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Norwich to Heathrow (Skopje Trip)

I set off for Heathrow yesterday as there was a cheap offer advertised by Accor and, naturally, I hadn’t formed any other plan. This is what travel looked like before people insisted on having itineraries, aims and a vague sense of personal responsibility. Anyway, here’s the train to Stansted Airport which departed on time and without issue. There was no driver until one minute before departure and I was slightly hoping for a delay repay, but it wasn’t to be. I’d add at this stage that there isn’t any fascinating content in this post (not that there usually is), but I like a complete write-up for my own memory. And, imagine, a future historian might query why civilisation failed and they might discover the answer from this blog.

Safely in Cambridge.

There was a six minute connection time to get the Great Northern train to King’s Cross and it took me four minutes to cross Cambridge railway station so anyone with accessibility issues would have likely missed it.

Setting off and the train remained relatively quiet, which made it easier for all the people with seats to keep them there. These trains, similar to Thameslink, don’t have power points but I do like the ironing board seats, although I seem to be about the only person who does.

I always like arriving into King’s Cross, it’s a beautiful station.

And safely into Hayes and Harlington railway station using the Elizabeth Line. There’s a decent fair from Norwich to here, it came in at £12 which felt rather reasonable.

I thought I’d pop to the Botwell Inn, the JD Wetherspoon operated pub located near to the railway station. This real ale went back, it was vinegary on the taste, but the manager was quick at checking it and replacing it. Actually, the manager was very good in general, this always feels like a well-run pub and real ale based issues are inevitably going to occur.

The replacement beer was the Wolf of the Woods from Twickenham Fine Ales with a biscuity, toffee and nutty taste to it. It also cost only £2.39 a pint which is the usual bargain price from the chain.

I decided that it might be useful to actually plan my week at this stage, since it was already Sunday evening and I had no idea where I was going. I do know that I needed to be back in Bristol for Friday morning, so I needed a plan to get there cheaply. I decided on a route via Skopje, booked the flights, trains and National Express, ready now for the craft beer festival. I mentioned a few days ago that this is one of the countries that I haven’t visited, so it felt a wise choice.

Given that I was lingering here, I paid £6.39 for the steak pudding with chips and that included the Guinness 0%. It’s not exactly going to surprise and delight those who like fine dining, but it’s hard to complain too much at that price.

It was an hour walk to the hotel and this time I decided to have a look at the church in Harlington for the first time, but more of that in a separate post as I don’t want some ecclesiastical masonry interfering with this post.

Back at the Heathrow Ibis hotel which I’ve stayed at numerous times before. The reason I stayed here is that with the Accor offer it came to £13 for the night, which I thought was reasonable.

I also get my free welcome drink and here are some of the options.

Not Magners, but the Eazy from Camden Town Brewery which is growing on me, it’s got flavours of orange, it’s hazy and it’s quite intriguing. That is a pint glass, it’s just that the chair the other side of the table is unusually large.

A room. This blog really doesn’t fail to delight with riveting content…. But, I arrived here with a plan for the week and that felt like an achievement in itself.

June 8, 2026
Łódź – Ibis Hotel

I’ve stayed at this Accor operated Ibis hotel twice before but that was over eight years ago and I was pleased that this hotel hasn’t bothered with the new Ibis rooms, as I’m one of those who prefers the old style. I suspect that there will be an investment soon, as I’m not sure that they’re had a renovation in a decade.

This design adds some character to the whole arrangement, I like it.

The room, and I was given a larger one which had three sets of windows. I feel that city noise adds to the authenticity of a night’s stay, so I opened all of those windows straight away.

The welcome gift, this was delicious. I like welcome gifts.

The hotel’s bar area.

I didn’t eat at the hotel’s restaurant, but for my hundreds (well, two) excited readers, here’s what I could have had.

My welcome drink was Żywiec Białe and I managed to confuse the very helpful member of staff. She didn’t speak much English, although they had nearby staff that could, so I ordered this beer in my bestest Polish. Unfortunately, their standard beer on draft is Żywiec and she thought I was trying to order that, but my beautiful Polish tripped off my tongue after the third go and all was well. On that note, the team members here were all very personable, it all adds to the atmosphere.

Cheeses, meats and the various salad type options. There were some hot breakfast options, but they looked a bit rustic for my liking.

The bread selection and the little croissants.

That’s a smoked cheese and I kept going back for that, it was unusually decent and went rather well with the tomatoes. I can definitely do healthy, especially with that mango smoothie thing at the side. The selection was quite broad and I liked that the breakfast area wasn’t that busy.

The Novotel is next door and is a bit too decadent for me, although Richard would have merrily booked in there. Although, I noted that it was actually full the night that I was staying, which made choosing that bit easier.

The hotel night cost £42 (actually less as I used reward points) including breakfast, which I thought was perfectly good value for money. I’ve missed this city, I’d like to come back sooner rather than later. And, as I mentioned, I don’t dislike that they haven’t modernised much recently.

March 30, 2026
Wrocław – Ibis Wrocław Centrum

And at just after 02:00, I arrived at Ibis Centrum in Wrocław, which is in the same building as the Novotel. The hotel had sorted out the payment earlier in the day (well, the previous day) for me and so the check-in was prompt and efficient. Accor in Poland, as I’ve mentioned several (hundred) times are operated by Orbis and they are a reliable option to stay at.

The hotel has some themed rooms and I was in the Game Room for this visit.

The room decoration and they’ve put some considerable effort into this.

Not that I had time to play it, but there was a games console in the room.

And some board games.

Very nice.

There was also a welcome drink of a decadent apple juice and some ginger biscuits which were rather lovely. There were also teas and coffee, it all proved reasonable value at under £40 for the night. Given the relatively small amount of time that I had in the hotel, I opted against getting breakfast as I didn’t want to get up too early.

I’ve stayed at this hotel, both the lower floors which are Ibis and the higher floors which are Novotel, before and had views over both sides. This is looking out the front and they’re making progress on that building to the right as they were digging the foundations out when I was last here.

I didn’t have any noise disturbances either internally or externally, but the hotel is ready for the construction noise.

Anyway, this was a rather lovely stay once again with everything being trouble free and as expected. Arriving at 02:00 meant that the welcome drink wasn’t an option, as not unsurprisingly they don’t want to keep the bar open that late, and I wanted to get going to my next stop early the following morning. The team members were friendly and it’s just a slight shame that I didn’t have time to play on the games console or the city’s version of Monopoly.

March 25, 2026
Burton upon Trent – Ibis Styles

Back to mid-January, when Richard and I decided that we needed a little adventure and we opted for Burton upon Trent and the Ibis Styles there.

The corridor arrangement is clever, as if someone stains it then it’s not really evident. I’m fairly confident that this was the actual reason for this design as I can’t see anyone picking this by choice.

Richard was very excited that the room he had booked came with a kitchenette. I was pleased that mine did too, but solely as I didn’t want him having a better room than me (I’m not petty). As an aside, I personally don’t like these kitchens in rooms, they’re a nightmare to clean properly for the staff and require substantial maintenance for something that many guests aren’t going to want. Keeping a microwave and every piece of cutlery and crockery clean isn’t an easy thing to do, I can’t really see why they want to burden themselves with this.

Someone rather unkindly used AI to put a bottle of wine in the fridge and pretended that it was a welcome gift. Actually, on that point, there was no welcome gift, but I won’t labour that matter. Anyway, Richard was stomping about the place as he didn’t get a gift of wine but luckily I was able to reassure him before the manager was called. It would be helpful for Richard’s stress levels if people didn’t do this, but at least I calmed the matter down before there was a diplomatic incident. It was a good job that I was there to be honest.

There was a modern looking bar area, all rather comfortable.

It’s quite a clever mix of retro and modern, although it hadn’t exactly inspired hundreds of people to come in.

I would have preferred a wider range of beers, but in fairness, they have Pedigree which is an important beer locally so at least they’ve made an effort to have a local option.

As for the hotel in general, it was all clean, welcoming and well maintained. Richard didn’t end up having an argument with the manager and there were no noise issues either internally or externally. It’s a relatively new hotel and it faces competition from an IHG hotel literally next door, but it all seemed well managed.

February 27, 2026
Ankara – Ibis Styles

Although I’ve completed my write-up of my trip to Turkey, Georgia and Armenia, there was quite a lot that I missed out and have meant to come back to. This is one of those posts, but the summary of the trip is at https://www.julianwhite.uk/turkey-georgia-and-armenia-final-thoughts/, with a link to all the blog posts that I wrote up telling the story of that little adventure.

We only had one night in Ankara, so whilst Jonathan opted for a basement room in a nearby hotel, I went for the Ibis Styles.

The rather nice lobby.

The beer selection from which I could choose my welcome drink.

The room, which was clean, cosy and warm. So I promptly opened the window to make it cold.

They made me a coffee during the check-in and there’s the welcome snack and bottled waters.

I went for the welcome beer of the Efes Malt, which was light, malty and really rather good.

The breakfast room in the morning, when I first realised that there was now quite a lot of snow outside.

The breakfast buffet.

Delicious and healthy.

The colourful corridor.

I’m not sure I’ve seen a warning of a fine for not returning the keycard.

Anyway, this was a really rather lovely hotel with friendly staff, fast wifi (this was important), a comfortable environment and clean rooms. The breakfast choice was extensive, the stay was reasonably priced and I’d stay here again.

February 10, 2026
Cardiff – Mercure Cardiff North

I didn’t get around at the time to writing about the Mercure Cardiff North hotel where we stayed for my birthday weekend in Cardiff in November. This is an Accor branded hotel and I had booked some time in advance, with the rates being very reasonable.

Firstly, there’s something unusual about their online reviews on Google as nearly every single one mentions a staff member by name. This isn’t usual on Google and doesn’t really help people get a fair understanding of what is happening here. If I read through the verified visits on Accor’s website, the situation is more as I would expect and staff members are rarely named, so that feels more reliable.

Instead of using my normal metric of Google Reviews, I’m going to use the Accor aggregated score, which shows that this hotel has a rating of 3.9 which is towards the lower end of the scale for the chain.

In fairness, the hotel was managing perfectly well at the accommodation element that was offered here. Liam and I had a twin room which was clean, at the appropriate temperature and everything worked as expected. There were no noise issues, either from inside or outside the hotel, so that all felt positive. The interior felt generally modern and so I suspect that there has been a refurbishment here recently.

I think my main negative about this hotel is I don’t know why they’re trying to be part of Accor. The hotel was playing fast and loose with the loyalty scheme offered by Accor and didn’t offer most of the benefits.

The situation with the welcome drink was downright awkward as the member of bar staff said that it was one drink a room. This isn’t right, this has never been right and it’s really not something I want to debate as it’s hard not to sound entitled about the matter. But holding Liam’s drink hostage whilst the staff members blamed each other is entirely sub-optimal. The reception desk resolved the matter, but the concept of the welcome drink was rather lost at this point.

It was partly a shame that the bar service was borderline rude as the drinks selection wasn’t unreasonable and although they’d made no effort getting local drinks in, at least they had a couple of options such as this Singha.

We had breakfast included in our room rates and on the first day it was poor, the second day it was better. it might not be relevant to me personally, but I like that they’re trying to do a gluten free area, but it could perhaps be a little more, er, exciting.

To be fair, I suspect guests would have worked out the labelling error here.

The hot food options, although this isn’t perhaps the best way to keep the food hot. As with the drinks at the bar, there was no effort to source food locally which is a shame as numerous Accor hotels are keen to do at least something.

The first day’s breakfast options were broadly dreadful. The bacon was dripping with grease, the cold cuts were of a very low quality, the cheese was already sweating in the displays and the whole arrangement looked sub-optimal.

I do agree with Richard’s comment that it’s a shame that there isn’t any fresh bread available here. But, to be fair to the hotel, this isn’t as common in the UK as it is on the European mainland.

They actually had fried eggs on the second day and the presentation of the food was much better. That bacon isn’t cooked anywhere as much as I’d like it, but I accept that’s a personal preference. The egg was cooked to my tastes and everything tasted as expected.

Overall, I thought that the stay was fine as the room was clean, the team members were generally friendly and there were no noise issues. Certainly breakfast could have been better on the first day, but we got there just as service started and it’s easy to be critical. My main comment about the hotel is that they should perhaps either embrace (or at least accept) the rules that Accor set them, or just go independent and be free of those guardrails.

December 31, 2025
Bucharest – Ibis Styles Bucharest Airport

I accept that this isn’t a perfect photo, but I had taken two flights and a rather packed bus from Bucharest Băneasa airport to get here. This is the Accor operated Ibis Styles hotel, which is where I was spending my final night of my near two week trip around various bits of Europe.

There was a very friendly welcome from the team member at reception and he mentioned about the free breakfast. When I said that I’d be leaving too early, he said that the hotel can arrange something in these circumstances, which was much appreciated. He also mentioned that they had upgraded my room and I very much liked this as well.

Very comfortable. The design felt both a bit 1980s and also modern, it had a homely feel that I liked. Ibis Styles are known for their slight quirkiness and they brand their hotels around a theme, with this one being air travel which feels appropriate.

My welcome drink of beer and also my welcome gift of fruit. I’ll be honest and say that I prefer chocolates, crisps, beer or random souvenirs, but a gift is a gift and was much appreciated. I also love seeing a Nespresso machine in a room, so I indulged in coffees.

Some of the room decoration.

I like traffic noise, so I opened the window happily, although the double glazing is very effective at keeping the noise out, including from the next door airport.

With my breakfast collected, it was time for the early morning walk to the airport. And more on both of those in the next post….

But, overall, this was an excellent hotel, with friendly service, clean rooms and no noise issues. I felt very welcome and after two flights in one day, with another one early the following morning, I felt entirely rested by the time I woke up. This is a hotel that I’d certainly be happy to book again when I’m next in the Bucharest area.

December 14, 2025
Ljubljana – Day Three (Ibis Styles)

We were all staying in Accor’s Ibis Styles for the three nights that we were in Ljubljana, a conveniently located hotel just a short walk away from the bus stop and railway station.

The set-up here is a little different to the usual Ibis Styles arrangement, as they also have a hostel on the seventh floor which means more social areas are provided for the entire hotel. There is a rooftop bar, which I confess that we forgot to visit.

We were all on different floors, but I think that the rooms looked the same. The bathroom set-up is very Ibis Styles… My room felt functional and bare, but it was clean and I had what I needed. Well, other than a welcome gift….

The view from the hotel over to Ljubljana Castle.

I had been fortunate to obtain a favourable rate that also included breakfast, although the others had booked room options without the breakfast. I didn’t intend to miss out though.

I didn’t bother with the hot options as the cold options were plentiful, but there were some eggs and sausages as well.

Bread, blue cheese, tomatoes, olives, cucumber, salami, croissant, bread and butter, all really rather lovely.

I always find it handy when they do this. I went down between 07:00 and 08:00 to fit in with the others and it was always quiet.

And my welcome drink, which I picked up on the final night. It’s not a beer that I’ve had before, but it was dark and interesting.

As an aside, I liked the lights outside the room which clearly indicated to the cleaning staff who wanted the room cleaned. I opted to just collect the 100 Accor points every night by not having the room cleaned, as every little helps…

I really rather liked this hotel, the staff were friendly, the room was clean, there were no internal or external noise, everything worked properly, there was a nice welcome drink and the breakfast was of a decent quality. I’d certainly stay here again if I come back to the city, which I likely will.

November 29, 2025
Tirana – Mercure Tirana

I’d just got off the bus from the airport and thought I’d take this photo with the beautiful light. Clearly so shaken by the bus journey, I managed to mess that up.

To make up for it, here’s a replacement shot from the following morning when I was marginally more awake and less traumatised by public transport.

The bar area of this Accor hotel.

The welcome drink and it was another smooth and generic European lager, but I like free things and it was refreshing in the extreme heat.

The room and they only had twins available. To my slight annoyance, this had a connecting door to the neighbouring room, which I hate anyway (and have to pile up furniture to prevent any access), and it was also not properly sound protected. They’ve only just built this hotel, so this just seems like a pointless small saving for the annoyance it’s already caused judging from the reviews. Anyway, I opened my window and the road noise drowned out any conversation from the neighbouring room. Fortunately, I very much like road noise, so all was well.

The view from the window.

If there’s a fire at the hotel, the general manager will get called out on this as the emergency plan is complete nonsense. Which means in the event of an actual emergency a guest might probably wander off in the wrong direction and for a brand new hotel, that’s a rather impressive oversight. They’ve been told about this in reviews and haven’t corrected it. Being quite dull, I always already know where the lifts and stairs are in nearly every hotel as I check in advance, but they’d be better to take these down and have nothing than to have widely incorrect plans. In this plan, the room highlighted is at the rear of the hotel, but I was at the very front.

Breakfast was very peaceful as the dining room was large and quiet, with the staff being attentive and plentiful. The filter coffee was a little drab, but that cherry jam was formidable. It’s one of the punchiest cheeses that I’ve had, but there were plenty of juices to temper the flavour a little. All absolutely fine though with plenty of choice and numerous breads and croissants.

I liked this hotel and would stay again, but they really do need to sort out the sound protection between the rooms as it shouldn’t be like that in a new build. Most people don’t want to open the windows to hear road noise to resolve the issue, I accept that I’m odd in that regard. The air conditioning seemed temperamental, some reviews have suggested it’s because they’re turning it off and on at reception. Either way, the room was tolerable in terms of heat and I set the bar quite high on that, so I suspect most guests would have been entirely happy. The highlight was the breakfast, but as for the fire plan, let’s just say don’t rely on it unless you’re keen on a spontaneous tour of the wrong part of the building.

The hotel is around a one hour walk from the city centre, so I decided that’s what I would do in the extreme heat, although there are buses and taxis available for those who don’t feel the need to walk everywhere.

July 25, 2025
Faro – Faro Ibis

This is the second time that I’ve stayed at this Accor operated hotel, located halfway between the airport and the Old Town of Faro. This was ideal for me as it put within walking distance of the airport, but I suppose it’s also handy if you’re the sort of person who can’t decide whether you want to be near planes or actual civilisation.

Check-in took nearly fifteen minutes because of two guests in front faffing about with their reservation, it felt like that they were negotiating some UN peace agreement.

My welcome drink of Sagres, a generic tasting beer which did meet the key requirement of being refreshing, although the brewery haven’t burdened themselves with what I consider a key requirement of it actually tasting of anything. The staff member, with commendable honesty, told me it was “only available in small” which somehow felt both welcoming and not. I wasn’t exactly planning a major session at the bar with my free drink, but it does feel like the sort of policy that saves the hotel about £10 a year while just very mildly irritating everyone.

The standard Ibis set-up with a desk, which is how I like it.

There was a welcome gift of pasteis de nata and bottled water and it’s hard not to feel welcomed when someone provides me with free custard tarts.

The view from the window over the sun scorched land.

The view from the side window of the corridor and the hotel’s main draw (although not to me) is the swimming pool.

All told, I rather liked this hotel and there were no noise issues, although I had my favourite room location of the top floor far away from the lift. The team members were friendly, the room was clean and I liked the custard tarts.

July 22, 2025