I’ve written about the Ibis Styles Heathrow before, so I shall just briefly mention the highlights for my two loyal blog readers. We had arrived in style in Richard’s decadent Uber, an unusual way for me to get here.
I had a view of the runway from my room and I was pleased to discover that they had shoved Richard at the back of the hotel looking at the car park.
The room interior.
All very nice for £40 a night. I was pleased to also discover that Richard had been given a smaller room as I’m petty like that.
The welcome drink beer selection.
It took me a while to find a politician I wanted on the TV behind and there’s Richard in a relaxed mood. It took me an hour to drink that beer, it didn’t surprise and delight.
In the morning there was Watergate when Richard realised I had an extra water bottle than him. He decided against complaining to the hotel management, although that would have made for an interesting watch.
Back to the hotel though, the team members were friendly, the location was clean and there were no noise disturbances either internally or externally. It’s only a five minute bus journey to the airport, so it’s a convenient place to stay. I’m not keen on windows that can’t be opened, I would have liked the noise of the city, but the air conditioning worked so it wasn’t too stuffy.
All in, I’d merrily stay here again, especially after Watergate.
Back to mid-January, when Richard and I decided that we needed a little adventure and we opted for Burton upon Trent and the Ibis Styles there.
The corridor arrangement is clever, as if someone stains it then it’s not really evident. I’m fairly confident that this was the actual reason for this design as I can’t see anyone picking this by choice.
Richard was very excited that the room he had booked came with a kitchenette. I was pleased that mine did too, but solely as I didn’t want him having a better room than me (I’m not petty). As an aside, I personally don’t like these kitchens in rooms, they’re a nightmare to clean properly for the staff and require substantial maintenance for something that many guests aren’t going to want. Keeping a microwave and every piece of cutlery and crockery clean isn’t an easy thing to do, I can’t really see why they want to burden themselves with this.
Someone rather unkindly used AI to put a bottle of wine in the fridge and pretended that it was a welcome gift. Actually, on that point, there was no welcome gift, but I won’t labour that matter. Anyway, Richard was stomping about the place as he didn’t get a gift of wine but luckily I was able to reassure him before the manager was called. It would be helpful for Richard’s stress levels if people didn’t do this, but at least I calmed the matter down before there was a diplomatic incident. It was a good job that I was there to be honest.
There was a modern looking bar area, all rather comfortable.
It’s quite a clever mix of retro and modern, although it hadn’t exactly inspired hundreds of people to come in.
I would have preferred a wider range of beers, but in fairness, they have Pedigree which is an important beer locally so at least they’ve made an effort to have a local option.
As for the hotel in general, it was all clean, welcoming and well maintained. Richard didn’t end up having an argument with the manager and there were no noise issues either internally or externally. It’s a relatively new hotel and it faces competition from an IHG hotel literally next door, but it all seemed well managed.
I try and stay loyal to Accor Hotels and they handily had this Ibis in Timișoara where I stayed for two nights.
These rooms are fine for me on my own, but they are getting a little too small now for those couples who might want to spend a few days here. I liked that the large picture by the bed was actually just a painted wall with a frame around it. They don’t have any larger rooms for upgrades, but I was given my preferred top floor room.
The view from my window.
Some of the cold options and at the rear dish in the middle of the photo is ajvar, something which I’m overly obsessed by. The meat quality here wasn’t great, so I ignored that. The breakfast room was also really odd, it simply wasn’t large enough despite all of the space that they have here, it’s poorly laid out. I managed to come down at times that there were tables free, but many guests were struggling to find a space to sit.
The breads and apple pies.
A big dollop of ajvar. Those sausages were odd, they looked delicious but were chewy and lacking in any depth of flavour.
I suspect the hotel staff were wondering where one of their dips kept going.
The welcome drink of Timișoreana lager which tasted mostly of metal and disappointment. The croissant was mine, but there was a welcome gift of chocolates from the hotel.
The online reviews of the hotel are very positive, so they’re clearly surprising and delighting lots of people. I rather liked this hotel, although their restaurant and bar area was frequently dominated by private groups. On the first night, they had closed the restaurant for a private group and although I had no intentions of eating there, it’s a little sub-optimal for guests. Anyway, if I’m back in the city, I’d likely stay here again.
Although I’ve completed my write-up of my trip to Turkey, Georgia and Armenia, there was quite a lot that I missed out and have meant to come back to. This is one of those posts, but the summary of the trip is at https://www.julianwhite.uk/turkey-georgia-and-armenia-final-thoughts/, with a link to all the blog posts that I wrote up telling the story of that little adventure.
We only had one night in Ankara, so whilst Jonathan opted for a basement room in a nearby hotel, I went for the Ibis Styles.
The rather nice lobby.
The beer selection from which I could choose my welcome drink.
The room, which was clean, cosy and warm. So I promptly opened the window to make it cold.
They made me a coffee during the check-in and there’s the welcome snack and bottled waters.
I went for the welcome beer of the Efes Malt, which was light, malty and really rather good.
The breakfast room in the morning, when I first realised that there was now quite a lot of snow outside.
The breakfast buffet.
Delicious and healthy.
The colourful corridor.
I’m not sure I’ve seen a warning of a fine for not returning the keycard.
Anyway, this was a really rather lovely hotel with friendly staff, fast wifi (this was important), a comfortable environment and clean rooms. The breakfast choice was extensive, the stay was reasonably priced and I’d stay here again.
I didn’t get around at the time to writing about the Mercure Cardiff North hotel where we stayed for my birthday weekend in Cardiff in November. This is an Accor branded hotel and I had booked some time in advance, with the rates being very reasonable.
Firstly, there’s something unusual about their online reviews on Google as nearly every single one mentions a staff member by name. This isn’t usual on Google and doesn’t really help people get a fair understanding of what is happening here. If I read through the verified visits on Accor’s website, the situation is more as I would expect and staff members are rarely named, so that feels more reliable.
Instead of using my normal metric of Google Reviews, I’m going to use the Accor aggregated score, which shows that this hotel has a rating of 3.9 which is towards the lower end of the scale for the chain.
In fairness, the hotel was managing perfectly well at the accommodation element that was offered here. Liam and I had a twin room which was clean, at the appropriate temperature and everything worked as expected. There were no noise issues, either from inside or outside the hotel, so that all felt positive. The interior felt generally modern and so I suspect that there has been a refurbishment here recently.
I think my main negative about this hotel is I don’t know why they’re trying to be part of Accor. The hotel was playing fast and loose with the loyalty scheme offered by Accor and didn’t offer most of the benefits.
The situation with the welcome drink was downright awkward as the member of bar staff said that it was one drink a room. This isn’t right, this has never been right and it’s really not something I want to debate as it’s hard not to sound entitled about the matter. But holding Liam’s drink hostage whilst the staff members blamed each other is entirely sub-optimal. The reception desk resolved the matter, but the concept of the welcome drink was rather lost at this point.
It was partly a shame that the bar service was borderline rude as the drinks selection wasn’t unreasonable and although they’d made no effort getting local drinks in, at least they had a couple of options such as this Singha.
We had breakfast included in our room rates and on the first day it was poor, the second day it was better. it might not be relevant to me personally, but I like that they’re trying to do a gluten free area, but it could perhaps be a little more, er, exciting.
To be fair, I suspect guests would have worked out the labelling error here.
The hot food options, although this isn’t perhaps the best way to keep the food hot. As with the drinks at the bar, there was no effort to source food locally which is a shame as numerous Accor hotels are keen to do at least something.
The first day’s breakfast options were broadly dreadful. The bacon was dripping with grease, the cold cuts were of a very low quality, the cheese was already sweating in the displays and the whole arrangement looked sub-optimal.
I do agree with Richard’s comment that it’s a shame that there isn’t any fresh bread available here. But, to be fair to the hotel, this isn’t as common in the UK as it is on the European mainland.
They actually had fried eggs on the second day and the presentation of the food was much better. That bacon isn’t cooked anywhere as much as I’d like it, but I accept that’s a personal preference. The egg was cooked to my tastes and everything tasted as expected.
Overall, I thought that the stay was fine as the room was clean, the team members were generally friendly and there were no noise issues. Certainly breakfast could have been better on the first day, but we got there just as service started and it’s easy to be critical. My main comment about the hotel is that they should perhaps either embrace (or at least accept) the rules that Accor set them, or just go independent and be free of those guardrails.
I would show a photo of the clear exterior of the Novotel, but it was too foggy to see it, but it is to the right hand side of the photo.
I’ve written about this hotel numerous times before, it’s one of my favourites. It’s a towering great affair near to the Palace of Science and Culture and a short walk away from the railway station.
One downside about the incredible growth of Poland’s economy is that hotel prices are routinely much higher than they were, so it’s rare that this hotel is an affordable option now. Luckily, Sunday rates are much lower and there was a friendly welcome at the front desk and they’d kindly upgraded me. They also mentioned it was a while since I’d visited, so I was secretly pleased that their computer hadn’t entirely forgotten about me.
My welcome gifts, local apple juice and chocolate biscuit things.
I arrived at the hotel just five minutes before the bar closed, which had the advantage that I was able to get my welcome drink. Żywiec Porter is always a favourite of mine, malty and rich, certainly good to eat the welcome chocolates with.
The view from the window over Warsaw and the Palace of Science and Culture is sort of visible on the right. I find watching the trams going through the roundabout quite peaceful and relaxing, I always get Sim City vibes sitting up here.
This might not have been the longest of stays, but the room was clean and there were no internal noise issues. I like traffic noise so I opened the window and the sounds of the city didn’t disappoint, Warsaw always feels like a vibrant place. And I use vibrant here in the positive sense, I sometimes refer to pubs as vibrant, by which I mean I feel that they’re close to having a riot.
I had initially intended to stay in Warsaw for a few days, but I accidentally booked a return flight to Madeira. This meant that my intended relaxing stay in the Novotel was rather cut short as I had to leave the hotel at 08:00 to get the train back to the airport. It was foggy, slightly cold and nicely refreshing.
Another day, another Accor hotel…. This one is the Novotel, around a thirty minute walk from Venice Mestre railway station.
I was pleased to get an upgrade to an executive room, so I felt like a proper business professional….. Or something like that.
I hate connecting rooms, but fortunately, there were no issues with noise or light on this one. The hotel had themselves put a little barricade up, which saved me doing it.
There were some free drinks in the fridge, along with a Nespresso machine.
The view from the window. The old city is off to the left in the distance.
It took 11 minutes to be served at the bar, which felt a little sub-optimal, although I was collecting a free welcome drink so it’s hard to be too annoyed. There was a very large group in the restaurant that was taking up the staff’s time, but they probably could have been more aware of the customers starting to queue at the bar. The team members were all friendly and helpful, just heavily overworked when I was there.
This was an anti-climax, a small glass of Peroni, which tasted chemical, metallic and bland. It felt a slight shame that the hotel didn’t have something similar to the nearby Mercure hotel.
The restaurant in the back might have been at capacity, but the bar wasn’t….. Here we are after the team members had served the customers at the bar.
The old part of Venice was visible by zooming in…..
Anyway, I liked this hotel as the team members were friendly, the room was clean, I got an upgrade and there were no noise issues. The hotel was dealing with a very large group of customers when I was there and that impacts service somewhat, but I was happy with my room at the end of the corridor on the top floor, away from all that frivolity. If they could just upgrade their bar options though, that would be lovely.
I had one night at this Mercure hotel in Venice, around a twenty minute walk from the railway station although I think that there are regular buses there as well. I took this photo when leaving as my night-time photo is a little unclear.
And here’s that photo as I arrived quite late in the evening. There’s a motorway to the left and the walk here involved going down a quiet little footpath which felt slightly oppressive.
There was a very friendly welcome at reception and I went over to the bar to get my welcome drink and of course wanted a beer. I had rather expected a choice of one beer, but the helpful team member put on the bar all of the options that she had so that certainly surprised and delighted me.
I opted for this one, the Birra Dolomiti Rossa, a quite punchy red ale from Fabbrica di Pedavena brewery. There was a malty taste as well as some sweetness to the whole arrangement, very agreeable. I hadn’t expected to see so many local beers, as well as some national options, far too few hotels offer that.
It was a pleasant restaurant and bar area, my first impressions of the hotel were very positive.
These impressions were also lifted as the team member at reception had mentioned that I’d been upgraded. I liked this.
The team member mentioned that all of the drinks in the mini bar were free, so that meant that I had more welcome drinks….
And some Nespresso coffees.
And the view from the window.
As might be apparent, I very much liked this hotel and didn’t have any noise issues either internally or externally. I was put at the end of a corridor, so as I like it, with the room being clean and comfortable. The bathroom also had a bath, a feature that isn’t common enough, with the temperature in the room being appropriate for me after I had opened the window to make it cold. Definitely recommended.
I accept that this isn’t a perfect photo, but I had taken two flights and a rather packed bus from Bucharest Băneasa airport to get here. This is the Accor operated Ibis Styles hotel, which is where I was spending my final night of my near two week trip around various bits of Europe.
There was a very friendly welcome from the team member at reception and he mentioned about the free breakfast. When I said that I’d be leaving too early, he said that the hotel can arrange something in these circumstances, which was much appreciated. He also mentioned that they had upgraded my room and I very much liked this as well.
Very comfortable. The design felt both a bit 1980s and also modern, it had a homely feel that I liked. Ibis Styles are known for their slight quirkiness and they brand their hotels around a theme, with this one being air travel which feels appropriate.
My welcome drink of beer and also my welcome gift of fruit. I’ll be honest and say that I prefer chocolates, crisps, beer or random souvenirs, but a gift is a gift and was much appreciated. I also love seeing a Nespresso machine in a room, so I indulged in coffees.
Some of the room decoration.
I like traffic noise, so I opened the window happily, although the double glazing is very effective at keeping the noise out, including from the next door airport.
With my breakfast collected, it was time for the early morning walk to the airport. And more on both of those in the next post….
But, overall, this was an excellent hotel, with friendly service, clean rooms and no noise issues. I felt very welcome and after two flights in one day, with another one early the following morning, I felt entirely rested by the time I woke up. This is a hotel that I’d certainly be happy to book again when I’m next in the Bucharest area.
My night’s accommodation in Rimini was in the Accor operated Mercure Rimini Lungomare (lungomare is Italian for seafront). I suspect that this is quite a busy hotel during the summer months, although I can’t imagine that the demand is quite as high in November. I noticed several hotels along the seafront just close up for the winter months.
My room was upgraded and I had a rather nice balcony.
After I had worked out how to open the door (I suspect it was a child lock, so that will of course defeat me for some time) this was the view from my balcony. I always think this is lovely, but then promptly never go back out onto the balcony.
My very nice private balcony, which I didn’t go back out onto after looking out here.
Very lovely.
I’m not sure exactly what they are, but they were very nice.
The staff member at reception was particularly friendly and personable when I checked-in, so I felt very welcome. He mentioned that I could have a free drink between 19:00 and 21:00 which I privately thought seemed a bit limited for the bar opening. He then explained that this was extra to my welcome drink, which I could have at any time, and it was a hotel’s way of welcoming guests with snacks and a drink. I very much liked this arrangement.
These were the free snacks offered in the evening and this is something I’d like to see in many other locations.
I went for white wine, which I thought was very Italian.
I then went off for my two hour long walk and decided to switch back to beer. Well, Peroni, which is similar. And some more snacks. I sat outside to be continental although I think it was about minus three.
Breakfast the next morning, which had a fine selection of meats, cheeses, breads and the like.
Delicious.
There was no shortage of Nutella.
My first course.
I liked my first croissant, so I had another one. This pistachio tart thing was also very delicious.
Richard would have liked this, make your own orange juice from, well, oranges. I had quite a few glasses of this.
Anyway, I really liked this hotel, with no noise disturbances either internally or externally. I liked the welcome gift, the welcome beer, the welcome wine and the welcome food, so I definitely felt welcome. The hotel was spotless, the staff were friendly and the nightly rate was very reasonable. The breakfast was delicious and this Accor Hotel certainly surprised and delighted me.
