Holiday Inn LEEDS-BRADFORD

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Leeds Pastures, Tong Village because it is close to our families. The hotel was the former Marriott Courtyard but was apparently purchased from Marriott or Marriott dropped it. I do not know what transpired. What I can tell you is that it is not the former 4-star Marriott. The hotel's appearance is clean but worn. There are places along the landings with series frayed carpets and soiled walls. The room was clean but the bathroom had been refurbished by a blind plumber who managed to install the toilet too close to the built in handle of the water closet making it impossible to raise the seat without it falling down and providing a guillotinesque experience. The sink faucet was also set too far back on the sink that made the sink top flood whenever you turned on the water. I am all for assisting the handicapped but find a qualified plumbing contractor for God's sake. We made a feeble attempt to dine in the restaurant for breakfast one morning but were informed that there was no cooked food available "yet", which loosely translates to "its Christmas time and the cook bailed on us". For £13.95 for a buffet breakfast, I felt less than enthusiastic about eating there without something hot. The staff is adequate at best. There was clearly someone smoking in one of the rooms or a staff member that drew smoke into our no-smoking room so we could not stand the stench. I still marvel at the fact that the English smoke with a National Health Service still stuck in the 1950's. All we received was an apology and nothing else except a promise to find out who was smoking. It is a shame Sherlock Holmes is based in London and not Leeds.

We stayed two nights at the hotel. The staff is very friendly and the food is decent. Unfortunately the other guests were noisy at all hours of the night some but not all of which was due to the pub located under half of the rooms. The internet access was shockingly expensive and the availablity of television options was lacking. The rooms were clean and neat but would have been more comfortable with air conditioning at the time of our stay.