Accommodation suggestions and reviews

[Blindtraveler]

Anyone got any recent avoid at all costs or good recommendations for Carlisle these days? Haven't had to stay overnight in the city since pre-pandemic and the last time I did I needed to be near the motorway so used one of the Premier inns, this time I'm on my own and don't have a driver at my disposal so something Central would be better but the premier is far too expensive

 

[trainophile]

Anyone got any recent avoid at all costs or good recommendations for Carlisle these days? Haven't had to stay overnight in the city since pre-pandemic and the last time I did I needed to be near the motorway so used one of the Premier inns, this time I'm on my own and don't have a driver at my disposal so something Central would be better but the premier is far too expensive

Travelodge in the city centre is okay, although I expect like most Travelodges these days the prices have become ridiculous. (As an aside, I checked the Llandudno one for one night the other day... £240! ).

Have sometimes had a good deal at the County Hotel, just across the road from the Station forecourt. You do get what you pay for though, I booked the cheapest single once and it overlooked the alley with the dustbins in. All rooms en-suite, so it's okay for a night. Floors a bit creaky and the whole place needs some TLC.

 

[Blindtraveler]

I'm glad to hear someone say something positive about the county, I've often wondered about it but some of the reviews have put me off if truthful, I'm sure it really actually isn't that bad and this might be the opportunity to give it a try. Travelodge do seem to have got very greedy in recent times as have all the chains to a greater or lesser extent. Is this them milking the cost of living situation for all of his worth or simply trying to make back money that they know doubt hemorrhaged during the pandemic and will hopefully therefore result in a corresponding slump in a year or so

 

[Haywain]

I'm glad to hear someone say something positive about the county, I've often wondered about it but some of the reviews have put me off if truthful, I'm sure it really actually isn't that bad and this might be the opportunity to give it a try. Travelodge do seem to have got very greedy in recent times as have all the chains to a greater or lesser extent. Is this them milking the cost of living situation for all of his worth or simply trying to make back money that they know doubt hemorrhaged during the pandemic and will hopefully therefore result in a corresponding slump in a year or so

You do know that the cost of living situation has affected businesses as well, don't you? Massive increases in costs alongside suppressed demand inevitably lead to higher prices.

 

[Blindtraveler]

I absolutely do indeed and wasn't trying to deny it but they wouldn't be the first organizations to profit from it

 

[Kite159]

Y Doc at World Horizons Community Hub, Llanelli

Stayed here this last weekend when on an Explore South Wales rover, as it was reasonably priced (compared to everywhere else, £84 for 3 nights). More a hostel sort of building which I can see getting used by school groups when on trips (had a moderately sized kitchen). I had a private room which I suspect used to be office space. Located around a 15-minute walk from the station (the building is close to the railway tracks). The bed was quite comfy, and my room was basic but functional. There was a central lounge area with a coffee bar, with a few sofas & tables. Quite good noise levels as well (other than the odd car)

However, the biggest negative was the blind in my room being rather useless at keeping out the light from a nearby street-lamp. Could be better being a darker material (I suspect it was the original blind fitted to the office). The shared bathroom area (separate for male & female) wasn't the nicest place to be as it smelt (don't think it got much in the way of fresh air being located in the centre of the building). I didn't try out the showers as I didn't have a towel (and one wasn't provided).

It was a bit unnerving arriving at the building as access is around the rear (there was a front door, but I think that gave access to the non-public areas), as it gave the impression of walking via a storage area (with canoes).

Would I use again? Maybe, if the price was right.

 

[Kite159]

Ashgrove B&B, Kirkcaldy

Stayed here as a base for a couple of nights on a Central Scotland Rover. Located around a 10 minute walk from the station (northbound side) with a handy Tesco Express located across the road (along with a pizza takeaway).

The room I had featured a comfy bed, sink & shower unit, the toilet itself was shared. The curtains could probably do with having darker material lining the back as they did let in some light. A bit of outside noise, although last night it did feature a couple having a domestic but you can get that in any places.

Didn't sample the breakfast offering. Certainly a place I would use again if needed to stay in that general area and Edinburgh itself was stupid money.

 

[Cletus]

Stayed at Stockport Travelodge in a room facing the viaduct. Quite low so only clear views of trains on the nearest track.

It’s on the Manchester Airport flight path, but not too intrusive.

Noticeable that building work is rising up close to the viaduct.

 

[Kite159]

Stayed at Stockport Travelodge in a room facing the viaduct. Quite low so only clear views of trains on the nearest track.

It’s on the Manchester Airport flight path, but not too intrusive.

Noticeable that building work is rising up close to the viaduct.

One I've used countless times in the past, one of the better ones with AC from memory. Don't think I ever had a room overlooking the viaduct, I normally had ones overlooking a car park area in the centre of the building.

 

[PauloDavesi]

I'm surprised that nobody has yet mentioned the "Sleeperz" chain of hotels, they have sites in Newcastle and Cardiff that are a few minutes walk from the station, and even have some rooms overlooking the tracks.
The decor and style of the hotels is very similar to the ibis chain, and they offer good value and have an excellent buffett style breakfast, at a reasonable cost, the hotels also have a well stocked bar.

 

[SuspectUsual]

I'm surprised that nobody has yet mentioned the "Sleeperz" chain of hotels, they have sites in Newcastle and Cardiff that are a few minutes walk from the station, and even have some rooms overlooking the tracks.
The decor and style of the hotels is very similar to the ibis chain, and they offer good value and have an excellent buffett style breakfast, at a reasonable cost, the hotels also have a well stocked bar.

Well as it happens I'm staying at Sleeperz in Dundee next week, will report back

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Well as it happens I'm staying at Sleeperz in Dundee next week, will report back

I'd be very interested if you could get pictures of the view from the upper floors in either direction because I'd certainly consider that for next time I have a need to stay in Dundee...

 

[SuspectUsual]

I'd be very interested if you could get pictures of the view from the upper floors in either direction because I'd certainly consider that for next time I have a need to stay in Dundee...

I'll try to remember to - but that's no guarantee these days I'm afraid

 

[bspahh]

I'd be very interested if you could get pictures of the view from the upper floors in either direction because I'd certainly consider that for next time I have a need to stay in Dundee...

It should be something like this (at least if you set up a scaffold tower on the roof of the hotel)

Sleeperz Hotel Dundee · 2 S Union St, Dundee DD1 4BF

★★★★★ · Hotel

goo.gl

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Thank you; that certainly looks worth the view...

 

[SuspectUsual]

I'd be very interested if you could get pictures of the view from the upper floors in either direction because I'd certainly consider that for next time I have a need to stay in Dundee...

The hotel as you probably already know is a crescent shape. The even numbered rooms are on the outside of the crescent, lowest on the town side and highest (40 on my floor) on the river side. Therefore anything over 20 points at least partly towards the river. I got 26, picture attached of the view

More generally:

- entrance at street level but reception on the second floor and rooms above that
- staff friendly and efficient
- rooms feel very “European” in the Ibis style (laminate floor, bright colours)
- excellent sound insulation
- basic food offering but not as expensive as many hotels these days (maybe half a dozen “small plates” at about 6 quid; burgers £10-£12 etc)
- decent breakfast included (in my rate at least)
- good shower but no bath
- aircon in the room and it works well
- sockets and USB ports both sides of the bed (take note Travelodge!)
- free wifi with no password required
- no parking but 25% discount on the multi-storey 2 mins walk away. That’s about a tenner for 12 hours and free 8pm to 8am so decent for a city centre I suppose
- handy for the station
- across the road from the V&A
- Tesco Express on the ground floor next door

 

[richw]

I’ve just spent the weekend in IHG’s Voco Milan Fiere hotel.
The view from my room attached, we had around 12 trains per hour passing our window. I was on the 16th floor though with a good view. The room was very comfortable and clean, and possibly the best shower I’ve ever used!

Reviews on Trip Advisor mark the hotel down for not having good public transport to the city centre. I can only assume such reviewers didn’t leave their room or look at a map!

L.Go Bocciano tram stop on line 1 which has the 1928 trams was less than a 2 minute walk away, simply walk under the motorway via the pedestrian underpass.

Milan Certoso rail station was less than a 10 minute walk and visible in the attached view from my room photo. As well as main rail services stopping a few times an hour, it was also served by suburban Lines S5 and S6 approx 6-8 times per hour. 9 minutes travel time to Milan Garibaldi station, for interchange to Long distance services and metro services.

I’m not sure what the trip advisor authors expected for public transport but for me I thought it had excellent transport links- there was several bus services but I didn’t look into these.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

The hotel as you probably already know is a crescent shape. The even numbered rooms are on the outside of the crescent, lowest on the town side and highest (40 on my floor) on the river side. Therefore anything over 20 points at least partly towards the river. I got 26, picture attached of the view

Thank you, that looks very good to me.

 

[SuspectUsual]

Thank you, that looks very good to me.

Forgot to mention - having booked online (via Expedia so I’m assuming it’s the same for any other method) the day before I arrived I got an email asking me to “pre-check-in” or something, and included in that is a comments/requests box. I put “river view please” and got what I asked for

 

[Blindtraveler]

I might try this at some point although as I'm not keen on ibis etc it doesn't appeal to the same extent as my usual Dundee favorite which is the Premier Inn near the station and river.


Made a return visit to the Andover outpost of Travelodge a couple of weeks back, this is one of the hotels that despite still being fairly new has benefited from the company's currently ongoing refresh into the latest concept. As far as the rooms are concerned, this is new carpets and a liquor paint plus the Mach anticipated reintroduction of a comfortable armchair certainly into the standard doubles.
New mattresses and for the hotels that don't already have them bedside USB ports are also part of this update. From the point of view of the bar cafe the upgraded seating is good as is the improved range on the bar but the new flooring is perhaps not as non-slip as it should be, I stayed on a wet night and the heavily trafficked area near the bar itself did get a bit slidy at times

As TL goes this one is definitely one of the better run ones, I think it very much depends on the manager and the one here is very much awake and on the ball although the company continuing to "economise" a bit on room cleaning is continuing to let them down in my opinion. I'll say this though, for those of us that drink coffee the instant sachets in Travelodge rooms are a 97 brand then used by Premier Inn who continue to dance to the tune of gut rot catering sachets of nescafe which are just not in my view a quality offering

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Forgot to mention - having booked online (via Expedia so I’m assuming it’s the same for any other method) the day before I arrived I got an email asking me to “pre-check-in” or something, and included in that is a comments/requests box. I put “river view please” and got what I asked for

Hmmm... I usually dig up an e-mail for a specific individual hotel in advance and book direct with them. Not always easy with a chain, but it can be done...

 

[Farigiraf]

Novotel Edinburgh Park. Trains and Trams right out the window!

 

[Kite159]

Arron House, Hamilton

Stayed here last night on grounds of cost (£35 for the night) as it was the cheapest place I could find in the Glasgow area which had reasonable access to a station (and not a dorm room, although some of those were £50 for a megadorm, that Euro Hostel in the city centre has certainly hiked their prices for all rooms, including the cheap & cheerful ones on level 2).

Anyhow Arron House is around 10 minutes from Hamilton Central station (ignore Google maps as it doesn't show a couple of shortcuts via the bus station). 20-25 minutes or so from a large Sainsbury's & Morrisons, plus plenty other options close by (I had a beautiful pizza from the "Pizza Daddy" takeaway). Shared bathroom jobbie with not that many rooms (I think other than the friendly owner I was the only person staying there last night).

Beds were comfy (I had a twin room where unusually only one bed was made up), but the window blinds weren't the best at keeping out all the light, biggest drawback was the noise from a kitchen ventilation system from a nearby restaurant but thankfully that ended during the night. Also you couldn't adjust the radiator controls (I'm strange in preferring a cooler room and using extra blankets if required).

Would I use again? Yep, although maybe not during summer months where the sunrise is early. Just need to factor in the need to check in before 7pm.

 

[D6130]

The Waverley Guest House, Union Street, Inverness.

Three minutes walk from Inverness station, down the street opposite, this was obviously once a grand Victorian hotel which had hit hard times, but is now slowly on the up again. However it's clean and reasonably comfortable for a night or two although, be warned, there are two fairly steep flights of stairs up to the first floor reception area-cum-breakfast room....and no lift. I paid £96 on Booking.com for a single bed in a twin room with shared bathroom and toilet but - on checking-in at 15 00 after a sleepless night on the Caledonian Sleeper, which didn't arrive until 13 31 - the receptionist couldn't find the key to my allocated room....so I had a free upgrade to a double en-suite. The room was sparsely-decorated and had no wardrobe....just a couple of old plastic coat hangars on the hook on the back of the door. Tea- and coffee-making facilities were provided, as well as a small flat screen TV. The bed was comfortable and generally clean....although there were a couple of red/brown stains on the top sheet. The bathroom was clean and roomy, with a spacious and clean walk-in shower....although no toiletries were provided and - a big bugbear of mine - no shelf or holder in the shower on which to put your own toiletries. As in the previous post, the window blind was not very efficient at keeping the light out and there were no curtains. The room was at the front of the building and there was quite a lot of noise from the bar opposite, which was holding a 'Scottish Musical Evening', but that died down after midnight. Breakfast (07 30-09 30) was advertised as having a cooked option - either traditional or vegan - but on arrival in the breakfast room at 07 45 there were no staff in evidence and only the cold continental items laid-out for you to serve yourself....fruit juices, tea, coffee, cereals, pastries and bread for toasting, Would I stay there again? On my own....probably. With the wife....possibly not.

 

[Butts]

The Waverley Guest House, Union Street, Inverness.

Three minutes walk from Inverness station, down the street opposite, this was obviously once a grand Victorian hotel which had hit hard times, but is now slowly on the up again. However it's clean and reasonably comfortable for a night or two although, be warned, there are two fairly steep flights of stairs up to the first floor reception area-cum-breakfast room....and no lift. I paid £96 on Booking.com for a single bed in a twin room with shared bathroom and toilet but - on checking-in at 15 00 after a sleepless night on the Caledonian Sleeper, which didn't arrive until 13 31 - the receptionist couldn't find the key to my allocated room....so I had a free upgrade to a double en-suite. The room was sparsely-decorated and had no wardrobe....just a couple of old plastic coat hangars on the hook on the back of the door. Tea- and coffee-making facilities were provided, as well as a small flat screen TV. The bed was comfortable and generally clean....although there were a couple of red/brown stains on the top sheet. The bathroom was clean and roomy, with a spacious and clean walk-in shower....although no toiletries were provided and - a big bugbear of mine - no shelf or holder in the shower on which to put your own toiletries. As in the previous post, the window blind was not very efficient at keeping the light out and there were no curtains. The room was at the front of the building and there was quite a lot of noise from the bar opposite, which was holding a 'Scottish Musical Evening', but that died down after midnight. Breakfast (07 30-09 30) was advertised as having a cooked option - either traditional or vegan - but on arrival in the breakfast room at 07 45 there were no staff in evidence and only the cold continental items laid-out for you to serve yourself....fruit juices, tea, coffee, cereals, pastries and bread for toasting, Would I stay there again? On my own....probably. With the wife....possibly not.

Lovely Premier Inn down by the River would be a better choice and probably cheaper ?

 

[Blindtraveler]

The problem with a lot of the chain hotels in Inverness is that they overcharge because of their yield management supply and demand model plus the fact that it's an increasingly busy city with tourist trade now so whilst I agree that the Premier Inn particularly the one on huntly Street which is definitely one of their better examples would be much preferred in terms of room quality and service it probably in reality cost double the money or more

 

[D6130]

Lovely Premier Inn down by the River would be a better choice and probably cheaper ?

Agreed....but all the Premier Inns and Travelodges were fully-booked. Having now seen the terrible Tripadvisor reviews for the Waverley, I count mysylf lucky that, by default, I must have had one of the better rooms. As stated above, the PIs and TLs in Inverness are very expensive even when they have rooms available, because of the huge tourist demand in the city.

 

[185143]

I've a few from recently.

The Mission Bunkhouse, Mallaig.
After a far worse night than @D6130 had on the Caledonian Sleeper, when I eventually got to Mallaig I stayed at this nice hostel type place. The room was basic as you'd expect. Don't think they had any dorm accommodation, but it was all shared bogs and showers. Couldn't have been better really. Just needed somewhere to crash by that point, I'd have slept on the platform if it'd come to it! The owner was lovely, she couldn't have been more welcoming or sympathetic to the ordeal I'd had on the journey North if she'd tried. Even better, I'd apparently booked a twin room. She asked if I'd mind going in a single room as she had a couple who were stranded due to the weather desperately looking for accommodation. Was more than willing to do so, and even better when £20 got knocked off the bill to account for the cheaper room (£30 cost). Slept very well unsurprisingly having only managed about 3 hours sleep on the train seats, then a couple of hours in the black cab they put me in at Edinburgh (to Fort William!) Directly opposite the station too, will definitely stay again. Only accessed by steps though.

The Arrochar Hotel, Arrochar
Didn't know what to expect with this one as the reviews are quite mixed. Quite a walk from the station too, but nothing overly strenuous. Had a great couple of nights. Paid for a room facing the road, but got allocated one overlooking Loch Long. The view is incredible. The hotel is old and could use some TLC in places, but I slept well enough, the room was spacious and comfortable. Free cooked breakfast buffet included too. Would definitely stay again, £52/night including breakfast seemed quite reasonable for a relatively short notice booking in a popular part of the world.

Crownleigh Guest House, Inverness
Booked through Airbnb, this was a reasonable find. £42/night for a cosy single room. It was quite small, but en suite. The bed was far from the softest I've ever slept in, but it was decent enough. It's up a very steep hill from the station too.

I've stayed in the Waverley Guest House mentioned just upthread in the past, it's OK. I too got upgraded to an en suite twin room. The only issue I had was when I shut the toilet door, the latch in the door broke, so when you pushed the handle, nothing happened! Rang reception who sent someone up pretty quickly who seemed confused and relieved. He'd been told I was stuck in the bathroom and was glad he didn't have to break the door down. It couldn't be fixed so I had to use the shared toilet on the floor below, which wasn't ideal, but could manage for one night. My next night was in an Airbnb South of the river which was pleasant enough. Nothing overly special, just cheap and cheerful. One thing I will say for Inverness, Castle View Accommodation. Don't even consider it! Stayed a few years ago and noticed it on Google Maps yesterday so clicked on it out of curiousity. Seems to have got even worse if anything!

 

[Blindtraveler]

Arrochar hotel is cracking if you get it for the right price, usually tends to be a bit on the hefty side on the booking platforms but I discovered it when under a previous management I DJ the function in there, whilst there are aspects of it that are definitely a bit faulty towers it's definitely one that I would put on a list for a good Scottish welcome should I ever get round to curating such a list on Google maps or whatever, often overlooked by the bashing fraternity who I suspect at that distance either want to go further north or think they might as well return to Glasgow for the delights of a Travelodge or whatever

 

[185143]

Arrochar hotel is cracking if you get it for the right price, usually tends to be a bit on the hefty side on the booking platforms but I discovered it when under a previous management I DJ the function in there, whilst there are aspects of it that are definitely a bit faulty towers it's definitely one that I would put on a list for a good Scottish welcome should I ever get round to curating such a list on Google maps or whatever, often overlooked by the bashing fraternity who I suspect at that distance either want to go further north or think they might as well return to Glasgow for the delights of a Travelodge or whatever

Can well believe bashers overlooking it. I wouldn't have gone there if I could have stayed in Fort William for even close to what I paid at Arrochar.

The Scottish self service breakfast was very good, the staff were lovely and the bar is reasonably priced. No Tennents though, which may or may not be a bad thing. Seems rather "marmite" up here that does. The only place in GB I've seen Caffrey's Irish ale on draught.

I'm in the Royal Thurso Hotel tonight. Anyone stayed there?