Novotel UK Hotels Review: Are They Good for Families?
When we’re planning a UK trip, there are a handful of hotel brands that we automatically check before booking. Novotel is one of them.
Over the last few years, we’ve stayed in Novotel hotels across the UK, including Liverpool, London, Leeds, Birmingham and Edinburgh. Some have been airport hotels, some have been city-centre stays and some have been part of longer family trips.
What we’ve discovered is that Novotel offers something many hotel brands struggle to achieve: consistency. That doesn’t mean every Novotel is identical. In fact, one of the most surprising things we’ve learned is just how different individual properties can feel. Some of the newer hotels are genuinely impressive, while others are still waiting for the modernisation programme that has transformed much of the brand.
Despite those differences, Novotel has quietly become one of our most-used hotel brands for UK travel. So, are Novotel hotels good for families? Based on our experiences so far, we’d say yes — but there are a few things worth knowing before you book.
Why We Keep Booking Novotel
When you’re travelling as a family, reliability counts for a lot.
You don’t necessarily need luxury every time you travel, but you do want to know that the room will be comfortable, the hotel will be well located and the experience won’t add unnecessary stress to the trip. That’s where Novotel has consistently worked well for us.
Most properties offer family-friendly room configurations, decent communal spaces and locations that make exploring a city or catching an early flight relatively straightforward. We’ve also found that Novotel often sits in a sweet spot between budget hotels and more expensive four-star brands.
In many cases, we’ve found ourselves comparing Novotel with brands such as Hilton or Crowne Plaza and feeling that Novotel offered the better overall value. That doesn’t mean every stay has been perfect, but we’ve rarely left feeling disappointed.
The Biggest Thing You Need to Know About Novotel
If you’ve only stayed in one Novotel, it’s easy to assume they’re all broadly the same. Our experience suggests otherwise. The single biggest difference between Novotel hotels is how recently they’ve been refurbished.
Some properties have already adopted the brand’s latest design style, while others still reflect an older generation of Novotel rooms. The difference can be significant.
We’ve stayed in hotels such as Novotel Liverpool Paddington Village and Novotel London Canary Wharf, where the rooms feel modern, stylish and thoughtfully designed. At the other end of the scale, we’ve stayed in properties where the public areas have been refreshed but the rooms still feel noticeably older.
That doesn’t necessarily make those hotels bad. The beds are still comfortable, the service is still good and the hotels remain perfectly functional. However, if you’re expecting every Novotel to look like the newest marketing photographs on the website, you may be surprised.
For us, understanding where a particular hotel sits in that refurbishment cycle has become one of the most important factors when booking.
Our Favourite Novotel Hotels So Far
One of the reasons we continue returning to the brand is that some of our favourite UK hotel stays have been at Novotel properties.
Novotel Liverpool Paddington Village is probably the standout example. As one of the newer additions to the portfolio, it showcases what modern Novotel can be when everything comes together. The rooms feel contemporary, the public spaces are impressive and the overall experience feels much more premium than many people might expect from the brand.
The food during our stay was particularly good, which isn’t something we always say about hotel restaurants. Instead of simply being convenient, the restaurant felt like somewhere we genuinely wanted to eat.
A Suite on floor 4 - Novotel London Canary Wharf
Novotel London Canary Wharf also left a strong impression, albeit for slightly different reasons. The location provides excellent access to Canary Wharf, while the higher floors offer some spectacular views across London. It felt more premium than many city-centre hotels we’ve stayed in and demonstrated how versatile the Novotel brand can be.
Meanwhile, Novotel Leeds Centre sits somewhere in the middle and is a good example of how the brand has evolved. During our stay we were upgraded to a room on the sixth floor, which gave us a glimpse of what a thoughtfully updated Novotel can look like without necessarily being one of the newest properties in the portfolio.
Where Novotel Still Needs To Improve
One of the challenges facing Novotel is that guests often compare properties carrying the same brand name. That’s understandable, but it can create unrealistic expectations.
A guest staying at Liverpool Paddington Village may reasonably expect a similar experience at Birmingham Centre or London West, only to discover that the rooms feel quite different.
The issue isn’t usually cleanliness or service. In our experience, those standards have remained relatively consistent across the brand. The challenge is that some hotels simply feel further along the refurbishment journey than others.
As Novotel continues updating older properties, we’d expect that gap to narrow. Until then, it pays to do a little research before booking and look at recent room photographs rather than relying solely on brand expectations.
What About the Food?
One area where we’ve noticed genuine improvement over recent years is food.
Hotel restaurants can sometimes feel like an afterthought, particularly when they’re catering for guests who are only staying for a night or two. Increasingly, that doesn’t seem to be the case at Novotel.
Our experience at Liverpool Paddington Village was particularly impressive. The menu felt modern, the presentation was good and the quality exceeded what we’d normally expect from a hotel restaurant.
Breakfast has generally been strong across the brand too, with a good mix of hot and cold options and enough variety to keep both adults and children happy.
That’s not to say every meal has been memorable. Our meal at Novotel Birmingham Centre was probably the weakest dining experience we’ve had within the brand. It wasn’t terrible, but it lacked the quality and attention to detail we’ve experienced elsewhere.
The encouraging thing is that the overall trend appears to be moving in the right direction.
Are Novotel Hotels Good for Families?
For us, this is where Novotel performs particularly well.
Family travel often comes down to lots of small details rather than one standout feature. Having enough space in the room, being able to find something everyone will eat at breakfast and staying somewhere that’s easy to access all contribute to a smoother trip.
Novotel generally understands those needs. The rooms are usually practical, family-friendly options are often available and the hotels tend to be located close to transport links, city centres or major attractions.
We’ve also found that the atmosphere tends to strike a good balance. The hotels feel professional enough for business travellers while remaining relaxed enough for families. That combination isn’t always easy to achieve.
Would We Stay in a Novotel Again?
Absolutely. In fact, Novotel has quietly become one of the first hotel brands we look at when planning UK trips and we’re event staying in one in our upcoming Florida trip in 2026.
Part of that is because we’ve had consistently good experiences. Part of it is because we know what we’re likely to get. And part of it is because some of the newer properties have genuinely exceeded our expectations.
The key lesson we’ve learned is not to assume every Novotel is identical. The best Novotels we’ve stayed in have been excellent and compete comfortably with more expensive hotel brands. The older properties still offer solid value, but they may not deliver quite the same level of experience.
Once you understand that difference, Novotel becomes a much easier brand to book with confidence.
Final Thoughts
After staying in Novotel hotels across the UK, we’ve come to see the brand as one of the most reliable options for family travel.
Not every property is at the same stage of its development, and some hotels undoubtedly feel more modern than others. However, the combination of family-friendly facilities, good locations, improving food and generally consistent service means Novotel remains a brand we’d happily recommend.
If you’re choosing between several Novotel properties, we’d encourage you to look beyond the brand name itself and pay attention to how recently the hotel has been updated. Do that, and there’s a good chance you’ll understand why we keep coming back.
NEXT READ: Check out our other Novotel hotel reviews of Novotel Birmingham Airport and Leeds City Novotel.