Who is this hotel for?
The hotel excels in catering to families with various entertainment options nearby, ensuring a budget-friendly stay.
Ideal for families, the hotel offers easy access to affordable entertainment, making it a perfect choice for fun outings.
Excellent access to Birmingham's nightlife, with Broad Street just five minutes away and affordable taxi options.
A practical base for nightlife, the hotel offers easy walking access to Broad Street while ensuring a quiet stay.
Conveniently located for events, but expect a taxi for longer distances; ample parking is a definite plus.
The hotel's location is beneficial for event attendees, with plentiful paid parking, though taxis are needed for convenience.
The hotel provides numerous budget-friendly amenities and options, ensuring an economical stay for travelers.
With fast food and entertainment deals close by, guests can easily manage expenses while enjoying their stay.
A solid choice for business travelers with cars, featuring easy access to ring roads and ample parking.
Ideal for business purposes, the hotel provides great driving access and parking, although navigation can be tricky.
Not suitable for romantic getaways or quiet retreats; couples may prefer more intimate locations in the city.
Couples seeking romance or a serene escape should consider different accommodations in more desirable areas.
Neighbourhood Gallery
Broadway Plaza opened in 2003 and sits just inside the inner ring road, about a mile west of Birmingham city centre. It is not trying to be anything other than what it is: a clean, open-air leisure complex built around a car park, with an Odeon, Hollywood Bowl, Rock Up climbing, Nuffield Health gym, bars, fast food outlets, and a Costa Coffee. Some of the rendering shows its age, but the plaza itself is well-maintained, feels safe, and is genuinely airy on a good day.
The Travelodge occupies the first floor, which makes it the only business up there and gives it clear signage from every direction. You can see it the moment you come up from the underground car park. That clarity is useful, because the approach by road requires full attention and a working sat nav.
Standing at the plaza level and looking around, you see the entire complex laid out in front of you. The Odeon, Hollywood Bowl, Rock Up, and Nuffield gym anchor the main footprint. Bars and fast food outlets fill the gaps. There is no residential character here, no independent shops, no market stalls. This is a purpose-built leisure destination and it makes no apology for that.
Francis Road, the quieter road that runs alongside the complex, provides some breathing room and connects quickly to green space. Chamberlain Gardens is an eight-minute walk from the hotel via Francis Road, crossing only one small side road, with the rest of the route following paths through green areas. There is an outdoor gym there and it is genuinely dog-friendly. It is the one genuinely pleasant outdoor escape from the otherwise commercial immediate environment.
Request to be dropped on Francis Road, not Ladywood Middleway. Francis Road is quiet, manageable, and puts you a short walk from the plaza entrance. Ladywood Middleway is a busy dual carriageway with no sensible stopping point. Birmingham has plenty of taxis, and they are cheap by comparison with other major cities. For early morning trains to New Street, pre-book the night before rather than relying on street availability at 5am.
The car park entrance is off Ladywood Middleway. There are 1,300 spaces in the Broadway Plaza car park, which means you will almost always find somewhere. The problem is the approach. If you miss the entrance off Ladywood Middleway, you will face a series of very busy roundabouts to loop back. Sat nav is not optional here, it is essential. Programme the postcode before you leave and follow it precisely. Once you are in the car park, clear signage takes you up to the plaza and the hotel is immediately visible on the first floor.
One critical note for drivers: Broadway Plaza sits just outside Birmingham's Clean Air Zone. The CAZ charges £8 per day and runs midnight to midnight, so a single overnight stay inside the zone costs you two days of charges. This hotel's location just outside it is a genuine practical advantage for drivers who would otherwise be navigating CAZ logistics every morning.
New Street Station is a 30-minute walk and is not a realistic option with luggage. Five Ways Station is 12 minutes on foot and is the sensible choice for train arrivals. The Edgbaston Village tram stop on the West Midlands Metro is eight minutes walk and connects into the city centre. Buses also stop on the Hagley Road near the tram stop. The nearest bus stops within walking distance are Friston Avenue at three minutes and Five Ways at six minutes. The short version: do not walk from New Street. Use Five Ways station or take a taxi.
Coaches and long-distance buses typically terminate at Birmingham Coach Station or drop in the city centre, which puts you in taxi territory. City buses on the Hagley Road stop close to the Edgbaston Village tram stop, an eight-minute walk from the hotel. If you are arriving by National Express or similar, a taxi from the coach station is the practical option rather than attempting a multi-bus journey with luggage.
The plaza itself has a Costa Coffee, fast food outlets, and bars, all within two minutes of the hotel entrance. For something worth the walk, Meat Club is a halal steakhouse located literally underneath the Travelodge, making it the most convenient sit-down restaurant available. The Vine is the closest traditional pub. The Malt House in Brindleyplace is the recommendation worth making the 15 to 20-minute walk for, offering cask ales and good food. The Physician on Harborne Road is 10 to 12 minutes away and is another solid option. Damascena Coffee House on the Hagley Road is a genuinely independent option at 10 minutes. Morrisons on the Hagley Road covers grocery needs at eight minutes. Starbucks is near the tram stop at eight minutes.
The plaza itself has no green space. However, Chamberlain Gardens is eight minutes away via Francis Road and is a genuinely pleasant urban park with an outdoor gym and paths suitable for dog walking. The route from the hotel crosses only one small road before transitioning to green paths. For a leisure complex hotel, this is a better nearby green space option than many people expect.
This is the hotel's strongest use case. Cinema, bowling, climbing, and crazy golf are all within the same complex. The plaza deals make it genuinely budget-friendly: Odeon family tickets where adults pay children's prices, Rock Up family-of-four packages with free kids' meals on Thursdays, Hollywood Bowl Eat, Drink and Bowl deals, and Mr. Mulligans crazy golf at £25 for four. The first-floor hotel entrance via lift or stairs requires some care with pushchairs and young children, but the hotel has evacuation provisions in place. Overall, for a family wanting entertainment on the doorstep at budget prices, this location is close to ideal.
Broad Street starts five minutes from the hotel. This is Birmingham's primary nightlife strip and the hotel is a genuinely practical base for a night out. The walk back at 2am depends on where you finish up on Broad Street. A taxi is the recommended option regardless, as they are cheap and the sensible call after a late night in any major city. The plaza itself quietens after 11pm, so the hotel is not noisy all night.
The ICC and Utilita Arena are 20 minutes on foot. With luggage or after a late-night event, a taxi is the realistic option. The bigger advantage for drivers is parking: 1,300 spaces on site, paid but plentiful, versus the stress and cost of parking near the ICC or Broad Street directly. Use this hotel as a base, taxi to the event, taxi back.
Fast food on the doorstep, an ATM on site near Subway, Morrisons at eight minutes, discounted drinks at Hollywood Bowl, and the plaza entertainment deals all make this a genuinely cost-controllable stay. The leisure complex environment does encourage spending, but only if you let it. It is entirely possible to eat cheaply, be entertained cheaply, and keep the whole trip tight.
For a driver attending meetings around Birmingham and the wider region, this is a solid base. Ring-road access in every direction, 1,300 parking spaces, and a location just outside the CAZ saves the daily charge that catches drivers in the city centre. The complexity of the approach is real but manageable once you have done it once.
Romantics should look elsewhere. A leisure plaza with a bowling alley, fast food outlets, and a dual carriageway on one side is not a romantic setting, and no amount of good intentions will change that. Couples wanting the Birmingham city break experience should look at hotels in Brindleyplace or the Colmore Business District instead. Similarly, anyone prioritising a quiet retreat, a convenient New Street connection without local knowledge, or a prestigious business address will find this hotel a frustrating fit.
The single deciding factor between this Travelodge and a similarly priced hotel near New Street Station is whether you are driving. If you have a car, Broadway Plaza wins: more parking, simpler costs, ring-road access, and no CAZ charges overnight. If you are arriving by train and have no particular reason to be in this part of Birmingham, a hotel closer to New Street removes the logistical layer of the Five Ways connection and the taxi dependency. Know which category you are in before you book.
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Verified March 2026
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