Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: Heathrow

Tuesday : Ealing, Angus Deayton and Heathrow

I liked the Ealing Ibis Styles, my first time there and it was a quiet and peaceful hotel with some strong movie related theming. The reviews aren’t great for the hotel and some are complaining that the hotel is charging for luggage storage, which is odd as I’d have thought that should have been included. I was fortunate to get this hotel for a reasonable price, the cost of staying in London is becoming ridiculous at the moment, well above pre-2020 prices. I hope for selfish reasons that this trend doesn’t continue permanently otherwise I’ll hardly be coming to London at all. At the moment, a single night at a city centre Travelodge is the same price as seven nights in an Accor hotel in some parts of Poland.

It was a pleasant day (well, too hot really, but I nearly always think it’s too hot as soon as the sun comes out) and this is Christ the Saviour Church in Ealing. It’s not that hard to guess the designer of this beautiful building, it’s Sir Gilbert Scott. Built in 1852 when Ealing’s population was starting to rapidly increase, it was damaged during the Second World War, but sensitively reconstructed and there’s plenty of foliage today around the building.

Fortunately, the underground strike of the previous day had come to an end, so the District Line was open again at Ealing Broadway Underground station. Note the old style signage of the station in the background.

It’s visible on the right hand side of this photo as well TFL note that these are originals, with the design dating to the early twentieth century. As an aside, you can buy original signage from the Underground at https://www.ltmuseumshop.co.uk/vintage-shop/underground-signs. It’s the kind of thing that I’d like, but it’s far too expensive and it’s not clear to me why I’d want a sign from London Liverpool Street in my flat. Although I would, I’d even appoint my friend Liam as the civil engineer responsible for the installation work.

All credit to TFL for this signage to help those coming from Ukraine.

Not many commuters on the Tuesday morning District Line service into central London. They try and paint the poles the same colour as the train service, so yellow for the Circle Line. It doesn’t always work out though, the District Line is green, but sometimes the lines share trains.

A quick Wetherspoons breakfast alongside countless refillable coffees, although it’s not entirely clear to me what they had done with the sausages, but I’d probably be best not knowing. I’m very productive in these surroundings and the coffees were delicious.

It was too hot so I went to St. James’s Park for a little while, a 57 acre park which was once land owned by the Palace of Whitehall.

This canal was added in the seventeenth century, although it doesn’t really go anywhere and is now more of a lake, they just diverted the Tyburn I think to fill it.

I was here a couple of days after the Jubilee weekend, so a lot of the barriers were still present and endless flags, although they might be permanent. The Government seem to be trying to put the union flag in as many places in London as they can and Priti Patel seems to spend most of her time standing in front of one. Anyway, I mustn’t get distracted back into politics.

I was annoyed at the heat so sat in Green Park trying to avoid the sun. The park was landscaped in 1820, but is one of the plainest of the parks, just lots of grass, but that suited my needs on this boiling hot day. Bloody global warming.

I had free tickets to the recording of Alone, which is a BBC Radio 4 comedy. It’s been going for a few years, but I’d never heard of it and half the audience also put their hands up saying they hadn’t heard the show before. This was by far the quietest of the shows that I’ve been to, the audience were only in the first few rows, although I think they had enough people to make it all work.

Another one of my hopeless photos, but this was the break and the performers (or whatever the word is) were just leaving the stage. There’s Angus Deayton, Pearce Quigley, Abigail Cruttenden, Kate Isitt and Bennett Arron. I like watching the process of recording these shows and how much of it has to be re-recorded because someone has made a mistake, there’s been a sound issue or something else went wrong. I hope the others wouldn’t be offended (although it hardly matters, they’re not going to read this) but I’d only heard of Angus Deayton and Pearce Quigley, the latter from the Detectorists. Anyway, it was all very entertaining.

A pizza from the very reliable and affordable Pizza Union chain, although I was conscious at this point that I should really get a move on to get to my hotel in Heathrow. I always have a slight fear that my hotel room will be resold and that would be a faff to resolve.

I had an hour’s journey on the Piccadilly Line from Holborn to Hounslow Central, where I would get a bus to the hotel. To my great annoyance, Heathrow still haven’t reinstated the Free Travel Zone around the airport, so I thought I’d get a bus from Hounslow instead of faffing about at the airport.

The Ibis Styles Heathrow Airport room, where I stayed a few weeks ago, and the room has a modern feel and I tolerate the lack of desk as that small table is sufficient. That also isn’t an oil slick on the floor, it’s the design of the carpet, which is clever as it hides any stains that guests might leave by just looking like it’s stained anyway. No problems though with my stay, quiet and comfortable with everything as expected.

The free welcome drinks, with the excitement for me that I was going overseas the next day. I never tire of that excited feeling and I wonder if I ever will.

June 25, 2022
British Airways (Warsaw to Heathrow T5)

This was the British Airways aircraft in Warsaw, G-NEOY, one of the new Airbus A321-Neo aircraft and this was only delivered to BA on 15 June 2020. It wasn’t the aircraft that they expected to use, but the UK Government announced an end to the travel corridor from Poland and this was one of the last flights back to the UK that avoided this issue. So, the aircraft was entirely full.

The gate was busy and the announcements were hard to hear as the tannoy wasn’t very loud. There was boarding via seat row and this seemed sufficiently well managed.

The free snacks provided en route, although three customers near to me tried to order food and drink from the Buy on Board service which has been suspended for some months. The crew explained that it was unsafe to serve customers food at the moment, and one customer asked why they were serving food then. It isn’t an unreasonable question (and the crew member couldn’t answer it), although I’m happy with the current set-up.

This was one of the tensest flights that I’ve been on with British Airways and it’s clear that some passengers were on edge throughout. A passenger opposite me who reclined his seated immediately and then hugged the seat in front of him was one of the more selfish I’ve seen, but I was pleased he wasn’t near to me. This same customer also irritated a member of cabin crew who ordered him over the tannoy to sit down after we had landed otherwise he’d suspend the disembarkation process. It was the same customer who talked over the safety announcements and ignored the crew throughout, then seemed confused why he was being called out for standing up whilst taxiing to the gate. I quite liked the drama to be fair.

Overall, this wasn’t an expensive flight as I booked early, although the last few seats were costing hundreds of pounds each for those who needed to return home before 4am on Saturday when the travel corridor option was slammed shut. The problem with this new aircraft is that it’s not very comfortable when it’s at this capacity. There’s not enough space and things such as the at-seat power didn’t work, which it really should have done given how new the aircraft was.

But, having written that, I was just pleased to get back out of Poland given the travel corridor issue, and British Airways didn’t let me down there. The flight was around thirty minutes late in departing due to a delayed outbound flight to Warsaw, but our aircraft arrived just one minute later than timetabled as they were able to make the time up. It was a slight shame that the aircraft landed at C-gates, as that’s a bit of a trek back, but the airport wasn’t particularly busy. So, all sufficiently pleasant, but not my best flight with BA.

October 5, 2020
Heathrow T5

Just some photos from Heathrow T5 today, it didn’t feel that busy anywhere.

September 22, 2020
Heathrow – Flying Chariot

This was one of the few times that I’ve ever visited Heathrow T2, and I still haven’t flown from that terminal, my experiences being limited to the Oneworld airlines who are at T3 and T5. The Flying Chariot is the JD Wetherspoons that is located landside and it takes its name from John Wilkins, who was a vicar at Cranford Parish Church, who predicted in 1638 that it was possible “to make a flying chariot, in which a man may sit, and give such motion unto it, as shall convey him through the air”.

Anyway, this was one of JD Wetherspoon’s more exotic meals that they attempted, their Thai green chicken curry with rice on a bamboo leaf arrangement, which was perfectly acceptable. I assume that their efforts at presentation didn’t help sell the dish, since it didn’t seem to spend much time on the menu. It’s quite a large Wetherspoons over two floors, with the usual airport prices for their food and drink. Since my visit was back in 2015, my memory of the experience has suitably faded, although I do remember that the service was all friendly and professional.

My favourite response to a TripAdvisor review was:

“We were told by the staff that they would call security because my boyfriend was resting his head on the table! The pub is on the airport for god sake and we woke up 3am to catch our flight so yes we were tired an 7am. I felt so humiliated. I won’t be visiting any Wetherspoon again.”

I like it when some facts are allowed into the debate to shed some light on the original review….

“We remember your visit and based on my discussions with the team, and CCTV footage, I’d like to take this opportunity to clarify events. I can see that you arrived at 06:37. By 06:39, your boyfriend had removed his shoes and was lying on the sofa. It took 20 minutes before you were approached by a member of staff, who tried to explain that sleeping/feet on the furniture was not permitted.

At 07:24, a Team Leader approached you, as your boyfriend now had his head on the table for 5 minutes or so and to all intents and purposes, appeared to be sleeping. When she was told that your boyfriend didn’t feel well, she offered to call security (something we do regularly, for people who are feeling under the weather), as they can be quicker to attend than paramedics and are able to take control of any situations. I apologise for any embarrassment or distress this may have caused you both, but unfortunately we cannot allow people to sleep within the premises, as we are an operator who pays rent to the airport, in order to provide food and drink to passengers. This is a policy within all JDW pubs, and does not change at the airport. Also, at the time of your visit there were people sat on both tables adjacent to yours, and it can make people uncomfortable to be in this situation.”

April 30, 2020
British Airways (Heathrow T5 to Chengdu)

The current Coronavirus means that I can’t write about any recent flights on British Airways, so here’s one from six years ago. As a rider at this stage, I wasn’t intending to post these photos when I took them, so they’re not really a very complete set covering the aircraft’s exterior or interior. But, I took a photo of all the food, which is something I rarely neglect my obligations towards….

Back in 2014, British Airways decided that China was their future and they started a flight to Chengdu as their third destination in the country, as they already flew to Shanghai and Beijing (as well as Hong Kong). There was a documentary at the time where BA management, including their boss then Willie Walsh, said how important China was to them, although their enthusiasm waned and Chengdu was dropped a few years later, in early 2017. This flight was in Club World, or business class, with the aircraft being the Boeing Dreamliner.

The screen for the IFE.

The foldable foot rest, which then joined together with the main part of the seat to form a bed. BA have recently announced a new Club Suite, which looks amazing, so the days of having to step over someone else will soon be firmly in the past.

The menu.

The watermelon, feta and cucumber salad.

The Szechuan braised pork with bean curd, an appropriate dish as this was the area of China that we were flying to.

The summer berry cheesecake with mascarpone cream.

The breakfast menu.

Fresh fruit and the mango fruit smoothie. The smoothies on BA are world class and I always tried to get refills if they had enough.

The continental breakfast option.

I took these items from the Club Kitchen on board to nibble on between meals.

I can’t remember much about these meals, primarily because I ate them six years ago, but I was rarely disappointed with BA’s food. I also know that I got my first choice for all meals on this flight, which is always a bonus. Unfortunately, I didn’t note the registration number of the aircraft or much else.

April 7, 2020
British Airways Lounges – Crisp Selection

As evidence that I need to get out more, I was overly excited to see that British Airways have replaced Kettle chips with Tyrrell’s crisps in the lounges. Not that there’s anything wrong with Kettle chips, but a change is as good as a rest or whatever the phrase is. Hopefully they’ll change the flavours about a bit and won’t try and stock the vegetable crisps that Tyrrell’s make….

February 12, 2020
Heathrow – Ibis Heathrow

This is what I think is my seventh visit to this hotel, and also the third time that I’ve posted about it. I might need to switch to a different Accor hotel for future visits to give me something else to write and moan about….

No welcome gift, which is mildly irritating since I’m trying to compile a list and it’s constantly this hotel that fails to deliver one. It’s not important at all in the scale of things, although Accor themselves said that customers should rate the hotel down on review sites for this, which is probably not what the hotel franchise holder wants to hear. On more important matters, the room was spotlessly clean and was well provisioned, so no complaints there.

For the second time this year, the hotel didn’t offer me a drinks vouchers. I had to query it, at which point the staff member discovered that it should have been given out.

Service at the bar was polite, but the staff were serving customers out of turn. Since I wasn’t buying anything, just getting a free drink, I’m happy for them to serve their paying customers first, but the staff didn’t know at that point that I wasn’t buying anything…. The drink is again under-measured and the staff member slid it across the bar at me. That requires some confidence, as if a staff member gets it wrong then the drink will go crashing into a customer.

The free drink is though generous, it’s any drink other than champagne, so I went with the reliable if unexciting London Pride. What more interested me though is that another customer asked if they had any craft beer. This was a very good question, and one I haven’t bothered to ask as I knew the answer. The hotel doesn’t have any incidentally, although it really should….

The hotel doesn’t have any information in the room about, well, the hotel. So I had to go and take a photo of the breakfast sign I had noticed by the lift to get the times. I’m not sure why the hotel can’t provide this information in the room on an information sheet that nearly every other Ibis does. Anyway, the room was quiet and I didn’t experience any issues with noise either internally or externally. The wi-fi was also fast, efficient and easy to connect to.

I hadn’t noticed this book corner in the hotel before, looks good.

Well it looked good until I saw what they had done with this book. Grrrrr….

I went down for breakfast at 06:29, a precise time as they were serving the hot food from 06:30. I had a yoghurt and fruit selection whilst waiting and the hot food was brought out pretty much exactly on time at 06:35 or thereabouts.

The hot options are fine, although the sausages are of an unexceptional quality. The bacon was what I’d consider part-cooked as the bacon wasn’t rendered enough for me so I was left cutting bits of fat off. But, I’m irritating like that, I’m sure most customers were entirely content with the bacon. I don’t usually eat scrambled eggs, but another customer asked for fried eggs and a polite member of staff said that the kitchen couldn’t offer those.

These pastries really aren’t great, although I still suspect that they’re sourced from a central supplier agreed by Accor, so it’s hard to blame the hotel. I don’t know, but I wouldn’t be surprised if these are from Brakes. The staff were all efficient at the breakfast area including one who was using customer’s first names, which is unusual, but adds a bit of personality to the event.

Overall, the hotel came in at just over £30 as part of the Black Friday offer from Accor, so given that includes breakfast is a very reasonable price. There’s some tidying up needed on how they deal with the ALL (Accor’s new loyalty scheme) as they’re well behind most other Ibis hotels, but their reception staff are helpful and efficient. The bar staff, as I’ve noticed on my previous visits, verge between helpful and hopeless, but there we go. Still recommended, although I saw people using the Hoppa service again when they could have just got on any TFL bus free of charge to the airport….

February 12, 2020
Flights – Heathrow T5 to Bucharest (British Airways)

My flight today was the 10:05 BA886 service operating from London Heathrow T5 to Bucharest in Romania. I haven’t been to Bucharest before, although I’ve been to Romania when I visited Oradea a couple of years ago. The aircraft being used today was G-TTNC, an Airbus A320 which was acquired new by British Airways in June 2018. The aircraft had come from Toulouse this morning and after it had returned from Bucharest, it then flew to Brussels.

The boarding process was well managed and the boarding by group was enforced. One of the staff was quite forthright in dealing with customers who tried to board before they were meant to, but if there’s going to be a policy on things like this, it may as well be enforced. I was surprised how many customers tried to ignore the instructions that the staff members were making and although some might have been lost in translation, there were a few customers with headphones who seemed just a little oblivious to everything going on around them and they just wanted to board.

I had an emergency exit row seat, so there was plenty of space, and no-one was seated next to me either. I felt sorry for the crew, playing Jenga with bags to try and fit them all in the overheads. They had to put some bags in storage elsewhere on the aircraft and so they were perhaps fortunate that there were twenty or so seats which were unused. As I’ve posted about before, the amount of bags that are brought on board is going to have to be reduced at some point.

The emergency exit row.

This is the first short-haul BA aircraft that I’ve been on which has wi-fi availability. I can cope, well – just about, without Internet for a couple of hours, so I wasn’t tempted, but it’s a useful service.

For those who do want to use it, the wi-fi service costs £2.99 per flight, which seems reasonable enough.

The descent was quite bumpy, with one customer walking down the aisles stumbling somewhat, but the crew were on hand. The crew were always pro-active and helpful, offering a really friendly service which always felt efficient but unhurried. The flight arrived in around ten minutes before its scheduled time and the pilots offered useful and timely announcements. The flight wasn’t the cheapest at £66 return and it would have likely been cheaper with a budget airline, but the cost wasn’t unreasonable and I felt that £33 for each journey was entirely acceptable.

Incidentally, the border process at Bucharest Airport was efficient, although the staff took quite some time with every incoming individual and so I’m not sure what they were checking. There were lots of signs about the coronavirus as well, with a fair few passengers wearing face masks. Anyway, what I was going to mention was just as I was being called forwards, a customer came from the back of the queue to ask the member of border staff to hurry up. He was ushered away by another staff member in what was a polite manner, but I have to say that any customer who is rude to border or customs staff is taking a huge risk….. I suspect that his request for a swift route through the border wasn’t granted.

February 12, 2020
Heathrow T5 – British Airways B Gates Lounge

I’ve written about this lounge before in more detail here, but there have been a few new food developments….

I haven’t seen this before, and although I’m not sure garlic is an ideal ingredient before customers board an aircraft, I very much like black pepper chicken.

It was absolutely delicious, the chicken was tender and there was a peppery taste to the sauce.

I’ve seen this before, but only recently, which is the carrot cake. Very nice…. Moist and flavourful….

But, my favourite addition to the lounge food are the pork pies with piccalilli. I don’t like pork pies with lots of jelly, so these meet my requirements in terms of their overall taste and their lack of jelly.

January 7, 2020
Flights – Heathrow T5 to Warsaw (British Airways)

This was the clearest photo that I could get of today’s BA850 service from London Heathrow T5 to Warsaw Chopin Airport in Poland. The aircraft was G-EUPH, an Airbus A319, which British Airways have owned since April 2000 when it was new. These A319 aircraft are gradually being withdrawn from service, but they’ve served the airline well.

As I was at B Gates lounge I asked the staff member if she could see where the flight was departing from before it was announced, to save me walking back if the departure was at B Gates. It was at Gate A23 in the main terminal and I was the first to arrive there, primarily since the gate number hadn’t otherwise been announced.

And here’s the packed waiting area, although it soon got much busier. The staff were pro-active in trying to get customers with two bags to put one of them in the hold, as the flight was nearly full. Some people refused and so a different staff member, who was more forthright to say the least, went round and politely told customers that it wasn’t really an option. The amount of bags that customers are taking on board is becoming ridiculous, something will need to be done at some stage about them.

The boarding process was otherwise orderly and well managed, with groups called forwards carefully and customers were despatched back to the seating area if they tried to jump the queue. I like organisation.

I had an exit row aisle seat and there was no-one next to me, so it was a comfortable flight in terms of the space available.

We were delayed on take-off, partly as the inbound flight had been a few minutes late, but primarily as the crew had problems trying to fit all the bags on. Some customers, mostly those who were trying to bring on a bag the size of a small hippo couldn’t find anywhere to store them. At one stage there were eight customers standing in the aisle of the aircraft with bags not fitting in anywhere, but the crew did their usual jenga tactics of moving and restacking bags, with another going into storage elsewhere.

The flight eventually arrived into Warsaw twenty minutes late, so no real problem, with the crew members being conscientious with their announcements and updates. There was a buy on board service which went up and down the cabin, but I saw only a few customers buy anything from it. The fare was £55 return plus 2,500 Avios, although I get 1,350 Avios back with this flight.

January 7, 2020