Hotel Chains Discussion

[superalbs]

I have never come across one that did. They are just a box with a switch in it.

Of course you can always ask for two keys

I've only had it twice, one time in Georgia and another time in neighbouring Armenia.

Two keys is an option, but we just 'forgot' the key in the room. Thankfully it was only a single night stay.

 

[richw]

Though normally a CCST train ticket is too thin and bends too much to activate the microswitch. Several stacked together works, though, as does any other plastic card in your wallet you might not need when you pop out.

I’ve found two tickets together work fine

 

[jon0844]

Just don't use your Railcard for it unless you only plan popping as far as the nearest Tesco or in-house bar restaurant

It would make for an interesting thread in Disputes and Prosecutions....

 

[DelayRepay]

I once stayed in a hotel in Madrid (I can't remember which) during hot weather, and the receptionist told me to use a spare card to keep the A/C running while I was out. So certainly in that hotel it's not a trade secret!

 

[Richard Scott]

I once stayed in a hotel in Madrid (I can't remember which) during hot weather, and the receptionist told me to use a spare card to keep the A/C running while I was out. So certainly in that hotel it's not a trade secret!

I've certainly stayed in hotels where left a different card in the slot and come back and power was off. Tried putting card back in and nothing happened so only the hotel card worked.

 

[DelayRepay]

I've certainly stayed in hotels where left a different card in the slot and come back and power was off. Tried putting card back in and nothing happened so only the hotel card worked.

Maybe some hotels have wised up to this trick, and upgraded their readers to actually read the card rather than just rely on the presence of a card to move a switch?

The reason I don't like using the keycard is that I regularly forget to pick it up and end up locked out. So I prefer to use a different card and keep the room key in my wallet.

 

[Runningaround]

A good Travelodge can beat a Premier Inn and at less than £35 better value. I stayed in one recently in a town centre and had a room as big as any in a Premier Inn and the most powerful shower ever. All that was missing was an all you can eat breakfast but as it's in a town centre with loads of cafes nearby offering a breakfast without processed to death ingredients, I'm probably a lot healthier too.
Premier Inns are a bit Wetherspoons in that they are all the same but not that good at quality, Travel lodges are at a similar standard without the price mark up or a crap Beefeaters next door.

 

[E27007]

I stay in hotels for purposes of work, my employer uses an agency to seek out deals, pre-Covid a nice hotel of a chain 3-or 4 star rooms were as upto £180 per night, then down to £115 per night. since Covid the same chain are below £70 per night.
The hotel car parks used to be full of cars, hard to find a parking space, now the car parks are half-full.
The leading hotels have dropped their rates down to the level of budget-no-frills hotels. I wonder how long before there will be closures or failures of the budget hotel chains

 

[Flying Snail]

I stay in hotels for purposes of work, my employer uses an agency to seek out deals, pre-Covid a nice hotel of a chain 3-or 4 star rooms were as upto £180 per night, then down to £115 per night. since Covid the same chain are below £70 per night.
The hotel car parks used to be full of cars, hard to find a parking space, now the car parks are half-full.
The leading hotels have dropped their rates down to the level of budget-no-frills hotels. I wonder how long before there will be closures or failures of the budget hotel chains

Which 3-4* chain has rooms at below £70 a night?

 

[trebor79]

I've found the opposite, hotel rates seem to have gone up massively.

 

[Blindtraveler]

Yes I'm definitely paying more than before the pandemic as well. But as to the question about when or if there will be issues in the budget sector I don't know. There are certainly a few that I feel would be worthy of survival where is others I could quite happily live without

 

[Bletchleyite]

Travelodge has been in trouble before and could well be again. Premier Inn is probably more stable but could I guess see some unprofitable or older sites close.

 

[DerekC]

Am I the only one who tries to avoid chains? Generally go for a small local hotel or a pub with bedrooms. You occasionally get a room over the bar or next to the exhaust fan from the kitchen, but usually they are good value and much more friendly than a chain. And you are supporting local business, which I think is important.

 

[johntea]

It's the Wetherspoons / McDonalds effect really...I know no matter where I stay in the UK if I book into a Travelodge or Premier Inn I'm going to receive a pretty identical experience every time (even down to the painting hung up on the wall!) and it'll generally be a reasonable stay

I do strangely have a slight addiction to watching "Four In A Bed" on TV though!

 

[E27007]

Which 3-4* chain has rooms at below £70 a night?

At the weekend I stayed at Holiday Inn , Basingstoke, a clean and pleasant 3-star (or is it 4 - star) the charge was below £70 including breakfast, other meals optional extra charge, , the booking was made via my employer who use an Agency, the room booking was made on the Friday for a Sunday/Monday stay. the occupancy was not high judging by the vehicles in the carpark

 

[Blindtraveler]

I do also try and support local independence where possible. I have a list on Google maps called accommodation and whilst it features Premier inns and the like in areas where they are particularly good or particularly convenient, there's a healthy slice of independent places on there as well and it's those that I look at first in an area. The possible exception to this rule is somewhere like London where I've had some pretty ropey experiences with independence and find that sticking to Premier Inn or IHG or BW safer

PI are already actively selling off older or less profitable locations, notably the Glasgow Charing cross site which is now Britannia and there's a couple of others that I've become aware of vet are on the market

 

[DelW]

At the weekend I stayed at Holiday Inn , Basingstoke, a clean and pleasant 3-star (or is it 4 - star) the charge was below £70 including breakfast, other meals optional extra charge, , the booking was made via my employer who use an Agency, the room booking was made on the Friday for a Sunday/Monday stay. the occupancy was not high judging by the vehicles in the carpark

Sunday nights in urban hotels are often very cheap. A few weeks ago I stayed in a decent modern Travelodge in central Birmingham for £36.99, and that was a rate that allowed no-cost cancellation (in case a train strike made the trip difficult). Had I booked nonflexible about a month ahead, it would have been £32.99. Saturday night would have been nearly four times that price though.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Premier Inn is probably more stable but could I guess see some unprofitable or older sites close.

Premier Inn will be fine, Whitbread are sitting on an enormous pile of cash after they spun out Costa Coffee and sold it to Coca-Cola.

For the bigger chains, their franchisees take the financial risk in a lot of cases. I can see more franchisees switching chains or even attempting to go it alone under a Best Western style agreement.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I wonder what future the Best Western operation when people can quite happily list themselves on booking.com etc?

It's a bit like estate agents. Thousands would collapse if Rightmove let you list yourself.

As for actual chains, I like them because the very last thing I want late at night when I'm tired is a surprise.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

I must say, since the recent refurbishment of Premier Inns which has seen their rooms go from a gaudy corporate purple (rather cheap looking) to a very sophisticated, classy colour scheme of dark neutrals, the feel of them has improved dramatically. They now seem much, much more premium than Premier Inns.

Like myself, I know that @fishquinn and @yorkie are also very regular customers of Premier Inn; I wonder if either would agree that the refurbishment has considerably upped the quality of the product?

 

[Blindtraveler]

I suspect it's the brand marketing and ability to charge slightly more 4 for certain things such as food and beverage or room extras because it is is a branded operation rather than just Dave's hotel which only has a certain number of three nights per week because they are heavily committed with contractor bookings sticking those three nights on booking.com or whatever

 

[Bletchleyite]

I must say, since the recent refurbishment of Premier Inns which has seen their rooms go from a gaudy corporate purple (rather cheap looking) to a very sophisticated, classy colour scheme of dark neutrals, the feel of them has improved dramatically. They now seem much, much more premium than Premier Inns.

Like myself, I know that @fishquinn and @yorkie are also very regular customers of Premier Inn; I wonder if either would agree that the refurbishment has considerably upped the quality of the product?

Yes, I think it is a considerable upgrade, and the premium rooms are better still.

 

[Mag_seven]

I must say, since the recent refurbishment of Premier Inns which has seen their rooms go from a gaudy corporate purple (rather cheap looking) to a very sophisticated, classy colour scheme of dark neutrals, the feel of them has improved dramatically. They now seem much, much more premium than Premier Inns.

Like myself, I know that @fishquinn and @yorkie are also very regular customers of Premier Inn; I wonder if either would agree that the refurbishment has considerably upped the quality of the product?

I stayed at the Premier Inn East Croydon the other night - the room looked tired and shabby.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

I stayed at the Premier Inn East Croydon the other night - the room looked tired and shabby.

Oh dear. Potentially a case of style but no substance then.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Oh dear. Potentially a case of style but no substance then.

Or just one that is quite old and hasn't been refurbished yet. To be fair these ones do tend to be a bit cheaper.

 

[johncrossley]

The East Croydon Premier Inn looks like it is part of a modern development. It's a handy location above a Co-Op.

Street View from 2012 shows it under construction.

 

[Flying Snail]

It's the Wetherspoons / McDonalds effect really...I know no matter where I stay in the UK if I book into a Travelodge or Premier Inn I'm going to receive a pretty identical experience every time (even down to the painting hung up on the wall!) and it'll generally be a reasonable stay

I do strangely have a slight addiction to watching "Four In A Bed" on TV though!

It's the potential of having to deal with some of those horrible narcissists that makes me so keen to use chain hotels.

The fact that there seems to be an inexhaustible supply of these people for that show is rather concerning.

 

[Bletchleyite]

It's the potential of having to deal with some of those horrible narcissists that makes me so keen to use chain hotels.

The fact that there seems to be an inexhaustible supply of these people for that show is rather concerning.

I did to be fair stay in an independent hotel last weekend as there was no Premier Inn nearby, and had a very good experience indeed. But the problem is there are too many really bad ones too, and then you have "no late arrivals" policies and the likes, which I can understand on a campsite due to noise, but in a hotel it only takes a key safe and an emailed code to avoid it. This sort of thing is the last thing I want to deal with when I am tired.

Worst I have really had with PI is a slightly rude receptionist (though it's rare, the vast, vast majority are pleasant) and a slightly dusty room (which I suspect had not been used for a while). I can cope with that as long as I get my key quickly without fuss.

 

[py_megapixel]

I did to be fair stay in an independent hotel last weekend as there was no Premier Inn nearby, and had a very good experience indeed. But the problem is there are too many really bad ones too, and then you have "no late arrivals" policies and the likes, which I can understand on a campsite due to noise, but in a hotel it only takes a key safe and an emailed code to avoid it. This sort of thing is the last thing I want to deal with when I am tired.

I imagine it has little to do with the noise (after all, someone arriving late is no more disruptive to other guests than someone leaving early, and I've never heard of that being banned!) and plenty to do with the proprietors not wanting to stay up late into the evening. Which is understandable, but I suppose you do then have to question whether they are in the right business!

 

[Bletchleyite]

I imagine it has little to do with the noise (after all, someone arriving late is no more disruptive to other guests than someone leaving early, and I've never heard of that being banned!) and plenty to do with the proprietors not wanting to stay up late into the evening. Which is understandable, but I suppose you do then have to question whether they are in the right business!

As noted a key safe and prepayment deals with that issue. I've stayed in independent hotels that do exactly that.