Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: IHG

2023 Lisbon Trip (Day One – Holiday Inn Express Lisbon Airport)

There’s a shuttle bus that can be requested to get from Lisbon Airport to the Holiday Inn Express Lisbon Airport, but I thought that I might as well just walk. What could possibly go wrong with walking through industrial estates at night and all that?

The airport roundabout has a car on display and then I was off on my little meander.

I was delighted to see that there was a pavement as these things are never entirely guaranteed. Even so, I wouldn’t have wanted to do this walk with luggage as there were a lot of bumpy surfaces along the way.

This happened a lot in the United States and there was little option other than to walk in the road, but fortunately, there were sidewalks along both sides of the road. I do sometimes slightly dread a road closure on an expedition such as this as there wouldn’t have been an easy alternative road for me to walk along. For anyone reading this post wondering whether to walk to the hotel, I’d say it’s easy enough.

The hotel is just visible in the background, a little shining beacon.

And here we are. I then promptly couldn’t find the way in as it’s accessed from the other side and there are no signs. For a moment I wondered whether it was closed. However, after walking around looking at the hotel from numerous angles I was able to find the reception area. The receptionist was welcoming guests in English which I admit is helpful, although I was slightly surprised they didn’t at least start in Portuguese.

With the choice of a welcome drink or points, I decided I’d try the beer and I received 0.5 litres of Super Bock. It tasted of pretty much every other generic European lager, but I was pleased to be safely in the hotel and there’s a little bar area.

I was worried when I entered the room as the toilet was flushing in the bathroom and I wondered whether they’d given me an occupied room. However, it transpired that the flush was just jammed and using my extensive civil engineering skills that I’ve learned from my friend Liam, I fixed it. I nearly phoned reception to tell them I’d fixed part of their hotel, but I decided against it in case they thought that I was odd.

The breakfast is included in the room rate and the cold meats looked fairly mass produced, so I avoided those. The cheese was better, albeit unexceptional.

The pastries were better, including the pasteis de nata (custard tarts) which are a personal favourite of mine.

I think that’s suitably healthy.

It’s a large breakfast area and it wasn’t particularly busy during my visit. There was a friendly staff member cleaning and restocking, it was an inviting environment and I liked that it wasn’t too busy and bustling.

Just before I left I thought I should check the other pastries, I was very pleased with the doughnut.

This is a perfectly agreeable hotel, the room rate was around £50 for the night and it was convenient for the airport. On reflection, it would have been just as quick to get the metro into the city centre and stay in a more central hotel, but I liked being near to the airport hotel in case there was a long flight delay.

I had a look at the reviews on-line, which are broadly favourable, and wondered about this one:

“Staff is extremely unfriendly, they make you do downstairs for every little thing. Not to mention it is very expensive, I paid USD 3200 for 5 nights.
There’s no service here; it’s better to go Airbnb because you still have to do everything yourself. No microwave in the room; no cutlery, no water. The reception told me drink water from the bathroom tap”.

I’m not quite sure how anyone could spend $3,200 for five nights unless that somehow includes business class flights. And I drink water from the tap, although to be fair I have quite low standards in this regard.

“I thought I would book with an American hotel near the airport so I would not need Euros just for my overnight stay”

I’m not sure that it works like that and they were disappointed that this US hotel did charge them in euros. Most of the complaints about the hotel are around their shuttle, or lack of shuttle in many cases. But, I’d stay at the hotel again if arriving late into Lisbon Airport, there were no noises disturbances internally or externally and everything was sufficiently clean and comfortable.

March 3, 2023
Luton – Holiday Inn

I’ve never stayed overnight in Luton before (and let’s say here, this must be on the bucket list of any wannabe traveller), but I had an early morning flight from the airport and I also needed to get an LFT test the afternoon before to be allowed into Poland, so this airport hotel seemed a sensible option. It’s not cheap, it was showing as £65 per night on IHG’s site, but I had another free rewards night (so many hotel offers at the moment), so this was all without a charge to me. There was also the option of the Holiday Inn Express down the road about 50 metres, but I wouldn’t have been able to have the free breakfast as I needed to leave early, and missing out on something would have annoyed me (although I think they might offer an earlier takeaway breakfast at the HIE, but I didn’t want to overthink things).

The standard Holiday Inn interior and the bloody windows that don’t open. There’s no excuse for this sort of short cut, the Holiday Inn Express has windows that open so if it’s good enough for them…. The temperature in the room was OK, but the air conditioning isn’t good enough to get my ideal temperature (which is similar to the chiller room in a fast food chain). Otherwise the facilities were all working and the room was clean and organised, although the television wasn’t one of the smart ones that seem to be so common in Accor properties now. There’s a gym somewhere in the hotel, but I forgot to use it.

I will give credit to the staff giving me the room furthest possible distance away from the lift on the top floor, which is my favourite room in a hotel (unless there’s a bigger one, or a room with free beer in it). I noted that the signs in the hotel to get to the room take guests a slightly longer way than possible, but then I realised that no-one really cares that another route saved three seconds. I need to get out more…. Oh, also, there’s a 24 hour bar at the hotel, which is no doubt useful for those wanting a drink after a late night flight (or indeed a pre-departure tipple).

The decoration in the restaurant and bar, with all the staff being friendly enough as well which lifted things somewhat. There are numerous complaints on-line about how guests have got big bills for using the car park, but I suspect a lot didn’t follow the rules which look quite clear. It’s no surprise these rules have to be enforced here, as it’s so near to the airport and they charge drop-off fees and don’t allow stopping.

A perfectly adequate welcome drink, it’s not going to be stocked in Goose Island, but it’s sufficient for a hotel bar. I will comment on, rather than complain excessively, that the hotel didn’t bother provided the promised snack (ie, crisps or nuts) listed on the drinks voucher. I have no idea why hotels try and make shortcuts with things like that for the sake of 20p given the huge costs they have with the rest of their operation.

There was a little internal noise from the air conditioning making odd noises, which I wouldn’t have noticed if I could have had a lovely window that was open. The obsession that Holiday Inn have with sterile rooms, fortunately a relatively rare occurrence when I stay in Accor properties (I’ve realised I’ve started to go on about Accor more, sorry).

The reviews for the hotel are adequate, although not as high as the neighbouring Holiday Inn Express and that’s odd, as I think Holiday Inn should be rated higher. I was amused at this review:

“An employee brought our beers to table that were 2/3rd’s beer 1/3rd foamy head. Again, just a training issue I would think. My dinner guest happily showed the employee how to pull a pint.”

I bet the employee wasn’t happy, but there we go…. One customer complained that the taxi fare cost £10 to take them to the airport, but that must be a one minute journey and I can’t imagine the driver wants to wait in the long queue for many trips like that.

I think I’d be more inclined to use the Holiday Inn Express if I live the dream and stay again in Luton as they appear to have windows that merrily open and close to the heart’s delight of the average guest, and there’s also a free breakfast.

January 20, 2022
IHG – New Rewards Scheme

Back to my niche content…. A new rewards scheme from IHG was announced today, although there are nearly no details other than the above structure of the new scheme, and it doesn’t come into use until March. I’m not sure why a company would launch a rewards scheme during the calendar year as it appears to have even confused them in their own FAQ, let alone card holders. The reduced tier qualification recently announced and confirmed is now only in place until March, so if anyone is quick they can get their status before the changes take that reduced status away.

It looks like a muddled mess to me, not only have their increased their requirements in terms of nights (which I assume means they’re hopeful about the outlook for the hospitality industry for later this year), they’re encouraging people to get status without any clue of what that status looks like. There’s nothing here that looks exciting, but perhaps they’ll surprise and delight me and other card holders.

January 19, 2022
Warwick – Holiday Inn Express Warwick and Stratford-Upon-Avon

Located near to the motorway and about a 40 minute walk from the town centre of Warwick is this IHG hotel. Visible in the photo to the right is what was until relatively recently a large Harvester restaurant, but it’s now been turned into a McDonald’s.

The check-in process was all efficient although there was a weird set-up where the cheapest room rate was only available for twin rooms. I asked about that at reception and they didn’t know what had caused that, but just changed the room booking to a double. I might as well have the extra space….

And the room, all to brand standard as usual. It was clean enough, with the exception of the “rest assured” cleanliness card to show that the room was clean, which itself was dirty. That’s not an ideal situation, they’d be better off dumping the cards or at least putting new ones into the room each time. Anyway, all else was well and I had my usual room location of on an upper floor and nearly as far away from the lift as possible.

The welcome drink selection was as dreadful as ever for an IHG hotel. In what seems to be some form of brand standard, Holiday Inn Express hotels offer Stella on tap which is a completely dreadful choice as the sole beer, alongside Bud, Corona and Peroni in the fridges, all what I consider to be generic rubbish.

The breakfast area, which was never that busy, although I did go down every morning nearly as soon as it opened which is usually the quietest time.

The drinks section on the left, toast and muffins in the middle. What amused me about the set-up is that they’ve hidden all of the plates around the corner. There’s some logic here, that they’ve tried to create a customer flow and they think that the plates are easily noticed. I watched one morning as all eight guests struggled to find the plates, and add to that me the morning before. I accept that it’s not grand entertainment, but there’s a limited amount of other exciting things to watch at 07:00 in the morning.

The hot food selection on the right, consisting of the minimum brand standard of sausages, bacon, baked beans and scrambled egg. There were also croissants, muffins, cereals, yoghurts and the like, all included in the room rate.

The selection of teas on the left, orange juices on the right.

Not entirely healthy perhaps, bacon and sausages, alongside a croissant. The food was the usual basic brand standard from Holiday Inn Express, nothing there beyond the minimum. The coffee cups weren’t the cleanest which wasn’t ideal and I had to pick out the crispiest bits of bacon amidst the rest which looked like it had vaguely been wafted over a naked flame for a few seconds.

I have no idea what this was in the gardens of the hotel. I couldn’t work out whether it’s a small folly to add excitement to the gardens, or whether there was some building here before. I’m fairly sure it’s a a miniature folly as some sort of homage to Warwick Castle just down the road, but I have no idea.

For the price of just over £30 per night including breakfast, this was a rather agreeable set-up, even though it was a slight traipse into the town centre every day. But walking is healthy and all that, but I was particularly pleased that there was a pavement all the way given that the road was quite busy. The staff were friendly, the room was clean and there were minimal noise disturbances. There’s a charge for the car park which annoyed at least one customer, but since I didn’t drive there, I decided not to let that worry me.

There’s further information about the hotel here.

January 16, 2022
London – Waltham Forest (Borough of) – Holiday Inn Express London Chingford North Circular

The hotel option for the last two days has been this Holiday Inn Express, around a fifteen minute walk from Highams Park Overground station and around a thirty minute from Walthamstow Central. And indeed, about a 15 second walk from the North Circular, but that was less relevant to me.

I didn’t have any particular problems here and the staff at the hotel were all friendly throughout my stay, with the check-in process being efficient enough. For reasons unknown, the atmosphere at reception felt more like a stressed budget American hotel, but the environment seemed safe and organised.

My IHG and Accor preferences both say that I prefer a room on the top floor away from the lift, and it’s unusual for me not to get that. Here, the staff gave me a room next to the lift on the first floor which wasn’t entirely ideal, but didn’t give me any particular noise issues. The room was clean and felt sufficiently modern, with housekeeping cleaning the room daily and fully restocking everything. There were no plugs by the bed, but there was a USB socket, so that was all sufficient.

There was the noise of traffic from the North Circular, but I like that random hum of city life, so it didn’t disturb me. The room had working air conditioning and also a window that opened, so ventilation was just as I liked it. There were also no real noise disturbances either internally or externally, although I don’t think that the hotel is that busy at the moment.

The carefully completed welcome drink voucher.

The beer choice was far from ideal, it was effectively this, pints of Stella or bottles of Corona. I’m not expecting craft beer heaven from a Holiday Inn Express, but this is weak even by the chain’s standards. I’m not sure why if a hotel has one draft line on for beer that it would choose Stella, that’s brave to say the least. And the hotel didn’t burden themselves with offering the free snack that was promised.

The breakfast arrangements were a little better than the usual Holiday Inn Express brand standard, and I’ve never seen tinned tomatoes available in this chain. I’m not going to claim that this is hugely decadent or exciting, but I thought it was a useful addition given that there are usually only ever four hot options (sausages, bacon, baked beans and scrambled egg). The area was clean and tidy, although they probably need to deal with their dishwasher which isn’t working as well as it perhaps could (and I’m assuming here they’re using a machine) judging by the state of some of the dishes.

Just down the road is Walthamstow Stadium, which I remember when it actually had a stadium behind the frontage. Other than this section it has all been demolished now, with housing behind the frontage.

The hotel is generally well reviewed on-line, although the average friendliness of the staff score is lower than usual, not that I experienced any issues along those lines. I did like the review on the IHG web-site which said simply and without any other comment:

“The lady at the front desk refused to sell me a kit kat at the front desk”.

I’d like to think that there’s an exciting back story there, but I suspect that it’s just because the hotel is card only and the guest was trying to pay with cash. Not that I have to worry as I don’t have a vehicle, but there appear to have been a fair few thefts which have taken place in the car park, which I can imagine is more than a little annoying for any tradespeople staying here.

Anyway, as a hotel I thought that it was all entirely reasonable, especially as the price came in at under £35 per night including breakfast. They’re playing just a bit fast and loose with the IHG Rewards Programme, but given the hotel was clean, the staff were friendly and the breakfast was as expected, it’d be hard for me to complain too much (or no more than normal anyway).

January 4, 2022
Warsaw – Holiday Inn Express The Hub

This is the joint Holiday Inn Express and Crowne Plaza at the HUB in Warsaw, a hotel which opened last year which is entirely operated by IHG. Roughly, the top half is Crowne Plaza and the bottom half is the Holiday Inn Express. Crowne Plaza get a nice reception at the front of the building and they’ve shoved the Holiday Inn Express reception to the back, although it’s not very well signed.

The member of staff at check-in was engaging and personable, offering a really positive first impression to the hotel. All well managed and he gave me all of the information that I needed.

I’ve never seen a hotel lift like this, where guests press the floor number on the screen and it immediately tells them which lift to go to. The lifts worked quickly and this was the most elegant lift arrangement that I’ve seen in a hotel. There are some hotels in Warsaw, such as the wonderful Novotel, where the lift arrangement is actually a bit annoying in terms of the wait.

Not a very good photo, but there is a visualisation of the hotel’s floor plan and the lift going up. All really quite lovely.

The room, which is relatively small, but well designed. There was an inter-connecting door, which I hate, but there were no noise or light impact from that.

And the bathroom, all well presented and everything was spotlessly clean.

The welcome gift is similar to those offered by some Accor hotels in the city, but I very much like these chocolate covered snacks, so that was lovely.

There was a courtesy call from reception a few minutes after I got to the room, which I ignore as I always do. They followed it up later with a card, which is a very nice gesture.

The view from the hotel window during the day and night.

As for the room, I didn’t like it. I really can’t stand hotel rooms which are sterile and the windows don’t open, so I was never going to like this hotel. The air conditioning worked, but only to a point, and I couldn’t get the temperature that I wanted. The excitement of the street noise of Warsaw and the trams going by was lost as they’ve hermetically sealed the room.

The staff member at reception had mentioned that to avoid breakfast becoming too busy, they’d split it into two sittings, one before 09:30 and one after 09:30. I went for the former and I had expected it to be very busy, but there were around ten guests in a room which could seat probably 100. Everything was well laid out, the staff were friendly and there was a decent range of food and drink. I wouldn’t say that breakfast was exceptional as the quality of some ingredients was a bit bland, but it was included in the room rate and I don’t think that there was anything to complain about.

In terms of the management of this hotel, it’s clearly brilliant. Everything ran like clockwork, the staff were friendly, the hotel room and public areas were spotlessly clean, the interiors were well designed and it felt welcoming. However, I didn’t like the sterile nature of the room and in these Covid-19 times, it’s not something that I’m content with in terms of the lack of fresh air. Given that, I’ll be sticking to my favourite Accor hotels which don’t have such sterile rooms. As for the cost, I think it’s around £60 – £80 per night, but I paid £25 plus a relatively small amount of IHG points, so I felt that the value was reasonable.

For more information and to book….

November 30, 2021
Dublin – Crowne Plaza Dublin Airport

Our plan for our final night in Dublin was to stay at the Holiday Inn Express near to the airport, which I booked a few days before. I then had a slight suspicion that the hotel was shut, something which transpired to be the case when I e-mailed the hotel to confirm. However, they had a plan and it was a plan that I thought was a first rate one (indeed, a cunning plan), namely that they’d just transfer our booking to the Crowne Plaza hotel next door. This is a far better hotel in the IHG hierarchy and they pledged to match the rate. The hotels are owned by the same operator, so it likely made sense to get as many bookings as possible and just put them in the better of the two locations.

It took us about one hour and forty minutes to get to the hotel from the city centre, not including the meal at McDonald’s en route. We decided to walk the five or so miles as the bus situation was just all too complex.

The check-in process was all efficient and well managed, with the staff member mentioning that we’d get free breakfast, something which I had suspected wouldn’t be offered as it isn’t usually in the room rate. However, without my needing to argue, the hotel had honoured the free inclusive breakfast that was offered by Holiday Inn Express, so all was well.

The entrance to our floor from the lifts, all very decadent.

Modern and comfortable, the bathroom also had a separate shower and bath, which isn’t a usual set-up. The room was also spotlessly clean and I could find nothing to complain about (not that I was particularly looking for things to be grumpy about). There were bottles of sparkling and still water available, and Liam cracked open the lemonade he had been traipsing about all weekend (I have no idea why he had been saving that as if it was a fine craft beer).

I always like a hotel that has my name on the television screen. I accept that I need to get out more though….. The hotel was also deadly quiet which is really quite lovely before a flight, with no internal or external noise. There was also air conditioning which was effective at keeping the room cool, with the windows opening as well so that it didn’t feel too sterile.

The breakfast room in the morning, all quite grand. For those used to luxury hotels, such as my friend Richard, this is nothing special, but it’s a considerable improvement to what I usually have…..

The breakfast options, the hot food on the right and the cold options at the back and on the left. There were plenty of hot food options, with the bacon being suitably crispy which is ideal for me. There was a chef behind the counter as well if any guest wanted an omelette or something.

The cold meats and cheeses, always my favourite section of a breakfast set-up.

I’ve never seen honey like this at a breakfast buffet, which is more testament to my predilection for budget hotels I think….

There is much more choice than in the Holiday Inn Express that we had booked, so I felt that this was a very handy little upgrade.

The breakfast I went for, with the presence of one of my favourites, white pudding. The only slight issue here is that the tables were quite cluttered, but that was mainly because I kept getting more plates and drinks.

The photo doesn’t really show, but the muffins are also somewhat better than I’m used to. I’m easily pleased.

The reviews for the hotel are pretty good, although not as high as I would have expected. This is part of one of my favourite reviews:

“So in the space of 24 hours two security guards and and a cleaner were in the room without notice. We spent the rest of our stay waiting for the alarm to go off again or Basil Fawlty to come in to check the walls.”

Some reviews complain of grumpy and indifferent staff, but I thought that the service was friendly and engaging throughout.

Fortunately, as we didn’t fancy a forty minute walk to the airport in the morning before our flight, there was a free hotel shuttle service operated by the hotel. I had worried, as I am wont to do, that it would be full, until seeing that the hotel owns a coach rather than a minibus. The service goes nearly every half hour, from as early as three in the morning.

And here we are on board, ready for the ten-minute shuttle trip back to Dublin Airport, marking the end of a really rather lovely weekend break.

As a hotel stay, this was a marvellous way to end the trip and I consider that we were very fortunate to be switched from Holiday Inn Express to Crowne Plaza. Absolutely no problems, and I’d happily stay here again if the opportunity arose.

October 21, 2021
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.

October 4, 2021
Glasgow – Holiday Inn Express City Centre Theatreland

After three nights in the Holiday Inn Express Riverside hotel, I moved for one night to the Theatreland hotel from the same chain. This was a rewards night, so I didn’t have to pay for it which was rather handy. For those who prefer a more decadent stay, there’s a separate Holiday Inn located next door, but I prefer the Express version as it’s cheaper….

The staff at reception were helpful and personable, although there was some confusion about breakfast times in the morning given that it was a Bank Holiday. I also wasn’t offered a drinks voucher, I was just automatically given the extra rewards points, which I must admit was probably what I’d have gone for if given the choice. First impressions were all very positive from the welcome at reception though.

My first reaction to this room was to be pre-annoyed and to check the IHG web-site to see if there were other rooms in the hotel that were available, as I hate rooms with interconnecting doors. They’re a disaster, primarily as noise between the rooms is just excessive. However, the hotel was apparently full and so I thought that I’d be stuck with the room. The room’s main door was also left unlocked and on the latch, although no-one had rushed in to pinch the coffees or anything.

As it transpired, there were no issues as despite my barricading the interconnecting doors in case next door tried to get in, I’m not sure that the neighbouring room was ever given to another guest. There was a section of the door where it was possible to see into the next room, which isn’t really ever an acceptable situation for a hotel and if that room had of been occupied, then I’d have been merrily rating the hotel as 1/5 for an unacceptably low rate of privacy. However, it wasn’t, so I didn’t. But I still take the view, and I know from reading reviews over the years that my opinion is not uncommon, that connecting rooms are a real problem for privacy and noise issues, and so they simply shouldn’t both be let out to different customers.

The breakfast room, with the hot drinks, pastries and yoghurts visible above.

And the hot options, with the menu choices being exactly the same as the Holiday Inn Express that I had visited the day before.

My first little selection and I picked out the most cooked bacon I could find, although they hadn’t frazzled it (which is how I like it, all crisped up) like the previous Holiday Inn Express. Anyway, all was well and the staff in the breakfast area were helpful and polite. I got there just before 07:00 on a bank holiday and it was already quite busy, although there were still plenty of seats.

Overall, I was near to hating this hotel in the expectation of noise issues from guests being put into the neighbouring room with the interconnecting door. Since they didn’t, whether by design or good fortune, I have nothing bad to say about the stay, the hotel seemed perfectly well managed. The rooms seem to have been modernised relatively recently, although there was no air conditioning which slightly surprised me. However, there was a fan and the window opened, so this sufficed for me.

August 30, 2021
Glasgow – Holiday Inn Express City Centre Riverside

I had a three-night stay at this Holiday Inn Express hotel in Glasgow, booked some time ago as part of a deal offered by IHG. As the name of the hotel suggests, it’s by the River Clyde.

The standard comfortable layout of a Holiday Inn Express room, which was clean other than under the sofa which I suspect has been ignored for some months. The rooms aren’t cleaned during stays, but I was pre-warned about that, and on request I was given a heap of decaffeinated coffees and milks to keep me going through the three days.

The view from the hotel room window, the River Clyde is on the right hand side.

I was on the top floor (the fifth) and the corridor has been constructed so that it juts out to offer views of the river, with this arrangement probably not ideal for those who don’t like heights. I was very brave obviously and went to have a look.

And the view from the end of the corridor….. A nice touch, as otherwise this marvellous view wouldn’t be visible to guests.

There were a few different beers to choose from with the free welcome drink, although the staff member seemed surprised that I didn’t want a pint. Given that the choice was Stella, it wasn’t a difficult decision to have a bottle of something rather more drinkable instead. I went for the Goose Island IPA, which was entirely fine for a free drink.

The staff member at check-in had been helpful, suggesting that as the hotel was full with 300 people that it’d be a good idea to get down to breakfast early to beat the rush. I did exactly that, so these photos make it look quiet, but that is a slightly false impression. Breakfast was very busy every morning just a few minutes after I had come down, so the advice to get down at opening was useful. The breakfast area really is too small for the size of the hotel, although my early arrival tactics meant I didn’t struggle to get a table.

The hot drinks area.

There was also a yoghurts and cereals section (on the right) and a choice of four different hot foods (on the left), which were scrambled egg, sausages, bacon and baked beans. I never really eat scrambled egg, but the other three options worked for me. The bacon was dry, slightly hard and shrivelled up, which is fortunately just as I like it. I heard a few customers grumble about it over the three mornings, but I don’t like bacon which only looks like someone has waved it in front of an oven, crispy is good for me. The choices for vegetarians and vegans were weak, there were some pastries, but they were generic.

The seating area, which was full within a few minutes of this photo being taken.

It’s important not to be greedy…..

This was another well run hotel and I’m becoming greatly impressed with IHG properties. There were no noise issues either internally or externally, with everything working as it should do. Friendly staff, clean room and a modern hotel, even though it has been here now for over a decade. All really rather lovely.

August 29, 2021