Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: Glasgow Airport

  • Glasgow – Bus to City Centre More Expensive than the Flight

    Glasgow – Bus to City Centre More Expensive than the Flight

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    I experienced earlier today what might best be described as one of the more decadent bus journeys of my life, from Glasgow Airport to the city centre, courtesy of First Bus.

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    The excited passengers waiting to board.

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    This cost the not-so-bargain price of £11. Now, I don’t want to sound dramatic, but I did briefly wonder if I’d accidentally bought the seat. Not rented. Bought and perhaps provided with a free First fleece. As a  comparison, my flight all the way from Budapest, roughly 1,200 miles and including a safety demonstration and a view of some clouds, was under £9. In short, it was cheaper to fly across a continent than to endure 20 minutes of pleasant Scottish tarmac.

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    That said, the opulent bus itself was clean, punctual and, dare I say, convenient with the driver neither shouting nor hitting any of the passengers so there were lots of positives. Within moments of leaving the airport, I was whisked through the drizzle with wifi and a USB port and it was all very smooth.

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    Still, I arrived safely, albeit financially rattled and maybe they should offer a laminated certificate to commemorate my participation in the UK’s most disproportionately priced transport experience (well, other than the Luton DART). It does though run 24 hours, so you can be overcharged day and night.

  • Glasgow – British Airways Lounge

    Glasgow – British Airways Lounge

    I wasn’t sure if this lounge would be open, as British Airways have closed some of their outstation lounge facilities, and also there are a few third party contracts that they haven’t yet renewed at other European airports. However, the facility was open and there was a friendly welcome from the staff member at the desk.

    It was busy when I entered, as the previous flight was about to depart, but it soon emptied out to this. I like this style of desk seating, but there were a range of higher chairs and lower seating as well, which should offer a suitable option to nearly everyone.

    There were plenty of power points dotted around the place and efforts made to put some artwork on the wall.

    Looking down the lounge back towards the entrance. The lounge was clean throughout and the staff seemed to be trying to thoroughly clean it after the first wave of customers left. There are also toilet facilities available directly from the lounge, so customers don’t need to go back out to use those in the main terminal.

    The food and drink section was closed off, so customers were served by staff. Unlike the system that BA have in their London lounges, there’s no app provision here, just helpful staff pouring coffees and the like.

    The menu wasn’t very broad, although I was there for breakfast time. They seemed to be mainly providing porridge to customers, that was certainly the most popular option. I went with the yoghurt and fruit, as the thought of porridge or muesli didn’t appeal. That was complemented by crisps and a pastry, along with a latte. The food and drink was all quite basic, but given the size of the lounge and limitation of the facilities, it seemed a reasonable offering.

    Announcements are made when it’s time for customers to go and get their flight, but there are numerous screens around the lounge so it’s easy to know when and where to go. It never got very busy during my visit, so there was always plenty of seating available for those who wanted it. It was also evident just how many customers knew the lounge staff, I imagine they must commute on a regular basis. As a lounge, it’s perfectly sufficient with food, drink, helpful staff, wi-fi and lots of power points, so a positive start to the day.

  • Paisley – Travelodge Glasgow Airport Hotel

    Paisley – Travelodge Glasgow Airport Hotel

    Having stayed at the Premier Inn hotel at Glasgow airport last week, I thought I’d try the Travelodge this week. As an aside, it seemed an odd way to build a hotel on prime real estate, with such a large footprint but only having two floors, but everything seemed modern and functional. There isn’t much to do in the immediate area, but it’s possible to walk to the airport in about ten minutes (although the options there are more expensive) or walk into Paisley in about twenty minutes for all the action that anyone could possibly want. What was useful was the clear walking instructions that the airport has installed so that it was easy to get from the hotel to the terminal.

    One day after my muttering about the potential problem (which fortunately didn’t become a problem) of connecting doors between rooms, this hotel had them as well, the first time that I’ve seen them in a Travelodge. They were firmly constructed and so noise intrusion wasn’t a huge problem, but I do hate the things and I notice that they’ve had a number of negative reviews about them.

    I slept well and didn’t encounter any noise internally or externally, with the hotel being clean and comfortable. The staff member at reception was helpful and friendly, so I felt welcome, with the check-in process being efficient. There were plenty of plug sockets in the room, although none near the bed, although I’m sure that this will be fixed at a future refurbishment. However, given how much I dislike connecting doors, I wouldn’t stay here again and would instead book the Premier Inn or IHG options.

  • Paisley – Premier Inn Glasgow Airport Hotel

    Paisley – Premier Inn Glasgow Airport Hotel

    As I had landed at Glasgow Airport at after 21:00 and I’ve never been to the city before, I thought that it’d be easier to just stay near to the airport for the evening. It was also cheaper to stay at the airport than in the city centre, so this was also a cost efficient option. I was pleased to discover just how easy it was to walk to the hotel, as I wouldn’t have been thrilled to traipse around some industrial estates in the dark trying to find how to get there. I’ve had that before, as airports aren’t often designed to encourage pedestrians to walk out of them (London Heathrow T5 and London Gatwick are examples of that….). Anyway, I was at the hotel about five minutes after leaving the airport.

    There was a friendly staff member at reception who said that he had given me a quiet room on the ground floor. I never discovered what relevance the quiet room bit had, as they’re not normally located on the ground floor next to the car park. But, to be fair, I didn’t have any noise problems and so had nothing to complain about. The room was clean, although they need to replace their sheets as they had black stains on them, the origins of which I didn’t dwell on. The bathroom was clean as well, with a bath rather than a shower cubicle.

    The spectacular view I had from my room.

    And the hotel exterior. I didn’t have any problems at the hotel, with everything working as it should. There’s no air conditioning in the room, although there’s a heater which is connected into the temperature controls to make things warmer. That wasn’t relevant for me as I rarely need to make rooms cooler, I spend more time trying to turn them into fridges.

    I didn’t bother with the breakfast as it was £9.90 and I think that it’s too rich a price for the quality offered. The menus in the room mention that there’s a meal deal with evening meal and breakfast included, but the price of that seems a secret. I’m guessing that this probably offers reasonable value for money, but it’d perhaps be clearer if they gave the price.

    The reviews are fairly favourable, with the negative ones being the usual mix of justified and, well, not really justified. I liked the complaint that one person made that they booked their breakfast for 10am but turned up early and couldn’t get their breakfast until 10am. The build quality of the hotel seemingly isn’t great (Premier Inn seem to have a common problem with this) and there seems to be problems with sound leakage from the floor above, but perhaps I was fortunate not to have anyone stomping above my room.

    The room was around £40, which was a little higher than ideal, but still cheaper than the alternative of heading into the centre of the city. I didn’t see anyone at checkout, but I’m fairly sure it wouldn’t have been difficult to find someone to talk to if I had needed to. All told, a perfectly acceptable hotel and I’d say that this is a reliable place to visit for anyone wanting to stay somewhere a short walk to the airport before or after a flight.