Portsmouth, Hotel Ibis Portsmouth Centre

The first thing we learnt about the IBIS Portsmouth is that a decent map or sat nav is necessary to find it. It is located near the Portsmouth University Building and, during heavy traffic, you'll find access to Winston Churchill Avenue can be difficult. It should also be noted that the hotel is only accessible from the SOUTH side of Winston Churchill Avenue.Upon entering the Ibis Portsmouth Hotel you're met with a large, well lit and airy reception area that opens out into the bar area and restaurant. You'll find the reception desk located to the immediate right of the entrance. We had reserved our room (for three nights) via the Internet and had no trouble with check in. We were processed quickly, politely and efficiently. One thing I would advise is paying for the optional Secure Parking, at £3 per day.Once we had registered we parked our car in the secure parking area and took our luggage to our room. The access to the upper floors is controlled by electronic card key. Both the stairs and the lifts require the use of a key.Our room was a little disappointing due to its size and the lack of storage. We were attending a wedding so we had quite a lot of clothing (dresses and suits etc). The bathroom was also a little on the small side. The toilet being so placed that to sit down comfortably you had to turn to one side. The shower was of an acceptable size. The room itself was small. The storage for clothes was, for our purposes, inadequate. No draws. Little hanging space and a selection of small shelves.The room was furnished with a firm bed, a single folding chair that could be used with a large shelf for office work, laptop use etc. There was also a small table with a kettle, tea, coffee, sugar and two cups. There wasn't really room for any other furniture. There were also two windows, facing Southward. The views were of what looked like a housing estate undergoing refurbishment.We tried the restaurant and were, frankly, shocked at the good quality of our meals. The food was tasty, well cooked and well presented. The meal came to about £50 for the pair of us, including drinks. The only downside was the slowness of the service. We could hardly blame the poor girl waiting on the tables as she was also required to run the bar as well.We retired and slept well until about 07:00. At 07:00 workers on the nearby refurbishment project started work with loud bursts of profanity. At about that time various air-conditioning units also kicked in. These units were located outside our window and were very noisy. I'd suggest that if you stay at this hotel you ask for a room that faces North or West. You might get road noise or late revellers making a disturbance but you won't suffer from the builders or the air-conditioning noise.Breakfast ( £5.50 per head) was an all you can eat affair featuring cereals, sliced cook meats (not very appetising and a little dry), croissants, bagels, toast, yoghurt, milk, tea, coffee, orange juice, apple juice and various tinned fruits (mandarin and grapefruit). The only further points I'd make are the following.1.When we tried to use the iron and ironing board (one of each located in a room on the 2nd floor) we found that it had been stolen and there was no fall back option. We were lucky that we could go to a nearby home and iron our clothes there but it was a near thing. (Being a wedding day).2.The secure parking, on the weekend, is liable to be over used. We were forced to leave our car outside in a disabled space (at the behest of the hotel staff). The area around the hotel isn't exactly salubrious and I wouldn't want to leave my car unattended for too long. 3.The Internet package worked very well (we had this thrown in with the price of the room, £50 per night).4.On Saturday night things got a little to loud. We returned at about 02:00 on the Sunday morning and found plenty of activity in the corridors etc. The staff, to give them their due, did seem to be trying to keep things under control. As a quick one or two night hotel for business use the IBIS is cheap, clean and acceptable. If you need a spacious room, plenty of hanging space & draws etc then look elsewhere.