Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: UK

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

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

    I’ve written about this hotel a couple of times before (Earls Court Ibis and Earls Court Ibis) although I’ve stayed here on around eight or nine occasions now I think. I thought I’ll add this visit just because it’s the first time that I’ve been since the on-site pub has opened, it’s never been busy enough before for them to open. I admit that it’s not hugely breaking news, but it’s something new…. This is a hotel where conferences usually take place, so I can imagine that this gets very busy when these are in full flow.

    This is the former bar, which is just now part of the general reception area. There was quite a queue for check-in, typically when I was in a rush and I needed to be on a Zoom call and had just been stuck on the Victoria line for over half an hour. I tried to look slightly annoyed but there was little point as the staff were working through the queue quickly and they were polite with large smiles. The staff member who checked me in was bouncy and welcoming, mentioning that he had the same first name as me which was a reminder he had been at reception the last two times I’d visited. The reception staff here always seem friendly, it’s a positive introduction for guests.

    All of my previous visits have seen me placed higher up the building (as in on a higher floor, not on the roof), with some rather lovely views, but I was down on the third floor this time. I suspect that they’ve done up the rooms in the higher levels of the hotel with a more modern design, as this is the older Ibis room interior. However, it’s still clean and functional. This remains one of the few hotels that keeps Bibles in the room, something that I haven’t seen for some time.

    I haven’t seen an Accor hotel do this for a while, but these have the dual purpose of being decorative and also advertising other locations from the brand around the world. A nice touch I think, JD Wetherspoon used to do this in their pubs as well to advertise new openings from around the country.

    Anyway, this is the hotel’s own little pub which is located on the first floor. The George and Dragon is designed to look like a traditional British pub and I quite like this, as often hotels go for something with a theme which isn’t local to their environment at all. Without generalising, this is at least something a little authentic for American guests and the like. I say authentic, it’s a hotel bar, but it’s all relative.

    There was a sizeable amount of space inside the pub, although it was also quite busy with many customers getting food as well as drink. It all looked a bit expensive, but since my drink was free I didn’t dwell on this matter for long. They looked a little short-staffed and empty plates started to pile up on most of the tables, but they seemed to be doing their best. These remain challenging times for the hospitality industry, so I’m just impressed that the hotel is still functioning.

    I found myself a high table to monitor proceedings from….

    The beer choice was acceptable, albeit a little orientated towards lagers, but there were at least some choices. I can always tolerate a nice Goose Island IPA for my welcome drink and they didn’t seem to have any limits on what I could pick as my free beverage.

    Anyway, another lovely stay with friendly staff, a clean environment and no noises issues either internally or externally. I shall hopefully stay here again, despite Accor annoying me (which I may have mentioned several times….)

  • London – Newham (Borough of) – Travelodge London City Airport

    London – Newham (Borough of) – Travelodge London City Airport

    I used to live down the road from this large Travelodge hotel, so it was rather lovely to be able to use Pontoon Dock DLR station again all week. It was a reminder of just how many steps there are to get to the platform level and I’m sure I used to get up them quicker than I do now. Such is ageing….

    This hotel usually benefits from being nearby to London ExCeL (I have to look that up every time to remember which letters need capitals and it annoys me very slightly every time) and London City Airport. Neither are quite the draw that they were a couple of years ago, meaning that this hotel has become just a little desperate to get customers in. I paid £21 per night, which was lower than usual as Travelodge have a “buy four nights, get one free” deal in London at the moment. That was a bargain as far as I was concerned, just over £100 for five nights.

    For those interested in the history of this area, if we went back 100 years there were terraced houses lined up here rather than a chain hotel. Today, there’s little residential here, primarily as it’s nearly underneath the flight path of London City Airport. That has been evident from the thundering noise of aircraft from the airport all week, although I find it quite soothing. I accept that a lot of people don’t find aircraft noise as soothing, but there we go.

    The room is on a business floor, which seems to solely mean that they’ve taken out the sofa beds from the rooms. It’s quite a spacious room and entirely functional, although the carpet probably needs replacing. Everything worked as it should and the windows open. I like it when the windows open and I might have mentioned that several times in recent weeks. There was a radiator and fan to give me choices, although it has been a little hot in London this week. I say a little, it has been far too bloody hot.

    The hotel isn’t cleaning rooms on a daily basis, instead giving guests these. The one on the left is a bit pointless, as the default is now to do nothing anyway. The one on the right means that coffee is restocked, towels are replaced, the bins are cleaned and the bed is ignored. I put the one one on the right out on three days and they did do as they promised.

    As one of my irrelevant asides, I’ve noticed on Facebook that people seem genuinely furious, livid and shocked that hotels charge more for the same room at different times of the year. I’m amused that Travelodge ruined a family’s hotel plans as they wanted to pay £29 per night for a week in Blackpool. I’m slightly puzzled that people think hotels charge the same amount every night, although perhaps I shouldn’t be shouldn’t be surprised by these things. It did mean I had a little look at the hotel reviews to see what palatial accommodation some people had been expecting.

    George (surname unknown) annoyed this customer:

    “Extremely bad customer service specially from a member of management called george wast very determine on giving his last name but just to be precise he where’s glasses and has curley hair very bad manner and extremely poor customer service skills and should definitely be removed from site as he is giving and providing a bad reputation for travelodge very unhappy and will be reporting with audio and camera proof of such bad customer services from the BBC”

    Unfortunately, I can’t find any footage on the BBC…… Another guest wanted to punish the chain for their incompetence:

    “Terrible hotel! Manager was so rude and unhelpful. Ended up booking another travel lodge it was that bad”

    Hmmm, I’m not sure that Travelodge lost out here. There is another Travelodge handily located about a three minute walk away though….

    I did quite like the brutal nature of this review of the hotel’s SuperRooms though:

    “Spent a little more for a super room and found it was the same as a normal room but had a coffee maker in which made really bad coffee”

    I’m not actually sure they’re far wrong, but as I know from my friend Richard’s experiences, you do get a free Kit Kat. Another customer really battled the elements:

    “Despite the dust hanging from the lamp on our bedside table, we went to sleep.”

    So brave…..

    I hope that Travelodge don’t mind if I say that they’re something of an earthy hotel chain, although perhaps not in the literal sense. They’re down to earth, generally affordable, honest and clean. They don’t pledge anything they’re not, so I continue to be entirely pleased with my stays. Accor and myself have fallen out with each other (although technically I think I’ve fallen out with them, they probably just think I’m an idiot), which is awkward when I’ve got an entire section on this blog about them. I can’t see myself falling out with Travelodge and what better praise could they want than that…..

  • York – Holiday Inn Tadcaster Road

    York – Holiday Inn Tadcaster Road

    Going back a week (I’ve got a bit behind with these posts….), this is my stay at the Holiday Inn on Tadcaster Road for the LDWA NEC weekend. It’s a bit of a walk from York city centre, about forty minutes, but it’s a decent enough route to meander along. It passes by Tyburn, where criminals were executed in centuries gone by, to add a little spice to the walk. I’d add that there are regular buses for those who don’t feel the need to walk absolutely everywhere.

    In about 90% of occasions I think the quality of a hotel is evident in the welcome at reception. Some hotels do this really well and their whole service ethic is just a delight. A few are, to be honest, bloody hopeless and that theme usually continues. Anyway, this hotel had a warm welcome, a friendly team member and there was an air of competence about proceedings. It transpired that this set the theme for the stay.

    The room, which was spotlessly clean, with the exception of an old red wine stain that has clearly wrecked the carpet (not in the photo) at some point in the past. You don’t get that with beer…… There was a photocopied note from the area manager on the desk which said to please bear with them whilst they get supplies and staffing back to normal. I didn’t experience any issues, but I appreciated their honesty that things might not be perfect. It does seem though that they’ve had a number of staff leave and it has proved challenging to replace them, but I’m fairly sure that’s been a problem across the hospitality industry.

    The view from my window, which fortunately opened as I’ve muttered on before about how I don’t like sterile rooms where everything is sealed. It’s not pleasant, it’s annoying. This hotel let their customers have some air.

    There was a Kit Kat in the mini fridge, so I was immediately sold on the hotel. I’m easily won over….

    And hot chocolate, that’s a decadent little treat.

    The reviews for the hotel seem generally positive, although there are a fair few saying that the rooms look old fashioned. I thought that mine was fine and I can’t see any photos of different room designs, but perhaps they’ve shoved some people they don’t like in some old annex. There probably is a bit of renovation to do as they could do with some plugs near to the bed, but I can’t see that anything major needs doing.

    My stay was for two nights and there was little remarkable else to say, which is a great compliment as it meant nothing went wrong. Although the hotel was clearly nearly full, there was no noise either internally or externally. The room was cleaned after the first night, something that some hotels are still trying to avoid doing. All told, I couldn’t find anything to fault the hotel on, it was all really rather lovely and another positive IHG experience.

  • Leeds – Stick or Twist Pub

    Leeds – Stick or Twist Pub

    The Stick or Twist had been a JD Wetherspoon operated pub in Leeds from 1997 until 2018, when it was demolished to build student accommodation. The pub chain had a long lease which meant they were able to negotiate a new pub at the site as part of the new building complex. That opened a few weeks ago, in mid-July 2021, after a £1.8 million spend on the interior fittings. It’s apparently larger than the old pub, which I hadn’t visited, with a bigger external area as well for customers to enjoy the outside (for those people who like that sort of thing).

    It’s all clean and organised, but I thought quite bland for a JD Wetherspoon outlet, although they’re limited by the quite bland building they’re in. Not many of the tables had access to power points, which is usually a feature of a renovation by the company, with only a limited number of booth style seats as well. The section at the front has mostly high seating (which is what I prefer) and the section at the side has mostly table seating, so there’s a bit of a choice for customers which is handy.

    I ordered the Blonde Witch from Moorhouse’s Brewery from Burnley and I used the app to do that. That probably wasn’t the best idea, it took them 14 minutes to get the beer from the bar to my table, but I wasn’t in a rush. My table didn’t have a number on it and so I had ordered it to the table next to me, which was empty. The staff member seemed just a little bit put out at that, asking why I had used a different table’s number. The beer was quite bland and lacking any real flavour, but it was at the appropriate temperature and well-kept so it was about as good as it was going to get.

    Anyway, there’s nothing particularly wrong with the transformation and I’m sure that many in Leeds are glad to get their pub back again. To me though, it all felt a bit generic and soulless, albeit at least clean and tidy. It’s good that pubs are starting to open though, even if this one was replacing a location that had closed.

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

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

    The cheapest accommodation option (or at least the cheapest that I considered safe) in London was the Travelodge Barking, a hotel that I’ve never stayed at before. The frontage is certainly colourful and it’s above a Tesco Express store for anyone who wants some snacks or the like. I arrived just before 23:00, which is never really an ideal time to arrive at a hotel on a Saturday night, but all was well. Other than I managed to get behind some other customer’s crisis at reception, but that was soon resolved. I always have to try and stand in a way that makes me not look annoyed whilst I have to wait for staff to deal with crisis matters like this (as it’s not their fault), despite being slightly annoyed that I am having to wait.

    The room, all clean and tidy. Travelodge are consistently decent in terms of their accommodation, there was nothing here for me to be disappointed by. The only limitation for me is how far the plugs are away from the bed, but Travelodge seem to be fixing that when they modernise the rooms.

    I can’t recall having an electric window in a hotel room before, but because it was recessed some way back there was a little switch to open and shut it. I like having an open window, although it meant listening to some rather drunken conversations outside which kept me awake because I was insistent on listening in and not missing out on anything interesting. The temperature in the room was fine and there was a fan available for anyone who was too hot.

    One of the harder to read fire escape plans that I’ve seen, but I decided not to let this bother me. The reviews for the hotel aren’t exactly ideal, although by far the lowest rating on Google is for the location. I’m not sure what the hotel is meant to do about that given that it’s two minutes away from Barking railway and underground station, but there we go.

    One guest stayed at the hotel before her wedding and was disappointed that there was no air conditioning, car parking or intercoms in the room (I assume that’s a phone). I can sense the disappointment for anyone staying in a Travelodge as a pre-wedding night treat…… There was another guest annoyed that they had to wait five minutes for a receptionist who told them to wait until the check-in time when they arrived early, but that definitely comes with the territory of a Travelodge for those who don’t want to pay for an early check-in.

    Anyway, I liked this hotel, the room was just over £30 for the night and everything was quiet, clean and organised, with the staff member being friendly (although she looked exhausted trying to do everything herself). The hotel could do with something of a refurbishment of the public areas, but it was all still serviceable. If the Ibis down the road is a bit expensive, I’ll likely stay here instead in future.

  • London – Westminster (Borough of) – Marble Arch Mound

    London – Westminster (Borough of) – Marble Arch Mound

    I’m a bit behind with my blog efforts at the moment, but I’m now in London after a successful few days in York at the LDWA NEC meeting. But more about all that in other posts.

    It’s fair to say that this project at Marble Arch on Oxford Street in London has been causing some controversy recently. It’ll an artificial construct which is there for just a few months until January 2022 and it’s effectively lots of scaffolding with some earth dumped on top. It’s quite unpopular judging by the local press, but I really like it, I think it’s quirky. And, I’m an expert in hills as everyone knows as I’ve summited Beeston Bump in Norfolk.

    The opening was a bit of a disaster and everyone was refunded their admission fee money. Given that, the nice thing about this is that the mound has been made free of charge for everyone in August, so I took advantage of that little deal. I had to pre-book on-line yesterday for a visit today, but there was lots of availability.

    The ticket checking process was all a bit informal, with two young team members jostling over who could get my QR code to scan first. I quite liked the informal approach, although I suspect they’ll get some complaints if they’re not careful from some grumpier people. The security process was also informal and the team members conversational, although this a project that is heavily overdone with staff at the moment.

    I started my ascent and it was raining, which wasn’t ideal if I’m being honest. I wouldn’t say that the steps were slippery, but the entire scaffolding structure is visible through the gaps and I didn’t like that as I’m scared of heights. But, I remained very brave as everyone who knows me would imagine….

    The trek up the scaffolding continues and it’s 25 metres to the top (so, that’s nearly a mountain).

    The views now start to become apparent. There have been some complaints that the views aren’t very exciting, but to slightly misquote one of my favourite BBC comedies:

    “Well, may I ask what you expected to see from Marble Arch? Sydney Opera House, perhaps? The Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically?”

    More views from the top. There was a sheer drop on just one side, and I didn’t dare poke my phone through the fencing at that point in case I dropped it and it smacked onto someone’s head (likely breaking their head and my phone). Otherwise I thought that it was a different perspective of this part of London.

    There is going to be an exhibition reached by going down those stairs, but it’s closed at the moment. The popularity of the summit is visible here, with two team members sheltering in the rain.

    Stuart Love, the Chief Executive of Westminster City Council, said:

    “Now is the time to bring the buzz back to central London and to see people visiting the West End again. We are working hard to resolve the outstanding issues and create an attraction worthy of our fantastic city. It’s going to look great and be an amazing experience once we’ve got it ready!”

    And time for the descent. My biggest complaint about this arrangement is that it’s not there long enough, it’s being taken down in a few months. So that’s a lot of resources to build a big fake hill and then take it down again, without any real meaning. It was meant to increase the number of people visiting the area, although I’m really not entirely sure that Oxford Street has many problems with that. I’m not negative about what they’ve done though, I like it as it’s quirky, it’s a talking point and I can imagine that kids will like it. I’m quite pleased to have experienced it and hope that it increases a bit in popularity over the next few months.

  • Leeds – BrewDog White Cloth Hall

    Leeds – BrewDog White Cloth Hall

    Having visited the Leeds Brewdog North Street bar for unlimited chicken wings I thought that for the sake of completeness I’d visit the other Brewdog in the city as well. That’s all handy given that I’m working my way through all of the Brewdogs in the UK, although they’ve just opened another one in London as soon as I’ve completed that little challenge.

    This Brewdog is located in the historic White Cloth Hall, this one traded in undyed clothing and another hall dealt with, well, dyed clothing. All very precise and a reminder that the woolen and clothing industries powered Leeds financially for many centuries. The bar opened in 2013, so it is one of the earlier Brewdog locations and the company notes “we had to fight for the right to bring BrewDog Leeds to life in the White Cloth Hall”. Sounds an exciting back story….

    The inside of the Brewdog and there was a friendly staff member at the door ready to welcome guests. I think he was actually just a bit bored and thought he might as well standing there greeting customers, as it wasn’t that busy. It felt a friendly environment though, although there’s a more limited food menu than the other outlet.

    The beer fridge. Apparently there’s an Nintendo 64 system upstairs for guests, although I didn’t go looking for it to find out for sure.

    There were a few fruit beers made jointly between Buxton Brewery and Omnipollo, but I opted for the original double blueberry ice cream one. This had no shortage of blueberry flavour which is pleasant upfront although just very slightly too tart at the end, but still a very decent beer. I think some other Brewdogs are serving this drink with ice cream, which sounds a bit too decadent for me.

    This is the Milk Shake from Wiper and True brewery from Bristol, given that name from the milk that goes into this stout to add to the creaminess. I had only moderate expectations for this one, but it was a combination of rich and creamy with a pleasant aftertaste, so it was better than I had expected.

    As for the reviews, I’m unsure about this one which said “I just ate dog food”. I’m not sure if that’s a rude comment about the food, or whether he ate one of the dog biscuits that I think Brewdog supply. I would have quite liked to have seen more information about that though. Nearly everything else is very positive, so they’re doing something right.

    So, that’s another Brewdog visited alongside the many Good Beer Guide pubs that I went to in Leeds, and all of the pubs were a delight (well, a couple of the Wetherspoons were a bit average). This bar had friendly service, a clean environment and decent beers, so nothing for me to complain about.

  • Leeds – BrewDog North Street

    Leeds – BrewDog North Street

    There are two Brewdog outlets in Leeds and this is the North Street location.

    The ground floor of the Brewdog, which isn’t the largest of locations, but the window arrangement makes it bright and airy. The air conditioning seemed effective as it wasn’t too hot inside, otherwise I might have been less pleased about the situation. I also liked the number of power points located around the bar, which was quite handy, it was a modern feeling environment.

    The beer board and the central bar. There was one staff member when I went into the pub, but he was friendly and engaging, being knowledgeable about the beer options. Another staff member was visible soon after, but it remained quiet during my visit so I’m not sure how much money this Brewdog is actually making at the moment.

    The downstairs, which with its slight damp felt like a proper cellar, had shuffleboard tables in it. These seemed quite popular during my visit (I took the photo during a dull in proceedings), they no longer charge to use them and a few people came in to book times. Brewdog have these in a couple of their London pubs as well, but I’ve never quite got round to fully working out the rules.

    Although they’re all switched off at the moment, there were a number of arcade games as well in the basement.

    I only had one drink here, which was the Berry & Cherry Trifle by the Mad Scientist brewery from Budapest. I remembered the Blackcurrant Trifle that I had at Brewdog Brixton a few weeks ago and so had high expectations of this beer. I wasn’t let down with this one, there was a noticeable aroma of strawberry from the beer but the main taste was from the cherries, with a rich aftertaste of berries. I liked how subtle this beer was with the various flavours that it had within it and I decided that it also went well with the chicken wings.

    The beer list, as would be expected from Brewdog, was sizeable and there were a range of different beer styles. For those who really couldn’t find anything they liked, there are also a fair number of cans in the fridges.

    It’s Wednesday, so I had reserved a place for Wings Wednesday. They didn’t bring a larger portion for the first round as usual, but they were one of the most pro-active at offering more wings that I’ve had. I think I went for one round of five chicken wings more than I really needed, but they were a handy little snack (well, less snack, more complete meal or indeed two complete meals by the time that I’d finished).

    The reviews of the bar are generally very positive, although I noted the 1/5 star rating as “I paid £4.85 for a pint of trendy ale!” as if that’s a lot of money for something decent. Anyway, I liked this bar, it was laid-back, informal and friendly. I had already tried many of the beers that they were stocking, but the Berry & Cherry Trifle was a decadent little treat here, so happy with that. And I also enjoyed the several rounds of chicken wings, so all really rather lovely.

  • Leeds – Vocation at Assembly Underground

    Leeds – Vocation at Assembly Underground

    This was the final visit on my little tour yesterday of some Good Beer Guide pubs in Leeds. It’s a quirky location and I’m not sure that I would have found out about it without CAMRA’s recommendation as it’s located in a cellar where the first visible venues inside are food outlets. It’s actually like a little food court, with Vocation providing the bar section of the whole arrangement.

    As an aside, there’s some heritage to the building that the bar is located in.

    This isn’t the sharpest of photos unfortunately, but this is the main seating area and the food venues can be seen to one side. There are other seating areas available, including within Vocation itself.

    This is Vocation’s bar area at the rear of the basement.

    Grrrr, this photo isn’t as clear as I wanted either, but the beers are listed on screens above the bar. I asked the member of bar staff about what dark beers they had, with four options being suggested, which is an excellent choice and it’s rare that I’m offered that many to pick from. Indeed, they try and have fifty different beers on, so I can see why they’re in the Good Beer Guide with that effort.

    I went for a third of a pint of the rather decadent Ecstasy of Gold from Turning Point Brew Co. I’d had their Mile Zero just a couple of hours before, so it wasn’t a hard decision for me to drink another of their dark beers. And this one was also brilliant as far as I was concerned, smooth, rich, packed with vanilla and chocolate flavour. It was a heavy hit and so it took me a while to sip my way through the drink (which was overpoured so that it was nearer to a half pint, something I was pleased to note) but it remained as enjoyable at the end as at the beginning. I’m becoming something of a fan of this brewery, they definitely know what they’re doing.

    I liked this whole set-up and some of the food options looked really quite decent. It wasn’t very busy, but I can’t imagine Tuesdays often are, but I can imagine at weekends there’s an entirely different environment here. Some of the food venues apparently close when it’s not very busy, although this isn’t ideal if it means that customers can’t rely on food being available here. The Vocation bar is positively reviewed and although the drinks aren’t the cheapest, there is such an extensive range that they perhaps justify that slight extra cost. The staff were friendly and knowledgeable, with the whole atmosphere feeling comfortable. I’m definitely pleased that this one is in the Good Beer Guide.

  • Leeds – The Cuthbert Brodrick

    Leeds – The Cuthbert Brodrick

    I’m still on a little pub crawl of Good Beer Guide pubs in Leeds, I’ve popped into the JD Wetherspoon operated Cuthbert Brodrick pub. It’s not in the Good Beer Guide, but I was running out of power for my laptop and I guessed (correctly) that Wetherspoons could help with that. Incidentally, the pub is name after the architect who designed Leeds Town Hall and Corn Exchange, it’s positive that Wetherspoons have chosen this as it’s a reminder of his work.

    The pub’s interior, all functional but it’s a relatively small outlet from the chain, although there’s a fair amount of outdoors seating.

    This is under-poured by some margin and the staff really shouldn’t have either served that or let that out. However, the beer was cheap and I couldn’t much be bothered to complain about a small amount of beer, but it’s a shoddy approach from the pub’s management. It’s half a pint (well, not quite) of the Triple Chocoholic from the Saltaire Brewery in Shipley, West Yorkshire. I haven’t had this beer since I visited the Horse & Plough pub in Bingham a couple of years ago, en route to a little adventure in Sheffield.

    The staff were friendly, but the atmosphere was a little sterile in the pub, although it was quite quiet. The choice of beers wasn’t actually bad though, they had a choice of six including the guests of the Daleside Bitter and the Leeds Pale.

    The staff really shouldn’t have let out lime looking like that either, but there we go, I won’t concern myself about it.

    I thought I’d get a quick snack whilst I was in the pub and this was cheap and perfectly acceptable. The pub has run out of tomato sauce (apparently I found the last two sachets) because of delivery problems. There’s something slightly amusing that Wetherspoons is having problems with supply due to what is realistically Brexit, but I won’t veer further into politics here. It would be a cheap point to suggest that the pub could easily source (excuse the near pun) tomato ketchup from local shops as others in the chain have managed to do. It might be against the national policy, but realistically it’s perhaps the sensible solution.

    I have no issues with JD Wetherspoons, especially since I’ve visited so many of them, but this one all felt a bit basic. The staff were though friendly, the various glasses and my plate were collected promptly and I was able to charge my devices which was the main reason that I’d gone in. The cleanliness in the pub was though a bit lax and the under-pouring is very rare from any pub I’m pleased to say. All really quite average, and in places, pretty inadequate and I’m pleased that this is one of the Wetherspoons not in the Good Beer Guide.