Accommodation suggestions and reviews

[Butts]

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?

Years ago yes, it was a typical country hotel a throwback to the sixties/seventies.

This was 10years ago though, didn't have Breakfast as my Train was to early to facilitate it.

 

[railfan99]

The Railway at Westerfield is just great.

GBP60 for a single. Beautiful room. Can walk 150 metres abd watch the Felixstowe intermodals barrel through.

 

[Kite159]

Easy Hotel, Milton Keynes

Stayed at Milton Keynes with my mum the last couple of nights for a railtour (based on cost as London prices were even sillier than normal (but in hindsight a wise move, I dread to think how we would have gotten from Croydon to Euston yesterday morning with no trains)

Anyhow to the hotel, around .9 miles from the station (depends which route you take), in a business area near the court buildings. Quite quiet outside, although we had a windowless room in the centre of the building. AC was effective and was nice to get two proper single beds in a twin room (one thing Easy Hotel do right). Room was the usual budget self without much room to spare.

Downsides was the water pressure in the shower was a bit pants and they only had one thin pillow per bed. Would I use again? Yep, if the price is right and I need to be in that area for another railtour.

I'm sure @Blindtraveler would like to know also there was a coffee machine in the reception area as he does like his coffee

 

[Blindtraveler]

Easy Hotel, Milton Keynes

Stayed at Milton Keynes with my mum the last couple of nights for a railtour (based on cost as London prices were even sillier than normal (but in hindsight a wise move, I dread to think how we would have gotten from Croydon to Euston yesterday morning with no trains)

Anyhow to the hotel, around .9 miles from the station (depends which route you take), in a business area near the court buildings. Quite quiet outside, although we had a windowless room in the centre of the building. AC was effective and was nice to get two proper single beds in a twin room (one thing Easy Hotel do right). Room was the usual budget self without much room to spare.

Downsides was the water pressure in the shower was a bit pants and they only had one thin pillow per bed. Would I use again? Yep, if the price is right and I need to be in that area for another railtour.

I'm sure @Blindtraveler would like to know also there was a coffee machine in the reception area as he does like his coffee

Guilty as charged where the coffee is concerned, but particularly good to hear about this budget friendly option in MK as I have been doing some work for an organization based there in recent times and as we go into the winter I have a number of mid morning starts for actual in-person meetings and other such events which would cost an arm and a leg to get to from a standpoint of Kent due to peak fares but could be viably resourced by traveling during the previous evening and overnighting somewhere cheap collar therefore rendering the services of the coffee machine even more essential as again as said above it's one of the things that easy hotel do tend to do quite well and there are several of these although the pillow situation is a bit sad and I wish they'd offer an option on their website to request more

 

[trainophile]

Agree that EasyHotel pillows are dire, wouldn’t be so bad if the single one on offer was a decent thickness but they are almost flat. Even travelling alone and putting one on top of the other doesn’t really work.

I wouldn’t bother with the Reading one again, paid extra for a room with a window to find it was obscured glass on the ground floor of a busy street corner, so all we could see was people’s shadows going past constantly. No kettle as expected, we took a travel one but there was only the floor to use it on.

 

[Blindtraveler]

They're missing a trick by not offering a pillow upgrade paid cash or card at reception or indeed booked online but again collected from reception on check-in,

 

[robbeech]

Wakefield : York House

Hotel (with a restaurant although i didn't eat here) a couple of minutes walk form Wakefield Westgate station. Stayed here a couple of weeks ago. Really nice rooms, everything you might need, didn't seem to be that expensive on a weekday night at least. There is also parking available (i was in the car on that day).

Interesting points :

The most detailed "Fire Action" poster by the door i've ever seen.

Fan Run on time : 3 minutes, not great but not loud with the door closed.

 

[richw]

Bristol Lewins Mead premier inn.

Stayed here for convenience last Friday night. I needed the 0320 airport flyer from the bus station which was next door.

Standard refurbed premier inn room with the comfy bed I’ve come to expect. Good price point.
Easy walk to get food from city centre

 

[MasterSpenny]

Holiday Inn Edinburgh
Travelled here on Monday, and is rather good. It has a tram stop across the road, a Tesco for food next door, with a centre which has a cinema, game arcade and restaurants nearby.

 

[railfan99]

Agree that EasyHotel pillows are dire, wouldn’t be so bad if the single one on offer was a decent thickness but they are almost flat. Even travelling alone and putting one on top of the other doesn’t really work.

I wouldn’t bother with the Reading one again, paid extra for a room with a window to find it was obscured glass on the ground floor of a busy street corner, so all we could see was people’s shadows going past constantly. No kettle as expected, we took a travel one but there was only the floor to use it on.

After staying in an Easyhotel at East Croydon after I arrived in London by air, never again.

Shocking. A bed, and a shower, and that's it. No bedside table, no lamps, no chair.

Way below Premier Inn but not a huge price difference.

 

[Blindtraveler]

Easy hotel only really works if it's 30 pounds or less, pay any more than that and you're getting poor value for money

 

[richw]

After staying in an Easyhotel at East Croydon after I arrived in London by air, never again.

Shocking. A bed, and a shower, and that's it. No bedside table, no lamps, no chair.

Way below Premier Inn but not a huge price difference.

Whenever I’ve stayed at the easyhotel in east Croydon it’s been £25-35 a night, whilst the premier inns in the area have been £100+ on my desired dates. Now to me I’d happily pay that price bracket and saving for the basic easyhotel if I’m just looking for somewhere to sleep, and don’t intend spending time in the room except for sleep and shower

 

[Kite159]

Easy hotel only really works if it's 30 pounds or less, pay any more than that and you're getting poor value for money

Agreed, although one advantage is the twin rooms have proper beds, and not a converted sofa bed (like in some Premier Inn) or a fold up camp style bed (like in some Travelodge).

But also depends on what other hotel chains are charging as Croydon isn't as cheap as it used to be (like most places)

 

[Blindtraveler]

Agreed, although one advantage is the twin rooms have proper beds, and not a converted sofa bed (like in some Premier Inn) or a fold up camp style bed (like in some Travelodge).

But also depends on what other hotel chains are charging as Croydon isn't as cheap as it used to be (like most places)

I'm afraid you'll be getting more camp beds rather than less when it comes to Travelodge, as they refit either older hotels or hotels they've taken over from other people the camp beds are being standardized. They're central head office responded to a TripAdvisor query that I happen to read the other week.


PI's sofa beds aren't nearly as bad, you can at least get a decent sleep on them but I agree that proper twin beds is preferable

 

[ChrisC]

Whenever I’ve stayed at the easyhotel in east Croydon it’s been £25-35 a night, whilst the premier inns in the area have been £100+ on my desired dates.

It would have been difficult to believe, even just a year ago, that it would be £100+ to stay at a Premier Inn in the Croydon area. Many hotel prices have risen considerably these last few months and many prices now are even higher than they were during the summer. I was listening to a report concerning this on the radio last week which reported that even in the budget chains like Travelodge, Premier Inn and Holiday Inn Express, it is becoming increasingly difficult in many areas of the country to book rooms below £100 a night. Some of this is hardly surprising considering the rise in energy costs last winter.

When I am on my travels, I tend to base myself somewhere for at least 3 nights and rarely do one night stays. For this sort of stay I like somewhere comfortable, especially on dark winter evenings and so Premier Inn is an absolute minimum for me. A big problem over past 18 months have been the likelihood of rail strikes meaning that I have left booking hotels until within 14 days of travelling, or have booked well in advance at a flexible cancellable rate. In both cases it means significantly higher prices than being able to book months in advance at a non refundable rate.

I think some hotel chains are making the difference between saver and flexible rates greater than they were. It‘s been very frustrating to find nights available at well under £100 at a non refundable rate, only to find that to book the room at a flexible rate and adding breakfast can increase the price to £150+ a night. In my experience the cheaper nights are often to be found in smaller independently run hotels and village inns with just a few rooms. You just have to make sure that you do lots of research and read the reviews carefully.

 

[richw]

It would have been difficult to believe, even just a year ago, that it would be £100+ to stay at a Premier Inn in the Croydon area. Many hotel prices have risen considerably these last few months and many prices now are even higher than they were during the summer. I was listening to a report concerning this on the radio last week which reported that even in the budget chains like Travelodge, Premier Inn and Holiday Inn Express, it is becoming increasingly difficult in many areas of the country to book rooms below £100 a night. Some of this is hardly surprising considering the rise in energy costs last winter.

When I am on my travels, I tend to base myself somewhere for at least 3 nights and rarely do one night stays. For this sort of stay I like somewhere comfortable, especially on dark winter evenings and so Premier Inn is an absolute minimum for me. A big problem over past 18 months have been the likelihood of rail strikes meaning that I have left booking hotels until within 14 days of travelling, or have booked well in advance at a flexible cancellable rate. In both cases it means significantly higher prices than being able to book months in advance at a non refundable rate.

I think some hotel chains are making the difference between saver and flexible rates greater than they were. It‘s been very frustrating to find nights available at well under £100 at a non refundable rate, only to find that to book the room at a flexible rate and adding breakfast can increase the price to £150+ a night. In my experience the cheaper nights are often to be found in smaller independently run hotels and village inns with just a few rooms. You just have to make sure that you do lots of research and read the reviews carefully.

Normally on my visits to the Isle of Wight I’ve stayed premier inn around 60 a night. On my last trip they wanted 135 a night. I booked Parkdean lower Hyde at shanklin, just beyond the end of the railway line, its entrance is actually part of the now removed ventnor line.
It was £79 for a friday- Monday caravan. It actually saved me even more as it had a kitchen so I wasn’t reliant on takeaways etc

 

[Kite159]

I think some hotel chains are making the difference between saver and flexible rates greater than they were.

Can't remember if I posted this already, but I was looking at Travelodges for the last Friday night of the year for a potential railtour on the Saturday. Saw the one in Cheshunt as a potential good price only to see the flexible premium was £15.
Fixed at £37.99, Flexible at £52.99

It was the biggest (in terms of percentage) I've seen

 

[317 forever]

Bristol Lewins Mead premier inn.

Stayed here for convenience last Friday night. I needed the 0320 airport flyer from the bus station which was next door.

Standard refurbed premier inn room with the comfy bed I’ve come to expect. Good price point.
Easy walk to get food from city centre

I found it really helpful for being only just round the corner from the bus station, and most other city buses on the road just outside.

I even popped back in the middle of the day twice when I was passing through.

 

[Blindtraveler]

I think this pricing strategy which many are claiming is a direct result of cost of living energy and staffing emergency which I'm sure to an extent is true we'll come back to bite them sooner rather than later when people stop staying with the chains and instead discover the delights of Mrs Robinson's bed and breakfast down the road at 50 quid a night including a full English

 

[Blindtraveler]

Anyhow to the reason I came in here,

Premier Inn Carlisle, m6j42

My parents stayed here and in their naivety rather overpaid for it which they now realize was a bit silly from Monday through to yesterday morning. They got given a free premier plus room upgrade as it was the only one left with an adapted bathroom which my mom now needs so this rather took the Sting out of the nightly rate, anyhow most impressed with staff and service and they came back in after about the second or third night to discover that housekeeping had tweaked that they were staying for a longer period of time and and additional armchair and bedside cabinet had suddenly materialized from somewhere which made things even better for them. This is not a hotel particularly useful for anyone arriving by public transport unless you brought your bike with you but it's just too roundabouts of the M6 so an advantage from that point of view and has an attached beefy to restaurant

 

[trainophile]

I think this pricing strategy which many are claiming is a direct result of cost of living energy and staffing emergency which I'm sure to an extent is true we'll come back to bite them sooner rather than later when people stop staying with the chains and instead discover the delights of Mrs Robinson's bed and breakfast down the road at 50 quid a night including a full English

I suppose there will always be the business travellers on expenses, which was originally what these places mainly catered for before they got the reputation with leisure travellers for being cheaper than The Grand or the Ritz. Ironically a lot of the "Grand" type hotels have now been taken over by Britannia and have become cheap but unappealing.

 

[Blindtraveler]

Unappealing to some certainly, I am spending more and more money with Britannia as the years go on as they're offering something a little bit different and have sort of snuck in under the radar to carve out there own little niche in the market. Not for everyone and I certainly wouldn't book my parents into one but I personally can tolerate a lot of the problems for the sake of getting something that works for me. I've actually even joined their customer loyalty scheme which is something I'm very selective about as you can have too many of these loyalty programs and some of them are worthless

 

[trainophile]

Unappealing to some certainly, I am spending more and more money with Britannia as the years go on as they're offering something a little bit different and have sort of snuck in under the radar to carve out there own little niche in the market. Not for everyone and I certainly wouldn't book my parents into one but I personally can tolerate a lot of the problems for the sake of getting something that works for me. I've actually even joined their customer loyalty scheme which is something I'm very selective about as you can have too many of these loyalty programs and some of them are worthless

That's most interesting. I've never actually stayed in one, had a meal in a couple over the years. I'm only going by the fact that they rarely get over about 6/10 on booking.com reviews, some of which are pretty damning. I will have to re-think my prejudices now.

 

[Butts]

That's most interesting. I've never actually stayed in one, had a meal in a couple over the years. I'm only going by the fact that they rarely get over about 6/10 on booking.com reviews, some of which are pretty damning. I will have to re-think my prejudices now.

Also regularly bottom of the pile in Which surveys ?

 

[ChrisC]

I think this pricing strategy which many are claiming is a direct result of cost of living energy and staffing emergency which I'm sure to an extent is true we'll come back to bite them sooner rather than later when people stop staying with the chains and instead discover the delights of Mrs Robinson's bed and breakfast down the road at 50 quid a night including a full English

The pricing of rooms by the large hotel chains is made worse by the fact that they are usually priced supposedly according to demand. They certainly know how to raise their prices in popular locations for anyone who can’t book months in advance. It’s becoming quite common for mid range and even some budget hotels to charge in excess of £200 for some nights in popular city centres like London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds etc. It’s not too bad if you are just doing a short stay of a couple of nights because then you can mostly find reasonably priced nights. If you are doing a longer stay of perhaps a week that’s where the problem comes. The hotel may have most of your 7 nights at a very reasonable rates, but then in the middle of the week they will have a couple of ridiculously highly priced nights which then results in your weeks stay being very highly priced. I do sometimes wonder whether some of these grossly inflated prices in the middle of a week are really necessary.

Thats where, especially for longer stays, many independently hotels offer a better deal. They often have a set standard price for each night which doesn’t vary according to demand. They might not offer the really cheap bargain nights but can offer a reasonably priced tariff for each night without any real high priced nights as part of the stay. Far better to pay a set £75 a night than have some £50 nights and then a couple of nights in excess of £200. It isn’t just small places like Mrs Robinson‘s B&B, but many quite large reasonable quality independent hotels can offer a better price than the big chains. You just have to do plenty of research and read reviews as they are not so standard in quality as many of the chains.

 

[richw]

That's most interesting. I've never actually stayed in one, had a meal in a couple over the years. I'm only going by the fact that they rarely get over about 6/10 on booking.com reviews, some of which are pretty damning. I will have to re-think my prejudices now.

I’ve always avoided them based on negative press etc.maybe time to give them a chance if their price point is right

But my expectations on a trip is a comfy bed, clean toilet and a reasonable shower.

I don’t spend time in my room except sleep toilet and shower, so I don’t look for luxury extras. A complimentary breakfast is a bonus but if they don’t do one I’ll happily hunt out a cafe or worse comes to the worst a McDonald’s breakfast will do.

 

[Blindtraveler]

That's most interesting. I've never actually stayed in one, had a meal in a couple over the years. I'm only going by the fact that they rarely get over about 6/10 on booking.com reviews, some of which are pretty damning. I will have to re-think my prejudices now.

I think the problem for most people is that the entire Britannia estate is run on a very lengthy shoestring and there are often little issues with maintenance or cosmetic appearance, but where they always seem to score for me so far and I appreciate they may well be exceptions to this rule but the rooms are clean and the staff willing to put anything wrong straight for you, more than I found in many cases with Travelodge over the years where with a few exceptions where they've got really good managers they just don't care and are committed to spending a little as possible that still charging in many cases quite a bit for the privilege. Sis oppose there's a value for money aspect, a room with bits hanging off it in a TL is far less acceptable at 90 pounds than one at 35 pounds with another operator especially if that room is generally speaking anyway clean. Britannia's food offering is also miles better where available and they're staff customer service training program seems good as I've never yet a bad staff member yet again more than can be said for some of the more mainstream chains where I've had some very interesting service over the years

 

[Blindtraveler]

Also regularly bottom of the pile in Which surveys ?

I think which are biased towards certain organizations as I find a lot of there stuff far less than impartial

 

[Blindtraveler]

I’ve always avoided them based on negative press etc.maybe time to give them a chance if their price point is right

But my expectations on a trip is a comfy bed, clean toilet and a reasonable shower.

I don’t spend time in my room except sleep toilet and shower, so I don’t look for luxury extras. A complimentary breakfast is a bonus but if they don’t do one I’ll happily hunt out a cafe or worse comes to the worst a McDonald’s breakfast will do.

If you go in with expectations of lower grade Travelodge but cleaner and with nicer service then you won't be disappointed. McDonald's from breakfast have got so expensive recently that you might as well have hotel breakfast which has I would have said a far better chance of having had a recent contact with actual food, I don't personally do McDonald's food but my friends teenage daughter was observing just recently that a bacon roll meal from there now is over six pounds, and given that the quality hasn't improved with the price I can't see this lasting

 

[richw]

If you go in with expectations of lower grade Travelodge but cleaner and with nicer service then you won't be disappointed. McDonald's from breakfast have got so expensive recently that you might as well have hotel breakfast which has I would have said a far better chance of having had a recent contact with actual food, I don't personally do McDonald's food but my friends teenage daughter was observing just recently that a bacon roll meal from there now is over six pounds, and given that the quality hasn't improved with the price I can't see this lasting

I had noticed McDonald’s and kfc prices have rocketed. I used it as an example for the worst case scenario, if I was desperate