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Category: Accor

  • 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.

  • London – Barking and Dagenham (Borough of) – Ibis Barking

    London – Barking and Dagenham (Borough of) – Ibis Barking

    Of no great relevance to anyone other than me, but I’ve realised that I’ve never written about the Ibis at Barking, despite having stayed there three times. Given I can be quite a completist, I feel the need to quickly note a few things about the hotel for my own record if nothing else….

    This hotel is about an eight minute walk from Barking railway station or around ten minutes from East Ham underground station, so not ideally located for those using public transport (especially if they’re carrying things), but it’s also not in the middle of nowhere. There’s also an Ibis Budget very nearby, although I’ve not yet been to that one. Perhaps because of the location of the hotel, which is more suited for cars, it’s generally one of the cheaper Accor hotels in London, which is its main appeal to me. There is a reasonable amount of car parking on site, which is of no relevance to me, but it seems reasonably priced.

    The hotel has been clean and welcoming on my three visits here, all entirely functional and comfortable. There’s a small bar and restaurant area at reception which isn’t the largest, but it seems sufficient for the number of customers who want to use it. They have a slightly annoying system that the floor numbers don’t match the room numbers, so that the second floor has room numbers beginning with 3, but fortunately I manage not to let that concern me overly. All of the rooms appear to be the same, so there’s not much to add other than the photo above, with the usual Accor prefabricated shower pod being used as usual.

    The free welcome drink I had last week, which is a perfectly acceptable Brewdog Punk IPA. The drinks selection is not earth shattering, but it’s better than most other Ibis hotels, so I can’t much complain about that. I’ve never had any difficulties with noise, either internally or externally, nor indeed any other problems of note. So, all rather lovely.

  • London – Still No Refund from Accor

    London – Still No Refund from Accor

    Well, this isn’t ideal.

    A few weeks ago, Accor managed to book me into a hotel that was shut. They booked another hotel for me (for which they wanted a second payment), and said they’d call back the day after to resolve the matter. Two different staff members said that I would be refunded for the new stay as it was Accor’s fault. At the time I thought this was handled well and they mentioned they considered it very serious (they seemed to consider it more serious than I did) and seemed keen to help.

    I’ve been refunded some points by the closed Mercure Heathrow hotel for incidental expenses (which I kept to near zero, which was again generous of me given the circumstances), but haven’t heard a thing since (and they didn’t tell me that they had done this either). What is particularly annoying is that if I had booked with a third party booking site such as booking.com or hotels.com, then I would never have had to pay for the second hotel. As it stands, I’ve still paid for two hotels for three nights and Accor have refunded neither.

    I’m in the difficult position that Amex have said that they can arrange a chargeback to force Accor to respond. However, these are exceptional times and Accor have a lot of staff furloughed, so I’ve been giving them longer, although they’ve ignored me for a month. I asked Novotel Heathrow for help, but they’ve decided they won’t be responding at all. I can’t blame them, the Accor press office hasn’t replied either, so this seems to be a new cultural thing within the hotel company.

    Hopefully my £255.55 might be returned soon. It’s definitely not ideal.

  • London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Whitechapel Ibis Budget

    London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Whitechapel Ibis Budget

    I rather like the Ibis Budget chain of hotels and I positively miss the one in Torun with its all you can eat hot dogs for breakfast (I’m easily pleased). They’re basic, but usually clean and functional. And, best of all, generally they’re pretty cheap. I haven’t seen this one listed before, so it has either recently reopened or I’m just not very observant, and the latter is always a distinct possibility. Anyway, I opted to stay here for two nights given that it was keenly priced and I liked how central it was for the City of London (which was an excuse to visit a few more pubs in that area).

    The interior of the hotel is bright and well maintained. I’ll contact the hotel [done, and they’ve kindly sent the below] and see if they can let me have some photos of the public areas (I also forgot to take a photo of the large teddy bear on one of the seats, but there are some on the team’s Instagram channel at https://www.instagram.com/ibisbudgetlondonwhitechapel/), as I didn’t get chance to take any of my own. And the hotel staff were unfailingly polite and helpful, offering a friendly welcome and an engaging farewell. The hotel didn’t feel very busy at all, but there were always staff visible in the public areas and it felt like a safe environment.

    Above two images supplied by hotel, the one on the left is the large breakfast area, the one on the right is the reception area. This is far more Ibis Styles than Ibis Budget in design, I remain impressed at the investment that has been made here.

    This isn’t the Ibis Budget room that I’m used to, there has been some sort of large scale refurbishment here. The bathroom is modern and all within one room (often Ibis Budget have a separate toilet, a shower that is sort of open plan and a sink that is in the bedroom). There’s a pull down bed at the rear and a small desk in the corner. Some money has been spent here in this refurbishment and I think it’s looking rather good and certainly entirely functional. The hotel doesn’t offer hot drink making facilities or irons in the rooms, but, I have a Pret subscription and don’t use irons as I’m scared they might burn me, so this wasn’t an obstacle.

    I didn’t experience any noise issues either internally or externally, to the point that I did wonder how many guests were actually in the hotel. The air conditioning made the room very cold, which pleased me greatly, and I’m impressed at how easy it was to control the temperature, better than most other budget hotels.

    Not the view from my room unfortunately, but a view from one of the hotel windows near to the lifts. It’s about a ten-minute walk to the Tower of London and about a twelve-minute walk to Greggs.

    Perhaps not “sinfully decadent”, but this is a really sensible list of snacks that is easy for the hotel to provide. The prices aren’t unreasonable and this seems a well thought through list of options.

    All told, this was a hotel which exceeded my expectations, an engaging team of staff, a clean environment, modern rooms, decent air conditioning and a short walk to the underground and the city of London. For anyone who can get a room here at a similar price to Travelodge or similar, I’d pick here, as the rooms are better kitted out and that air conditioning is very useful (and would have been at Stratford Travelodge). All very lovely.

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

    London – Kensington and Chelsea (Borough of) – Ibis Styles Kensington (Again)

    I stayed at this hotel about ten times last year, and have done so again this year several times. I stopped posting about the hotel given that I had little new to say (not that this usually stops me to be honest…..), but thought I’d do a little update here. Nothing much has really changed at the hotel, although breakfast is no longer included in the room rate. It was just a takeaway bag which was lacking a little in innovation towards the end, and I suspect that quite a lot of the food and drink was just being wasted. It’s possible to pay for this takeaway bag, but I haven’t yet been tempted to do so.

    The free welcome drink offered to me lacks in excitement, they don’t even have Tiger any more, so I selected a bottle of Budweiser. I see this as useful, as I’m trying to lower my average Untappd score (I don’t want to sound like I enjoy everything) and this is a perfect way of doing it.

    My room rate was £22.50 per night and I was staying for two nights, making this really quite excellent value for money. The hotel is just a short walk from Earls Court underground station, so is convenient for central London. There’s also a Greggs around the corner for those who need food and drink, as well as the Bolton pub which is nearby.

    For that price I was entitled to a solo room (since that’s what I booked), but I was upgraded for what I think is now the fourteenth time in a row in this hotel. What they lack in decadent welcome drinks and welcome gifts, they make up for in room upgrades. I even had my own little corridor in the room, as can be seen in the above photo. As an aside, the staff members here are always friendly and helpful, with no change to that on this visit.

    And the rest of the room, which was air conditioned, clean and comfortable. I didn’t have any noise problems from either inside or outside the hotel, so I still like staying here as it feels a safe and reliable environment. It’s a series of houses which have been joined together and turned into a hotel, hence the rather strange shape of the rooms. I think it all adds character to the arrangement though.

    Richard was staying at the same hotel, and was on the floor above. He laughed when he discovered the lift was out of order, as he likes carrying his giant bag up two flights of stairs. And, as an extra treat, there was a football outside of his room. Someone must have known that one of Norfolk’s biggest football fans was staying there. On a more petty level, I was very pleased to note that Richard didn’t have his own corridor in his more expensive room (although he did have larger cardboard cups than I did for his drinks, so he had a win there).

    Anyway, for £22.50 per night, this remains excellent value, and highlights how there remain problems with so few tourists coming to stay in the city. I can’t imagine the prices will be anything like this again in future years, so I will continue staying in London for as long as they are……

  • Accor Hotel at Heathrow – A Bit Shut

    Accor Hotel at Heathrow – A Bit Shut

    I arrived with great excitement to my Accor hotel near Heathrow (I’m not going anywhere from the airport, it was just where I was staying) and had the slightly annoying situation that it was shut. I said to myself that this definitely wasn’t ideal. A staff member on site helpfully told me that I’d come to the right hotel, but that it had been shut for five months. They added that this was the problem with booking with third party sites, and I’d need to contact them to deal with the issue.

    Unfortunately, I hadn’t used a third party site, I’d booked directly with Accor. So I phoned them and was delighted when a real life person answered the Platinum/Diamond support line (I was pleased my call got routed there, it made me feel important….). They were really quite friendly and they apologised several times, realising that the booking was valid for a shut hotel (if there’s such a thing as a valid booking for a shut hotel). The first stage of their resolution was to set up a complaint which they immediately upgraded to Stage 2. I don’t know what that means, but it sounded exciting. The second stage of their resolution was to rebook me in a nearby Novotel hotel as I didn’t fancy sleeping at the airport (I didn’t intend to recreate the film Terminal) and Heathrow never liked that at the best of times, so I imagine it’s impossible now. That worked out (the rebooking, not the sleeping at Heathrow), although they couldn’t get through to the hotel to guarantee the booking, but they booked it internally anyway.

    The resolution team is meant to be getting in touch with me over the next couple of days, although I like the hotel that I’ve been moved to. They did tell me to keep my receipts and get a taxi there, but I couldn’t be going through all that stress so I just walked the thirty minutes to the new hotel. It was a lovely walk near the Bath Road with the sun setting. Not the three night stay that I had expected, but I won’t complain at three nights at the Novotel.

    I would be annoyed, but I like Accor and to be honest, I quite like the drama and excitement….. The two staff members on the phone actually sounded interested in helping, so that was all positive. Although I’ve now got to work out where to get the 222 bus to get to the Piccadilly line….. I could get the Hotel Hoppa bus and charge Accor, but I hate that service and I don’t fancy faffing about sending receipts. Anyway, that’s another adventure I’ve gotten myself into.

  • London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Ibis Shoreditch

    London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Ibis Shoreditch

    Back a few weeks to when people could actually visit London, this is the Ibis Hotel in Shoreditch which is just a short walk from London Liverpool Street. Ideally also, it’s opposite Aldgate East Underground station, so it’s an easy hotel to get to.

    This visit was at a time when people could have a drink if they were also ordering a substantial meal. But, although the hotel was offering meals, there wasn’t much of a take-up.

    Part of the hotel’s decor, trying to give that East London theme to proceedings. The whole arrangement felt modern and welcoming, with something of an Ibis Styles type approach to the design rather than Ibis.

    This is the free welcome drink, one of the better ones which I’ve been offered. It’s not the finest in the Brewdog range, but I do very much like Punk IPA, nice and citrusy…. I look forwards to other Ibis hotels offering something slightly more exciting than Budweiser.

    The bedroom, all clean and comfortable. And it was located on the top floor and away from the elevator, just where I like. There were no noise issues either, although I’m not sure that the 348-room hotel was actually that busy. The hotel also had windows that could open, as I’m one of those slightly strange customers who likes the noise of city traffic and police sirens. It also meant that the temperature in the room was easy to control, something which I do most appreciate.

    I did very much appreciate the gesture and that’s a nice handwritten card, although secretly (well, not that secretly actually) I would have preferred chocolate…..

    Anyway, the stay as all sufficiently uneventful, which is ideally how hotel stays should be if it means that no disasters took place. Staff seemed friendly, although slightly underworked through the lack of guests, and I’ll come back here again.

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

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

    This blog wouldn’t be complete without yet another post about this hotel in Kensington…. I still like the hotel, the welcome is friendly, the hotel is clean and the prices are highly competitive. Not only have I managed to post here multiple times about this hotel, I’ve also bored friends with it as well and one of them also happened to be staying here for the weekend.

    I was upgraded to a larger room and I think this is one of my favourites in the hotel. Spacious and with numerous seating options dotted around the place.

    There was a bath, as well as a separate shower (that isn’t in the photo), all very decadent.

    There is a balcony as well, but they’re locked that off.

    This was the view on Sunday morning. Rain. Not ideal…..

    There was no Tiger left, so this was my welcome drink choice. It was free, so I won’t complain.

    My obligatory breakfast bag photo…. I did go down in the basement to get a coffee, although it seemed to be measuring out rather small portions, albeit delicious tasting small portions.

    So, once again, all was fine and nothing exceptional happened that I feel the need to mention. And, this is good in a hotel, I don’t want too much drama. Incidentally, I hear that Richard had lots of drama in his two hotel visits this weekend elsewhere in the country, it’s a shame he doesn’t have a blog….

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

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

    Once again, this post is more for me to remember another night in Wembley rather than any extra use that a third report on the same hotel can offer anyone else. There’s not much useful I can add about the welcome, the staff member was friendly and the check-in procedure was painless. Certainly nothing negative to mention.

    The room, on the fourteenth and top floor again. All clean and as it should be, although it doesn’t have a television like the first time I stayed where I could cast my phone to it. I managed to get by without such decadence. I did note that the desk had been fixed, by use of supports, from what looked like when a previous guest had sat on it or similar…

    The Government’s new rules means that hotel bars can stay open if customers order a substantial meal with their alcohol, or if they just have soft drinks. The hotel rules do though allow customers to take alcohol to their room, so that’s what happened to my welcome drink. Not really ideally poured, but I was just pleased that the drink option was still available and that Goose Island Midway Session IPA was still there.

    The view from the room over the Borough of Brent. There’s no shortage of construction work going on around here, I assume primarily residential as it’s quite an easy location to commute to and from for those wanting to work in the capital.

    And the view over Wembley in the morning, although I think I prefer the night-time view. Anyway, all was quiet in the hotel, they have windows that open to allow for ventilation, the temperature was perfect and I have nothing negative to say. How very lovely.

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

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

    There has long not been much point my writing up my repeated visits to this hotel for anyone else, the duplication is rather high to say the least. But, since I’m writing this to remind me where I’ve been, I shall happily indulge myself.

    For the first time I’ve been given a room that I’ve had before, which was an upgrade to a larger double room. Spotlessly clean and with a window that opens to ensure ventilation. I like that. Incidentally, the hotel had a heap of heaters near to reception, so I’m probably the only guest that decided the room could be just that bit cooler. The only fault with the room was the one that was there weeks ago, the light on the table doesn’t work. But, I battled on without such luxury and decadence.

    The free welcome drink, my standard choice…..

    The breakfast hasn’t changed much over the last few months, it’s probably not going to satisfy some, but it’s perfectly sufficient as a little snack and I like their coffee. It’s hard for me to find fault, especially taking into account that this room cost under £25 per night, even before reward points are taken into account.

    So, not much else to add to my previous visits, but this is an excellent value for money option and just a short walk away from Earl’s Court railway station.