Excellent stay, Hannah at reception could not have been more helpfull.

Arrived out of office hours, so there is a procedure to get into the building and receive your key, although this went without a hitch. Room was cold initially but once windows closed and heating turned on, it soon warmed. We were three single people and had two bedrooms and a sofa bed in the lounge. I slept on the sofa bed, which was fine - and meant I got the state-of-the-art TV. Kitchen good and well-equipped although we didn't really use it. Bathroom nice, towels good. Ate breakfast outside but I think there is a breakfast available. Well located for The Mailbox with restaurants although mostly chains or corporate-type establishments without any personality. Other restaurants reasonably near, especially Chinatown. Shopping short walk away with a convenient Tesco Express (open 6-23) right by for self-catering supplies. Only niggle was internet did not work but with full 3G signal and unlimited data contract this wasn't a problem for me

I stayed last Saturday in a group of 8. We had booked an apartment for 6 and one for 2 a long time ago. Just like a previous reviewer, our organiser had a call a few days before our trip to stay that the apartment for 6 was no longer available due to a guest staying longer. This was a real pain for our group, however we did manage to negotiate a later check out as a result. We had hoped to leave our luggage for a few hours on the Sunday before our trains but there was no sign of anyone at reception the next day.

The facilities, location, cleanliness are more than acceptable, and if you are simply looking for a place to rest your head - the spires will do the trick. However if you need a bit of service or reliability when booking a large apartment - this is not the place for you.

I booked three apartments at The Spires eight months in advance for a gathering of friends who hadn't seen each other for years and who would be travelling to Birmingham from all over the country. We wanted specific facilities and apartment sizes which is why I booked so far in advance.

However, with three days to go before our arrival date I was contacted by The Spires to say our choice of apartments (the largest ones which slept 6 people) was no longer available and instead our group would be split up into several apartments sleeping only 2 people. The reason given was that the previous guests had extended their stay and wished to remain in the bigger apartments.

If I had wanted several smaller rooms I would have booked them. In fact if I had wanted several smaller rooms I would have booked us into a hotel. The reason for reserving the larger apartments was to allow our group to enjoy the social aspect of being together - for as many of us as possible to eat together, for us to have a few drinks together and enjoy catching up with each other in the large communal areas.

On complaining to The Spires management I was told it was more or less "tough luck". They were simply not willing to honour my original booking despite my pleas and protestations. Luckily for them there were no children in our party - we could well have been at risk of children being separated from their parents......!!

As it was - as a result of my begging and pleading - they eventually gave us one larger apartment and several smaller ones......which wasn't ideal and which had a very negative impact on the social atmosphere we had been looking forward to for months.

One more thing - I'm sorry to say we were horrified at the state of the mattress on the sofa bed in the living area. Dirty and stained - I felt terrible for my friends who were forced to sleep here. Luckily for the bosses there we didn't think to make the bed up until very late at night, otherwise I would have insisted it was changed. It really was hideous.

I was desperately disappointed at the way The Spires treated our group and I'm afraid I would not recommend this accommodation to anyone.