A beautiful building in a beautiful setting…read more I visited this place one Saturday afternoon (unplanned) for a spot of tea and cake. Unfotunately there was no individual cakes or cookies available (shock, horror!) but they were able to bring us out a selection of small desserts from their afternoon tea range presented on a slate - how delightful! The desserts were very tasty and went down a treat! The pot of tea was good too. I really felt at home here as I sat in the armchair by the fire. I was impressed by the staff and they explained each dessert in turn. A place I would happily return to again. A walk around the gardens will have to be done too.

Beautiful property, but poorly organized. I travelled 3100 miles to stay here for my brother…read morein-law's wedding. They closed the bar at 12 and the resident's bar refuses to serve because there is one random couple that hasn't closed their tab for dinner. I'm with 30 people, ready to spend a minimum of £1,000 and they can't be bothered to figure out how to serve us. If you're looking for a place with a great view, this is your spot. Unfortunately, that's all they'll offer. I also spent £28 on 3 glasses of wine. But the view is wonderful. This property should get 5 stars, but because of the service it gets 3. I'll bet if the servers wages were based on tips like in America, they'd care a bit more.

I am thoroughly confused as to which one is the NEC and which one is the LG, but here goes anyway…read more The NEC and the LG Arena are both large spaces for concerts, festivals and fairs connected to Birmingham International Train Station and Birmingham Airport. There is a range of events in this space throughout the year, ranging from comic conventions to trade shows and bigger tourist musical artists. Once you get out of the train station (or come in via the airport), it can be quite confusing to find which hall your event may be in. I have been to events in hall 18, 20 and down the front at around hall 5. First of all, be prepared to walk! To get to the first set of exhibition spaces, you'll be walking quite a way through numerous corridors and walkways. Once you hit these areas, they are signposted and the events are normally advertised on screens so you know which way to head. If you're attending an event in hall 18 - 20, I would estimate it's a good quarter of a mile walk from the main entrance area to get there, although there does seem to be shuttle busses available which can take you to where you're going. Unfortunately, I have NO idea where these leave from or if they charge to take you to your space. As well as the different spaces, there is a handful of eateries, bars and shops where you can grab some refreshment during the events. There isn't a huge choice, but there is a Wetherspoons, a couple of chain restaurants and some convenience stores (if you just wanted to grab a quick snack). The halls themselves are perfectly fine and serve their purpose as large spaces for several stalls to hawk their wares. Depending on what you are attending, these spaces are normally portioned off for staged areas and stalls. If you are attending a gig, you may be a bit blown away by the size of the concert hall. There are around 10 different entrances to get to the section you have purchased tickets for and unless you have tickets situated down the front, you may struggle to see what it is you are there to see! A beer in the concert hall can set you back a pretty penny too! Be prepared to spend over £6 for a pint of weak, lukewarm beer or over £3/£4 for a soft drink. That being said, the halls and the concert space are there to host large scale events (so if you've been to an arena tour before, you'll know what to expect size/price-wise). I can't be too negative about these spaces as they do exactly what it says on the tin. Arena gigs and exhibitions. There is fun to be had depending on the event you're attending, but just be aware of quite a trek to get to where you're going and be mindful that there isn't acres of choice when it comes to eating and drinking.

WWE Wrestling time... Great parking easy access and straight forward. Nice to meet so many fans!!…read morePriced food but understandable and also good merchandise area available...

So this isn't the nicest or best hotel I have stayed at but given the location and access to the…read moreNEC, rail station and airport it is great. The staff is very friendly and helpful. They kept their cool on a couple occasions with guests I would have told off. They have a really nice lobby bar, nothing fancy but perfectly appointed with Guinness and Bottingtons on tap, along with a 4 or 5 others. The breakfast was included in the room and it was disappointing but I have yet to find a hotel restaurant that offered it as part of a room package that was any good.

Booked 3 rooms here for 27.01.14 - booked and paid for 3 weeks in advance…read more At 13.55 ( 5 mins before check in ) they called me to say that they didnt have the rooms as they were being repaired and that they had booked me elsewhere. I couldnt understand the chap on the phone as his accent was heavy and he spoke very quickly. I agreed to come to the hotel for an explanantion. The manager told me that they thought the rooms would be ready but they werent and that they had booked me next door at the Hilton. I told her that I didnt believe her at all, what they have done in my opinion is sell the rooms at a higher rate than I paid. She then said she would add free parking and breakfast to the hilton booking for me. So we left, called the others and went to the Hilton. The check in desk had no record of any booking from crowne plaza and had to call them three times to actually get it confirmed. The Crowne Plaza then sent through the booking. They booked us 3 twin rooms ( we had booked 3 doubles with them ) no car park and no breakfast. The lack of service, lies and downright shoddy treatmeant of a returning customer means this customer will return no more.

Great place to learn Line Dancing, beginners, intermediates, latest dances & Old Favourites…read more Tuesday Nights with Elaine

Not the biggest of function rooms, but nonetheless a great place to celebrate your mates birthday…read more Although, it's not ideal for large numbers of people, so make sure you don't invite too many friends. The same applies to the bar, which is placed in the corner of the room. It's tiny, and can get overcrowded easily, so expect to wait some time for your drink. The wait soon passes by though, especially if you bump into someone at the party who you've not seen in years! Drink selections aren't particularly great, and prices aren't as cheap as you'd hope. There are only two types of rum, standard white and standard dark, and the lager is the standard Carlsberg. The staff behind the bar aren't as cheerful as you'd expect either, but they do try and serve you as quickly as possible. Other than this, the whole atmosphere of the venue is really great, and there's a large dance floor for those who are already inebriated. There's also a sufficient amount of tables and chairs for those sober people to cheer on (*mock*) their drunken dancing friends.

This weekend was my second visit to MCM Comic Convention in Birmingham. Strange really, that I…read moreshould travel halfway across the country to Wales to go to SciFi Weekender in Wales, but only my second visit to the Birmingham edition of this event (which is also held in Manchester, London, Telford, Belfast and Glasgow). I can only put it down to the fact that I wasn't actually aware of the event or when it was until last year when I saw some advertising online and knew that I had to go and check it out... Now, I really like graphic novels, anime, SciFi and fantasy. This place is a mecca for buying the perfect accessories to go with that obscure cosplay and incredibly cute toys and collectables. Unfortunately this year there seemed to be less actual comic stands, but this was more than made up for by the fantastic line up of guests and talks. The best reason to go (whether you are necessarily a fan of comic books or not) is the amount of effort that attendees go to, to create their costumes. I spotted characters from films, books and TV shows (some mainstream, some obscure) but there was more than your fair share of "caped crusaders" and Marvel/DC characters which was inevitable since the classic hero on paper was transformed into blockbusting big screen action stars. This year I was very impressed by the addition of two popular anime voice stars which were doing signings for free (well, for £3 with the purchase of a magazine). I am a fan of both of these guys and ended up getting their autographs without too much queueing or trouble. They also had talks from Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy) and RJ Mitte (Breaking Bad) and it seems they had really upped their game with (almost) the complete cast of Red Dwarf and Cary Elwes (The Princess Bride) along for the fun as well. Now, one thing I did notice this year was how busy it was. Luckily, my partner had bought an advance ticket (highly recommended) and thus we were into the venue within a couple of minutes of approaching the hall. The wait to buy a ticket and get in was ridiculous and I can imagine some people queued for at least an hour to actually enter the event. This also meant there was hoards of people in the hall, which made it difficult to browse the stalls at some point. Again, this event is busy and you will probably end up spending a fortune if you are with/are a comic book/anime/superhero fan... However, if you can deal with the queues and the crush, it's well worth checking out MCM Birmingham (which takes place in both March and November each year).

I really wanted to enjoy MCM Birmingham Comic Con, but sadly it did not live up to my expectations…read more The biggest issue was the venue- two halls was simply not enough for the amount of people attending, and having other large shows on at the same time made public transport a nightmare. Being in a permanent crush made it difficult for me to see anything, but from what I could see there were little comics and board games. The majority of stalls were selling overpriced kawaii toys, and I left empty handed with no regrets whatsoever. The special guests held little appeal for me. I felt the autographs were over priced and I was particularly baffled by the presence of Eastenders actors Shane Ritchie and Jessie Wallace. I didn't feel they fit at all and honestly I would have rather they weren't taking up the already limited space. Still, some people must have wanted to see them as I could barely reach the bar thanks to the long queue right outside it. The events were similarly meh with the exception of the cosplay masquerade. The cosplayers are what made it in my opinion. The amount of effort they put into their costumes was astounding, and some were even in character which resulted in some funny moments. Unfortunately it just wasn't practical to ask/pose for photos in the crowds, and looking at the photos now I see I missed some amazing costumes. Until they improve their line up, I will not be attending again. I foolishly purchased a weekend ticket but was left so exhausted I couldn't face going again. If you do go, get a priority ticket and go early so you can leave before the crowds hit. I've been to cons before and I'm used to queues, but I don't see the point when you're queuing for a substandard con that offers very little.