Aloft Hotel Birmingham Eastside Review

Located in the seemingly made up area of Birmingham called Eastside, and around 15 minutes walk from the New Street Station, Aloft is a relatively new addition to the hotel scene in this city. Opened in February 2021, Aloft Birmingham Eastside is situated close to Aston University and shares the building with Eastside Rooms conference and meeting space. The hotel is part of the Marriott Bonvoy scheme, for those who collect points for the hotel group.

Design

Aloft Hotels are definitely more aimed at younger age groups with vibrant colour schemes, including vivid pink accents, but are a little more toned down than Moxy (also part of Marriott Hotels group). The hotel lobby really shows this vibrancy with plenty of bright lighting, quirky features like pool tables and lots of socialising areas. 

The room

Three different room types are available at the hotel. These are:

• Aloft - Standard rooms with a king or twin beds

• Urban - City view rooms with king or two double beds

• Savvy - Suite rooms with a king bed

I was here on a business trip and opted for the standard Aloft room. The centrepiece of the room is the large king bed which is the perfect firmness and aids a great night’s sleep. It was a shame I was here only one night as I slept wonderfully in this bed. 

There’s no space in this room for any sofa, so if you want to watch the television you will need to sit on the bed. The television itself features Aloft branding and is pretty locked down - I don’t think you would be able to easily access the HDMI port. It does feature Chromecast, however like almost every Marriott I’ve stayed in I wasn’t able to get it working despite being on the hotel Wi-Fi. I’ve no idea why they bother to implement it when this problem seems to occur for a lot of people at different Marriott hotels.

Elsewhere in the room, there’s a decent sized desk to work from and a proper chair with limited back support. I could easily work here for a few hours aided by the decent hotel Wi-Fi. 

And it passes the space test for a regular sized laptop!

Power isn’t a problem here - as it can be at a lot of hotels - thanks to the fact its a recently built property. There’s a couple of outlets at the desk and then 2 x outlets and 2 x USB on either side of the bed.

In-room there is a Nespresso, which is a definite upgrade from Moxy, with four espresso pods as well as kettle, tea and milk. Underneath the hot drink making area there’s a safe, without any internal power to charge a laptop whilst stored, and refrigerator, with no in-room mini bar.

There’s a little wardrobe space, hidden by sliding entrance door for the bathroom, which I didn’t use but would provide enough space for a couple staying here over a long weekend.

Finally, the bathroom was exceptionally clean and you could tell it was recently installed due to the lack of any stains or marks of any of the fittings. The shower featured a waterfall and handheld shower head as well as a bulk shampoo/shower gel that was of pretty poor quality but acceptable for a one-night stay. If you’re staying longer, I’d recommend bringing your own as well as conditioner if you need it. 

Room walkaround

Hotel amenities

The Aloft brand is in the lower mid-range of Marriott’s gamut of hotels, so don’t expect there to be any fancy features at their hotels. However, there are a few nice touches to Aloft Birmingham Eastside. As noted earlier, the lobby area of the hotel is quite nice and a good place to hang out featuring a decent sized bar and Tempo! Restaurant (where breakfast, which I didn’t eat, is served). 

There’s also a very decent gym in the hotel on the first floor with running machines, exercise bikes, weight machines and free weights. When I visited, during the middle of the day, there was nobody using it and I suspect that it will be like this much of the time outside of morning and evening peak. 

Verdict

This hotel is likely to be a hit with business travellers with its location next to a newly opened conference centre - and with the possibility of bundled conference room and hotel room pricing it could be a good option. For everybody else, I would say that is a decent option for Birmingham. You’re almost guaranteed a high quality room with the comforts you expect. It’s a little out of the centre, but Birmingham is not that big and the main areas of the city are within a 15 minute walk. Rooms at the hotel average around GBP 90 per night.