Where to stay in Birmingham: the best neighbourhoods and hotels

This is the middle of everything. New Street station sits beneath the Grand Central shopping centre, the Bullring and its Selfridges are next door, and pedestrianised New Street climbs to Victoria Square and the Museum and Art Gallery. A block north, Colmore Row is the handsome Victorian business district, facing the small Baroque cathedral across its green churchyard.

The Grand Hotel Birmingham is the city's grandest address, a restored Victorian landmark with a terrace and 24-hour room service. The Macdonald Burlington dates back to 1881. Clayton Hotel Birmingham is a five-minute walk from the Bullring, and Adagio's studios and one-bedroom apartments, each with a kitchen, are within five minutes of New Street station.

Birmingham likes to remind you it has more miles of canal than Venice, and this is where you can enjoy them. Brindleyplace is a smart waterside quarter of restaurants and bars, with the National SEA LIFE Centre and LEGOLAND Discovery Centre for children, the ICC and Symphony Hall for concerts, and the Utilita Arena a short walk along the towpath. Broad Street, running alongside, is loud, bright and busy until late.

Hyatt Regency Birmingham is linked directly to the ICC and Symphony Hall. Hilton Garden Inn is in Brindleyplace itself, less than a mile from the arena. Novotel Birmingham Centre sits on Broad Street, and the Crowne Plaza is three minutes from the ICC and five from the station. Ask for a high floor or a canal-side room if you value your sleep at weekends.

The Mailbox, a former Royal Mail sorting office, is now a sleek block of designer shops and restaurants that opens onto the canal at the back. Beside it rises The Cube, the city's most recognisable modern building. Walk ten minutes east and you are in Southside: the Hippodrome theatre, the Chinese Quarter and the bars of Hurst Street, the centre of Birmingham's LGBTQ+ scene.

The Cube Hotel occupies the 23rd and 24th floors of the building, with 52 boutique rooms, floor-to-ceiling windows and a Marco Pierre White steakhouse with 360-degree views. Malmaison, in the Mailbox, has a brasserie, a sauna and spa treatments. The Radisson Blu, near Hurst Street, is the handiest base for the theatre.

North-west of the centre, the Jewellery Quarter still makes a large share of Britain's jewellery in the same red-brick workshops it has used for two centuries. Around them have grown independent restaurants, cocktail bars and quirky museums, including one devoted to pens and another to coffin-making. St Paul's Square, the last Georgian square in the city, is its prettiest corner.

Saint Pauls House has a restaurant, a terrace and a bar on the square. Staycity's aparthotel is in the quarter too, a five-minute walk from the centre and close to the Jam House music venue. Malacuna is a hostel with private and shared rooms and a coffee kiosk by the check-in desk, for those watching the pennies.

Edgbaston is the city's garden suburb: wide tree-lined roads, Georgian and Victorian villas, the Botanical Gardens, the University of Birmingham and one of England's great Test cricket grounds. Edgbaston Village, around Highfield Road, has become a dining destination, and Broad Street is a short walk if you want more noise.

The High Field Town House has 12 rooms, a garden and its own restaurant. Edgbaston House, a former Georgian residence on Highfield Road, has 14 rooms less than a mile from the city centre. Edgbaston Park Hotel sits beside the university campus with plenty of free parking, and Charles Hope's serviced apartments suit longer stays.

East of the city, the National Exhibition Centre, the bp pulse LIVE arena, Resorts World and Birmingham Airport share one sprawling campus beside Birmingham International station. If you are here for a show, a gig or an early flight, stay here. The city centre is about ten minutes away by train.

Hilton Birmingham Metropole is connected to the NEC complex, with three restaurants. Genting Hotel sits inside Resorts World, with a spa, an indoor pool and a casino downstairs. Novotel Birmingham Airport is a minute's walk from the terminal. In Solihull itself, voco St John's is a stylish, unstuffy hotel ten minutes from the NEC.

The countryside north and east of Birmingham is thick with country-club hotels. The Belfry, set in 550 acres a few minutes from the M42, is the famous one, with championship golf and a 15-minute taxi ride to the airport. Forest of Arden in Meriden has a golf course, a spa and an indoor pool, and Lea Marston has 88 rooms in 52 acres near Sutton Coldfield.

Moor Hall is a country house hotel in parkland with two restaurants and four-poster rooms. Families should look to Tamworth, where the Drayton Manor Hotel sits beside the theme park and the SnowDome is close by.