Holiday Inn Express Portsmouth - Gunwharf Quays by IHG

Reviews

• JW

  James Waddington

  1 day ago
  5.0
  I combined a business and leisure trip to Gunwharf Quays a few weeks ago. I don't normally use this chain of hotels. We will be moving our business accommodation over to Holiday Inn where possible. From check in, to check out and all points in-between the staff here were amazing. In no particular order, Sam, Will and Connor were amazing. On checking in on the Saturday, the welcome was so friendly and natural I actually thought I knew there person on the desk. As it happens, I didn't. They were just that good. I am not local to the area and had to ask for quite a lot of local information on where I was going, taxis and travel etc. Any member of staff I asked was more than helpful. The rooms were, clean and tidy and the next morning despite being very busy, breakfast was a relaxed pace, there was plenty of everything and still staff were helpful and polite. Thanks to the whole team for making what could have been a stressful trip very enjoyable.
• KH

  kirk hummel

  6 days ago
  5.0
  Excellent location and great staff at HIX Gunwharf Quays! Strong Air-con during the heatwave, and quiet room, tasty breakfast. We stayed for a week and had a wonderful time in the excellently located hotel. Shout out to these lovely people: Sophie who checked us in; Lynsay, who printed our luggage tags; Charlee, who switched us to a 2nd floor room; and Maja (?) who cleaned the breakfast tables. Would happily stay there again.
• ED

  Emma Davies

  Aug 6, 2026
  1.0
  I am writing to formally complain about the unacceptable housekeeping standards we experienced during our recent stay at your hotel. Holiday Inn express Portsmouth- gunwharf quays - stayed 3/8/26 to the 4/8/26 Shortly after arriving in our room, we discovered that two of the mugs provided were dirty. We went to reception to obtain clean replacements, hoping this was simply an isolated oversight. Unfortunately, when we later went to bed, we discovered blood and makeup on the bed sheets. We immediately reported this to reception. At that point, we completely lost confidence that the bedding had been changed or that the room had been cleaned to an acceptable standard. For our own peace of mind, I requested a clean set of bed linen and explained that I would change the bed myself so that we knew we were sleeping in clean bedding. While removing the soiled sheets, we discovered that the mattress protector was also heavily stained with what appeared to be bodily fluids. We have clear photographs of the dirty mugs, the blood and makeup on the bed sheets, and the stained mattress protector. No guest should have to strip and remake their own bed in order to feel confident they are sleeping in clean bedding. The discovery of what appeared to be bodily fluid stains on the mattress protector was particularly distressing and left us questioning the hygiene of the entire room. Instead of enjoying our stay, we were left feeling uncomfortable, disgusted and unable to relax. Although the receptionist advised that the matter would be raised with housekeeping, this did little to restore our confidence or address the impact this had on our stay. The combination of dirty crockery, soiled bed linen and a stained mattress protector represents a serious failure in housekeeping standards and falls far below the standard we expected from an IHG hotel. This experience was unacceptable and significantly affected our stay.
• GS

  Glenn Sparks

  Aug 5, 2026
  5.0
  We were taking a Virgin Voyages sailing from Portsmouth International Port so this was a perfect hotel for a one night stay. We had stayed in this area back in 2022 at a different hotel. This time we wanted to be a bit closer to the outdoor mall. There are a lot of restaurants and retail nearby including a pharmacy in case you need any last minute sundries. We had just come from Italy and definitely needed more sunscreen. The hotel has wonderful customer service. They will help you out with any special requests including booking a cab. The included breakfast is one of the best I've seen at hotels in this category. A lot of hot and cold options and delicious bread for toasting. There is a bar here that is open until 2 AM with four beers on draft and other spirits for cocktails. They also have an a la carte snack menu available from 11 AM that has such things as pizza, chicken strips and tater tots. The rooms are decent for a hotel in this category. They do need a little bit of TLC. We had some large stains on the carpeting in front of the WC/toilet inside the WC and shower area could use some new caulking. The air cond was working but appears preset to a temp of 25°C. We followed the directions to adjust it downwards but it didn't work. We had a travel fan with us and that combined with opening the window provided the temperature we preferred. Overall a great place to stay for a few nights. You are so close to many things including the ferries and day sails.
• PS

  Paul Skippen

  Aug 3, 2026
  3.0
  A bit of a shame really as the location is perfect and the staff are lovely but the rooms and infrastructure need work, our bathroom was dirty with a hole in the door where it had been kicked in, all the soaps were empty, the shower plumbing leaked.. like the cutlery at breakfast the spoons with the tea and coffee in our room clearly hadn't been washed in a while with lumps of old coffee stuck and numerous tidemarks. In general the whole hotel is tired and sticky carpeted needing some TLC, all that said it's cheap so if you just need a place to kip for the night it'll do.

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