That worked out well…..
Category: Hammersmith and Fulham (Borough of)
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London – Hammersmith and Fulham (Borough of) – Craft Beer Co
This should have been the week when I finally managed to have visited every outlet in the Craft Beer Co chain, but it looks like the Prime Minister has put a stop to that. But, nearly there anyway, and I will get there…..
Unfortunately, it wasn’t as busy as it deserved to be for a pub of this class. It’s listed in the Good Beer Guide and quite deservedly so. A few customers came in, and they all seemed content with what they had, but I can’t imagine a great deal of money was being made here for a Saturday afternoon.
Nathan will mutter and tut that I say that this pub was a friendly and welcoming environment that I’d come back to. But it was, the sole staff member was engaging, conversational and keen to help. Comfortable and exciting, I liked it here. It’s interesting that the pub is located in a shopping centre, that’s unusual, but perhaps brings this type of beer to a new clientele. There are also numerous plug sockets dotted around the place which is useful.
The beer menu was excellent, lots of different beer styles and some classy options. I couldn’t stretch to the decadence of the very expensive beers, but the Some People Are Immune to Good Banana Stout from Evil Twin Brewing was a delightful treat in itself. And, I’ll do my annoying thing of saying that it was rich, with a minimal taste of banana initially until the aftertaste kicks in, along with a smoothness that meant even the slightest sip was a delight. Right, I’ll stop there. I will have to get to the Evil Twin Brewing tap room in New York….
I do hope that the Craft Beer Co can expand, they’re constantly surprising and delighting me at the moment.
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London – Hammersmith and Fulham (Borough of) – Ibis Earls Court (Third Visit)
In danger of repeating myself, but I’ll take that risk, this was my third visit to the Ibis at Earl’s Court. A short walk from West Brompton underground station, it’s a huge hotel which is running significantly under occupancy by the looks of it. The receptionist remembered me, although I imagine that there aren’t that many guests to have to recall at the moment. And I probably made some faux pas that made me memorable.
The welcome drink of Leffe, once again, which is something a little different to what is offered by other Ibis hotels. I accept it’s not the most exotic drink that they could have, but it brings some slight excitement to proceedings. Although it wasn’t as good as the drink at the Craft Beer Co at Old Street that I’d had shortly before, but I digress.
Room number 1010 on the tenth floor, which was next door to room 1009 that I had last week (I don’t expect anyone to care about that, but it interests me, which is case again that I need to get out more). This is something that the hotel isn’t doing brilliantly on, which is keeping guests at least slightly apart. If the hotel is near empty, it probably makes sense to put gaps between occupied rooms, not particularly for health reasons, but for noise reasons.
This is a new addition to proceedings, a selection of soaps. Normally these are in dispensers, and they still are in this room, but this was extra and I didn’t have this on my last two visits. Perhaps it’s a welcome gift to reward me for my loyalty, I’ll pretend that to myself. As I’ve drivelled on about before, this is a clean hotel and although it probably needs a little refurbishment, it’s all organised and the staff are suitably helpful. The cleaner was so chatty I struggled to get away, but I appreciated the positive attitude at the hotel.
Given the Government’s announcement about a potential lockdown, well, the Daily Mail’s announcement about a potential lockdown, it might be a while before I’m back at this hotel….
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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 🙂
