Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: Hammersmith

  • London – Hammersmith and Fulham (Borough of) – Holiday Inn Express Hammersmith

    London – Hammersmith and Fulham (Borough of) – Holiday Inn Express Hammersmith

    This is my second visit to this hotel (it seems I couldn’t be bothered to write up the first visit) although it’s the first now that lockdown has come to some sort of end. Located next to the Plough & Harrow pub which is operated by JD Wetherspoon, it’s about a six minute walk or so to either Hammersmith station or to Ravenscourt Park station. I got this night courtesy of IHG’s reward scheme, which has been rather generous this year.

    The room, all brand standard, clean and tidy. I’m not entirely convinced that desks that size are entirely ideal, but it suffices and there are plenty of power points around the room.

    The view from my window, a bit of a construction site, but there was no noise from it. There were more internal noise problems of doors slamming, something which wasn’t entirely ideal.

    Well, it has been known…..

    The welcome drink and the choice of beers was adequate, but I’m content with this Goose Island option. I’m not sure for what reason this drink seems to now be so commonplace in IHG and Accor hotels, but I’m not disappointed that it is.

    Some of the breakfast selection, all of which is included in the room rate.

    And the rest of it. All back to self-service, as last time I visited there were just bacon and sausage rolls which had to be taken back to the room.

    The breakfast area is large, clean and modern, being use as a bar and restaurant in the evening. Plenty of power points dotted around here as well. I was perfectly content with the bacon, which was crispy and slightly burnt (which is how I think it should always be served) and the other breakfast ingredients. They’re not hugely decadent, but it’s a free breakfast offering and there’s a limit to what’s viable here. I went down at around 07:00 and it wasn’t busy, with the signs around the hotel saying that breakfast only really gets busy after 09:00.

    I had a look at the reviews of the hotel, and they’re adequate, nothing overly positive, but nothing particularly concerning either although they’re oddly much more complimentary on TripAdvisor. It seems that they had a debacle last month, judging by a heap of negativity, with a fire alarm being set off overnight by a drunk guest. The negativity seems to relate to that the staff didn’t know what to do, which really is not an ideal situation and that would have annoyed me too. Otherwise though, I didn’t find any reviews that amused me, which was a little disappointing.

    The staff at the hotel were professional, friendly and helpful, so there was nothing wrong with the welcome. The hotel is quite reasonably priced for reward nights, so I’ll likely return here again, as well as being relatively close to central London and also not inconvenient for Heathrow as it’s near to the Piccadilly line.

  • London – Hammersmith and Fulham (Borough of) – The Dove

    London – Hammersmith and Fulham (Borough of) – The Dove

    I walked to this riverside pub as it’s listed in the Good Beer Guide, a short walk from the centre of Hammersmith. There’s no shortage of history to this pub either, which was first opened in 1740 as Doves Coffee House. It became a pub in 1796 and it has been visited by Dylan Thomas, Graham Greene, Ernest Hemingway and Alec Guinness.

    There is mention on-line, and indeed by the pub, that King Charles II and Nell Gwyn visited here, although I’m struggling to see how since they lived 100 years before the building was constructed. That link is just a bit too tenuous… There’s also a suggestion that James Thompson wrote the lyrics for ‘Rule Britannia’ when living here, although there’s not much evidence for that either. But it’s a nice thought.

    I was seated in the small bar which is said to be the smallest public bar in London, with five tables in it. There’s a larger dining area down some steps at the rear of this photo, but this remains a relatively small pub. I try to avoid taking photos with people in them, but I couldn’t avoid it with this one, hence the professional editing out.

    The bar was all nice and cosy, with half a pint of ESB, which is the best drink I can find in most Fuller’s pubs, and another pack of crisps. Main meals are served as well, although the prices are towards the higher end of the scale, £15 for mains and £8 for desserts, but the reviews of them are positive. The service I had was fast, efficient and polite, with the pub being clean and organised. I suspect it’s normally hard to get a table here given the decent reputation and it was full on Saturday afternoon, with some diners being fortunate enough to get a river view.

    Anyway, an interesting pub to visit…

  • London – Hammersmith and Fulham (Borough of) – Craft Beer Co

    London – Hammersmith and Fulham (Borough of) – Craft Beer Co

    This should have been the week when I finally managed to have visited every outlet in the Craft Beer Co chain, but it looks like the Prime Minister has put a stop to that. But, nearly there anyway, and I will get there…..

    Unfortunately, it wasn’t as busy as it deserved to be for a pub of this class. It’s listed in the Good Beer Guide and quite deservedly so. A few customers came in, and they all seemed content with what they had, but I can’t imagine a great deal of money was being made here for a Saturday afternoon.

    Nathan will mutter and tut that I say that this pub was a friendly and welcoming environment that I’d come back to. But it was, the sole staff member was engaging, conversational and keen to help. Comfortable and exciting, I liked it here. It’s interesting that the pub is located in a shopping centre, that’s unusual, but perhaps brings this type of beer to a new clientele. There are also numerous plug sockets dotted around the place which is useful.

    The beer menu was excellent, lots of different beer styles and some classy options. I couldn’t stretch to the decadence of the very expensive beers, but the Some People Are Immune to Good Banana Stout from Evil Twin Brewing was a delightful treat in itself. And, I’ll do my annoying thing of saying that it was rich, with a minimal taste of banana initially until the aftertaste kicks in, along with a smoothness that meant even the slightest sip was a delight. Right, I’ll stop there. I will have to get to the Evil Twin Brewing tap room in New York….

    I do hope that the Craft Beer Co can expand, they’re constantly surprising and delighting me at the moment.