hotels near the nec birmingham

hi guys. im looking for a hotel near the nec birmingham for january. im looking at the arc apartments as there very reasonable but have no idea if there any bit near the nec? any ideas of hotels would be greatly appreciated. also would like to no if the nec is near the city or is it out a bit. wed like to do a bit of shopping too and have nice lunch or dinner so near everything would be great.

NEC is outside of Birmingham, but a train brings you straight out to it from the city centre

Was there 2 weeks ago and stayed at the hilton (right beside the NEC), I also saw an IBIS which is right beside the NEC and airport as well. Thjink i saw a crown plaza there as well. City centre is 20mins away by train........

cheers guys. great help

As Roundy said, the NEC is on the Airport campus, so if you google for airport hotels, they'll all be convenient for the venue.