Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: Accor

  • London – Kensington and Chelsea (Borough of) – Ibis Styles Kensington (Fifth Visit)

    London – Kensington and Chelsea (Borough of) – Ibis Styles Kensington (Fifth Visit)

    If my blog had a higher readership then I probably wouldn’t post about this hotel, but it hasn’t, so I will. The reason is that this Ibis Styles is offering continually cheap prices, whereas their fellow Accor hotels are charging more again. It seems they’re keen to fill the hotel, whereas other hotels are trying to stabilise pricing, but I don’t know. Either way, this is what I think is my fifth visit to this hotel and I’m hoping that these lower prices continue.

    I booked a single room, but it was again upgraded to a double room. I’ve still yet to get the same room twice in my game of room bingo that no-one else is going to be interested in. The room isn’t overly large, but it’s clean and comfortable. The bathrooms in this hotel are generally small, but the rooms have been carved out of former residential properties which didn’t used to have shower facilities in every room and space is at a premium.

    The Tiger was the welcome drink I went for (I won’t tut again that the hotel could do more here), which isn’t high on my list of favourites, but it adds some variety to proceedings. There’s a rather more decadent kettle in this room than in the other ones….

    My room was on the third floor which offered some quite decent views, mainly of pigeons flying about.

    The basic breakfast is included and hasn’t much changed over recent weeks, it’s all acceptable given the low room rate. This sort of set-up is quite simple for guests and the hotel, it’s a fair compromise to the whole breakfast arrangement.

    Anyway, although I’ve written about this hotel before and can’t add much, it’s served me well over recent weeks. It’s a short walk from Earl’s Court underground station and is near to numerous shops and restaurants. There’s a 24-hour reception and a bar area which has a basic range of drinks, crisps, noodles and the like. And the staff here have always been friendly, so although I haven’t had any challenging problems for them, I suspect they’d be happy to resolve them.

  • London – Brent (Borough of) – Wembley – Ibis Wembley (again)

    London – Brent (Borough of) – Wembley – Ibis Wembley (again)

    I was at this hotel a few days ago (well, two days ago) and all was well with the stay. This stay again cost just a few pounds thanks to the Accor offer that they’ve currently got going on, which is most lovely and represented really excellent value for money.

    I commented on this lack of reception area in my last post, and it failed them on this visit. I had to traipse over to the bar to get help after standing here for too long (although I accept by traipse, I mean walk about three metres) and then the barman had to traipse back to the office. I don’t know how this set-up helps them, a traditional reception desk would make things easier. It didn’t take long to get checked-in and, anyway, I’m sounding grumpy and I’m not, I like this hotel.

    The room, which didn’t have the fancy television I had the other day. The room was again on the top floor, just around the corner from my previous room. As a positive, this television didn’t keep turning itself on.

    The view was a little less exciting than before, but still rather lovely.

    This was the free welcome drink, I had the same Goose Island option as before (although I’ve got muddled up on Untappd as I seem to have listed one wrongly), it’s a perfectly good option. I wonder whether they also operate Ibis Heathrow, as they have the identical drinks choices as that hotel. The barman was friendly and engaging, it’s a comfortable bar area they have themselves on the ground floor, although it’s not that large.

    Anyway, it was another comfortable stay, with everything being clean and organised. Keenly priced again at under £40, even without the Accor offers, it seemed quiet and I don’t think that they had that many guests in the hotel.

  • London – Brent (Borough of) – Wembley – Ibis Wembley

    London – Brent (Borough of) – Wembley – Ibis Wembley

    The Accor offer that I wrote about the other day appears to be working, so this stay cost me around £16 for the night, which I don’t think is too bad at all. It’s located near to Wembley Stadium and just a short walk away from the underground, so it’s all convenient to get to. I wasn’t a fan of their reception desk though, it’s in a strange place tucked into a corner which isn’t immediately obvious and it’s not near the bar and so their staff need to keep traipsing over. But, to be fair, I have more things in life to worry about than the design of hotels and where they’ve put the reception desk. Although I’ve now written about it, so perhaps I don’t. Anyway, I digress.

    This is a standard Ibis room and was clean and comfortable. The television, which had the annoying habit of switching itself on randomly, allowed me to cast my phone so that I could watch Netflix on it. I don’t normally ever switch the television on in hotels rooms (I didn’t have a choice here since it seemed to like being on, but perhaps it needed the company) so this was a nice little change.

    The view from my hotel room, which was on the top floor.

    I didn’t have breakfast, but this sounds a little bland and the choice of eggs is unnecessarily limited and where’s the bacon? There’s no religious sensibility here, they were serving it until a few months ago. Anyway, breakfast is too much hassle at the moment, so I went to get a free smoothie from Pret instead with my subscription.

    The choice of beers, which was adequate if not exceptional. The Midway IPA from Goose Island was decent enough though, although if you’re paying for it then it’s pricey at £5.75 a pint. I was pleased to get mine free as a welcome drink and also pleased to have a choice of most drinks.

    The bar area, all clean and organised, with a few customers to the right out of my photo. The staff here were excellent, friendly and helpful, everything was done efficiently and without unnecessary delay. The hotel was quiet internally and externally, although I can’t imagine that they filled that many of their 210 rooms. The hotel picks up a fair number of negative reviews that I would describe as quite picky for a three-star hotel, but I suspect this is because when an event or match is on at Wembley then the price of rooms soars, so expectations rightfully increase.

    I liked the clearly exasperated response from the manager to one grumbling review about the room being too small:

    “I appreciate that you felt the room was too small; regrettably this is not something we are able to change easily.”

    Anyway, as a hotel, I liked this one, which is fortunate as I’m going back there tomorrow….

  • Accor – Super Power Your Reward Points

    Accor – Super Power Your Reward Points

    There’s a generous offer this week from Accor, which isn’t long after the previous ‘stay three times and get up to 6,000 points’ offer, which I did manage to get when I was in Poland. This latest e-mail reads:

    “Book Monday to Thursday for a boost of 500 Reward points. Book Friday to Sunday and pocket 1000 Reward points to craft stories money can’t buy*. Turn on all your senses with exciting experiences and new horizons.

    Fill your days making treasured memories, fill your evenings with giggles and stories shared.

    Play and stay your way.”

    I’m slightly uneasy about this offer as the terms and conditions just say participating hotels only, but there’s no way of finding out what they are. So, I’ve just booked via the link sent in the e-mail to avoid any debate about the matter (although sometimes there is a debate about the matter), but this is a very generous offer if it is being applied to all of the hotels that come up after visiting that link. Apparently the offer can be used up to five times, but we shall see this week, as I’ve booked what should in theory be four cheap nights in London.

  • London – Hammersmith and Fulham (Borough of) – Ibis Earls Court

    London – Hammersmith and Fulham (Borough of) – Ibis Earls Court

    As I understand, this large Ibis hotel is usually busy with conferences and events, so these must be challenging times for them. I’ve never stayed here before, but their room rates are for obvious reasons low at the moment.

    The reception area, all modern in appearance and it seemed welcoming. There’s a separate restaurant area, but this is also the bar area which is in operation throughout the day. The staff were excellent, both at reception and at the bar, so all positive first impressions.

    This put me in a good mood, I wasn’t limited to a welcome drink of Budweiser. It’s lovely to get a welcome drink, but it’s nicer to have something different. I rarely have Leffe, it was better than I recall, so a decent option to have. I noticed afterwards that they also had London Pride, so they are making an effort not just to stock lagers.

    The room, which might not be the most modern in appearance, but I’m more interested in functionality than design. As long as I have a bed, desk, plenty of power points, a window and a door then I’m relatively pleased. There could have been more power points in the room, but it’s probably something that will be addressed when there’s a refurbishment. There were coffees and teas in the room, everything was clean and there was sufficient desk space.

    The bathroom, also clean and with a telephone should I need to contact anyone urgently.

    The view from the window and I could see central London and Canary Wharf by peering out of the window and looking left. Always positive to have an extensive view and to see plenty of the city. There were no noise issues either within the hotel or outside it, so I was entirely satisfied with the night’s stay. I paid for this room with loyalty points, topping that up with 84p which was collected on my credit credit. Not bad at all….

    It seems that the reviews from others are a bit mixed, perhaps the rooms become noisier when the hotel is busier, although many complaints are just guests thinking that the hotel decor is a little tired. I can’t imagine that the hotel is going to be able to afford to start on renovation works in the current climate, but at least what they have seems clean. Anyway, I liked this hotel and that’s the main thing to me  🙂

  • Accor Hotels in Warsaw

    Accor Hotels in Warsaw

    Since I feel I’ve worked around enough of these to justify their own lists, here we go….. I’ve put them into my own categories of those I really like, those that are OK and those I didn’t like as much. I can’t imagine this will interest anyone but me, but it’ll remind me of which ones to book again. As for my favourite one, it’s Mercure Warszawa Ursus.

     

    I REALLY LIKE THESE ONES  🙂

    Ibis Styles Warszawa Centrum

    Ibis Styles Warszawa City

    Mercure Warszawa Ursus

    Novotel Warszawa Centrum

    Ibis Warszawa Centrum

    Mercure Warszawa Airport

    Ibis Warszawa Reduta

     

    THESE ARE OK  😐

    Ibis Warszawa Stare Miasto (hate the new rooms without desks, otherwise brilliant)

    Ibis Budget Warszawa Centrum (all fine, nothing luxurious – no link here as I stayed before starting the blog)

     

    DON’T LIKE THESE ONES SO MUCH  🙁

    Ibis Styles Warszawa West (felt like an Ibis Budget)

    Ibis Warszawa Ostrobramska (only Accor in Poland I’ve been to where the service wasn’t as welcoming as it perhaps could have been)

     

    Accor also operate these hotels in the city, which I haven’t yet been to. And since I’m quite cheap, I’m not sure that I’ll ever visit a couple of them, but you never know….

    Sofitel Warszawa Victoria

    Raffles Warszawa

    Mercure Warszawa Centrum

    Mercure Warszawa Grand

    Novotel Warszawa Airport

  • Warsaw – Novotel Warszawa Centrum

    Warsaw – Novotel Warszawa Centrum

    I’ve stayed at this Novotel before and it was a well-run hotel and so I decided to make it my final accommodation choice for this stay in Warsaw. It’s centrally located and near to the railway station so I can get the train back to the airport.

    The room was upgraded and this was clean, comfortable and had excellent views. It seems to have been modernised relatively recently and it was functional with plenty of power points. I never turn TVs on in hotel rooms, but it was a noticeably decent size.

    The staff member at check-in was helpful and humorous, so that was a rather positive first impression. I wasn’t much bothered when he spoke to his colleague in Polish as I could understand it was something about broken IT, but he then apologised for this and said he hadn’t meant to speak in Polish in front of an English guest. Not that Poles should have to apologise for speaking Polish anyway.

    This was the welcome gift bag offered by the hotel, orange juice, some sort of tea thing in a tube and meringues. I noticed when I got to the room that the hotel hadn’t given me the welcome drink voucher, but I decided the orange juice would suffice as I was on the 25th floor and didn’t fancy going straight back down.

    The view from the room and there are some more photos here. Last time I stayed my room pointed the other way and this time I was hoping to get a view of the Palace of Culture and Science building, which is the entirely out of place Soviet style building on the right of the photo. I probably should have just asked at reception to get a room pointing this way, but it didn’t matter, as I was in luck anyway.

    The breakfast is no longer self-service, but staff serve customers what they want from the hot and cold options. It all worked efficiently and there weren’t any queues when I was there, but I look forwards to the time when this isn’t necessary. The hotel has usefully put a QR code in the room so that guests can find out about various elements of their stay, this is the only one I’ve stayed at which has done this.

    And my selection, although I went back for more rolls and croissants. The signage for items was clear, so it was useful to know what I could order from each staff member.

    So, that’s the end of my Warsaw trip in terms of accommodation and I managed to stay in seven hotels, six of them Accor and this was the only one that I had stayed in before. And it was certainly one of the best, everything was clean, professional and comfortable. I was also pleased that it’s possible to open the window, it’s quite relaxing to hear the noises of the city. There is perhaps something ridiculous about when hotels spend a fortune in sound-proofing their rooms only for bloody guests like me commenting they like hearing the road noise, but there we go.

    Hopefully I’ll stay at this Novotel again…..

  • Warsaw – Views from Novotel Warszawa Centrum

    Warsaw – Views from Novotel Warszawa Centrum

    More on the rather lovely Novotel Warszawa Centrum in another post later, but these were the views from the room. I was very pleased with this, although intrigued how that poster on the hotel opposite seemed to disappear over the hours….

  • Warsaw – Ibis Styles Warszawa City

    Warsaw – Ibis Styles Warszawa City

    This is Ibis Styles Warsaw City and I’ve also stayed this week in the Ibis Styles Centrum (which isn’t as central as city) and Ibis Styles Warsaw West (which was a glorified Ibis Budget as far as I’m concerned). This one is centrally located, a short walk (well, what I call a short walk) to the Old Town area of the city.

    Compare and contrast to the room at the Ibis Styles Warsaw West and this is a country mile better, although it is a free room upgrade. Incidentally, I didn’t realise at first, but this Ibis Styles is styled around trams, hence the seating arrangement on the left of the above photo and the tram lines on the ceiling. They could have done with finding a tram to shove in reception to complete the theme, but I liked this whole set-up.

    Big windows overlooking the city. Although that little window didn’t open and I do like fresh air and the sound of the city. Coffee and tea making facilities were also provided, as well as a bottle of water.

    The welcome gift was two mini bottles of wine, which is much appreciated. I’d have loved a local craft beer, but I’m never one to knock such a kind gesture.

    The drinks voucher, which seems to be the old style ones that I thought they’d done away with.

    A beer, I have no idea what. It was small and drinkable, but unexciting. To be fair, they’d given me free wine, so I didn’t much mind. Incidentally, this was another hotel where the staff were friendly, personable and keen to help, particularly the lady at check-in who was particularly warm and engaging.

    The reception area.

    The breakfast room, which is on the seventh floor and is much larger than I expected. Self-service has been removed for the moment, so staff served food from a hot and cold selection. I don’t much like this style of service, but needs must.

    My breakfast options, all entirely satisfactory as the breakfast came with the room. The hotel had done their best in the rather trying circumstances that we currently have.

    Anyway, I liked this hotel and it was one of my favourites of the trip, although Accor generally surprise and delight me. Laid-back, comfortable and there were no noise issues either internally or externally. It was a large room with excellent views and I liked the welcome gift of wine, a reminder that I’m easy to please…..

  • Warsaw – Ibis Styles Warszawa West

    Warsaw – Ibis Styles Warszawa West

    As I carry on working my way around the Accor hotels in Warsaw, this one is located a little outside of the centre and I took a train to reach it. Although I’m walking back as it’ll let me meander through some parts of the city that I haven’t seen before.

    The hotel reception and layout feels quite old-fashioned and I’m unsure why it’s an Ibis Styles. There’s no design-led element to the hotel, it’s all quite bland. Actually, it feels like a prison where they’ve put some jazzy lines on the walls to cheer it up a bit.

    This is the most, well, unimpressive room that Accor have given me in Poland. It’s functional, although the lights didn’t work but the hotel fixed that when I went to query it. Every Ibis Styles has a theme and I’ve liked the previous Roman, space, canoeing and so on themes. I’m not sure what the theme here is, perhaps it’s communist Poland. The room was sort of clean, but it wasn’t to the standard of the other Accor hotels I’ve visited over the last week.

    The desk size wasn’t ideal at all. There are meant to be tea and coffee making facilities in the room, but they didn’t provide any coffee, just tea.

    This is the first Accor hotel I can recall staying in where they use coins instead of vouchers for their welcome drink. I wonder whether it’s to avoid the rather generous terms of the voucher…..

    There are a diminishing number of Accor hotels that decide that anyone who wants beer must want lager, but this is one of them. I really don’t particularly want generic cheap lager, but that was the sole beer option with the welcome drink voucher. On reflection, I probably should have kept the coin as a souvenir of the hotel.

    The breakfast, which was mostly set out in little boxes for hygiene reasons, was fine and I also managed to get more Greek salad as well as fruit salad and apple crumble. Staff served some of the breakfast items, the rest were self-service where they could be covered. All fairly standard Ibis fayre, but since it was included in the room rate, I thought it was entirely reasonable.

    The staff in the hotel were helpful, but the state of this hotel is a country mile behind the Mercure Ursus which is only a short distance away. Slightly dishearteningly, given that I’m an Accor fan, this hotel is also way behind the cheap and cheerful Holiday Inn Express I visited yesterday, which sets itself at a lower price point. I suspect this hotel is doing a sustained trade from conferences and group bookings, but their reviews on TripAdvisor aren’t great. I wonder whether Accor would be better off just rebranding this hotel into an Ibis Budget and being done with it.