Its a big advantage to stay close to the NEC and walk over but the closest hotels have really jacked up their prices this year. I stayed at one of the airport hotels but catching the train to the NEC while carrying anything was still a pain. This year I booked the Holiday Inn Express, which had about average prices and slightly better reviews than similar hotels. For some reason most hotels are charging substantially more for that weekend than I remember last year .

We get parking permits for the NEC, so it might save you money to stay a bit further away and drive to the NEC each day.