Excuse the poor photo, but it’ll have to do. I’ve written about this lounge before, so I won’t witter on endlessly…. Or no more than normal anyway.
We arrived at 09:10 and the ground floor restaurant area wasn’t open until 09:30, so I had a starter in the buffet area upstairs. It was busy, but not uncomfortably so. There were some pastries and yoghurts laid out, with a small hot selection of bacon and sausages.
The brunch menu in the downstairs table service area.
And the salt and pepper squid, my favourite thing on the Qantas menu. This was certainly acceptable, although it didn’t reach the usual melt in the mouth standard they’ve offered before. But, it was nicely presented, other than for the rickety old marked plate.
Richard ordered his Eggs Benedict and received his Egg Benedict. He ordered another one though, so he didn’t miss out.
The Qantas lounge doesn’t have a split between gold and silver (or their Oneworld equivalent) members, it’s all one offering. I’ve always liked the set-up at Qantas, an informal table service restaurant downstairs alongside the self-service set-up upstairs. The team members were friendly and agreeable, it was a lovely start to the day.
And, Richard, who has been reading these blog posts, I feel deserves some praise. So, thanks very much for guesting me into the Qantas lounge, I might not be back here for a while….
Rare evidence that Richard can use public transport. Although my usual complaint is that it’s not possible to walk into Heathrow Airport, because the authorities have removed that facility. The travel zone used to be free, but they’ve got rid of that too.
The driver was particularly friendly and upbeat, all very positive.
The bus was at the stop when we arrived and that meant we were at the airport just five minutes after setting off.
We then went to the check-in desk even though we had nothing to check in, but Richard likes being thanked for being gold. I didn’t say anything, well, not much. I will admit, his being able to guest me through fast-track security was handy.
And that’s really why we’re doing this, it’s Richard’s last month of being gold and that means we can lounge hop around Heathrow Terminal 3. This is a very good idea of his and it’ll make for a relaxed day of food, drink and blogging…. I used to do the lounge hopping when I had status with BA and when I worked for them, but I’m a Wizz Air person now and this golden age of decadence is behind me. But not for today….
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.
We were going to get a bus from the delights of the JD Wetherspoon venue in Hayes & Harlington to the Ibis Styles Heathrow. However, Richard thought we should get a taxi, which is very brave given his low Uber rating. But I didn’t say anything. I did wonder whether I should find a sherpa to help him with all that baggage though.
This was the best photo that I could get in the taxi, which was an upgrade to Uber Executive or whatever it’s called. And, to add delight to proceedings, the taxi driver had the same car as my friend Liam (not literally the same car obviously). This is clearly God telling Richard to get a car like that, he’s showing him the way.
Anyway, that got us to Ibis Styles Heathrow in style, I normally arrive worn out after walking three miles to get there. And, we did get a taxi and fingers crossed they rated Richard 5 out of 5.
Safely into Hayes and Harlington, I knew that Richard would be pleased with a decadent little restaurant. So, we went to the Botwell Inn, a JD Wetherspoon operated pub which appears to have lost its entry in the Good Beer Guide. As usual, I’ll revert to the venue’s history behind the pub name:
“This pub takes its name from the hamlet of Botwell which once stood in what is now Hayes’ town centre. These premises were the home of the furnishers S Moore & Son, which moved here in 1933 and remained for 65 years.”
There are no team members in the photo as they had a meeting as to why there was a customer in a Christmas jumper. I didn’t say anything though.
The steak pie and chips, along with the pint of Brewdog Elvis Juice, came to £7.20 which is ridiculously good value. I accept that it’s not world class food, but it’s hot, tastes fine and is filling.
Aperol Spritz, chicken in BBQ sauce, spicy rice, a mushroom, peas and coleslaw, very decadent.
It’s the JD Wetherspoon beer festival and they had some tempting options available.
I was charged £2.09 for a pint of the Exam Room Tears from Stu Brew and this is perhaps nearly as good as cask beer can get. It’s a maple syrup and pecan stout, it had a nice nuttiness along with the sweetness from the maple syrup. I was very pleased with this.
My now obligatory carpet photo.
As for the online reviews, this venue is right towards the higher rated end of JD Wetherspoon establishments.
“i ordered a drink here when i wasnt even at the pub and i couldnt get a refund, the stupid app was broken”
Might be sensible not to order at a pub that you’re not in….
“Meals are served to you without condiments and when you ask the waitress tells you to go get it yourself from inside the pub. So if you are on your own you are expected to leave your meal unattended to go inside to pick up the condiments your self. Very poor service.”
This customer notes that their meal cost £60 to £70. That buys most of the entire menu….
“After touring the UK with my family we stopped at many weatherspoons as we all loved the food and cat beat the prices. Well this one had to be the worst by far and that’s a nice way of putting it. The staff were unbelievably rude and unhelpful. For our last meal in uk before flight it was utterly disappointing. Only good thing was leaving after our meal. Thanks for the stella glass though.”
So it seems that they stole a Stella glass. Classy.
“Used to be a good pub but the new manager has a problem. His attitude stinks. Took an overseas call whilst having breakfast with my work colleagues to be told I can’t do that inside the pub.”
I like this new manager.
Anyway, I digress. I was very impressed with the cleanliness, the friendliness of the team members, the value for money and the drinks selection. I can see why the pub is relatively well reviewed online, it feels well run and it was just a little disappointing to see it so quiet on a Thursday evening. A really rather lovely start to the trip away.
And we’re off in Richard’s rickety old car, but I was very positive about it by talking about my friend Liam’s decadent car which does massages for the passenger seat…. I think Richard feels better when he hears about positive things.
Safely at the car park at Stratford with none of Richard’s eggs being broken on the journey. Richard reassured me that all the cars sounding their horns at him was just typical London behaviour.
There were some cancellations on the Elizabeth Line, but we had a wait of just a few minutes. Most of the delays were because Richard has bought a suitcase bigger than me that he’s trailing behind him, whereas I have my backpack to allow for efficient travel. I didn’t say anything though.
Top travel tip, don’t use the Elizabeth Line to go to Heathrow Airport if you can avoid it, it’s around four times more than going to Hayes and Harlington on the Elizabeth Line.
And safely into Hayes and Harlington where I had found a little restaurant for us to eat our evening meal in. But more of that in the next post….
I visited this pub in September 2023, but I don’t appear to have surprised and delighted my two loyal blog readers by ever writing about it. Anyway, the Stargazer is the JD Wetherspoon pub located in the O2. Back when I lived in this area, this pub wasn’t there and it would have been quite handy as my local cinema was literally opposite within the O2.
The chain explains the reason for their pub name:
“Renowned astronomer Sir Edmund Halley established his reputation studying stars. His star catalogue, published in 1678, was the world’s first such work and determined hundreds of southern stars’ locations. Halley was later appointed Astronomer Royal at Greenwich Observatory. He is commemorated by Edmund Halley Way (in front of The O2), leading to the River Thames’ cable car crossing – with its views of the London skyline.”
All under cover and centrally located within the O2, this was at the time the only JD Wetherspoon that I hadn’t visited in London (I define London as zones 1 to 3).
I accept that I’m not going to win any photography awards here.
It’s a sizeable venue and it was all clean and organised. The venue has premium pricing for JD Wetherspoon, but it’s quite competitive compared to all the other dining options at the O2.
Perhaps not the most riveting of real ale selections at the time.
This is the Guardsman from Windsor & Eton Brewery, reasonably malty but not packed with the most decadent of flavours.
As it’s a JD Wetherspoon venue, I feel the need to have a little look at the online reviews. These aren’t very good, it’s one of the lowest rated one of their venues in the country. There seem to be a lot of of issues with slow service when it gets really busy, which is a bit sub-optimal if you’ve got something to see at the O2.
Although there’s a one star review because:
“Meals were on the table before I got back from ordering”
So you can’t please everyone all the time….
“Such a shame as the pub looks nice. However, one of mangers was grumpy when serving at the bar, then said its company policy they don’t accept Scottish notes….well the other weatherspoons in London take Scottish notes.”
The actual chain policy is they take the notes in Scotland, areas where there are a lot of Scottish people and they take £10 Scottish notes. It could probably be a bit clearer to be fair to customers.
“Having a lovely time until a wasp came along and landed on my burger I said to a member of staff oh sorry a wasp is on my burger.”
I like how that’s the fault of the pub and they get a 1 star review as they didn’t offer a new meal.
“We had a very unpleasant experience with a staff member named *******. He was rude, unprofessional, and his behavior came across as discriminatory. As someone with years in hospitality, I was shocked by his attitude, this is not how guests should be treated. Staff like Vaishnav should be given proper training on how to interact respectfully and courteously with guests. It’s disheartening to see such behavior in a customer-facing role, and I sincerely hope the management takes this feedback seriously.”
This is one of the nastiest things that I’ve seen customers do, four different one star reviews all targeting one individual staff member. It’s fairly evident where the problem is here from such actions. It would have been easier to ask for the duty manager than try and make such a personal attack like this.
“No music, slow, bad attitude from staff. The whole environment was boring.”
Always nice to be reminded that there’s no music, this suits me……
“Around midday we walked straight in, got served immediately and went to sit in what is somewhat poorly described as the “beer garden” as one person has already mentioned, it’s more of yard, sandwiched between the service road, the pub and a service tower, and the river views promised, really do fail to deliver.
But all in all its your typical Whetherspoon, and because you’re at the O2, you pay for that in drink prices. Fast forward 6hrs, we return with friends, 4 of us in total, to be refused entry. Reason from the door staff “it’s too busy” when I polity ask what the capacity is, does he have a counter to check, he has no idea what I’m talking about. Whilst this discussion continues, 8 people leave and we still can’t get in, the reason again, “too crowded”. At this point I walk off as I’m bored talking to the cretin on the door. Whilst discussions continue, 2 people walk up to an empty table, sit down and order via the app. That was the last straw.
If you’re going to employ door staff, surely they must be fit for the job, despite being licensed to do so. Customer service costs nothing, manners cost nothing, and before you ask “where you drunk and disorderly?” Far from it, as we had been having lunch and a catch up with friends. Fortunately there are many places to eat and drink in the O2, so I don’t have to go back. Sorry Whetherspoon’s, you just lost a once extremely loyal customer!”
“Cretin”? I suspect the chain will be glad to lose the customer…..
Anyway, I digress. I rather like this venue as I’ve only ever been when it’s peaceful and calm. I can imagine it’s a bit more of a nightmare during busy evening services and I feel sorry for the staff, it must be a permanent nightmare being very busy for relatively short periods.
A new JD Wetherspoon has opened at London Bridge station in what was formerly the London Dungeons. The entrance here is the former way into the London Dungeons, which was here between 1974 and 2013. This venue is a considerable project for the pub chain and it’s open for long hours, between 06:30 and 00:30 every day of the week.
As usual, I’ll take the pub’s history from their own website:
“Next to London Bridge station’s entrance, 48–50 Tooley Street are distinctive brick arches. Until 2013 (almost 40 years), this had been The London Dungeon. The arches were occupied by importers and provision agents, whose livelihoods depended on the warehouses opposite. Many have survived (Hay’s Wharf, now Hay’s Galleria). Fenning’s Wharf and Sun Wharf were replaced (in 1984/85) by the huge No.1 London Bridge complex. During that site’s redevelopment, a Bronze Age burial mound was unearthed.”
The bar which is bright and open.
Some of the brick arches and I can see why this was a suitable place for the London Dungeons. The rooms flow into each other, I like this sort of quirky thing.
The new coffee machine and there’s only hot milk, with no jugs for the cold milk.
There’s a bank of three coffee machines.
The unique carpet.
There’s a display about the carpet and why they’ve designed this one in this manner.
The menu.
Part of the support elements that I assume stop the building from falling down. The trains are evident running above both by noise and also because things vibrate a little.
This feels like a really well designed building, there is a choice of seating styles including low and higher tables. There are quieter areas, open-plan areas and plenty of power points. The team members seemed engaged, helpful and I saw numerous positive customer service interactions. As a conversion into a pub, this is one of the best that I’ve seen.
Although the venue has only been open for a few weeks, I thought I’d see what the few online reviews posted are like so far.
“Had had a lovely evening here but sadly the dessert menu isn’t clear enough – says “vanilla ice cream” as if it’s plain but it actually comes with sauce and the staff member wouldn’t switch it for plain despite asking. It’s a scoop of ice cream! Don’t argue the toss just switch it hahahah. Sauce was horrible by the way”
The printed menu and the online menu both mention toffee sauce and Belgian chocolate sauce. And then to give the venue 1/5 after a lovely evening….
“Told off for bringing in a fully wrapped Greggs Muffin.”
Probably best not to bring in a Greggs…..
No-one has complained yet that they can’t bring their dog in, but I imagine that’ll be coming soon. Anyway, this is a large venue that has lots of little smaller areas, something forced upon the chain by the historic nature of the building. It all felt well managed to me, spotlessly clean and evidently already popular with local office workers. All rather lovely.
As I had a couple of hours spare in London before my train from Farringdon, I thought I’d pop into the JD Wetherspoon operated Sir John Oldcastle which is at the end of the street. It’s not been one of my favourite pubs as it’s often very busy, but matters are more sedate on a Sunday early afternoon.
As usual, I’ll use the pub chain’s own history of the pub name:
“Named after The Sir John Oldcastle Tavern, which stood in the former grounds of Sir John’s nearby mansion, this was already long established by 1680. Oldcastle is thought to have been the model for Shakespeare’s character ‘Falstaff’.”
Not a vast amount has changed with the street layout here in the last 150 years, the pub is located just above the “EET” of Charles Street. The ward of Saffron Hill has now gone, which originally took its name as saffron grew around here. It’s also where Fagin’s den was located in Oliver Twist.
The bar area and coffee machines and today it was the £1.81 unlimited hot drinks that tempted me in here rather than beer. It all seems functional enough and it felt well managed.
Carpets in every JD Wetherspoon venue are unique, although this one isn’t necessarily the most decadent in terms of its styling.
The online reviews are pretty decent for a JD Wetherspoon venue, despite the challenges they must have here with having a small site and limited space in terms of facilities.
“I was so surprised when the staff said to me I can not paid by 50 in cash. No explanation why. The answer was “not because not”. This is absolutely disgusting and ridiculous. I asked about manager to explanation me this situation. He didn’t show up to speak with me. I will never back to this place. Higley not recommended.”
Disgusting that a venue won’t accept a £50 note? Hmmmm. Seems quite reasonable to me given the number of forgeries.
“I’ve just been kicked out of here, because I had the audacity to bring a Costa Coffee in; even though I’d just ordered and paid for breakfast. They’d rather refund my breakfast purchase; than let me have a Costa with it. If their machine coffee was better; I wouldn’t have had to in the first place.”
Why not just bring in your own food as well?
“Good interior. Ordered porridge. I went to the toilet and when I came back some waiter had taken it away. I hadn’t eaten any of it. I found it was thrown away! Another diner’s beer was also taken away by the same waiter undrunk.”
Very efficient service, it’s good to keep the tables clean.
“If you want to sit and read a paper or a book, this is the place for you. If however, you want to have a laugh and giggle with friends, go to the castle pub instead.”
I’m with the pub, this group sounds needlessly frivolous.
“Leffe. £3.49 a pint in most Wetherspoons. John Oldcastle £5.49 some might say different location BUT McDonalds do not have this issue.”
It feels inevitable to me that a pub in central London will be more expensive than one in Swindon.
“Asked to leave when we were causing no trouble…”
I suspect another side to this story….
Anyway, once again I digress. I thought the pub looked relatively clean, although the toilets probably need more rebuilding than cleaning, with the team members seeming friendly enough. And the coffees and other assorted hot drinks tasted as expected, so a rather peaceful couple of hours.
I’ve trawled to see what old photos I’ve taken of Baxter’s Court, a JD Wetherspoon pub that they’re closing this week. The venue notes about its history:
“This pub stands, more or less, on the site of an old alleyway, known as Baxter’s Court, which dates from at least 1700. Jerusalem Square also dated from this time, but both were swept away when Valetta Street (once Jerusalem Passage) was developed.”
They add:
“This Wetherspoon pub takes its name from a “lost alley” approximately on this site. Sir Thomas Marsh’s White House, also stood here until it was pulled down around 1869. In the late 17th century, Marsh used his house as an academy for training nonconformist ministers.
The bank next door occupies the former site of the Hackney Pavilion, an ornate 1100-seater cinema built in 1914. Defeated by television, it closed in 1973.
The building immediately to the south was at one time used by the Salvation Army, whilst next to that is the former Methodist Central Hall, opened in 1925.
Hackney’s first council housing was built in 1902 in Valette Street, which runs behind this pub. Valette Buildings, dating from 1905, stands on the site of the former Jerusalem Square, a development dating from around 1700.”
The chain has been making a large investment in more substantially sized pubs, including some new openings at railway stations in London.
The chicken bites basket with Mexican rice that I acquired here in 2022. I can’t remember what it was like, but I’m sure it was entirely adequate.
This is the Session IPA from Three Sods Brewery, a local set-up which closed in August 2022, a few weeks after I purchased this beer. I say purchased, it was given to me by the pub as they had started to pour it and realised I had ordered on the app the BoHo Bitter from the same brewery. I liked this arrangement.
ø;
Deep in my digital archive, here’s a little throw back from the pub from 2012. Coffee back then was served by the staff, this was before the self-service unlimited hot drinks arrangement which I very much like. As I like things such as this, I had a look at how much this costs today in the pub:
Eggs Benedict – £5.29
Regular Cappuccino – £1.81
Large Pepsi – £2.05
So, a total of £9.15, which isn’t too much of an increase from the £6.24 of 13 years ago, especially as the coffees are now unlimited. Anyway, I digress, so I thought I’d have a quick look at the reviews of the venue and they’re quite low for the chain.
“Very bad … They Refused to serve me because I had a dog.. Dogs are not allowed which is okay But… Why I couldn’t Even drink my beer Outside? It doesn’t make sense at all!!!”
The obligatory complaint from a dog owner and the policy makes sense to me, they don’t want dogs in or out of the pub.
“I really struggle to give it 1 star. I went in there on Saturday 11/12/21 and manager tried to fiddle me. She overcharged me for a mixer for a whisky (I didn’t want or have) and when challenged asked me if I supported ‘Black lives Matter’… When I replied ‘no’ was told I was barred…. Watch out for her guys…. Still have receipt with date and time on!!!”
Without doubting the story, there must have been more to this exchange than just this.
“Horrible table service.. I ordered two glasses of wine at 5:00 pm it came to my table at 5:20 pm. I give them a negative 10”
This is the entirety of the review because two drinks took twenty minutes to arrive at the table….
“Absolutely disgusted just been in and ordered a pizza and asked for no chilli peppers as I’m allergic to them, sent the pizza back as they still came out with them on, new pizza arrived they just took them off and missed a few, staff didn’t care either when I took it back even when I explained I was allergic to them”
This is a bit sub-optimal….
“This establishment refused to accept a Clydesdale bank £5 note.”
They don’t have to….
“No John Smith what’s going wrong with this pub”
No wonder the place is closing if they couldn’t get that right….
Below is the sales document, it seems that the building has been acquired for over £2 million.
The pub has been trading as a JD Wetherspoon venue for around 25 years, I suspect that it’ll be missed by the local community, however many faults it might have had.
