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Operation: Alternate hotel options for TFNation
We have recently advised several hopeful TFNation attendees on accommodation for our August show and understand that high demand has restricted the choice of hotels still available. With this in mind, here is a guide to additional accommodation options over the TFNation weekend.
NOTE: As this is going to be a long post, we will shortly be making an audio version of this post available. We will be providing a guide to travelling around the local area in the next few weeks.
When looking at accommodation over the TFN weekend, it’s best to focus on three areas
- Hotels near to the NEC/Birmingham International train station/
- Hotels near to the Birmingham International airport
- Hotels near to Birmingham New Street
Firstly,though, a brief overview of the layout of the local area.
The NEC is the hub through most visitors to TFNation pass through and to which many of the essential travel points are linked. If you are travelling to TFNation by train,you will arrive at the International train station, which is linked to the NEC via a single 10min walkway. If you are flying in, you will be aiming for the international airport which then has a free monorail to the Train station and can then proceed to the NEC via the walkway. For those who don’t wish to walk,or have heavy luggage, there are taxis available from both the airport and rail station and the Hilton also provides a free minibus for its residents.
Once you reach the NEC’s main entrance, you can clearly see Resort World (where many of you will go for food) and the large central lake. It is around this lake that the Hilton sits. Outside of normal hours (Midnight to 6 am) the walkway is shut,but two alternate routes are available. As mentioned above, detailed travel guides will be released in the next week or so.
1) Hotels near to the NEC/Birmingham International train station
While booking rooms close to the NEC allows for a straight-forward walk into the convention, keep in mind that SOME (not all) of the hotels are aimed at the high-end corporate clients that often stage conventions locally. Checking the rates before you book, therefore, is essential. Within 10 mins walking distance of the NEC / train station you have the following.
- Genting Hotel(Resort World) - corporate
- Crown Plaza Birmingham NEC - corporate
- Arden Birmingham NEC – corporate
- IBIS Styles Birmingham NEC and Airport
Of those, three are geared towards corporate clients so we would advise you use hotel booking sites such as Laterooms or Hotel.com and shop around for the best rates. The Ibis chain have several different hotels in the area so it’s worth checking the exact sites, rates and availability at both the websites listed above and their own page at http://www.accorhotels.com/gb/united-kingdom/index.shtml
Remember,hotels will release blocks of rooms for sale at various times, during the build-up to a given date, so what might be unavailable today might be on offer tomorrow.This is why we have listed all the options.
You have two chain hotels further out, in the form of the following
- The Holiday Inn Express Birmingham NEC
- The Premier Inn Birmingham NEC
With “walk times” of 24 mins for these two options, a taxi to the Hilton direct would be the preferred option. Just remember that travelling with a group (or knowing who else is staying in your hotel and so you can co-ordinate a taxi booking)will help keep costs down.
2) Hotels near to the Birmingham International airport
- The Ibis Birmingham Airport / NEC
- The Ibis Budget Birmingham Airport & NEC
- The Novotel Birmingham Airport
These three hotels can all be booked from the Ibis site listed above, or through other hotel booking sites. Again, be mindful of their names and locations when booking.
There is another hotel close to the airport, in the form of Holiday Inn: Birmingham Airport. While the hotel is close, it is not suited for those wishing to walk to the Airport / NEC and instead provides a shuttle service to the Airport only,every 30 minutes.
3) Hotels near to Birmingham New Street
Note that being based here (or anywhere else noted here) will not stop you in any way from being present when the convention opens and throughout it’s weekend, but you will have to consider the extended travel times if you wish to return to your hotel during the day, or late at night. Birmingham New Street runs trains to Birmingham International every 20 mins over the convention weekend, with the train journey taking about 15 mins, on both virgin and London midland trains.More details to follow in our travel guide.
The benefits of staying in Birmingham city centre include a far wider range of hotels, with budget locations like the Iblis budget Birmingham Centre giving great value for money.
You also enjoy the wide range of restaurants and shops the city centre boasts, including those of Birmingham New Street station itself. Anyone who has passed through New Street in recent years will have walked through a massive building site.Now that it’s finished, however, the station is not only bright clean and easy to navigate, but also has a fantastic food hall.
Your hotel options include
- Ibis Budget Birmingham Centre
- The Briar Rose Hotel
- Aparthotel Adagio
- Old Crown Hotel
- Travelodge Birmingham Central Moor Street
- Travelodge Birmingham Central Newhall Street
- Travelodge Birmingham Bullring
Note: Many of the hotels listed above also have rooms for upwards of four people. Booking with a larger group will help to keep both accommodation and travel costs down,wherever you are based.
We hope this helps. If you want any further advice then drop the TFNation team a message on Facebook (sooner rather than later) and we can answer any queries.