you stay in the hotel.

Restaurant shut early so had to order via bar. 90% of draught beers were not working. Food good, room needs some updating