Walking. Gossip. Travel.

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  • Chiltern Railways : London Marylebone to Birmingham Snow Hill

    Chiltern Railways : London Marylebone to Birmingham Snow Hill

    I can’t recall travelling with Chiltern Railways before, but they offered a £12 fare to get from London Marylebone to Birmingham Snow Hill, which seemed excellent value to me. Marylebone Railway Station is a fascinating location and one I rarely go to, and it nearly closed entirely in 1986 and was saved only at the last minute. It opened late for a mainline railway station, starting service in 1899 and it was 100 years before another entirely new station of its size was to be built again. It’s compact compared to the other London mainline railway stations, which means that there’s a limited amount of seating and facilities.

    I sat down to check Facebook for the eighth time in an hour, just as the platform number was called, number 4, which was around twenty minutes before the train departed.

    It’s the train on the right and I’m not much into trains or train spotting, but for anyone interested, it’s a Class 168 Clubman diesel. This route between London and Birmingham hasn’t been electrified and it’s a route that was nearly lost in parts, but like Marylebone, it has managed to survive.

    The train was never that busy, so I had my bank of four seats to myself for the entire journey.

    Nicely functional seats, with a pull-out section of the table for laptops and two power points. All comfortable and practical for anyone who wants to get work done. There was a ticket check from a friendly and cheerful guard midway through the journey, although he said he had no scanner to check my digital ticket and so he wouldn’t need to verify it. That seems to be a slight flaw in the ticket checking process, but there we go……

    I wasn’t in a rush, so I was happy to stay on the train for a little longer getting things done if there was a delay. This came to pass as the train in front of ours broke down and we were delayed for 20 minutes at Banbury. This meant that I was getting hopeful of a 30-minute delay so that I would get half my fare back. Unfortunately (for me), the train’s delay was limited to 20 minutes and, as Chiltern don’t operate compensation for 15 minute delays, I didn’t have a Delay Repay claim to make this time.

    And here we are safely in Birmingham Snow Hill. There’s a theme in this post of things nearly being shut down, but with this railway station it was closed in 1972 and demolished in 1977. It was then realised that this was something of a mistake and a new railway station, which was smaller and less architecturally interesting, was built and opened in 1987.

    I had a look at the Birmingham Daily Post from 13 March 1970, when there was some excitement that there would be four tower blocks on the site of the station that they were demolishing, as well as two hotels and a cinema. They were looking at using the rail tunnels to be used by buses instead to help city transit. A completely idiotic decision, as was clear given they had to rebuild the railway station not much more than a decade later.

    Anyway, I was very impressed by Chiltern Railways as they delivered a cheap fare, a comfortable train, friendly staff, updates when there was a delay and there were no issues. All rather lovely and it’s a convenient way of getting between London and Birmingham. It’s not clear what will happen after HS2 opens, but I assume that this service will continue in the same form.

  • London – Islington (Borough of) – Brewhouse & Kitchen – Islington/Angel

    London – Islington (Borough of) – Brewhouse & Kitchen – Islington/Angel

    This chain has 24 locations across the country, but I’ve never managed to visit a Brewhouse & Kitchen before. The concept is that they brew their own beer and customers are welcome to just have a drink, but there is also a substantial food menu as well.

    I deliberately waited until just after 14:00 as I thought it might be busy on a Sunday lunchtime in this part of London. As is evident from the above photo, it wasn’t. I was welcomed immediately on entry and the staff member was helpful and friendly. I didn’t quite understand the ordering system, but it transpired I had chosen the one table without a QR code to the ordering process, something I worked out eventually. The drinks were brought over soon afterwards which meant the system worked well after I had understood it.

    There was some effort to make the decor interesting and a little quirky. I always felt comfortable in the pub, it was clean and there were signs saying which tables had been sanitised.

    The menu, although not many customers were ordering food. Actually, there weren’t many customers to order food.

    What could possibly go wrong…..

    On another matter not related to nine-pint dispense at the table, this is one of those pub chains which is encouraging the shift to flexible working and people visiting pub environments during the day. They offer unlimited soft drinks such as coffee and coke for £10 per day.

    I went for two half pints, one of Myddleton Tropical IPA and one of Hotblack Desiato. They were both fine, the former had a refreshing tropical taste and the latter had a rich chocolate taste. Neither had quite the depth of flavour to make them exceptional, but they were reasonably priced and entirely acceptable. Given these are brewed in-house, it’s not a bad standard at all.

    This location is well reviewed on sites such as Google and TripAdvisor, with the beer tasting they offer seeming to be popular and I thought that’s a rather good idea for a pub such as this. Anyway, I thought that this was a perfectly pleasant visit with friendly staff and a choice of various different beers. I shall look out for others in the chain.

  • London – Redbridge (Borough of) – Ibis Styles London Seven Kings (Update)

    London – Redbridge (Borough of) – Ibis Styles London Seven Kings (Update)

    I commented, at length, about the disappointing experience I was having at the Ibis Styles London Seven Kings hotel. Anyway, I was going to leave it at that since it’s a new hotel and I wrote the post mid-way through my stay and hoped it might get better. But, whether through spite or not, they’ve now left my room door open today after cleaning it. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt about their intentions, but it’s really not ideal to leave customer rooms open all day.

    The hotel isn’t using phones in the room, instead they’re using a WhatsApp system to alert reception if customers have any questions or queries. I love these systems, it’s a great way for hotels to be able to engage with customers and have effectively real-time communications. They’re also alerting customers to this system at the reception desk. I thought this was great.

    I merrily report that my room has been left open all day to the reception desk using the WhatsApp system, just in case I later discover anything of theirs (or mine) has been stolen from the room. It transpires they haven’t bothered to look at their WhatsApp account since early evening of yesterday (26 hours ago). If someone had experienced an emergency in the room, no-one would know at Accor and there’s nothing the guest could do.

    Incidentally, I note a negative review the hotel has received today:

    “In the morning we went down for breakfast. Arrived in time, but the options what you can choose for the price, is zero. I asked for some bacon, but they not making on Sunday (???) No fruit to choose, no yoghurt, nothing… I’m really sad, but I can’t recommend this place.”

    Sounds a delightful breakfast……..

    Anyway, I move to another Accor hotel today, let’s hope it’s a more positive engagement   🙂

    [as an aside, the hotel did notice their WhatsApp message at 3am and mentioned the general manager would get in touch when they got in. They haven’t, but I think it’s best that my stay at this hotel is best forgotten for them and for me……]

  • Berwick-upon-Tweed – Pilot Inn

    Berwick-upon-Tweed – Pilot Inn

    This is from the last day of the trip to walk St. Cuthbert’s Way, it’s just taking me a little time to catch up with everything. There was just Steve, Susanna, Gordon and I left at this stage, with the situation of course being that we couldn’t go to a pub unless it was in the Good Beer Guide. I walked us to the Pilot Inn, even though it wasn’t the nearest pub to get to, but fortunately the others didn’t complain.

    CAMRA note that the interior is traditional and they’re not lying. This visit was from a couple of weeks ago when the football was on, I don’t think that the flags are normally there.

    The interior hasn’t been knocked about and it’s quirky, old-fashioned and I really like it. When customers come in they see a corridor area ahead of them, a saloon bar to the left and the former public bar to the right. It took us a while to be noticed, but I think that the staff member was in the beer garden serving customers there.

    There’s some old nautical stuff on display, all adding to the pub’s theme.

    There were three real ales available, none of which were particularly innovative, but at least there was a choice.

    I went for the Strongarm from Camerons Brewery which is apparently their “flagship beer”. I dread to think what their weaker beers are like. Anyway, it was OK and it was well-kept, but it was a little lacking in depth. Although if it’s a session beer, I suppose it’s all fine and it was well kept and at the appropriate temperature.

    There’s a no swearing policy at the pub. There’s a large beer garden that we spent some time in waiting for our collective trains and we were never rushed by the staff. As an environment, this is really very inviting and there’s a community feel to the whole arrangement. For someone new to the area, I suspect they’d get a friendly welcome here from the staff and other customers. Getting to the beer garden is slightly complex and seems to involve walking through the pub’s kitchen, but that’s the way others were going, so it wasn’t just me.

    The exterior of the pub is interesting as well, as the side wall looks like there was a property here that’s been demolished. I accept that the beers here weren’t riveting, but the building interior is interesting, the welcome is authentic, there’s a choice of real ale and I’m glad that it’s in the Good Beer Guide. Some pubs shouldn’t modernise their buildings and this is one of them, I liked the heritage feel of the interior and I’m glad it has survived in the way that it has.

  • Edinburgh – Jolly Judge

    Edinburgh – Jolly Judge

    Apologies I’m uploading these all out of order, this is from my trip to Edinburgh a couple of weeks ago (I haven’t rushed up to Edinburgh again).

    My friend Alexis mentioned how she really liked the Jolly Judge and I couldn’t remember whether or not I had visited when I last came to Edinburgh (this is why I’ve got a blog, as I can rarely remember where I went a few years ago). I remembered when I got there that I had been before, but it seemed only polite to have another little visit.

    I wasn’t convinced this strategy of telling customers to wait at the top of the steps was entirely ideal, as they can’t see customers at the top of the steps (unless there’s a camera there that I didn’t notice). I stood there looking awkward for a while before trying to stand two steps down. I then went down to the bottom of the steps and was promptly in the way of a staff member coming out. I always manage to do things like that…. There was a friendly welcome though and it’s a difficult building to manage Covid safely given its layout.

    The staff member assumed that I’d like to sit outside and he was wrong in that…… Absolutely fine to sit inside though, as did the next two sets of customers, which made me feel a little more normal (although confused the staff member who I think assumed everyone wanted to sit outside). There’s a nice vibe to this Good Beer Guide listed pub, all informal and relaxed.

    The interior of the pub and it has some character in its basement setting. During the colder months of the year there’s a real fire going which must add to the cosiness of the venue.

    This is the Milk Stout from Moonwake Beer and there seemed to be a bit of a tap takeover from this small Scottish microbrewery. The beer was fine with a pleasant flavour, but it perhaps lacked any real depth of taste or strong character. There was a creaminess to the beer and it was a quite a light beer which matched its 4.5% ABV.

    Anyway, this is a quirky little pub and it offers a friendly and authentic welcome. It’s justifiably in the Good Beer Guide as there were a few interesting beers, but there are also plenty of whisky options for those who prefer. The pub is very well reviewed with very few negatives, although I was amused with this 1/5 review:

    “We love pubs!! especially traditional ones with character. To say this pub is just down the road from the Castle I was shocked that whoever owns it hasn’t made it a landmark epic pub and I am going to Judge you. Drab magnolia walls with random pictures of nothingness. We own a bar and this could be so quirky. Why don’t you paint a Scottish flag on the ceiling.”

    Please don’t paint a Scottish flag on the ceiling, I want experiences, not tourist traps…. Although that review was from over four years ago and the pub haven’t paid any attention to it, so all appears well.

  • LDWA – Fleet Street History Walk

    LDWA – Fleet Street History Walk

    This is the first walk I’ve been on that was listed in the new national LDWA history group and although it went from Kensington High Street to Canary Wharf, it was centred on the Fleet Street theme. The walk was led by Dame Julie Welch who worked in Fleet Street as, amongst other things, a sports journalist. She has written a book about women in Fleet Street, which is well worth a look and I’ve linked to it at the bottom of this post. There were fifteen or so people on the walk and it was interesting to meet LDWA members from other parts of the country.

    The walk started outside High Street Kensington underground station.

    This is Northcliffe House in Kensington, current home of the Daily Mail.

    It’s fair to say that the weather was hot and there were plenty of people in Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. We bravely kept up quite a pace to cross the park.

    Buckingham Palace.

    The Royal Courts of Justice, which are on the Strand, which is at the end of Fleet Street. Incidentally Fleet Street is named after the river, a walk I went on a few weeks ago led by Des.

    The former Strand underground station, which closed in 1994 as usage was low and the cost of repairing the lifts would have been too expensive. It’s today used for filming and there’s an underground train down there which can be used if required. There’s a connection to the Piccadilly line should there ever be a need to bring the station back into usage, although that’s not very likely.

    The former Wig & Pen club, more about this at https://www.theguardian.com/media/2003/nov/29/pressandpublishing.uknews.

    It was interesting to hear about what Fleet Street was like in the 1970s and 1980s. A male dominated environment where drinking and smoking was commonplace, but Julie also explained just how vibrant and exciting a place it was to be. They would hear the news first and it felt like a separate town within London, with the clattering of the print presses and the smell of printers ink in the air. I must admit, it sounds a working environment that must have been challenging (especially for women), but endlessly exciting.

    One of the locations that Julie showed us was El Vino (more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Vino) which for a long time required men to wear ties and didn’t allow women to order at the bar. This was only overturned in 1982 when the matter went to court, with the bar fighting hard to maintain their right not to serve women. There was work going on at El Vino, so no photo of the frontage, but instead I took a photo of the tempting doughnuts in the shop next door.

    We had time for a drink at Black Friar pub which is located at the end of Fleet Street and Julie pointed out some other pubs that I’ll visit on Fleet Street during the week. Many of them are now closed on the weekends, but back in the day when Fleet Street was in its prime, they’d be open every day.

    Julie mentioned that every newspaper would have its own pub where journalists and workers would go. It was possible for anyone to go to any pub, but people just tended to stick with the pub that their newspaper most commonly used. Above is the White Swan (also known as the Mucky Duck) on Fetter Lane, just behind Fleet Street, which I think Julie said was used by the Daily Mirror.

    Nothing to do with the walk itself, I just liked the Poland Consulate building with its Polish and EU flags when walking by.

    I left the walk at Wapping as I had to go and have my second jab at Guy’s Hospital (I was very brave), but Julie led the others on to Canary Wharf. Wapping was an essential part of the walk as the opening of the printing presses there by Murdoch in the 1980s saw an effective end to Fleet Street as the heart of the newspaper industry in London.

    A few minutes before a group photo was taken. Thanks again to Julie for leading this walk, something very different.

    Julie hopes to lead the walk again, so look out for it in the LDWA history group and LDWA London programmes. Julie also wrote the book below which was published by Trapeze last year.

  • London – Redbridge (Borough of) – Ibis Styles London Seven Kings

    London – Redbridge (Borough of) – Ibis Styles London Seven Kings

    [NB, I wrote this post mid-stay, and it got a little worse…..]

    I was very excited to hear about the opening of this new Ibis hotel in Seven Kings, near Ilford. Ibis Styles is my favourite brand within Accor, I like the quirky, informal and innovative design approach which often has some intriguing and brave themes. It’s also located next to a railway station and some rooms have views over the new Elizabeth Line trains (not yet officially called that, but they’re running into Liverpool Street and being tested through the central zone).

    I was eyeing this up to be my new favourite hotel given that it’s this side of London, especially as I’ve stayed at Ibis Styles Kensington 15 or so times over the last year. The omens were positive that Accor could pull something off here. I e-mailed the hotel asking if I could take photos of the public areas, as other hotels have said to ask them that and they can ensure I see everything that they want to show off. This hotel didn’t reply, but since it only opened on Monday, I thought that they might be busy. Although as a side issue, hotels ignoring e-mails does irritate me, it normally shows up wider problems.

    I had good cause to be hopeful, as the Ibis Budget Whitechapel have had a sensationally good renovation and they are absolutely on it. The management there replied to e-mails nearly instantly, they’ve got a cool design theme and they use Instagram to promote their hotel. I really rather love that hotel and will have to stay there more often.

    And before I start writing about this hotel, I know that nearly no-one will care and this post will never get more than 2,000 or so accesses, but there we go….. And I am also aware that the hotel has different rooms which might have led to me writing a very different post.

    The check-in process was torturous, although the team members here are enthused, friendly and clearly trying their best. Three asked if I had been having a good day, so I assume that’s part of the training. Unfortunately, the management here have skipped the rest of the training, with the knowledgeable and personable team member at reception not knowing much about Accor’s loyalty programme. That isn’t ideal for a new hotel opening, but these things happen and I didn’t view it negatively. It did mean I had to request a drinks voucher, which the hotel don’t have yet, but after consulting with a manager, they agreed they would provide a free drink.

    I paid for the room, after some confusion about whether the hotel accepted Amex (they thought they did, but it transpired that they don’t). I then realised that I had already paid for the room in advance, leading to a quick refund being issued. Anyway, I was still quite content at this stage as the team members were really engaging and so it would be unnecessarily harsh not to expect some mistakes here. To reinforce that point, the team members were as friendly as realistically could be possible, they were really doing their best.

    Back to the design, I’m not sure what the hotel’s theme is, I think it’s just an environmental one. I still like some of the mainland Europe themes, like Romans or space, something very different.

    The view from the hotel bar and reception, they’ve got a really good location here. It’s a fast rail route into London Liverpool Street, all really convenient. There’s also free car parking available for those who want to drive in.

    The room is dreadful and entirely inadequate as far as I’m concerned. The room photos for this room type had photos of a desk, but this small room didn’t have one. This sort of room size is in Ibis Budget territory (and Ibis Budget provide a desk) and it’s only marginally bigger than the deliberately designed small rooms of Hub by Premier Inn.

    I’ve on five different hotel advisory panels (including two from Accor, although I suspect with posts like this I’ll be purged) and they come up with some brilliant and innovative ideas. Premier Inn’s Hub concept is really thought through, they’ve made great use of the space, they’ve built in a desk, air conditioning and all I could want in a very small room. Other hotels have put forward for advance feedback some intriguing room concepts. The room designers here haven’t burdened themselves with any design attempt, they’ve shoved a bed in and some clunky lumpy thing in the corner. That green wall might look fine in a larger room, but in a small room it’s made the thing feel really quite drab.

    The next problem here is that the hotel windows don’t open. I don’t like this, but it’s manageable if there’s air conditioning. The hotel is boldly advertising that every room has air conditioning, but they don’t have, they have a cheap centralised air warming and cooling system (although I suspect the hotel operating company will argue they paid a lot of money for it). The rooms are simply too hot and there’s nothing that can be done. No windows, no fans, no cooling mechanism.

    The air conditioning system they’re using seems gloriously ineffective as well at pushing any fresh air into the rooms, it’s like the old aircraft that pump the same stale air around. At least Dreamliners and the like pull in fresh air to circulate, but goodness knows what system is in place here. I’ve digressed to writing about aircraft…..

    As part of the hotel’s plan to make their rooms as dingy, sterile and miserable as possible, they’ve put in sound proofing from the outside. I accept that’s likely appreciated by nearly every guest, but I like road noise, although I can’t really fault the hotel for my strange likings. Internally, the hotel doesn’t feel well built, as sound circulates around the building and I can hear neighbouring rooms.

    Nothing says “welcome” like some smashed biscuits. Although to be fair, they didn’t have to offer this.

    Anyway, rather than complain here when it was too late, I went to tell reception that I didn’t like the room and asked if they had one with a desk. Apparently they don’t, otherwise they’d have upgraded me, only the hotel’s five suites have a desk (which is not what the photos suggest). I did offer to pay more money for a better room (although Platinum guests should be upgraded anyway for free), but they apparently couldn’t help. The team member was polite, but it was clear that this was the best room the hotel had available. The Accor web-site has substantial room availability for this hotel on-line, so I’m not sure if the hotel’s room inventory system is broken (they were having technical problems with their hotel management software).

    Back to being positive, the hotel bar is much better, the designers have put some considerable effort into having a bright and airy feel to the public areas. For customers who want it, they can enjoy a drink with a view over the station for those who like people watching, it’s nice. I have no idea what the food menu is though as it’s not published on-line or in the rooms, but they serve meals.

    The beer selection is the worst I’ve seen in an Accor hotel in recent years, limited to Corona and Budweiser. Two generic beers with sod all effort made at localising the menu or offering some local beers. I’m not expecting decadent craft beer (although some hotels do make an effort in this area), but other Ibis hotels in the city do manage to have local beers from London. Accor were meant to be promoting an element of their localisation of their food and drink, but I can see no evidence that the hotel is reaching out to the community and local producers at all here.

    I think it’s clear that I don’t like this hotel and I can’t recall any Accor I’ve ever stayed at having worse rooms. For a new-build hotel where the rooms are five days old, this doesn’t bode well for the future of the hotel industry if this is the sort of rubbish that is going to be pumped out. Travelodge rooms are simply far better and I think even by their own measure, Travelodge are seen to be at the lower end of the scale in that regard. Really this hotel is operating at Ibis Budget standards, although is still someway behind locations such as Ibis Budget Whitechapel.

    Early media reports stated that this hotel would be the first UK venture for Novum Hotels, who I’ve stayed with numerous times and have been impressed with. They don’t list the hotel on their web-site, but if this mess of a hotel is anything to do with Novum I’ll be extra disappointed [I’ve checked since writing this, and I’m delighted this has transpired to be nothing to do with Novum and I’m not surprised at that. It’s actually run by Black & White Hospitality, part of the Marco Pierre White operation]. I suspect that this hotel will score fine initially in reviews, as I’m not convinced their rooms are all as basic and so I can imagine might be quite exciting with views over the railway and some seem to be more airy. But, I can only judge what they gave me, which was worse than I’d expect in an Ibis Budget.

    A five minute drive or a twenty minute walk away is the Holiday Inn Express Newbury Park, I’d recommend anyone stay there instead. The quality of the whole experience there was in a different league to this Ibis Styles. Incidentally, I should add that the prices here were low, but seem to be increasing, so they might have had lower rates initially to build up occupancy. And I have to credit this hotel with being the first one I’ve stayed in since the pandemic started which is cleaning the rooms daily, with the hotel paying for plenty of staff to be available.

  • Edinburgh – Ibis Edinburgh Centre South Bridge Royal Mile

    Edinburgh – Ibis Edinburgh Centre South Bridge Royal Mile

    Accor have several hotels in Edinburgh, hence the rather long name to identify this from other nearby locations. It’s just a short walk from the central railway station and also from the heart of Edinburgh action. The city isn’t exactly quiet at the moment, but there certainly aren’t anywhere near the number of leisure visitors that would usually be expected.

    I haven’t seen a Platinum Accor envelope like this before and it’s a handy little concept, place for the welcome drink and for the room key. And I should add that I very much liked when I e-mailed this hotel about an early check-in that they responded quickly and with a really helpful answer. The staff member at check-in was helpful, engaging and welcoming, really all very personable. The lobby felt an inviting place to visit as well, so my first impressions were all positive.

    As another of my random asides, this leads me to start being annoyed at some of the London Accor hotels who are making no effort to do anything and in some cases aren’t even responding to e-mails. The quality of Ibis hotels in the UK is all over the place, not least because of all of the different operators. At least in Poland there is just one operator of Ibis hotels, Orbis, meaning that the quality is consistent. Anyway, I digress, but I’d mention that this hotel isn’t taking any short cuts (or none that I noticed anyway).

    This is an enhanced room the staff member mentioned and other than the generic bathroom that Ibis use, it doesn’t feel like the usual Ibis room layout. I thought that it was all very light and modern, with the designers making use of the architecture of the historic building that the hotel is located in. I’m not a big advocate for losing large desks in hotel rooms, as I find these useful, but I accept that it would have looked rather out of place in this room and I assume that the hotel usually gets a lot of leisure guests. For my needs, the table and chair that they had were entirely sufficient. The room was spotlessly clean, fully stocked and the temperature was easy to control with the air conditioning. The windows were entirely sealed for guests (although the hotel can open them), which is a slight shame as I’m one of those strange guests who likes to hear street noise and traffic in the background.

    The view was really lovely, that’s Arthur’s Seat and I very much enjoyed sitting there looking at that late in the evening (I had forgotten it gets dark in Scotland much later than down south…..) As another aside, shortly after check-in, a staff member offered a dressing gown, which isn’t something that I want, but I really can’t recall any other Ibis trying to offer me this, so I was suitably impressed.

    And full marks for actually producing this, which is information about the hotel and something that many locations seem to entirely neglect. I’m never sure how hotels expect guests to actually know what is available as it often seems to be something of a secret, but everything was clearly laid out here. It’s a different way of doing things in these Covid times, but nice to see that the hotel has actually thought about it.

    The menu for the hotel’s bar and restaurant is easy to find and is clearly displayed. The hotel is located across several floors and because of the nature of the building’s architecture that means the reception desk is on the fourth floor (although that’s also at street level) and the bar is on the third floor. My room was on the top floor, which was the ninth.

    The welcome drink and I chose Innis and Gunn as that’s a nod towards localism. OK, in an ideal world there would have been some decadent craft beer, but they did offer me any beer that I wanted and so there were no limits placed on me. I visited before going back out into the city and I was the only one in the bar, but it was still welcoming and laid-back, a nicely set-out environment. The staff here were again friendly, especially when I realised that I had forgotten my room number (it was written on the drinks voucher which I handed over, forgetting I had meant to take a note of it before doing that) and the poor guy had to open the till to remind me. I expect they’re usually used to more competent guests.

    All told, this was one of the best run Ibis hotels that I can remember staying in. Punching above its Ibis weight a little, the welcome was genuine, the rooms clean and the quality of the experience high. I’d be very pleased to come here again and I liked the farewell where the staff member seemed genuinely interested if I had enjoyed my stay. Really all very well managed and I appreciate their help with the early check-in after my arrival into the city on the sleeper train.

  • Gateshead – Holiday Inn Express Newcastle Metro Centre

    Gateshead – Holiday Inn Express Newcastle Metro Centre

    Going back a week or so, this is the hotel that I went to after completing St. Cuthbert’s Way last week. It’s a slight faff to get to from central Newcastle for walkers, it really requires a train to the MetroCentre railway station and then a ten-minute walk from there. I got this train to get there (I felt that I had done enough walking), although I walked back via Gateshead the following morning which took about an hour (or would have done if I hadn’t stopped at the pub en route). Anyway, the hotel is usually quite keenly priced, not least as it’s not very central and it’s probably more usual to drive there.

    The welcome drink of a Goose Island IPA, which is a perfectly acceptable drink to start a hotel visit with. The bar wasn’t particularly busy, but the staff member was enthusiastic and friendly, so it all felt inviting.

    The room, all clean and comfortable, with some modern touches around the room (including a slightly fancy Bodum kettle that I forgot to take a photo of).

    The breakfast is included in the price here, although this particular IHG is perhaps making more of Covid restrictions than some others in the chain. I had to pre-order my bacon roll the evening before and had to give a time that I wanted it, which seems a little excessive (it’s not a complex cooked breakfast order). Other IHGs just stack them up in a big pile, but it was ready when I asked for it, so all was well. Much of the breakfast has been removed, although the area itself is self-service.

    My breakfast of orange juices (the glasses are little), yoghurts, the bacon roll and a croissant. Nothing overly exciting, but since the room rate was cheap and this breakfast was included in it, I was entirely satisfied.

    The hotel is generally well reviewed, complaints are mostly about the road being loud (they tend to be, or at least the cars on them tend to be) and noisy guests. The hotel says that it puts families and groups in different parts of the hotel, which sounds a good idea in principle, but they might be better trying to manage noise pro-actively rather than some random room selection like that given the issues they keep having. I’m not sure why this should be a party hotel given its location, but perhaps the price is what sends some groups there.

    All told, this wasn’t the easiest hotel to get to for a walker, so I probably wouldn’t pick this one again. However, that’s hardly the hotel’s fault (I find it bizarre when people rate down a hotel as it’s not near where they wanted to go, as if that’s the hotel’s problem to solve) and I liked everything else about this place. Quiet internally and externally, with a fan that worked sufficiently well, all really rather lovely.

  • Brighton – Brewdog

    Brighton – Brewdog

    I continue on my tour of the Brewdogs of the United Kingdom and I’m making steady progress, so thought that since I was in the area it’d be wrong not to pop into the Brighton location. I was disappointed to miss the Newcastle location last week, but they were temporarily closed for Covid-19 reasons.

    I booked a table, although I’m not entirely sure that they ever found the booking. It’s quite a large location and it seemed to be booked for most of the evening, so I assume it’s making them some money given how busy Brighton is at the moment. Everything seemed clean and tidy and I spotted some tempting beers in the fridges.

    I saw the staff member looking at giving me a small table by the door, which seemed ridiculous given that the entire bar was empty, but then without my saying anything a colleague mentioned that two larger tables were available. I was pleased by this and they had power available as well for my devices. So, all was well.

    I ordered a third of the Cannon Blast, which was unexciting, although it had a clean citrus flavour that wasn’t unpleasant. It was the first drink I’ve ever had from a Brewdog bar that was under-measured. I mention this not as a complaint that I received slightly too little liquid, but that it’s only fair since Brewdog have given me several free drinks by mispours over recent weeks.

    I was eyeing up the very well rated Tuesday (2020) from Cycle Brewing Company from St. Petersburg in Florida as one of my later drinks here. But, the service just felt wrong, it’s that Pret philosophy that their shops should seem inviting. I’m sure there were external factors, but the service seemed disengaged, cold and the staff didn’t seem very engaging about beer. To be fair, I could have started an engagement given it would be hard not to like the barrel aged imperial stout that I was considering, but then I decided that I’d just leave and head back to the campsite that was so far away. I don’t normally need to be upsold to as I’ve busily already ordered it, but I needed a bit of convincing to stay here and it wasn’t forthcoming.

    This was probably one of my most pointless Brewdog visits, lasting ten minutes of my two hour booking and I never even started charging my devices. On the bright side, it cleared a table for them as they seemed to have very limited availability. They received £1.79 for my one third of a pint and I left dreaming of the service of other Brewdogs. But, I’ll keep my eye out for that Tuesday (2020) beer in other Brewdogs, that’s too good to miss.