Budget hotels discussion

[takno]

If I'm travelling for work, for up to a week, I use a 25L backpack which is too long for the Easyjet/Ryanair rules for a free bag. I'm on expenses, so I pay for it as a cabin bag, but I still keep it in the footwell rather than an overhead locker.

The two 10cm USB cables and a USB A to C adaptor fit into a 9cm * 5cm * 3cm case with a folding pair of reading glasses.

I use one of these cable organisers (20.3cm * 12.9cm * 7.2cm), for the 130W and 45W USB chargers, european plug adaptor, alarm clock, mouse, USB C adaptor with various ports, USB thumb drive, spare ear bud headphones, pen, sewing kit, two 4cm long screwdrivers, safety pin etc.

The mains lead for the laptop fits in the case for my headset. I'll then have a 15" laptop and a 12" Chromebook, toiletries and some clothes.

To be fair, I'm usually travelling at least one leg on Norwegian where the free bag is smaller, work is never paying and I'm usually gone for longer than a week. I've got a fairly focused set of things that I always keep in the bag, but a USB cable has recently dropped out as it wasn't proving to be much use.

It's a bit paranoid for my tastes, but worth noting that using random USB cables and chargers is a rapidly-growing security risk.

 

[Howardh]

To be fair, I'm usually travelling at least one leg on Norwegian where the free bag is smaller, work is never paying and I'm usually gone for longer than a week. I've got a fairly focused set of things that I always keep in the bag, but a USB cable has recently dropped out as it wasn't proving to be much use.

It's a bit paranoid for my tastes, but worth noting that using random USB cables and chargers is a rapidly-growing security risk.

I've read that these budget hotels + others have direct usb sockets in the rooms which are a security risk, if you use a three-pin plug with the usb port; does that make things much safer? I would never plug my phone into a direct USB socket, but they are useful for charging cameras/mp3 players etc.

 

[Crossover]

I've read that these budget hotels + others have direct usb sockets in the rooms which are a security risk, if you use a three-pin plug with the usb port; does that make things much safer? I would never plug my phone into a direct USB socket, but they are useful for charging cameras/mp3 players etc.

I'm not sure that USB ports on the wall are so much of an issue (but happy to be proven otherwise) but random USB cables certainly can be. Similar to random USB pens - I have seen a couple of demos now of a "Rubber Ducky" which looks like a USB pen but is actually seen as a keyboard device if plugged in to something

 

[Howardh]

I'm not sure that USB ports on the wall are so much of an issue (but happy to be proven otherwise) but random USB cables certainly can be. Similar to random USB pens - I have seen a couple of demos now of a "Rubber Ducky" which looks like a USB pen but is actually seen as a keyboard device if plugged in to something

"field-proven hotplug attack tool"

First sentence and I'm lost already!!

 

[Cross City]

I would assume that for Premier Inn it has risen to a price where they can no longer offer it within their £9.99 per person deal.

More likely is the supplier can't even get any, or produce/source enough to fulfil the contract with PI so they offer a similar product in substitution.

All Whitbread sites have the ability to source their products from supermarkets/cash and carries so long as it's from the company's approved list of brands. There's nothing stopping hotels/restaurants from raiding their local Tesco of cheap OJ and putting that out on the breakfast buffet instead but it's just a matter of ease/time/need when you've got to take somebody out of the business for an hour or so to go and pick the stuff up from the shop. Hardly necessary when a similar juice can be offered through the regular delivery service.

 

[Crossover]

First sentence and I'm lost already!!

Long and short, don't plug in random USB devices you find and you will be fine

 

[Howardh]

Anyone tried a Weatherspoons hotel?

 

[takno]

I'm not sure that USB ports on the wall are so much of an issue (but happy to be proven otherwise) but random USB cables certainly can be. Similar to random USB pens - I have seen a couple of demos now of a "Rubber Ducky" which looks like a USB pen but is actually seen as a keyboard device if plugged in to something

There's some extremely ordinary-looking cables now which can operate almost every hack available and embed wireless connectivity. Wall sockets are arguably slightly less of an issue, but it's not exactly difficult to just remove the face-plate and add whatever spying devices you feel like.

A connection through a 3 pin plug could also leak data, but the mechanisms for doing so are more complex and less robust, and ironically the differences between UK, European and North American sockets make the hardware required even more bespoke. That's definitely in "you don't have any secrets that are worth that much effort to steal" territory.

Either way, it's taken 20 years to get to the point where there's a plug next to virtually every hotel bed. It seems a shame to blow it now.

 

[Hadders]

Anyone tried a Weatherspoons hotel?

I've stayed in a couple them - Inverness about 5 years ago and Bridgend in 2022. Both were decent.

 

[DelW]

Anyone tried a Weatherspoons hotel?

I've stayed in several, including one just last week. They're mostly traditional hotels that Wetherspoons have taken over, so there's some variation between them because of their different origins. They're generally older buildings too, so there's much more variety of room layout and size than at a PI or TL. Obviously you have full access to the usual 'spoons food and drink offers, so meals available until 10 or 11pm and breakfast from about a fiver upwards.

 

[Blindtraveler]

Their hotel offering is significantly better than most of their pub offering to be honest, although I have noticed at a couple that I've stayed in that the breakfast menu in the bar is more extensive in the ones that have rooms

 

[Belperpete]

Do you?

On two consecutive year trips to the UK/Europe in recent times, while I didn't stay in a TL and PI in the same city, TLs were not much (if at all) cheaper than PIs. I booked about three months in advance.

Granted, one has to be wary of comparing apples with oranges.

My experience is that if you compare PI and TL in the same place for the same date, and do the comparison at the same time, PI generally charge significantly more than TL, with Ibis in the middle. However, all three chains operate dynamic pricing, so you do sometimes get outliers. As you say, you have to be wary of comparing apples with oranges, prices for all the chains vary dramatically from day to day, in that the price for a PI for a Tuesday night may be significantly less than the price for a TL on a Monday.

 

[railfan99]

My experience is that if you compare PI and TL in the same place for the same date, and do the comparison at the same time, PI generally charge significantly more than TL, with Ibis in the middle. However, all three chains operate dynamic pricing, so you do sometimes get outliers. As you say, you have to be wary of comparing apples with oranges, prices for all the chains vary dramatically from day to day, in that the price for a PI for a Tuesday night may be significantly less than the price for a TL on a Monday.

In the UK, do you perceive budget hotels typically (at least in Spring/Summer) experience highest demand on Saturday nights (weddings etc.) followed by Fridays, then Monday to Thursday (business travel) and trailing by a big margin Sunday nights?

 

[Blindtraveler]

If it weren't for the fact that the UK doesn't have a space in the market for another budget hotel chain, I would have said that what we actually need is one which does not use dynamic pricing and charges a flat fixed rate on all nights at a specific location. So for example, hotels in tourist areas might be a bit more whilst out of town or roadside locations. Somewhat less but always a fixed rate

 

[Belperpete]

In the UK, do you perceive budget hotels typically (at least in Spring/Summer) experience highest demand on Saturday nights (weddings etc.) followed by Fridays, then Monday to Thursday (business travel) and trailing by a big margin Sunday nights?

Friday and Saturday nights are definitely significantly more expensive, especially in city and town centres where they are used by drinkers wanting to avoid getting home that night. Sunday nights are generally significantly cheaper, with some good deals to be had. Monday nights are odd, sometimes they seem to be about Sunday rates, sometimes the same as other weekday nights

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Jun 2024 ==

If it weren't for the fact that the UK doesn't have a space in the market for another budget hotel chain, I would have said that what we actually need is one which does not use dynamic pricing and charges a flat fixed rate on all nights at a specific location. So for example, hotels in tourist areas might be a bit more whilst out of town or roadside locations. Somewhat less but always a fixed rate

Didn't Jury's Inn used to work like that at one time? The problem is that if you charge a flat average rate, you would be booked solid on those days when you were charging under the market rate (and so not making the profit that you potentially could), and empty on those nights when you were charging above market rate (and again losing profit).

There are some private appointments on the likes of booking.com that charge flat rates, but they seem to be places that don't have much competition from the chains.

 

[railfan99]

There are some private appointments on the likes of booking.com that charge flat rates, but they seem to be places that don't have much competition from the chains.

This is pretty rare worldwide in my estimation, especially with 3.5 star and above hotels/BnBs.

It used to be the case 45 years ago: sadly, no longer given mass tourism is upon us.

 

[dosxuk]

In the UK, do you perceive budget hotels typically (at least in Spring/Summer) experience highest demand on Saturday nights (weddings etc.) followed by Fridays, then Monday to Thursday (business travel) and trailing by a big margin Sunday nights?

It entirely depends on the location. Some I've stayed in have been dead over the weekend, only for the car park to fill up (mainly with vans) on a Sunday evening. Others you wonder all week why they even have a hotel there until Thursday night when it's packed to the rafters.

 

[Controller1701]

I much prefer the 'Tropical Juice' over the OJ. I find it much much more refreshing

 

[route101]

I have stayed at a few Ibis Styles abroad now and I don't think there much different to a normal Ibis.

Motel One chain in Europe is sort of an upmarket Premier Inn, breakfast at 14 Euros is steep for no hot options.

 

[takno]

I have stayed at a few Ibis Styles abroad now and I don't think there much different to a normal Ibis.

Motel One chain in Europe is sort of an upmarket Premier Inn, breakfast at 14 Euros is steep for no hot options.

There 2 Motel ones in Edinburgh. As I recall they are completely unmemorable

 

[Andyh82]

I’ve had an email saying that my local Brewers Fayre will be turning into a Premier inn Restaurant only serving hotel guests

Presumably it will be a cut back restaurant with some space converted to rooms

 

[Blindtraveler]

Well, that's certainly interesting to hear that. Certainly at your location, don't actually know where you are or what your local outlet is they are at least continuing to offer some level of service to hotel guests, albeit as you say on a much smaller scale, probably an additional 20 rooms and dining and kitchen area a quarter of the size. The reason this is of interest is that they've been very cagey on all platforms before now as to what hotels that were losing their affiliated chain pub would get in terms of catering options and the fact that they are now starting to advertise this to locals who are signed up to receive communications from their local wet bread outlet is at least good news for premiering guests, that said, I continue to have quality and standards issues, not to mention price related ones with Premier in and if they perhaps don't refocus on this a little bit then my custom will definitely be going elsewhere on a more permanent basis

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I’ve had an email saying that my local Brewers Fayre will be turning into a Premier inn Restaurant only serving hotel guests

Presumably it will be a cut back restaurant with some space converted to rooms

The Haywain in Epsom, which is attached to a Premier Inn, has today told my dad they are closing at the end of this week.

I suspect it'll be another conversion... Apparently the same fate is befalling a Beefeater in Chessington very soon.

 

[gswindale]

Both the Brewer's Fayre and Beefeater in Bracknell are converting into hotel guests only restaurants

 

[jon0844]

Welwyn Garden City, Hatfield and Stevenage are doing the same. Restaurants closing and a Premier Inn restaurant built instead (my understanding is that will be in the hotel building and the restaurants will be repurposed, perhaps as more rooms or sold off for residential?).

What's more I think they're using different staff so most or all of the restaurant staff are being laid off. In the case of WGC it seems a lot of staff who have been three for many, many years have already left.

 

[TAS]

This article from the Colchester Gazette suggests something similar has already happened with a local combined Beefeater/Premier Inn location (a 30s bypass pub with modern hotel attached), with the catering offer switching to breakfast for guests only and the surplus space becoming more accommodation. Interestingly the change appears to have taken effect before the consultation on redundancies has actually finished, hence the somewhat cagey quote from the Whitbread spokesperson.

Beefeater Colchester future still in limbo amid closure rumours
PUB bosses have confirmed Colchester's Beefeater restaurant is currently closed to the public, amid fears for its future.

Planned job losses affecting about 1,500 staff across the country were announced in April by Whitebread, which owns the Albert Beefeater in Cowdray Avenue.

A consultation over the cuts is still underway, which could also affect staff at the group's Premier Inn hotels.

Customers at the Colchester restaurant were met with closed doors recently despite assurances it has not closed fully.

Following the Gazette’s earlier reports about the rumours, a source confirmed the news.

They said: “Your article is correct. The Albert is now only open for breakfast for Premier Inn guests only.

“They ceased trading all restaurant and bar operations on Friday the 21st at around 9pm. The doors are locked and they are no longer catering to customers.

"It’s due to be refurbished into more hotel rooms. Most of the staff are staying on at the hotel.

A Whitebread spokesman confirmed “the site is prioritising hotel guests at the current time and is currently unable to serve walk-ins".

They said: “It is important to stress that consultation is not yet closed so there’s nothing further we can add at this time.

“The restaurant is part of proposals we announced on April 30. They are still under consultation.

“In more general terms, we recognise that the proposed changes will be unsettling for our team members and we are providing them with dedicated support.

"We are committed to working hard to enable as many as possible of our affected team members to stay with us by either transferring into new roles or by taking up other vacancies across the business more broadly through our existing recruitment activity.

“I’m not able to offer any detail on possible numbers of jobs/ outcomes whilst the consultation is still live.”

 

[Cross City]

What's more I think they're using different staff so most or all of the restaurant staff are being laid off. In the case of WGC it seems a lot of staff who have been three for many, many years have already left.

Restaurant staff who aren't being made redundant will be transferred over to work for Premier Inn, and not necessarily in the same role or even the same site.

I know if one Beefeater kitchen team member who is transferring to a PI a few miles from his usual place of work and is coming out of kitchens completely.

 

[Belperpete]

This article from the Colchester Gazette suggests something similar has already happened with a local combined Beefeater/Premier Inn location (a 30s bypass pub with modern hotel attached), with the catering offer switching to breakfast for guests only and the surplus space becoming more accommodation. Interestingly the change appears to have taken effect before the consultation on redundancies has actually finished, hence the somewhat cagey quote from the Whitbread spokesperson.

The important point to note from that article is that they are going to be breakfast only. A restaurant open in the evenings only for hotel guests would be half empty, if that, and would surely make a loss. Most hotel guests only want a breakfast, and that can be turned out relatively easily by few, less qualified staff than a proper restaurant. It doesn't need a Michelin star chef to heat up baked beans (although providing decent scrambled eggs that don't resemble Michelin rubber seems to be beyond many hotels unfortunately).

 

[Blindtraveler]

I don't think this is universal to be honest, I suspect they've probably muddled how many meals and particularly how many Premier in meal deals which are particularly appealing to business or other work travellers on expenses as they offer a fixed price option. They sell in each location and will provide evening options appropriate
So for example, a hotel on a trunk road, two or three miles from a town centre location and therefore an unattractive prospect for most of the local takeaway and delivery services is far more likely to offer dinner to its guests than a brewers fare or similar in a suburb of London or Birmingham or Manchester or Glasgow where there are thousands of local offerings plus the inevitable chains and just eat delivery etc. Vying for people's custom, it's a downgrade for the customer and I don't like it and it doesn't sit well with me but it's clearly the future
Ultimately, the winner here is going to be either another chain hotel that does offer me the chance to dine in or better still a local independent whose room might be less well-appointed or differently priced, but is still offering me a good quality food and beverage service in house

 

[Belperpete]

The problem is that as they cut the numbers of hotels offering evening meals, so their central production and distribution centres for the meals become less and less cost effective.

And for those hotel restaurants on trunk roads miles from anywhere, how much local custom are they going to be getting to bolster the numbers they get from hotel guests? As I say, a restaurant that is almost solely reliant on its hotel guests is going to struggle to turn a profit. Particularly if it is selling cheap meal deals to business travellers who are only there weekday nights. I suppose that they might subsidise the restaurant if it is the only way they think they can sell hotel rooms, but it would surely be quite a basic offering, like Travelodge meals.

Whitbread have seen the writing on the wall and are pulling out of the restaurant trade, now that most people would prefer to order a takeaway than go to a restaurant. It is now common to see takeaway drivers delivering to hotels, even where those hotels have in-house restaurants. And usually because the takeaway is cheaper and more appealing than the in-house restaurant food. What is the point of a hotel restaurant offering burgers and pizzas if you can get cheaper delivered?