Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: IHG

  • IHG – 10,000 Points for Every 10 Stays

    IHG – 10,000 Points for Every 10 Stays

    This is a clever tactic I think from IHG, a new project they started a couple of months ago which gives 10,000 reward points (which is often enough to get a free hotel room in a Holiday Inn Express) for every ten nights stayed. On the 40th room night, they give a bonus of 30,000 reward points, all in addition to the usual earnings. I’m going to struggle to get to that total, although I’m on course to reach Platinum so I might not be far off. I have though received my first 10,000 bonus points from this campaign.

    I thought that Accor would do something similar to this, as otherwise there’s not much additional incentive to stay further nights once a rewards tier has been reached (and I can’t reach any more without hitting Diamond which is their only tier which can’t be achieved by nights stayed). I’ve had a few problems with Accor this summer and none from IHG, so my loyalty is starting to waver a little. Accor do though have some excellent hotels that I really rather like…..

  • York – Holiday Inn Tadcaster Road

    York – Holiday Inn Tadcaster Road

    Going back a week (I’ve got a bit behind with these posts….), this is my stay at the Holiday Inn on Tadcaster Road for the LDWA NEC weekend. It’s a bit of a walk from York city centre, about forty minutes, but it’s a decent enough route to meander along. It passes by Tyburn, where criminals were executed in centuries gone by, to add a little spice to the walk. I’d add that there are regular buses for those who don’t feel the need to walk absolutely everywhere.

    In about 90% of occasions I think the quality of a hotel is evident in the welcome at reception. Some hotels do this really well and their whole service ethic is just a delight. A few are, to be honest, bloody hopeless and that theme usually continues. Anyway, this hotel had a warm welcome, a friendly team member and there was an air of competence about proceedings. It transpired that this set the theme for the stay.

    The room, which was spotlessly clean, with the exception of an old red wine stain that has clearly wrecked the carpet (not in the photo) at some point in the past. You don’t get that with beer…… There was a photocopied note from the area manager on the desk which said to please bear with them whilst they get supplies and staffing back to normal. I didn’t experience any issues, but I appreciated their honesty that things might not be perfect. It does seem though that they’ve had a number of staff leave and it has proved challenging to replace them, but I’m fairly sure that’s been a problem across the hospitality industry.

    The view from my window, which fortunately opened as I’ve muttered on before about how I don’t like sterile rooms where everything is sealed. It’s not pleasant, it’s annoying. This hotel let their customers have some air.

    There was a Kit Kat in the mini fridge, so I was immediately sold on the hotel. I’m easily won over….

    And hot chocolate, that’s a decadent little treat.

    The reviews for the hotel seem generally positive, although there are a fair few saying that the rooms look old fashioned. I thought that mine was fine and I can’t see any photos of different room designs, but perhaps they’ve shoved some people they don’t like in some old annex. There probably is a bit of renovation to do as they could do with some plugs near to the bed, but I can’t see that anything major needs doing.

    My stay was for two nights and there was little remarkable else to say, which is a great compliment as it meant nothing went wrong. Although the hotel was clearly nearly full, there was no noise either internally or externally. The room was cleaned after the first night, something that some hotels are still trying to avoid doing. All told, I couldn’t find anything to fault the hotel on, it was all really rather lovely and another positive IHG experience.

  • London – Redbridge (Borough of) – Holiday Inn Express Newbury Park

    London – Redbridge (Borough of) – Holiday Inn Express Newbury Park

    A short walk from the Central Line underground station of Newbury Park is this relatively new and shiny Holiday Inn Express hotel. On approaching, I thought that the reception was a bit hidden away (I like things to be very clear, I don’t like being expected to use my initiative as I can get muddled up) and there’s no way of accessing it at the moment without using a lift, which doesn’t seem ideal. After waiting for a while for the required lift to take me to reception, whilst quietly tutting at this set-up, the staff member was welcoming and so my initial pre-annoyance at the hotel dissipated soon enough.

    I very much like the clarity here with the welcome drink, and I know my place in the lower levels of the IHG rewards programme. I can look forwards to a free packet of crisps when I move up a level.

    The restaurant and bar area, which wasn’t exactly overly busy, but it’s a comfortable environment. There are numerous other dining options in the local area, which must make it challenging for the hotel to sell much food, but it was all reassuringly clean. Although perhaps a little sterile, but I suppose there’s a limit to what you can do on the first floor of a hotel in Newbury Park during a pandemic.

    The bar didn’t have any products available on draft, but the staff member said that guests could have any bottle of beer as their welcome drink. London Pride is an appropriate beer given, well, the hotel is in London and I was satisfied that an effort had been made to offer a range of beers that went beyond just having Carlsberg. The glass isn’t dirty, it had been chilled in the fridge.

    The view from the front of the hotel when I got to my room on the seventh, and top, floor. I was at this stage quite hopeful that my room would also have a view of something interesting and not just some shed or the like.

    All very standard as a Holiday Inn Express hotel room, but it was clean and comfortable, so all was well in the world (or in my world anyway). There are the usual tea and coffee making facilities, with all the room information material taken out.

    Until seeing the view from the area near the lifts, I hadn’t given much thought to the views from the windows of a hotel in Newbury Park, but it surprised and delighted me with the vista of central London in the background. Nice.

    The breakfast arrangement was a bit fiddly as although everything was laid out as it would be usually, a staff member served it from a little counter. Other Holiday Inn Express hotels don’t seem to be faffing about like this, although the staff member was keen to help. The food was all fine and I liked that the bacon was nicely crispy and that there wasn’t too much fat for me to laboriously cut off. Which was fortunate as guests were given wooden disposable cutlery.

    Of no real relevance at all, but I puzzled for a good few seconds why they decided to put the assembly point map the other way up to the floor plan. I decided not to let it bother me though as I had other concerns, such as what pub would I be popping to next……

    The reviews for the hotel are generally very favourable and I can see why, there was nothing problematic about my stay. I note they did get a negative review on TripAdvisor from someone complaining the hotel wanted £127 for one night for a late booking, compared to them only wanting £55 if he had booked much earlier. A guest who didn’t stay and complained that prices get higher towards the night of the stay, and then TripAdvisor wonder why their site seems to be dipping in credibility…. There’s a justified negative review though from a guest who complained that the hotel refused to deal with a room that was playing music very loudly. Pretty appalling, and I can see why the hotel apologised and offered compensation in their reply…..

    Anyway, I’ve digressed again. All told, I very much liked this hotel. I’m not sure what it cost per night as it was free as a rewards night by using 12,000 points. Given its convenience for the underground, its cleanliness and the general efficiency, I think I could manage coming here again in the future.