STAYBRIDGE SUITES BIRMINGHAM

If you think libraries are dull, the Library of Birmingham, a 15-minute walk from the hotel, will change your mind. Designed by the Dutch architect Francine Houben, the building looks like a stack of glittering gift boxes. The interior includes an underground theatre, a room to house the library's leading Shakespeare collection and a glass elevator to a roof garden with city views.

Sure, it's easy to stick to the Bullring, Harvey Nichols and House of Fraser for your shopping needs, but the Great Western Arcade, just up the road from the hotel, offers something different. This Victorian shopping arcade was built in the late 19th century to cover a section of the Great Western Railway. Today, it houses indie boutiques and eateries sandwiched between ornate stone entrances.

Pay a visit to the Ikon Gallery, one of Britain's premier contemporary art venues, housed in a neo-Gothic former school building. The free, not-for-profit gallery aims to make art accessible to everyone, not only showing works by famous locals, but also doing outreach with schools and sponsoring competitions among schoolchildren as a means of stoking the imagination.

About a mile southeast of the hotel, the Custard Factory is a creative complex of shops, galleries and offices within a series of former factory buildings. Dubbed Birmingham's Creative Quarter, this is a great place to check out local designer wares, try a sweet snack from one of several food manufacturers set up here or see an art exhibition or an evening dance performance.

If you have kids, love chocolate or both, head to Cadbury's World, a theme park just half an hour's train ride south of the hotel, with exhibits dedicated to the history and making of chocolate. Travel through 14 zones to learn about Willy Wonka-esque manufacturing practices, visit a full-scale replica of John Cadbury's 19th-century shop and see some of Cadbury's most memorable ads.

Distance from hotel: 1 MI/ 1.61 KM South West

Distance from hotel: 0.01 MI/ 0.02 KM East