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Tag: Accor

Athens – Novotel Athenes

A sleepy bear at the Novotel Athens where I spent three days and I will say in advance that this hotel surprised and delighted me. I was very pleased to discover on arrival that they had upgraded me to a room on the top floor with a balcony and a free mini-bar of soft drinks which would be refilled daily, which is hardly bad when paying under £50 a night. Richard checked in later and they had shoved him on a lower floor and not given him a balcony, but he did have a view of the Acropolis if he looked carefully in the right direction. They gave him two macarons (one of which I had) and some wine to distract him from noticing how small his room was, but I didn’t say anything.

I liked that the receptionist pro-actively told us of the potential problems the next day and it was also signed around the hotel, but more of that later.

The room and it also had a large bathroom that had a bath and shower. I’m not a design expert, but the light colours were cooling and the carpet was clean and seemed a sensible colour to me. That’s it, that’s my design opinion.

The balcony. As one of those people who likes city noise, I rather liked keeping this door open at night. I didn’t have any noise issues internally or externally, indeed, it wasn’t entirely clear how many other guests were actually staying here. There was air conditioning, but I didn’t much need it on which was handy as opening the balcony door turned it off.

The receptionist said that they refilled this daily, although the cleaning staff forgot on the second day, but I won’t hold that against them. They were probably shell-shocked when they entered Richard’s room early without knocking, although he quite rightly went to reception to complain about that situation. There’s also a kettle for those wanting hot drinks.

The view from the balcony and I will say that it’s not the best location within Athens as it’s not the most salubrious of areas and it’s about a twenty-five minute walk to the Acropolis area. The hotel was built in 1988 and received a large renovation in 2007 which has given it more of a modern feel. There are some design quirks, there are two sets of double automatic doors which the hotel doesn’t use, but which guests keep trying to use as they don’t sign they’re out of use. The layout of reception, the restaurant and breakfast room isn’t in keeping with how the designs are arranged now, but everything was easy to find.

I did also have a view of the Acropolis (it is there if my two loyal blog readers look carefully), although I accept Richard’s was clearer than mine. There’s a swimming pool on top of the hotel, although I didn’t go and investigate it, nor did I burden myself with visiting the gym.

The welcome drink and I went for a Paulaner Weissbier which I’ve never had before, it was rather good, smooth with banana notes whilst being light and fluffy. Richard had a red wine which he hated. Bonus points to the hotel bar for the chilled glass and also the free nuts.

There is an underground car park over two levels and it’s free of charge, which is unusual. I won’t go into too much detail of the little crisis that Richard had when trying to drive out of the car park up the ramp, but I was very brave in very challenging circumstances where I thought we’d be there all day. All told, I thought that this was one of the best Accor hotels that I’ve stayed in. The staff were friendly, the hotel was spotlessly clean, the room exceeded my expectations and the service was on point. All rather lovely and a credit to the Accor chain.

March 3, 2025
Athens – ibis Styles Athens Routes (Visit 1)

The outside of the Ibis Styles in Athens where I was staying for one night, although I stayed there again for my last night in Athens. The staff member at reception was exceptionally friendly, explaining about the hotel and offering a positive first impression. It’s relatively centrally located and not far to walk for the Acropolis and other city centre delights.

The room which was an upgrade to the one that I booked. Spacious, cool, clean and with a desk.

It also had the benefit of having a balcony which brought about a rather pleasant breeze and I’m also one of those people who likes road noise.

The welcome drink and I was offered a choice of three beers, although they’re effectively all lagers. I went for the Mamos from the Athenian Brewery, a generic but not unpleasant clean and light beer. I also like the free snacks that are provided with drinks in most locations in Athens, this is one of the little policies that I wish was followed in the UK.

The on-line reviews are very positive and not many customers seem annoyed with them. The area is agreeable and doesn’t feel like you need a stab jacket, with the design feeling modern and on-trend. Their restaurant isn’t open at the moment other than for breakfast, although the bar is trading as usual. I didn’t have breakfast, as unfortunately the days of free breakfasts at Ibis Styles have long gone and the cost of over £12 seemed a bit high. I enjoyed the stay so much I booked to return for my final night, although matters weren’t quite as decadent on that one. But more about that another time…..

March 2, 2025
Rotherham – Ibis Rotherham East

This is now routinely the cheapest Accor hotel venue in the country (although it’s the fifth cheapest tonight, Ibis Lincoln is down to £34), priced even lower than the Ibis Budget hotels. I’ve now stayed here twice and the room rate has averaged £26 a night, which is to be fair not very sustainable. However, they don’t need it to be sustainable as the hotel is coming to the end of its 25 year lease and it’s on the market for £4 million and will cease being an Accor hotel in a few months.

I had a seven minute wait for check-in as there were no staff visible. It’s never entirely optimal, but I don’t think they were expecting many guests to check-in. I had two bookings, one of four nights and another of one night, but they didn’t have the technology to merge the two bookings and I often think it’s just best to keep them separate to avoid confusion. All the staff members were helpful and personable, it was probably the main thing that was keeping everything together at the moment.

The room is dated, but serviceable. It’s the old style Ibis design which was phased out several years ago, but I imagine there was little point making a large-scale investment at this stage. The broken hairdryer holder in one room had its last electrical safety check in 2007 to show how little has changed here. The bathrooms need a refit and they need to have the traces of mould removing as well, that’s a slightly sub-optimal arrangement.

I was disappointed when I e-mailed the hotel to say I might not be there for the first night (it was the day of the storm) and they didn’t burden themselves with taking the time to reply. I will be disappointed if I have to chase up the 200 points I got from the above ‘skip the clean’ offer, but I suspect I’ll have to. As a comparison, I e-mailed Ibis Budget Warsaw Centrum a couple of weeks ago to tell them I might be arriving at 01:00 (I’m aware they didn’t need to know this, but they do say to let them know) and they responded within three minutes.

They didn’t mention the welcome drink at check-in, but it was willingly given when I asked for it.

For my purposes, the hotel was generally clean and it represented excellent value for money when taking into account this is boosting my room stay nights at a very low price as I return to Platinum this year. It offers breakfast and meals, but they don’t try very hard to push these, and when I walked by the restaurant area was nearly always empty. It’s a challenge given that they’ve got a McDonald’s literally in front of the hotel, and a Greene King pub next to it. It’s a tired hotel and a country mile behind the standards of Ibis in Poland in particular, but at the price point they’re charging, I was entirely happy. There was some internal noise, but no external noise, with the temperature in the rooms being appropriate. There’s a good chance that I’ll stay here again before they cease being an Accor venue, especially as the regular First buses to Maltby to Sheffield go by the main road adjoining the hotel.

January 31, 2025
Poznan – Hotel ibis Poznan Polnoc

I’m restarting my project to start visiting every Accor hotel in Poland (I mean, everyone has to have a hobby?), something which I was half-way through, and I might bring back my little Accor web-site that got a little bit lost in a server upgrade. Here’s the list that needs updating about which Accor hotels I’ve got to in Poland (which I accept isn’t riveting for anyone, but it’s handy for me to know). Or server downgrade as it evidently became. This hotel is located around six miles from the centre of Poznan and cost £34 for the night, although I got it free with rewards points from previous stays. I didn’t eat at KFC, but it’s certainly got a handy takeaway option nearby for those who want it.

The check-in process was a bit convoluted as it took a little while to be welcomed, but the team members were friendly and helpful. Unusually I didn’t get a keycard wallet, they just put a small post-it note with the room number on the keycard which seems an interesting way of going about matters. The room is the older style of Ibis design, but it’s one that I don’t dislike and it’s better than some of the newer designs in my mind. It was clean and organised, everything worked and there were no noise disturbances either internally or externally.

I had to ask about the welcome drink as although I wasn’t overly in need of one, I’m interested to see what the options there are. As expected as this is now commonplace, they’re using the app to do this, which makes matters easier. I noticed this list at reception which seems to be implemented at a few Accor hotels in Poland, which is odd as I thought they were all operated by Orbis, which limits the choice that others offer.

I went for the Żywiec Białe, which is a very agreeable wheat beer that I’ve had on a few occasions. For a small beer there was quite a faff about the procedure to get one, involving me signing a bit of paper, getting a receipt from reception and one from the till.

The reviews for the hotel generally are positive and I thought it represented a suitable and lower priced stay in Poznan. It’s not the easiest hotel to get to as it’s not located in the centre of Poznan, and it’s perhaps better for people with cars, but there is public transport there for those who want it although it requires a tram and a bus (or a tram, three buses and a walk if you decide to do things differently like me). And that’s another Accor Hotel ticked off the list, a list which I’ll get updated and fixed so my two loyal blog readers can follow along. Anyway, all suitably uneventful and a pleasant evening.

December 8, 2024
Gdansk Trip – Hotel Mercure Gdańsk Stare Miasto

OK, so this Accor hotel doesn’t blend into the background of Gdansk, but at least it’s easy to find as it’s visible from most of the city centre.

My room was on the fifteenth floor. The staff member at check-in was charming and I was surprised and delighted when I was told that I had been upgraded.

The room was a bit jam packed of stuff, but it was clean and comfortable.

Beautiful. That’s it, that’s all I’m going to write, this is beautiful.

Welcome to my complex world. I had been upgraded to a privilege room which usually come with free drinks and a little snack. However, the minibar door mentioned they were chargeable and there was no bottle opener. I was fairly confident that they were free, but I didn’t want to go to reception and ask as that would lead to a potential staff member having to disappoint me. And I usually carry a bottle opener around with me, but I haven’t been recently, although I’ve now fixed that omission. So, I compromised in case the mini bar was chargeable and just had the chocolate and coconut pieces. It was a suitable compromise with myself.

The hotel bar. My free drinks voucher wasn’t working on the app and the barman politely mentioned that I’d need to speak to reception. The helpful man at reception said that Accor had rolled out a load of stuff that didn’t work properly, promptly writing a voucher out by hand for me.

There were a decent amount of craft beers, I was suitably impressed, it felt testament to someone wanting to please beer drinkers by giving some thought as to the offering.

The view from my hotel room at night. Pretty special I think, the amber glow of the street lights, the spires of churches illuminated and people milling about. I rather liked being able to trace the footsteps of the city’s history below, the areas that had been rebuilt after the war, the buildings that had survived the centuries. It was possible to sit in the window and just watch the world, I struggled to recall many other hotels that I’ve stayed with such views of so many city landmarks.

This is what the rooms the other side of the hotel had as their view. I’d add I didn’t invite myself into someone’s room, there was a window by the lifts.

I loved this hotel, it was around £65 a night, but I thought that was entirely reasonable given the elevated views. This hotel was one of the few Accor hotels in the Gdansk wider region that I haven’t visited before, but I’m sure that I’ll be back here.

Oh, and I wasn’t charged for the chocolate in the minibar to avoid either of my two loyal blog readers having sleepless nights with the worry.

September 30, 2024
Belgrade Trip – Mercure Belgrade Excelsior (Accor Hotels)

Oops, in my enthusiasm I published an unfinished version of this post. My two loyal blog readers must have thought I had very little to say.

The reception area of the hotel, which is a grand 1920s affair which is an Accor hotels franchise. It has just celebrated its 100th birthday as it first opened on 15 March 1924, having been planned as a clinic but changed to a hotel during the building process. It was seized by the Nazis during the Second World War and used by the German General Staff, then it returned to a hotel in 1948 and it was owned by the employees. Privatised in 2008, it fits nicely into the Mercure branding and I like that they’ve retained its heritage.

The welcome at reception was immediate, friendly and engaging, which was handy after my little expedition to get to the place. The staff member excited and delighted me by telling me that I had been upgraded to a better room, which was very optimal.

Before I reached my room, I knew it would be just a little decadent as there was a seating area outside the room in case I needed a rest before arrival.

The room, which I admit looks a little drab in the photo, but it was dark outside and I hadn’t turned all the ambient lighting on. It was quite sizeable, with a large bathroom and it felt well building as I didn’t hear any noise from inside the hotel.

I had a balcony that I didn’t want to fall off as it looked a little low to me.

And the view of the Serbian Parliament building. I accept there are quite a few trees in front of it, but it’s definitely there.

The exterior of the hotel, my room was the second floor balcony room on the right hand side.

There were welcome snacks provided. I like welcome snacks.

And welcome drinks as well, all for free. As can be guessed, I like welcome drinks too.

I treated myself to breakfast in the mornings, and although I didn’t try any of the hot options, here they are as I have a sense of completeness…. Note the pastries, I tested those and was pleased.

They also had a fruit selection, which of course I could hardly keep my hands off.

Woooo, food photos from across the three mornings. I like continental breakfasts and mounds of bread, cold cuts and random cakes. The sauce in the penultimate photo is Ajvar and I suspect the hotel staff wondered where it kept going, but I got slightly obsessed with it. It’s a roasted pepper sauce with some chilli added, and I think some tomatoes and herbs. The breakfast room wasn’t very large, but it was a sedate experience that was all calm and comfortable.

And my welcome drink, which I actually had on the last evening. It’s a generic European lager, but it was free and the bar area was rather relaxing. I should have brought a book to read, but I didn’t, so once again I stared at my phone for thirty minutes.

I really liked this hotel, it wasn’t cheap, but the value for money was excellent and with the upgrade I was very pleased. The staff members were friendly, the room was spotlessly clean and I really rather liked my little balcony. If I return to Belgrade, I think I’ll come here again.

September 16, 2024
Bucharest Trip – Day 3 : Ibis Styles Bucharest City Centre

My hotel for the first two nights of my stay in Bucharest was the Ibis Styles Bucharest City Centre. The others, quite sensibly, managed to stay in the same place for the entire week, but I was on a mission to complete the 6,000 points offer from Accor which involved staying at three hotels for two nights each. Which meant that I stayed here for two nights, then moved to another hotel in the city, then came back again. It’s sub-optimal in many ways, but I like getting Accor points. Incidentally, I’ve been inundated with requests for the return of my Accor blog (well, I had one person asking if I was still doing it) and I’m actively working on that.

The hotel has a modern design and some considerable thought has been put into it. My check-in process was handled by a staff member who was on the phone to a customer the entire time which wasn’t entirely ideal, but I appreciated the efficiency of the operation. The welcome went as expected and I was given a room on the fourth floor. There are low and high tables for those wanting to get a drink, get some work done or meet up with others, with a separate restaurant area at the rear.

For anyone interested (goodness knows who) this is the menu in the hotel’s restaurant.

I didn’t like this room at first sight. I didn’t mind the concrete ceiling and that element of minimalism, but I like having a desk. But, more on that in a moment.

Matters improved considerably when I discovered my welcome gift of cakes and a juice in the fridge. I was becoming rapidly more forgiving. I sent this photo to the group WhatsApp and Bev claimed she thought I had a coffin in the room. She was just jealous that she didn’t have a coffin shaped table in her room I think, she’s quite dark like that. But, of course, I didn’t say anything.

And then I discovered a fold-up desk, so I felt just a little guilty for jumping to conclusions. A few years ago, I was on a panel which discussed the new room design and I mentioned the importance of a desk, even if it just folded up. I’m not saying that they paid any attention to me, as ultimately most people don’t, but they have made a sensible decision here. The other table (on the right of the above photo) is also of an adjustable height, so can be used as a standing desk or a bedside table.

Steve was staying at the hotel, so we had breakfast together on the mornings that I was actually staying there. I don’t much go for hot options at breakfast, so I was suitably surprised and delighted by the cold meats selection. And olives, I like olives. And that red paste, I’m not sure exactly what was in it, added to the proceedings.

The selection from the following morning.

There’s plate one and I did try, despite my previous comment about the hot food, a few of the hot sausages. I wasn’t that engaged with them, so I didn’t repeat that exercise.

Here’s the hot food selection, which doesn’t really inform my two loyal readers as they can’t see what’s in them. There was a choice of, I think, eggs, fatty bacon and sausages. I make regular comments about how bacon should be cooked, including for those who read through my Norwich Market posts. I have agreed, and I am unanimous in this, that bacon should be served crispy and slightly burnt. The Americans know how to do this.

The cereals selection and there was also a juice station with five different juices, served alongside large glasses. This is most unusual, as usually hotels offer little tiny glasses for orange juice which requires me to take around four of them to the table.

Some of the breads and pastries, with a separate doughnut selection which I really quite enjoyed.

And biscuits.

And here’s another plate. I think everyone gets the idea of what I liked….

Anyway, I liked this hotel and my room had a pleasant view. There were no noise disturbances in the hotel either internally or externally and I enjoyed my Ursus Black welcome drink. Steve had a problem with his coffees not being topped up to which he was told that this wasn’t something that reception could do anything about and he had to speak to house-keeping before 18:00. This feels an entirely sub-optimal situation, there’s no reason why the hotel couldn’t have spare coffees behind reception, but there we go, I fortunately didn’t experience any issues.

I’d merrily stay here again and I liked how modern the hotel was, something which Ibis Styles often gets right. The service was friendly, the room was clean and I felt that I received good value for money. I paid £110 for these two nights, including breakfast, but the Accor offer means that the rate was effectively £70 for the two nights. The hotel is very well reviewed and seemed to be at near full occupancy during the time I stayed here, with it being around a twenty minute walk from the city centre.

November 19, 2023
Gdansk Group Trip – Day 3 (Mercure Gdynia Centrum)

Richard and I were staying in Gdynia for the evening, although he opted for a more decadent room in the city’s Mercure hotel than I had because of his great wealth. I had chosen this hotel as I thought it would be somewhere new for me and it was also part of an Accor extra points promotion, which I’m pleased to note have been posted correctly. Anyway, when I arrived I realised that I stayed here in January 2020, I had completely forgotten that. I do get muddled up easily….

The grand reception area. The welcome from the staff was friendly, authentic and genuine, so I was pleased to be back in such an inviting place. The bar area off to the right was busy and there was a vibrant feel to proceedings. In this instance, I should say that I mean vibrant in a positive sense, sometimes I use it as code for a venue where it feels like there will be a massive fight within ten seconds.

I was upgraded to a room on the eighth floor and given the alcohol themed room. Of course, I’m not sure why on earth they thought that would be suitable for me, but I didn’t say anything. Unfortunately, the bottles in the barrel were empty.

One of the features in the room was this little display, which are real corks and not some wallpaper. I liked theme rooms, and especially so this one, although if they had popped some extra beer in it then I would have liked it even more.

Wine posters. I was pleased to note that there was a bath in the bathroom, it’s more common practice recently to take them out to install showers instead.

Our welcome drink, with Richard getting some wine whilst I was able to choose between a number of beers from a local brewery. I went for the Kurortowe wheat beer from Browar Miejski Sopot, a very acceptable way to end the evening.

The hotel is 40 years old this year and there’s promotional material throughout the building noting that. There was also a welcome gift of food, I appreciated that. Richard saves his for when he gets home as a reminder of a trip, whereas I eat them straight away. There were more than two in the pack incidentally, that’s all that’s what was left by the time I took the photo.

The view of the sea from my eighth floor room. I stayed here for two nights and it is a well run and managed hotel, but there was the limitation for me that there’s no air conditioning and the hotel is something of a sun trap. It was all too hot for me, so I likely wouldn’t come back here as it wasn’t relatively that hot in Poland during the visit, so I suspect that I’d find it almost unbearable in the height of summer. Indeed, the vast majority of negative comments are about the air conditioning, but I’m not sure how the hotel is going to fix that without a substantial refit of the entire building. The hotel got an odd complaint a few weeks ago saying that the staff didn’t speak Polish, which is an unusual comment I’ve never seen before about an Accor hotel in Poland. It seems ridiculous anyway, the hotel responded that all of the staff were Polish, although this gives me an opportunity to say that their English was perfect as well.

May 16, 2023
Sunday – A Short Perambulation around Darlington

Saturday evening was wet to say the least, but it all looked a bit drier, and indeed hotter, on the Sunday morning. On the left of this photo is the TCB Darlington, or The Chinese Buffet, which closed down earlier this year. The story of the closure is a bit odd, it closed due to lockdown which is understandable, and then after a break of a few months it reopened for about three hours before being shut down due to irregularities with the electricity supply. Draw your own conclusions….

The River Skerne, which is a tributary of the River Tees, and this area is of note for an historic building which was once here. But, I only realised that later on during my visit to the town, so more about that on a different blog post. Oh, the anticipation…

The entrance to the parish churchyard of St. Cuthbert, with rather a sparse collection of graves, so I assume many have been removed at some point.

The church dates from the twelfth century, although was modernised and faffed about with during the 1860s by George Gilbert Scott.

A war memorial in the church’s graveyard in memory of those who died between 1899 and 1902 during the Second Boer War.

It’s a grand war memorial and it was unveiled by Field Marshal the Rt Hon Earl Roberts (1832-1914) on 5 August 1905. This would have been seen as important, as he was the man who was in charge of the entire campaign and had also been the last Commander-in-Chief of the Forces until the abolition of the role in 1904. He died during the early stages of the First World War, although he fell ill on a tour of troops and not through enemy action, and was buried in St. Paul’s Cathedral.

A list of the 11 men from the local area who died during the campaign.

And 89 more names are on Grade II listed monument, but these were listed in honour of the men’s contribution to the campaign. Unfortunately, war memorials following the First World War could hardly list everyone who had fought, just those who had died. This memorial was funded by 5,576 different subscribers, so it’s a real public effort.

Another quick visit to the William Stead with its interesting carpet. I was rather productive here for some time, lots of coffees for just £1.25. I may have mentioned I’d constantly surprised and delighted by this bargain arrangement though.

And then to Darlington’s covered market. The council are mid-way through their modernisation, and it seems from reading news articles that this has been a controversial process. The market building itself is rather beautiful and was designed by Alfred Waterhouse and constructed in 1863.

There aren’t many stalls here at all and they’re a little aggressively priced in terms of the food. I’m not suggesting that’s bad, as it’s expensive running a business, but the prices of the stalls inside the market seemed to be higher than the outlets outside of the market. That seemed an odd way round to me, this is being run as a decadent arrangement and not as a cheap alternative for locals. A chips stall here would be good, affordable and inviting, which could then sit alongside the more expensive options.

The bar at the market, which I thought (and perhaps harshly as I try not to be too judgemental) was rather formulaic and bland, but I think it’s fair to say that they’re pitching themselves at a rather younger market to myself, namely teenage girls I suspect (of a legal drinking age I’d better add). It’s a shame though, this market would have been lifted by a on-trend, modern and exciting craft beer bar which sold some interesting drinks. Given there are some operators of fantastic bars nearby, perhaps they could have been prevailed upon to operate this.

I went for the IPA from Caps Off Brewery who are from nearby Bishop Auckland. I asked for half a pint, which the staff member repeated back, but then was clearly pouring a pint. I stopped her before she served the entire pint but she then decided to get another glass and tip what she had already poured into that. That of course fobbed the beer up (which is evident from the photo), so there was a wait whilst that settled. She then tried again and proudly announced that she had given me more than a half. Unfortunately, she was reading the third of a pint line on the glass, so I politely queried that and she poured a bit more in. I have no idea what she did with the small amount of beer that was left, but it was a comedic performance at least which added positively to the visit.

The beer was acceptable, but I wasn’t entirely confident that it was being kept at the appropriate temperature, but it wasn’t so bad as to be a problem. The scampi fries were delicious though, the bar excelled themselves there. I was surprised how few people were in the market, but it did have something of a laid-back atmosphere at least. I hope that Darlington can do something with this market when the refurbishment project is completed, these are such important elements to a town and it would be good to see it done right. Barnsley have really thought through their new market, which is on-trend, affordable and interesting.

The statue of Joseph Pease (1799-1872), the railway pioneer who was born and died in the town. He was involved with the creation of the Stockton and Darlington railway company, on which more in tomorrow’s riveting blog post, as well as being the first Quaker MP. There’s also a link to Norfolk as he married Emma Gurney in 1826, the youngest daughter of the banker Joseph Gurney.

The four panels represent different elements of Pease’s life, including politics, industry, education and the emancipation of the slaves.

Thrifty.

And a quick half a Bass in the Darlington Flyer, which is a Stonegate pub on Skinnergate. The prices are low, the service was polite and the surroundings were comfortable enough. Most of the customers were watching football and minding their own business, but they all seemed to be enjoying their visit. This was a Yates Bar, but Stonegate have rebranded it, which is probably for the best. The pub is opposite the Tanners Hall pub, operated by JD Wetherspoon, and this is perhaps their nearest competition in terms of a pub chain. Stonegate are going for a similar market, although they are orientated a bit more towards showing sports at this venue. All affordable and not at all pretentious, which I think is a very nice compliment.

Back to the Mercure Darlington which I’d stayed at a couple of nights before, although this time I was staying for three nights. I was upgraded again to a superior room, which meant more free drinks and it was once again all peaceful. I mentioned this before, but I was impressed at this hotel, it seemed very well run.

The pigeons looked content as the sun started to set.

September 8, 2022
Sunday : Canterbury to Prague via London Victoria

The weekend in Canterbury had gone quickly and the four of us in Carena House waved goodbye to the landlady. It was a clean B&B (actually, it was more of a B as there was no breakfast included), although quite quirky, but the welcome was friendly enough, even when Richard changed rooms for reasons unknown. But, I don’t get involved in these matters.

We walked to Tannery Field and had a little look at the bull, designed by local artist Steven Portchmouth. There’s a double purpose to that sculpture, it marks that this was a tanning site, but also that there was a tannery rail track, so they’ve replicated the rails in the artwork.

And there’s some more information about the bull for those who want to know even more.

It was a similar walk to the previous day, with West Gate in the background. It was still too hot.

Back in Wetherspoons, which I accept shows a complete lack of originality, but I didn’t have long and there was a power point here which was handy for ensuring my devices were fully charged for the day ahead. The poached egg was only just runny, they keep getting these wrong now, but that’s my fault, I probably should have gone to a local cafe.

Back again also to Canterbury West railway station, where we set off from the day before.

And the sizeable waiting room, with an absence of power points. I had another little debacle at this railway station, as I had stupidly used my Chase card to buy my rail ticket. The collection machine was having none of it, but this is a known fault with Chase cards on the network, as confirmed both by them and also by Great Western Railways. Chase had said the workaround was for the ticket desk to print the ticket (which isn’t really a solution to their dodgy arrangements in this area), but the man on the desk said he couldn’t do that. I wasn’t going to argue, although I’ve noted that other ticket desks have managed to, but he was helpful enough to wave me through the barriers so I could get to the platform.

My plan was to go and speak immediately to the train guard to tell him of my little predicament, which was a good strategy. The guard said he couldn’t print the ticket either as his machine didn’t have that functionality (there’s a lot of little issues in terms of consistency within the rail network), but that it didn’t matter, he’d wave me through the barriers at London Victoria.

Another routine complaint of mine, there isn’t space in a rail carriage for five seats across, and I am unanimous in that…. Anyway, we got about 100 metres down the track before the Southern ticket inspectors came to interrogate passengers, but fortunately, the train guard noted this and told the inspectors I had a ticket but the machine was broken at the railway station. The inspectors looked confused, as the machine wasn’t broken, just it wouldn’t print my ticket, but they didn’t pursue the matter. They came back through the train twice, with one of them forgetting they had spoken to me already, but the other was more alert.

That meant at London Victoria station I had to get through the barrier as I still didn’t have a ticket printed out. The customer in front of me told the gate guard that “the guard had forgotten to print my ticket” which was not an excuse that was accepted. For about two minutes there was an argument about this, with the gate guard saying that he didn’t believe the guard on-board had forgotten, and even if he had, the customer should have reminded him. Voices were raised and it was bloody clear that the customer didn’t have a ticket, but he was let through anyway. This is a fault with the rail network, what’s the point of this expensive set-up if people are just let through anyway? I was slightly worried that the gate guard would instead have an argument with me, but I showed him my booking reference for the ticket that I couldn’t print and I was let through without dispute. I think it’s fair to say, it’s not hard to get through those barriers without a ticket.

It was time then to get on the Victoria Line for a couple of stops, to then board the Piccadilly Line to get to Heathrow, a moment of excitement as that meant a few days overseas, the last I’d get for several weeks. No delays here, all was going well.

Back at Heathrow T5, which wasn’t particularly busy despite all the fears of overwhelmed airports. The flights that have been trimmed seemed to have helped operations though, with the wait at security being relatively minimal.

The BA lounge has gone from self-service to order via app, back now to order at a counter. Here’s the menu for the lounge, a choice of meatballs, pie, vegetable curry or vegan balls.

I opted for two steak pies with a can of Brewdog Jet Stream, living the dream…. These pies aren’t world class, but they’re moreish (as are many things with me) and sufficiently tasty for my needs, especially when I get chance to ask for extra gravy.

These raw juices were rather delicious, although I suspect I overdosed on fruit with them. There was no fruit health warning in the area which I felt that there could have been.

There’s the green sludge of the raw juice in the background. And another highlight, crisps have finally returned to the lounge, so what a time to be alive!

And even more excitingly (I don’t get out much), the ice cream has returned to the freezers.

The flight was departing from Gate A1 but I wasn’t entirely sure this was well managed, as there weren’t enough seats and there was a paucity of announcements. Standing there for thirty minutes was fine in terms of time, although the terminal in this area was quite hot.

None of these dispensers were functioning at the airport, another one of Heathrow’s little short cuts I imagine.

Ready to board the BA0858 flight to Prague on aircraft G-EUYT, which I’ve travelled on before when going from Heathrow T5 to Warsaw.

The interior of the aircraft and I had an exit row seat by the window. The flight was very busy and at near capacity, so there was the usual faffing around trying to fit ridiculous numbers of arguably oversized bags into the overhead lockers.

We took off over 30 minutes late, which is always slightly frustrating on a night flight, especially when I had plans to catch the last bus of the day in Prague. Fortunately, we landed on time as the pilots were able to make up the time during the flight. There was nothing much notable about the flight, which is always a positive as far as I’m concerned.

The standard in-flight snack of crisps and a small bottle of water.

At Prague airport and there was more queueing as UK travellers now need a stamp in their passport. Fortunately my fast walking had meant the queue wasn’t too long when I arrived, I think I was through border control in under ten minutes.

Rather random, but I liked the little aircraft shaped holes they had made in the benches. I had visited Prague a few months ago and remembered where the ticket machines were to buy bus tickets, something which saved a few minutes of uncertainty.

I caught the last 191 bus of the day, with just a couple of minutes to spare. It wouldn’t have mattered as a night service then kicked in, but this saved me over thirty minutes, so I pleased to be able to catch it.

The bus journey takes around 40 minutes and I was fortunate with my hotel choice, as there was a bus stop just a one minute walk away. It goes direct from the airport to the city centre, or at least the west bank of the river so that people can take another bus or tram to get elsewhere in Prague.

Off the bus and ready for my big one minute walk to the hotel. It’s rare that they’re such short treks at this time of night and I had already alerted the hotel that I’d be late. I’m not sure they care to be honest as they have 24 hour reception desks, but I like to let the hotel know of my plans in case they flog off my room to someone else and they replied promptly and politely telling me all was fine with arriving late.

And here it is, the Ibis Praha Mala Strana, a well reviewed Accor hotel on the west side of the river which isn’t an area that I’ve much explored before in my previous visits to the city. The entrance, for reasons unknown, is tucked away on the far side of the building, but the signage was sufficiently clear for me not to get muddled up.

Typically, someone had just checked in despite it being after midnight, so I had a little bit of a wait, but that gave me enough time to take photos of their shop area. The staff here were always friendly and welcoming, this transpired to be one of my favourite Accor hotels.

My welcome gift was doughnuts and I was very pleased indeed with that. I just knew that this was my sort of hotel.

And the room, the standard Ibis layout, all clean and comfortable. I’m still quite content with this sort of room layout, it’s functional, it has a desk, working wi-fi and space for storage. Given that I had such a late arrival into Prague, I was surprised that I was able to make such timely progress to be in the hotel just after midnight. That gave me enough sleep before breakfast, but more on that in the next riveting instalment of this blog as it transpired to be relatively memorable (or as memorable as a hotel breakfast can realistically be).

July 27, 2022