ibis budget Southampton Centre

"It can’t get any worse. But we’ll do our best." is the famous tagline from Amsterdam's Han Brinker Budget Hotel, the self-proclaimed 'worst hotel in the world'. I can only think, given my experience at Ibis Budget Hotel in Southampton, that Accor saw the status of 'worst hotel in the world' as a target to achieve rather than something to avoid. It's the only explanation for how bad things were here at Ibis Budget. Talking of budget, you'll certainly need a good one. At around £125 a night it's not cheap. The hotel itself is in a poor state of repair, with many of the corridors resembling a motorway underpass rather than accommodation fit for human occupation. And then there's the issue of the rooms. To be fair, the room was cleaner than I expected. But that's really the only good point. There is no air conditioning, at all. The windows will only open about two inches, and I imagine the cheap desk fans they provide were fished out of a bin (someone coughing on you would be more refreshing). I have never slept in an oven before, but I imagine this is what it would be like if I tried. But my main gripe - which is not necessarily Ibis' fault - is the fact that the McDonald's restaurant right next door was undergoing renovation work for the entire time I was there, all through the night. Basically, I got no sleep whatsoever. The staff were kind enough to eventually give me a family room at either 4:00am or 5:00am (I can't actually remember) when I'd simply had enough after being awake for around 24 hours, but this was after numerous requests where they'd told me there was nothing available. Funny how a room suddenly appeared in the middle of the night; too late for me to be able to sleep (and I'd simply replaced the noise of the renovations with the noise of the motorway). I would not recommend Ibis Budget at all. It isn't a pleasant place unless you're a glutton for punishment. I had a miserable time here when what I really needed was just some sleep. It wasn't much to ask.

a month ago · via Google

Room was very clean, Bed was comfortable and location is very close to food restaurants and shops. There was some noise during the night from traffic but nothing that stopped me from having a good sleep.Smart TV and unlimited free fast WiFi. would be nice to have tea/coffee and kettle in room but was able to buy a coffee from there sister hotel next door. Would defo stay again and imo nicer then other popular lodges and good security measures to stop people from getting access to rooms who arnt staying there.

a month ago · via Google

If you are looking for a clean hotel room just to sleep and get going, don’t hesitate to book. Everything is basic, but it is 5 minutes walk to the train station, 10 minutes to the cruise terminal, 15 minutes to a great brewery. Staff is very nice and friendly.

2 months ago · via Google

Be aware this is a hostel for homeless people. The hotel is ultra basic, less than clean, with no facilities, terrible breakfast, and with guests drunk or on drugs from morning to night. It is noisy at night, with shouting, and I guess drink/drugs going on. They charged me £200 per night, and I had no idea it was also a halfway house or whatever. Having said that, the staff working there were very nice.

2 months ago · via Google