Although I didn’t ask for this, thank you to Travelodge for offering me a free breakfast at a location of my choice (well, at a Travelodge hotel obviously and that’s not an unreasonable limitation) after I excited and delighted them about my experiences at Luton Travelodge. I am now disproportionately pleased by the prospect of a complimentary budget hotel breakfast, which is perhaps the clearest evidence yet that I need to get out more.
The morning after the night before. I accept that, for a series of posts labelled “The Balkans”, a detailed account of one night at the Travelodge in Luton might not immediately excite and delight. However, two loyal blog readers want regular progress and perhaps an occasional third reader has finally tired of bar billiards, so some variety is required. And for me to start complaining about things…
I arrived shortly before midnight and found nobody at reception, despite pressing the call bell twice. I’ve stayed here numerous times and had a fairly good idea which team member was working. He is always friendly, although I have developed an entirely unsupported theory that he relaxes in the staff room watching Jet Lag: The Game, the finest YouTube series currently available, and occasionally needs a moment to return to the reality of a Travelodge reception. He eventually appeared and was as welcoming as ever. I rather like things remaining the same, so even the short wait had a reassuring familiarity to it.
There’s no bloody KitKat. I’ve emailed Travelodge to complain. The upgraded room was supposed to include one, so its absence represented an early setback for Travelodge’s move into luxury hospitality. I had intended to eat it as dessert following the McDonald’s melon balls, although I accept that this was not an evening meal demanding a carefully considered final course.
I have genuinely emailed Travelodge to complain, although not specifically about the KitKat. Travelodge has upgraded a number of rooms by adding a coffee machine, a chocolate bar and a few decorative touches (I stress the word ‘few’ here and suspect they cost less than a fiver) before charging a little more for them. In fairness, this was the only room type available and it was still very reasonably priced. I therefore had no objection to paying for it, but once a company starts promising decadence, even budget decadence, it needs to keep a firm grip on chocolate provision. My friend Richard, who thrives on decadence, would have been displeased as well.
The more legitimate problem was that the soap dispenser contained only water, while the other dispenser was empty. There were also a few minor cleanliness issues. None of this constituted a hospitality emergency, but functioning soap feels like a reasonable expectation even before the hotel begins exploring the outer reaches of capsule coffee.
And, there’s perhaps a serious point here which is that Travelodge really have piled pressure on team members and given them more do so, whilst investing heavily in things that will annoy customers, like charging them to pick their room and forcing them to upgrade to luxury rooms without KitKats. They’ve perhaps forgotten issues such as security, cleanliness and basic functions. If a customer books with Travelodge now they get four emails, which is evidently in my mind as they’ve thought of new ways to get customers to pay more, whether it’s breakfast, evening meals, wifi, late checkout, room placement and so on. Individually, these are perfectly reasonable. Collectively, they create the impression that a considerable amount of corporate energy has been devoted to discovering further things that can be sold.
I’m an advocate of Wizz Air, which also charges separately for almost everything it can identify. The difference, in my experience, is that it generally gets the basic operation right. The aircraft arrives, the flight takes place and I am deposited somewhere that broadly corresponds with the destination on the ticket. If an airline can maintain that level of organisational discipline, a hotel should be able to provide soap.
But, back to positivity, the room was cheap, there were no noise issues internally or externally, there was a fan and since I’ve pro-active enough to have a back-up mini bottle of liquid soap, all was well. However, if Travelodge want to start selling decadence, they need to deliver, or just scrap decadence and focus on being consistently average.
I mentioned in my previous post for my two excited loyal blog readers that I had decided to stay in Wales rather than Bristol as it was just cheaper to do so. I took this photo standing outside of Newport railway station and it gives an indication of the length of the walk. I think even my friend Richard could manage this sort of walk.
There was no-one on reception when I arrived, but I could hear the receptionist on the phone to her friend in the back office. I then heard, “I’ll phone back in a bit, just got a customer” and since she said it in a way that didn’t sound annoyed, I didn’t feel like an inconvenience. This is, I think, the very summit of modern hospitality.
And the receptionist was rather friendly, chatting away about how to get in the hotel if I stayed out late, which wasn’t relevant to me, but I obviously looked like someone that went to nice pubs a lot so I was pleased as there are worse personal brands to have developed.
These are the newly designed Travelodge rooms and I rate this whole set-up, as long as the prices are affordable anyway. The room was clean, functional, modern and was comfortable, so that’s pretty much everything sorted.
There was quite a lot of external noise from drunk women shouting in the evening, but I rather like city life and didn’t find it problematic. I also had a fan on my window and there it is in the photo…..
I had a little look at the reviews as I like doing that and they’re not great on Google…..
“Honestly, this has to be the worst hotel I’ve ever stayed in. I know it’s cheap and you get what you pay for but I would rather have anything else than this. The place was dodgy from the start. I was given the key card by a man without uniform, nevwr asked me for my ID, just the name. The room was clean but could see a lot of broken or stained things as shown in the photos. The place also seems like a gathering place for the local alcies as they were right by my windows. I also booked the hotel through work and it was meant to include breakfast. This place has no restaurant so breakfast was a box that contained a stale pain au chocolat, a flap jack and some cereal. Will never see me there again.”
I’ve looked at these photos and I can’t see any staining, it’s not entirely clear what someone wanted from the arrangement. And I’ve never been asked for my ID in a Travelodge, just my name and address. I often don’t have any ID with me anyway, so I don’t want to be asked.
“Would AVOID!! Council are housing undesirable people here, got zero sleep as people were running up and down corridor at 3am, police were there !! Music blaring out of some rooms, if you want a peaceful restful night this is not for you.I had an 8 Hr drive the next day with little sleep. Be aware.staying here.”
Undesirable people is perhaps a rather loaded way to describe anyone.
“AVOID AT ALL COSTS… customer service shocking and really not helpful at all!! We were booked in here 26/12/25 for one night only whilst we were visiting family..one family member asked where we had booked so we told her and she said DO NOT STAY THERE!! She works local to the travel lodge and said it’s a drug den and been raided with on going issues!”
If it was a drugs den it was a very well kept secret from me, although that would hardly interest me unless they were dealing in crisps or something. Well, maybe some decadent craft beer I suppose, although I don’t tend to buy that in hotel corridors. It feels a little sub-optimal to be offered a mixed fermentation saison by a man standing near the lift.
Most of the reviews on Google aren’t actually negative and on TripAdvisor it’s all much more positive. However, nearly every review on TripAdvisor names a staff member which is this guilt trip thing they try on me of “if you could leave me a positive review and mention by name then I get a bonus” which feels really quite unfair of the chain to me to make their team members do this.
Anyway, I found the whole stay to be positive enough, it was clean, quite internally and I didn’t see this den of iniquity that others discovered. For a cheap stay it feels like a very viable option and it worked for me as a cheaper alternative to accommodation in Bristol.
After a quick visit to the Rook Taproom, I popped to Brighton Travelodge Seafront to check-in and I was already pre-pleased with the arrangement as the room cost £22 per night which surprised and delighted me. There was a friendly welcome at reception and the receptionist mentioned that the bar was 24 hours, which is certainly handy.
For the money, I was very impressed with the value as the room was clean, tidy and well presented. The hotel looked a bit knocked about in places, but it’s obviously heavily used. There was a heater in the room and the window actually opened, so the whole range of options as far as I’m concerned.
I had a look at the online reviews and they’re not particularly good, but they’re not a disaster.
“DO NOT GO HERE -Needs redecorating and NOT value for money paid over the top for a scummy room and toilet .Not enough coffee and milk for two people complained to reception . I don’t normally give feed back but do not use Third party websites as you will be over charged and not willing to help.Travel Lodge think before you sell your booking slots…”
There’s a heap of tea and coffee at reception, as much as you could ever want. Definitely don’t buy a Travelodge room via a third party site though….
“I booked a night on the quieter floor but the music from the Pub across the street was unbearable, even with the window closed.”
I can imagine a lot of people don’t like the noise, but it’s probably best not to book a hotel in the centre of Brighton….
“Worst hotel ever! Stains all over the floor, bedding and walls. Kept awake all night by club across the road and the hotels response is well it’s not our hotel is it!”
It’s an honest answer to be fair…
“Yes this hotel is not too expensive and in a great location.
However room was infested with bed bugs causing over 40 bites on the body and then when moved room woke up with more. Was told they can’t offer refunds or compensation as the bites weren’t evidence enough so pest control have to confirm it. Rang 28 times and no one has answered to give a follow up and check If they have even rang pest control to avoid happening to other people.”
I like the reviewer’s precision of 40 bites and 28 calls.
“We paid over £200 for a 1-night stay. They don’t tell you that the hotel is right next to a nightclub that is open until 3am”
I think I would have considered paying £200 for a room as a bit sub-optimal, so they have my sympathy. Anyway, I digress.
And leaving the hotel the following morning. There was a lot of external noise during the night of crashing glasses and shouting people, but I like that kind of constant disruption and I slept through pretty much all of it. Overall, I was very pleased with the whole arrangement and if a room is under £25, then definitely go for it….
Leaving Tredegar House, my first birthday weekend (as in the first of two, I’m not aged one) was coming to an end, with Richard walking to his car to go to one of his specialist locations. But, this wasn’t before a lady called upon Liam to fix her car, which he did admirably. Given that Ross isn’t a confident driver, I can’t drive and Richard drives into hedges, she picked the right person from the four of us.
Anyway, off Richard went. Richard was a little sad as he doesn’t like his car any more as he’s seen how nice a car Liam now has. Ross commented this was evident by the amount of junk thrown on the back seat as Richard tries to hide looking at the car itself. But we didn’t say anything.
We crossed over the Severn Bridge.
Back into sunny England, this is the Second Severn Crossing, more formally known as the Prince of Wales Bridge.
The end of a rather lovely weekend in Wales. We stopped at a JD Wetherspoon in Maidenhead, which is Liam’s hometown but more about that in another post (about the pub, not Liam’s family history).
Always a bit sad, but there go Liam and Ross after dropping me off at Luton Travelodge, as I only do decadent travel.
I’ve stayed here a few times before, it’s nowhere near the airport but I like walking.
The room was clean and comfortable, located at the far end of a corridor away from the lift, just as I like it.
In the morning, I walked the three miles into the centre of Luton whilst listening to podcasts, nothing like a bit of politics to start the week.
A very nice, and keenly priced, breakfast at JD Wetherspoon. I fancied a hot chocolate, but Keir Starmer has banned them, but the coffees tasted fine and the breakfast was cooked perfectly.
Then to collect my free weekly Greggs sausage roll, this didn’t disappoint.
Then another three mile walk to Luton Airport as I’m not paying for that DART. The weather was tolerable, the walk was not really exciting, but it’s good for the soul to walk six miles before a flight I’ve decided. With that, I needed to work out how to get to Ljubljana for my second birthday weekend….
Ross and I decided where to go on a weekend pub and history expedition primarily on the affordability of the hotels, with the Travelodge in Christchurch being rather decent value for money. The welcome was prompt and efficient, with the room allocation being reasonable (by this, I mean that Ross didn’t get a better room than me).
I forgot to take a photo of the room, but it looked like most other refurbished Travelodge rooms, so I’m sure my two loyal blog readers will be satisfied with that knowledge. I’m not sure what this little external area was, but I think it’s linked with one of the cafes that is in the shopping arcade below.
This Travelodge is too small for a bar cafe, so they don’t offer meals of any kind, including breakfast. They do offer this breakfast box, but I’m not sure why they bother as I’ve only ever seen negative reviews of it. There is an M&S and Waitrose that are both within a two minute walk (and a Greggs) so they’d likely offer better value.
Anyway, there were no noise disturbances either internally or externally, with the room being clean and functional. I had a look at the reviews, which are sort of positive. This one sounds exciting:
“Violent, drunk guest banging on our door throughout the night, scaring our 6 month old puppy. The guest went up and down the first floor throwing himself against the doors to other rooms while shouting and screaming to “let him the **** in before he * kills us”. This went on from 10.30pm through to 4am! We tried to phone down to reception, the call would not go through.”
I would have just phoned the police if this had genuinely gone on for five and a half hours. I would have thought that he’d wear himself out banging about for that long.
“However – what let it down was the view – through a small window over a flat roof to a wall and other room windows . Really felt like being in a prison cell. I explained I’m claustrophobic but was told the rooms are allocated automatically and can’t be changed.”
This reminds me that there’s a new Travelodge idea to charge people in advance to pick their room. This feels a poor idea to me that’s driven by accountants, it gives the impression that those who don’t pay will get a poorly located room rather than it being somewhat more random…..
“Booked and paid in advance for a room for the night of 25 August. Confirmed with the hotel the afternoon of arrival that we would be checking in that evening. On arrival at 7:30 pm we were told that the hotel was overbooked and there were no rooms available. We were offered an alternative ten miles away in Poole, which we declined.”
Travelodge does this overbooking thing way too much….. The number of complaints about it is excessive….
“No sleep, workers banging and drilling at 7am, door knocked on to ask if they gain entry to change the locks, did not feel safe or rested.”
This feels sub-optimal…
“Basic hotel at best but fit for purpose. However, our key cards frequently stopped working which we later discovered was due to them being incorrectly programmed. This led to another guest entering our room during the night. Although he understood and left immediately, the potential risk was significant. Reception staff did not understand the gravity of the situation and their response was disproportionate.”
My key card stopped working and reception gave me a new one, but took it on trust that I actually had a room there. I’d rather agree that the safety provision is a little inadequate….
Anyway, I was perfectly happy with the stay, the hotel was clean, the team members were friendly and there were no noise disturbances (although the seagulls could be quite vocal). I’d merrily stay here again.
I can crunch all this into one post as it’s the same route that I took last week on my little trip to Belgrade. I’ve also had a cold this week, although it’s obviously an aggressive version of it, but I’ve been very brave about it. However, I mention that not as I like telling people I’ve been brave, but just as an excuse as to why yet again I’ve got behind with posting about things.
Slightly blurry, but Liam once again drove me to Hatfield to stay at the Travelodge overnight before my onward journey. It’s always handy to get gossip fitted in on these journeys and it is quite handy getting a chauffeur driven ride straight to the hotel. Nothing much to report here about the Travelodge, the room was clean and there were no noise issues internally or externally. It seems a reliable hotel, I suspect I might be staying here a reasonable amount.
The view of Hatfield. I’m not sure that even my two loyal blog readers need to see a view of Hatfield out of a hotel window, but yet here we are.
As my flight was later on in the day, I popped to Harpsfield Hall to have several hot drinks for £1.56. Things looked problematic at first as the team member thought that the card machines were down but she said I could try, but I’d likely need to go and find cash. I wasn’t going to go and find cash, but I didn’t mention that and I was preparing to just move straight to Luton. However, to her surprise and considerable delight, the card payment went through and I went through a few hot chocolates. It reminded me that I really should restore the emergency £5 note to my wallet that I rarely remember to replace following the very occasional occurrence that I’ve had to use cash. It’s usually to get chips, but there are few places now which don’t take cards.
It’s quite metallic to say the least. I’ve visited here before, but I appear not to have ever written anything about it. I will use the history that Wetherspoons provide:
“The original Harpsfield Hall stood nearby and was approached by a long driveway, across open fields. It seems to have been built in the early 19th century, when it replaced a larger, older house of the same name, described as ‘a commodious residence with pleasure grounds’. The later hall was demolished in the 1930s to make way for the main runway of the new Hatfield Aerodrome. This pub stands at the corner of the old aerodrome site.”
This part of Hatfield is all quite modern, the old village is known as Bishop’s Hatfield, but the bulk is part of the post-war New Town programme.
Clicking on this map will make it larger and shows the difference between the 1860s and today (copyright of image to the right is the Open Streetmap project). The cursor on the left hand map is where the JD Wetherspoon outlet is today.
Given the aerodrome link, there’s an aircraft related theme to the pub and it also has Boeing 747 engine cowlings which have been turned into booths. I’ll find my old photos as I sat in one of those before, all very decadent.
Whilst I was at the pub, a customer demanded that BBC News was turned off and GB News was turned on. I was privately a little unimpressed when the team member agreed. It would never occur to me to be so annoyed at the news channel that I’d go and get it changed to make a political point. Each to their own I suppose.
Off to the 610 bus to Luton, a bargain £2 but it turned up 25 minutes late. I’m not sure that it’s the most reliable of bus services but I’m forgiving when I’m not in a rush and the service is cheap.
And off we go, passing the Galleria in Hatfield. As an aside, this is the exact point where the Hatfield and St Albans Railway used to run.
Safely in Luton, I went to the town centre this time and I’m always interested in these sort of ghost remains of buildings. I’ll have to come back to this one another time though.
Full of originality, I went to JD Wetherspoon for food and drink. This is primarily as I wanted to sit in a quiet venue and get on with typing away on my laptop, with the chain being particularly good at providing an environment where this is achievable. Again, I’ve visited before and I’ll use the chain’s history:
“In the late 19th century, the Crown & Anchor Brewery stood on the site of this Wetherspoon pub, a short walk from the site of Luton’s first brewery. Founded by Thomas Burr, in 1780, it stood next to his family home, known as The White House.”
The meal and drink cost just over £6 thanks to the Luton Wetherspoons being in the lowest price band that the chain has. And I was able to look at some books whilst I was there. Cheap, cheerful and reliable. This is one of the Wetherspoons which seems to have a queueing system, something of a throwback to Covid, which always seems slightly odd. I paid using the app, but I’m yet to get used to queues in pubs, although there is an innate fairness about them that I like.
Walking to the railway station, I passed by a Vauxhall Factory, the home of the Vauxhall Vivaro. There are around 1,500 workers here so it remains an important employer for the area.
And then by the printing works of the Daily Star. There used to be a large sign for the Daily Express and the Sunday Express, but either they’ve fallen off or they’re no longer printed here.
Here we are again, the delights of London Luton Airport. I was just five hours early for my flight, which I thought was reasonable. Excitement was certainly growing, it meant that I was returning to Poland for the first time in over a year.
Woooo, a little adventure this week as I’m going to Belgrade which is my first visit to Serbia. I had a little issue that I had to work out how to get to Luton Airport for my flight, but where there’s a will, there’s a Liam and his car. He kindly picked me up just before midnight to take me to the delights of Hatfield. I had established that I could get from Hatfield to Luton Airport relatively easily, although I didn’t realise at the time how easily, and the Travelodge was only £30 for the night. It’s not the easiest hotel to find the entrance to, but I was dropped off in good time. The staff seemed startled at someone trying to get in, but the check-in process was quick and easy. The room is the old style Travelodge lay-out, but it was clean and entirely functional. For the money, it was really rather good and was suitably convenient.
Liam patiently waited outside to check that I had managed to check-in. This is the confirmation photo that he wanted before he could safely drive off without me messaging him 20 minutes later saying I’ve had a crisis.
The room was very cold and I think that’s the state of the art temperature control on the left. I like very cold rooms, but I suspect some guests might not have been surprised and delighted by the arrangement. If only all hotel rooms were chilled like this one then I’d be very pleased.
It was all very peaceful inside, although there are a fair few number of reviews complaining about both internal and external noise. I noted a customer review which reads:
“Horrific. Stayed in room 226, all I could hear all night was the banging from the loud music coming from a restaurant across the road. Went to reception and told them and they said they have had lots of complaints because of it but nothing has been done to resolve it. I literally ended up sleeping in the bath till half 2 in the morning when the music stopped. Worse nights sleep I’ve ever had.”
I’m really not sure that sleeping in a bath was ever going to work as a plan, but there we go…. I quite like the buzz of external noise, but another customer noted:
“There was a man asleep in the disabled toilet after drinking to much. The area around it was terrible. There was rubbish everywhere, bed linen that someone had thrown out of bedroom window was just left.”
Sounds an entertaining evening…..
“Awful ! Truly horrendous.
We started to worry when we tried to park behind the hotel – men openly selling drugs , drug paraphernalia on the floor .
Reception staff lovely but the hotel have an agreement with the local council . Apparently their residents are “well behaved” but on finding one hotel guest on the floor of the corridor so drunk or drugged he could not get up . With another lady guest hanging out the hotel corridor window smoking drugs we decided that due to feeling unsafe we would leave .
The bottles of urine outside the front of the hotel were just disgusting. The hotel surroundings are full of groups of men hanging around . We felt really uncomfortable.
The hotel have refunded my two nights but I am still out of pocket for the two hotels we had to find as we did not stay in Hatfield Central .
I would not like anyone to feel how we did , this in my opinion is not a hotel for a lone female .
I have since found out that another business stopped using this hotel as female staff felt so uncomfortable
Avoid!”
They sound like a satisfied customer.
It is an odd design though, as there’s an open car park under the building and it’s probably quite a protected area for someone some poor sod who sleeps rough to stay dry. There’s a JD Wetherspoon pub about three doors down, one I’ve visited before and I can’t say that I thought I’d be back in Hatfield any time soon.
But, lovely as the stay was, I had to work out to get from Hatfield to Luton Airport….
In part three of this riveting series of posts, Liam and I have managed now to navigate our way around various Greggs across the country, have faffed about at a National Trust property and have now arrived in Gloucester. I admit, the Wales element of this trip is still a little way off in writing terms, but I’ve called it that as I was very brave in Wales and that’s how I want the weekend remembered.
We got to Gloucester and Liam mentioned that we had managed to park on Cromwell Street, which is perhaps best known for being where the crimes of Fred and Rosemary West took place. I hadn’t realised that this was in the centre of the city, I had just assumed it was in some obscure outlying area.
I’m not normally into dark tourism, but this is where the property was, now demolished and replaced with a small green area and a widened road. It’s odd to think of the crimes committed there, but there was no point dwelling on that as I’m sure the city has wanted to move on from this for some time.
We walked into the town centre and this is the signage relating to the East Gate.
And there are the remnants of the structure. These defences to protect the city were built by the Romans soon after they had established Gloucester as a settlement in AD 68. A thirteenth century tower was placed on top and the structures have been much changed, but some Roman remains are still there nearly two thousand years on.
A quick walk across the main square, or at least, a big square.
We were trying to kill an hour before moving the car to the hotel’s car park, as it was much cheaper after a certain time. As we were visiting the decadent pubs in city later on, we popped to the Wetherspoons outlet, the Regal, for a quick drink.
The interior of the pub and I did feel watched throughout by someone.
But I was too busy with my 50p Mini Cheddars to worry about people looking at me, whilst Liam had rather more decadent crisps. The beer is half a pint of Wychert from the Vale Brewery Co which was well-kept and slightly under-poured. I thought that I’d better have a quick look at the pub’s reviews, a little towards the bottom end of JD Wetherspoons outlets.
“This Wetherspoons has recently started offering Pizza on the menu. We have tried them a couple of times and they were delicious. However, today we ordered them expecting the same quality,but they were disgusting. There was virtually no topping on them, they were not even the correct shape! I complained about it, and I was given another one, which was much the same as the other one, but with dollops of cheese here and there. Needless to say, we will not be ordering a Pizza again.”
I don’t disagree with this review, as JD Wetherspoon pizzas are in my view cheap rubbish that would be best lifted off the menu, but obviously enough people like them. Anyway, there are two cultural references here that I liked, the dollops reminding me of Friday Night Dinner and the needless to say bit reminding me of Alan Partridge.
“Was served a pint in a badly chipped glass. When I complained I was told that they could not replace the drink as I had consumed some. The best they could do was tip the drink into a fresh glass. Very poor”
Always tricky, pubs usually do pour it into a new glass instead from my experience. This review could have done with photos so I could assess the badly chipped glass.
“Ladies toilets smell horrible and a notice on the door to warn of male workman being in there would of been helpful”
I wonder if there’s more a back story to this one.
“Got charged for a drinks mixer I didn’t order when brought my complaints to the manager nothing was resolved. In short this experience has turned me against pubs, first time going to one since lockdown ended & also Last time I will make that mistake, #StayHomeStaySafe #boycott #ItsMoreFunToDrinkAtHome”
It isn’t more fun to drink at home, so I ignored this review (beyond carefully reading it, copying it and commenting on it).
“The waitress brought out a plate with a very small jacket potato and a small chicken breast on it, the presentation was disgusting. We had to ask for a side salad for my friend. They could of at least put some peas, sweet corn or carrots on the plate with it to make it look appetising.”
Presentation of a meal is disgusting because there are no vegetables?
“salad was NOT fresh when spoke to manager about the salad she told me thats how it comes its pre cut and if they would make fresh salad no one would get food as they would spend all day cutting it”
Spend all day cutting it, that’s a classy comment I think, they should have given the manager some praise for that.
“This is honestly the most disgusting place I’ve ever been”
Some people need to get out more.
“Asked if EURO2020 could be put on the TV instead of the news which no-one was watching, but was told ‘no, we don’t do football here’”
And that’s a 5/5 from me. But that’s enough reading of reviews, I have a blog to write.
When I booked the hotels for this weekend several weeks before the event, the prices were high across Wales and England, the cheaper rates of the last two years have certainly gone away. I don’t know why the Travelodge in Gloucester was relatively cheap, but I picked it because I hadn’t been to the city recently, it was a short walk from the centre and there were nearby pubs.
I went to check-in whilst Liam parked the car, taking advantage of the cheap rate of £2 overnight. I had to wait a few minutes as the staff member was being ill outside, but the staff were so friendly that I felt entirely welcome. Travelodge might have some problems, but they do recruit some excellent staff, although whether or not they should have someone so ill behind the counter is a different point. But they gave me a heap of coffees on request and the booking was all as I expected.
There are two centres to Gloucester, or in leisure and hospitality terms anyway. There’s the Quays area and then the city centre, around a twenty minute or so walk between the two. We started in the Quays area as that’s where the hotel was located.
We weren’t entirely sure where to go for food, but I’ve been to some other outlets of Brewhouse so we thought we’d try there as they haven’t annoyed me in the past.
It’s not the best craft beer around, but it’s credible enough for my liking. The staff member at the door was helpful, saying that they were at near capacity, but she then worked out that a table would be available for us in around twenty minutes. I appreciated the helpfulness as they certainly were busy, and I decided I would ideally stay here for food.
There was some standing at the bar for around twenty minutes waiting for a table, but they kept us informed.
The beer choice. I work through the list in my mind, thinking about the beer styles, cross referencing them to Untappd and then having a final think about what I want. Liam decides which beer name he likes the best on that particular day. He doesn’t even have Untappd. I had two beers, the Unite Celebration, a creditable sour, and the Jamaic Ann Oatmeal Stout, which was a little lacking in depth of taste and mouthfeel.
They brew some beers here themselves, including the two that I had.
I liked the lighting. I had a lot of time to take photos of the decor as the food took over 40 minutes to be served, but to be fair, they had said they were busy and I was just pleased that we were getting food at all.
I went for the half beer can chicken, which seems to be what they shove the poor bird on to keep it tender and moist (after it’s already dead I’d add). I didn’t know what corn ribs were, but they’re essentially just bits of corn cut to make them easier to eat, which I appreciated as corn is unnecessarily fiddly. I thought that this was all very delicious, plenty of meat, the sauce had some flavour to it and everything was at the appropriate hot temperature. Liam had some pie and I don’t recall him complaining about it, so all was well and I think we were entirely satisfied with our choice of restaurant.
Next was TANK, an odd place which was poorly laid out with one clearly competent staff member and some less aware colleagues. I know this not only through my own observations, but because the competent staff member mentioned it as well. It’s listed in the Good Beer Guide as it has some cask options, but their keg selection was more exciting in my view.
I went for the Dockside Dark from Gloucester Brewery, who operate this venue as a sort of taproom, and this beer is available on cask and keg, although I went for the latter. It was OK, not rich enough for my liking though, but still very drinkable. They didn’t have any tables available when we got there, although we moved inside soon enough and I noted quietly to myself the staff could do with cleaning the place. But, I mustn’t complain.
The docks at night.
Between the docks and the city centre is this sculpture which didn’t offend me, but which was voted as one of the worst in the UK a few years ago.
We then decided we’d better make the walk into the city centre and we went to the Good Beer Guide listed Pelican Inn, which was delightful in every way. The menus were on Untappd and it had that community feel to its arrangements. I think the service was a bit lacking in enthusiasm, but Liam got this round and so I can’t comment much more about that. He doesn’t ask interesting beer questions of staff though, he’s too busy seeing which beer has got the name he likes the best.
I’ve just realised that Stuart from the LDWA, who does have Untappd (unlike Liam) as I got him into that, had been to this pub. Another handy feature of Untappd is that I know that, although it’s not clear what I can do with that information. This happens a lot with Nathan, who seems to have been to every pub in the UK. I went for the Wholesome Stout from Wye Valley Brewery, which was excellent, rich, full-bodied and, well, wholesome. It’s always a delight to see Untappd screens, not least so I can look at little pictures of myself at the bottom of the screen and remind myself I need to change my profile photo on the app.
A decorated postbox. I’d never have the patience to do this and I would be highly annoyed if I had spent hours on it and then someone pinched it.
Gloucester, including some photos of the Cathedral, at night and some of these came out better than others. I’m still playing about with my new phone to get photos look as I want them.
We thought we’d have one final drink when we were back at the Quays, ticking off the JD Wetherspoon outlet which has the intriguing name of the Lord High Constable of England. Below is the history of the pub name that I pinched from the pub’s web-site:
“This building stands on the east side of the docks, between Llanthony Warehouse (now Gloucester Waterways Museum) and Llanthony Road, where it crosses Llanthony Bridge. The name ‘Llanthony’ is taken from the now-ruined medieval priory on the west bank. Llanthony Secunda Priory was established by Miles de Gloucester in 1136. Like his father and grandfather, Miles was High Sheriff of Gloucester and was also Lord High Constable of England.”
This pub is better rated on-line than their other pub in Gloucester that we had visited earlier in the day and I was surprised how busy it was. We got the only table that was still available and the atmosphere was calm and sort of welcoming despite the busy venue. It could have all been a little cleaner, but it was towards the end of a night and it was busy, so perhaps I’m being a little aspirational there given that it’s a Wetherspoons outlet.
“I and my partner apparently had a ‘complaint’ made against us for kissing in a booth, out of view and restrained”
There weren’t many reviews that caught my eye, although this one makes me wonder how they were out of view.
“I brought an alcoholic drink from bar without being asked to show my id and then later was asked to show my id to a higher member of staff witch by law you cant do that once you have been served”
I don’t think there is such a law…..
“I would give it a 0 if I could, the tables were disgusting, the management and staff were so rude and I wanted a refund and she refused to give it to me because they “already started making my food” which isnt allowed?since I work with food and if the customer wants a refund, its law tou have engine them one!”
What laws are the residents of Gloucester following?
I went for the Old Thumper from Ringwood Brewery which was OK and well-kept, but I wouldn’t write home about it (although evidently I popped my thoughts here).
A quick couple of photos from the Quays, before it was back to Travelodge ready for our day of bravery starting the next morning. A suitably busy day, evident that it’s taken me three blog posts to write up.
Using the railways seemed exciting a few weeks ago, there was a rail sale, the network seemed in good shape and I got a ticket to go from Norwich to Peterborough for just £4. Rolling forwards, there looks like a summer of turbulence on the rail network with strikes and other outages, it’s really not ideal for those without cars. On a brighter note (for me, as I’m not sure anyone else would care), this was the first day with my new phone, so the photo quality may, or indeed may not, be marginally better. Just to show how unobservant I am, this is the first time that I’ve noticed you can sponsor a flower box (or whatever they’re called) in front of the railway station.
The train on the left is going to London Liverpool Street and the train on the right, which I was catching, was going to Liverpool Lime Street. I mention this as the conductor made three announcements on board about the difference, so there must have been a number of passengers getting confused. It made me wonder which destination I’d prefer, and I’d be happy with either, but I think it’s time that I go to Liverpool again. Although there’s a direct train there, it’s usually cheaper and even quicker to go down to London and back up. Actually, it’s a shame that the conductor didn’t give some numbers about how many people got on the wrong train, to spice the story up a bit. Is this a regular problem he has?
It was a relatively quiet service and these trains must be some of the last not to have power sockets of some kind. The conductor, who seemed quite chatty with his announcements, also mentioned at Ely not to be worried that the train goes into the railway station in one direction and then back again in reverse on the same track. I have mentioned to people in the past not to be worried about this (not pro-actively, I don’t tell people on the off-chance they don’t know, they have to look concerned for me to intervene) so I liked that the conductor explained the reversing technique used here.
We arrived on time into Peterborough and this pleased me, as there’s little point in hoping for Delay Repay when the ticket only costs £4. I’ve been to Peterborough on numerous occasions before and surprised and delighted my readers (or reader) with stories of the previous expeditions, so I won’t linger unnecessarily.
The frontage of Peterborough Cathedral, one of the more underrated religious buildings in the country. Incidentally, I was pleased during lock-down to be asked by the cathedral if they could some of my previous photos on their blog, always useful to know someone is reading something on here.
I didn’t go in again, but I’d recommend going in as it’s free of charge, and the guided tour is only £5 and that gives an extra depth to the history of the building.
The main square in Peterborough, with the sun still shining.
Back in the Travelodge at Peterborough and they kindly gave me a heap of milks and decaff coffees on request. Richard decided to come to Peterborough for the evening, reliving his nearly weekly trips to London last year to hear what gossip was going on about him, and we were both highly amused (admittedly one of us more than the other) when he found that in his room they hadn’t put any cups, coffees or teas, although they had remembered the kettle.
After Richard had arrived into Peterborough and had a good laugh about his room (and got replacement things at reception), we had a quick walk around the Cathedral.
When I visited Peterborough before a couple of years ago, my favourite bar was Stoneworks. The service here was excellent again, but I don’t like entirely their way of displaying beers, it’s not easy to read like that, but they also don’t mention what type of beer each one is. The staff member did offer recommendations, but it’d be much better to display whether it’s a sour, porter, IPA, or whatever.
Trying to unpick their menu, and they really should be on Untappd, meant I ended up with the Sup from Whiplash, which was fine, but I’d had it before, and I suspect there were better options on the menu. No doubt Nathan would have been able to tell me what every beer was, since he seems to have stored most of Untappd in his memory. The bar has quite a rustic design to it and it’s also one of those places which feels ideal for a relaxed Sunday afternoon, so I still like Stoneworks and would recommend it. And I also like the effort they’ve made in having branded glasses.
A perhaps slightly over-engineered sculpture which is meant to commemorate Henry Penn, a local man who cast bells in his foundry. There’s plenty more information about this man and his work at https://www.pennhenry.co.uk/. And I can’t really complain about this artwork, even though I just did, as it taught me something new and that can’t be a bad thing. By writing that, I more mean that artworks should educate or inspire in general, not be specifically designed to teach just me things. I have to clarify, as otherwise someone will email me.
Next was a repeat visit for me to Charters, which has a bar and restaurant on different floors.
I’m pleased to say that Richard didn’t get seasick, although I think the boat is pretty rigidly placed in the water and doesn’t much move at all.
As a comment more about my phone camera, I’m pleased that it doesn’t blur the light around bulbs and the image quality is much cleaner than my previous phone. Technology is moving on quickly and it’s hard to see how phone cameras will be able to improve in the future, although I’m sure that they will.
The boat sitting (I’m not very nautical, I don’t know the official term) happily in the River Nene.
I made a mistake here as I was excited to see a bar in Peterborough where I hadn’t been and listed its beer on Untappd. We decided to spend some time here after popping into the Wetherspoons next door where I could choose what beers I wanted from their Untappd listings. To cut a long story short, we entered Blind Tiger and they then told us that they were closing so couldn’t serve us. In fairness, they closed at their advertised time of 20:00, I just hadn’t guessed that they’d shut so early on a Sunday, which is my fault, not theirs. I was disappointed, I was already expecting to write in some detail (it’s relatively rare to find any venue in provincial towns that list their beers on Untappd, and rarer to find their logo on the window) about the bar, but, it wasn’t to be. It also meant that I didn’t go anywhere new during the evening, but there we go, this was near to being a venue that I would have perhaps returned to on many occasions.
It was too early to go back, so we went to the Ostrich Inn pub where the service was friendly and attentive. I’m puzzled by the placement of this board, as I couldn’t read it when we got to the pub because people were seated in front of it. It’s a nicely laid out board when visible though.
I won’t linger writing about the pub given I already have in the past, but I went for the Chop & Change from Vocation Brewery which was well kept. There’s an informal atmosphere to this pub and although its live music isn’t my thing, it’s clearly got a strong backing from the local community. Some interesting decor, history about the venue and a laid-back vibe, all rather lovely.
And photos of Peterborough whilst playing with my new phone, checking how they came out in the dark, and I thought the photos looked OK. Expect to see lots more photos in the near dark over the coming weeks until I get bored on testing the image quality.
And a final drink of the night in the College Arms, a JD Wetherspoon pub, where I went for a well-kept Benchmark from Bedlam Brewery, alongside a rather delicious pack of Mini Cheddars. It shows how decadent Richard is, not only did he order a jug of cocktail, but he also then complained when he didn’t get a glass. I think many of their customers would have happily drunk their cocktail either directly from the jug or by using the straw, but Richard was having none of it.
