Hotel Chains Discussion

[BrandanM]

I've stayed in quite a lot of Premier Inn hotels and have nearly always been more than satisfied with them.

The best value stay I experienced was a couple of weeks before last Christmas just off Princes Street in Edinburgh. Not far from The Scott Monument and approx 5 minutes walk from Waverley station. £119:50 for four nights. That was booked about 6 months in advance mind. The price was way higher nearer the actual date.

Even that can't beat the Premier Inn Penzance for distance from the train station though. It's literally on the other side of the road!.

 

[Richard Scott]

The French chains Hotel F1 and Premiere Classe are super cheap if all you care about is the price. You bring your own towels so only really suitable for drivers. They tend to be out of town anyway,

Stayed in a Hotel F1 last year near Sens, would avoid them after that, just not pleasant. There's budget and then there's F1.

 

[Jamesrob637]

I used to like Forte back in the 90s. Things have changed a bit though!

 

[Royston Vasey]

Our policy (a BIG legal organisation) is to allow a hotel stay if the journey to the venue is either longer than 2 hours or requires leaving home before 7 AM. Ceiling £120 in London, £100 elsewhere. We want the person to be alert and useful.

£120 in London buys you a grubby basic nasty hotel. £100 elsewhere buys you less and less in the current climate. If I worked for you I would leave.

 

[Royston Vasey]

For (e.g.) the Old Bailey, RCJ, Central London County Court (Gee St), etc - Travelodge Farringdon £89.99 for tomorrow Wed June 1st, Kings Cross Royal Scot £99.99, London Central City Road £109.99. Lots near Snaresbrook (for the Crown Court) under £100, cheapest £73.99 at Chigwell 2.5 miles away. We get, shall I say, 'senior' types moaning about the 'standard' of the within-budget accoms, but this is pretty rare. We do encourage them to book the travel & accomm via our contract supplier, who can get better rates and cancellation policies than individuals. That way they don't have to pay anything out of their own pocket to claim back later, and if the supplier can't find anywhere within budget, in that case it falls on us, not the traveller.

Admittedly I'm a senior manager, but I regularly need to request an extension on our £150 limit. Hotel prices have severely inflated since COVID, even in the UK (in the US, where i travel frequently, they've inflated equally while the exchange rate has further inflated those prices in GBP by another 20%).

 

[Kite159]

£120 in London buys you a grubby basic nasty hotel. £100 elsewhere buys you less and less in the current climate. If I worked for you I would leave.

Depends how they are defining London, as £120 will easily get a Premier Inn in the outer zones (unless booked last minute).

 

[richw]

I used to know a guy who tended to do "rate included" contracts and used to stay in an utter rathole (literally, there were rats) of a B&B near Heathrow so he could pocket the difference. Fair play to him but I'd not do that!

Back around 2016/17 I spent 4 weeks on a project where myself and another contractor was paid an allowance for our hotels and meals in the contract rate.
We were great friends and looked at options and struggled to find a hotel within the allowance. It was peak summer in a popular area. We discussed options and found a campsite offering £15 per night including electric hook up, for up to a certain size tent and 2 people included in the price. Both of us enjoy camping and already had the required kit. I owned a very large 2 bedroom tent. We had a camping stove and cooked our own meals.
After combining our hotel and food allowances each and paying our camping pitch, we were both left with a lot of beer money!

Depends how they are defining London, as £120 will easily get a Premier Inn in the outer zones (unless booked last minute).

I paid £55 for the new Premier Inn next to Canning Town station last week. Zone 2/3?

 

[Sm5]

At least we don't have the American practice of making people share rooms on work trips here. I would flat refuse to travel if anyone even suggested that.

ive worked with American companies for 25 years and have never seen this. Ive only ever worked for one professional British company, and they were the only company to ask me to share, with someone I didnt know, at a novotel, which I refused and went home. it was probably better for the other occupant really, I would have been a sensory overload listening, hearing, smelling, seeing my evening after beer and curry.

During my time Ive cleared over 4000 hotel nights at least, ive still got most room keys to prove it, and a collection of over 2500 boarding passes too.

I have noticed some crazy hotel prices recently, Holiday Inn Express set my expenses back 300 Euro a night in Dublin, a Paris Marriott over 600 Euro. Next is Rome is over 400 Euro, Hotel Indigo (IHG) in Manchester Victoria was reasonable for £120 (inc Breakfast) last month I thought.

Its crazy in Europe right now.

Aiui theres four factors…
1. shortage of staff, meaning closing floors.. but the cost base and margin still has to be maintained.
2. pent up travel demand, especially since May in vacation travel, many taxi drivers say the samething… holiday season started early.
3. Ukraine refugees are being hosted in many hotel rooms across the continent.. whilst it isnt the marriott, its filling up lower end, which in turn is forcing everyone to upgrade a hotel level.
4. long haul hasnt returned.. many whom would be in the far east or US are “here”, whilst US are taking advantage of the exchange rate… but the 200 Europe to NYC dailies, 1000+ Europe- NA /APACs havent yet returned.

I have noticed that during Covid, many hotels didnt stay idle, the number of refurbished hotels across Europe is very encouraging.

The UK to me, remains the lowest overall standard for price ratio of any country ive ever been. Though arguably ymmv vary in the US outside the big cities too.

Someday I will write a book about taxi, hotel and plane experiences.

 

[Bletchleyite]

1. shortage of staff, meaning closing floors.. but the cost base and margin still has to be maintained.

Is this not generally being worked around by doing cleaning less often? Most people don't want staff faffing about in their room during their stay anyway, unless quite a long stay, and just about nobody changes their towels daily at home.

 

[Busaholic]

I used to like Forte back in the 90s. Things have changed a bit though!

My father swore by Trust House Forte - his favourite hotel was the Speech House in the Forest of Dean, which he visited many times over decades, both with my mother then my stepmother. I never went myself, so don't know whether I'd have had the same high opinion.

 

[AlterEgo]

Admittedly I'm a senior manager, but I regularly need to request an extension on our £150 limit. Hotel prices have severely inflated since COVID, even in the UK (in the US, where i travel frequently, they've inflated equally while the exchange rate has further inflated those prices in GBP by another 20%).

I agree. Hotels have very much increased in price, everywhere I’ve looked, home and abroad.

 

[bspahh]

Hotels for holidays might be expensive. Last week I had a trip to Germany and Basel, and the hotels were cheaper than normal.

I stayed in the Best Western Plaza in Darmstadt, which is a business hotel in a tower block, a 5 minute walk from the station, and it was £85 for a flexible room rate including breakfast. Similarly, the Hyperion in Basel was £132 for a room, booked a week in advance.

Neither is in a tourist hotspot, but they are very well connected to nice places.

Eurostar tickets and flights were more expensive than normal.

 

[ChrisC]

Is this not generally being worked around by doing cleaning less often? Most people don't want staff faffing about in their room during their stay anyway, unless quite a long stay, and just about nobody changes their towels daily at home.

I agree with not wanting staff spending too much time in my room whilst I’m out. It makes me feel that I have to leave everything really tidy! However, if you are staying somewhere slightly better than a budget hotel, where more than the basic tea/coffee is supplied, you now miss out if you don’t request for your room to be serviced. I recently stayed a few nights in a hotel where in addition to tea, coffee and milk, they also supplied hot chocolate, biscuits and bottled water. If you didn’t request to have your room serviced, you did not get these.

 

[johntea]

Travelodge are generally fine in my experience, apart from they lack actual air conditioning facilities in the rooms apart from a desk fan which seems a pretty standard thing in Premier Inn, when Premier Inn are charging a £20 - £30 premium per night it soon adds up to just settle for the Travelodge!

WiFi I don't need as my phone has more 4G data than I ever need, breakfast I just nip to Wetherspoons which is cheaper anyway (I appreciate it may be handy in some of the more out of city hotels of course)

My top tip is I'm one of those who will stick the 'do not disturb' card on the door the day I arrive and remove it the day I depart, if you need any topup in drinks / fresh towels just pop to reception who will happily provide, or if you're roaming the corridors at the same time as the housekeeping a friendly chat with them will sort you out

 

[High Dyke]

I've stayed in quite a lot of Premier Inn hotels and have nearly always been more than satisfied with them.

The best value stay I experienced was a couple of weeks before last Christmas just off Princes Street in Edinburgh. Not far from The Scott Monument and approx 5 minutes walk from Waverley station. £119:50 for four nights. That was booked about 6 months in advance mind. The price was way higher nearer the actual date.

Even that can't beat the Premier Inn Penzance for distance from the train station though. It's literally on the other side of the road!.

Talking of Edinburgh. There's a new Premier Inn on the south side of Waverley station. Turn left out of the Market Street entrance/exit and continue along, passing under North Bridge. it lists itself as Edinburgh Royal Mile. Right next door is their compact/cheaper version Premier Inn Hub.

I've started using Premier Inns more often over the last year or two, and find them slightly better than a Travelodge.

 

[Harpers Tate]

In my experience
1: I'd only use a Travelodge as a last resort.
2: If the next best option were a Premier Inn, I'd check prices of others before booking. Contrary to the clever marketing, they are often not actually good value.

Importantly - anyone who does more than very occasional travel should look at loyalty schemes for those chains that have them. Stay more and get rewarded with points towards free nights and/or other perks. More nights gets elevated status with free extras.

For example (and I don't claim this will work for everybody) by a roundabout means, I currently enjoy Hilton Diamond status. We had two weeks in Malta in the spring. I booked the lowest category room with sea view; room only - at a slightly discounted members rate. What we enjoyed for the forntnight was an upgraded room, full breakfast daily and access to the Exec. lounge with free afternoon tea and evening alcohol and canapes. Most days we didn't spend anything on eating out. It all adds up.

A couple of nights at the the NEC last month. Booked lowest category of room. Checked in to a full suite - lounge, dining table for 6, two TVs, huge bathroom with a bathtub big enough for two, breakfast and Exec. lounge access again. etc.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

£120 in London buys you a grubby basic nasty hotel. £100 elsewhere buys you less and less in the current climate. If I worked for you I would leave.

At the end of May this year I paid £55 for a perfectly adequate room in a Premier Inn just across the road from Hammersmith H&C Underground station. You can still find bargains if you search around a bit.

 

[Bletchleyite]

At the end of May this year I paid £55 for a perfectly adequate room in a Premier Inn in just across the road from Hammersmith H&C Underground station. You can still find bargains if you search around a bit.

Depends very much on day of the week and time of the year. Urban hotels are cheaper during school holidays than outside, while those in tourist areas (or obvious staging posts on the way to them) are the other way round. And the cheapest night for hotels is Sunday->Monday, because most weekend tourists have gone home and most business travellers not arrived yet, and secondarily Thursday->Friday because most business travellers don't spend the whole week away.

 

[Sm5]

I would recommend the Sheraton Skyline, if you dont mind being on the edge of London. Bath Rd, by LHR.

It can have some good weekend deals, also they offer 1night+ upto 21 days parking deals that compete well with LHR parking, especially in the off season, its good for business trips, ive had £49 beforenow.

Theyve also got a covered tropical swimming pool with swim up cocktail bar…

 

[Ediswan]

Theyve also got a covered tropical swimming pool with swim up cocktail bar…

In the late 1990s, that atrium was a great place for breakfast meetings. Any idea when they changed it to a pool ?

 

[BrandanM]

At the end of May this year I paid £55 for a perfectly adequate room in a Premier Inn just across the road from Hammersmith H&C Underground station. You can still find bargains if you search around a bit.

The Putney Bridge Premier Inn is often good value too. By booking ahead I've paid as little as £30-£35 for a Sunday night stay a couple of times in recent years.

No more than 5 minutes walk from the tube station and not too long a ride into central London.

 

[ChrisC]

The Putney Bridge Premier Inn is often good value too. By booking ahead I've paid as little as £30-£35 for a Sunday night stay a couple of times in recent years.

No more than 5 minutes walk from the tube station and not too long a ride into central London.

I’ve stayed recently at the Premier Inn at Hendon, The Hyde, for similar prices. I think there are still a number of hotels a few miles out of central London where low prices can still be found. This is even more the case in other parts of the country outside of the more popular large cities. I am sure that hotel prices are going to rise quite significantly over the next year as the rising cost of energy bills begins to hit them.

It’s already been pointed out how some nights of the week in these budget hotel chains can be very low priced yet others nights can be very highly priced. When booking a longer stay of few nights, I often find independently owned and run hotels, work out cheaper because they often have a fixed price per type of room which do not vary from night to night or change when there is high demand. I’ve had some very reasonably priced longer stays in some Best Western hotels recently. You don’t get the really cheap nights but you also don’t get the very expensive ones, so can work ok for a week’s stay.

 

[Royston Vasey]

I'm thankful for everyone's suggestions on various Premier Inns in zone 4 or so! Sincerely, I do mean that as I am sometimes on a budget and don't mind a Premier Inn at all when on my dime.

When working, for me there is a false economy factor in terms of time and cost to then commute to where you actually need to be. I did this in Pittsburgh earlier this year, hotel rates were so expensive I had to stay out of the city for not much less to keep (almost) to budget, but I also had to hire a car ($100 a day), drive it in and out (50 minutes a day) and park it for the day ($20 a day). Now, I may have hired the car anyway but my time has value to me and the company. On business there are certain levels of comfort, convenience and amenities that you have a right to expect and have value for you and the company. Fast wifi, soundproofing, business centre, concierge, luggage room, gym, working air conditioning*, a good night's sleep...

If it was my money, I would think twice but not necessarily reject the more remote Premier Inn options. And sometimes I do stay in that sort of hotel when on business, if the time and financial costs aren't too great (e.g. direct fast train to close to my meeting)

I do book in advance but only a cancellable rate - this pushes the price up for the company but they won't reimburse prior to travel, and it's a big fight to get a prepaid hotel stay reimbursed if you've had to cancel the trip! It happened to me once, I had prepaid a hotel in Munich but the company needed me elsewhere... never again!

My pick for London and big US cities is usually Club Quarters, they are business hotels with good facilities, often quite small rooms but can usually be picked up for £130-150 booked a couple of weeks ahead. There are several in London. I can book the one at St Paul's tonight for £161, and in Midtown NYC tonight for only $199, which is extremely cheap for that location.



*Most air con panels in British hotels seem to be purely cosmetic. Don't get me started on Chinese ones which are centrally controlled and always too hot!

 

[westv]

I was just looking at some Premier Inn bookings at a City of London hotel I did around this time last year and comparing them with prices this year.
Four 2 night stays were booked in Sept, Oct, Nov and Dec. Each cost around £137 in total.
This year similar dates vary from £249 to £328

 

[Sm5]

In the late 1990s, that atrium was a great place for breakfast meetings. Any idea when they changed it to a pool ?

Its been like that since I started going, back in 2003, back then it had multi coloured umbrellas along the roof line, last time it had an inflatable globe of the moon..but it had popped

Marriott next door is good for Breakfast.

But its quite nice, usually (and now ) its a bit more expensive in August, but off season the stay/park rates are very competitive. They have an american diner too (complete with all the cowboy/western paraphanalia and stable barn effect on the walls etc).

 

[edwin_m]

On business there are certain levels of comfort, convenience and amenities that you have a right to expect and have value for you and the company. Fast wifi, soundproofing, business centre, concierge, luggage room, gym, working air conditioning*, a good night's sleep...

I'd say some of those are a bit over the top when for example someone is arriving in the evening for a single night stay and going straight to the office or a meeting in the morning. In that situation I just need a clean quiet room with a sensible temperature and a decent bed. The newer or refurbished Travelodges may offer that but I've had some bad experiences and would look closely at the reviews before booking one I haven't been to before. My main gripes with TL are paying for wifi, plus the rather basic showers and the disintegrating toilet paper, but acceptable for one night. If I need to work in the room, a Holiday Inn Express or similar would be my minimum standard. For some reason Premier Inn isn't on our company payment system so I tend to give them a miss rather than having to claim back.

 

[johntea]

One of the more interesting Premier Inn locations I sometimes stay at when I'm not in a rush and want a cheaper price is their South Mimms one, which is more designed for motorists and truckers as it is literally within touching distance of the A1/M25 to the extent if you're staying there you can actually walk on foot to the South Mimms motorway service station in about 10 minutes!

But it is only around 4 miles from either Potters Bar railway station or High Barnet tube station so a couple of options for getting into Central London, just taxi it from the hotel or there is even a regular bus service that departs right outside Potters Bar and has a stop very close to the Premier Inn anyway (although I think the last service from Potters Bar is around 10pm but even paying for a few taxis over the stay has generally still worked out cheaper than some other options)

 

[306024]

Travel tip if you intend to use an InterCity hotel in Germany. To get the free local transport pass you now have to be a loyalty club member. No great hassle to join but best done before you arrive just to save time.

 

[nlogax]

I tend to stick with Hilton hotels for work travel purely for the occasional free leisure night via points. Other than that I don't have a favoured chain. Although if spending a week or two out of the country it's sometimes great to use the Sofitel attached to LHR T5 the night before flying. Outside of the convenience and their very decent breakfasts I have never experienced more comfortable hotel beds. It's the only place I'm guaranteed to sleep properly for eight hours. Expensive but worth it.

 

[Royston Vasey]

I tend to stick with Hilton hotels for work travel purely for the occasional free leisure night via points. Other than that I don't have a favoured chain. Although if spending a week or two out of the country it's sometimes great to use the Sofitel attached to LHR T5 the night before flying. Outside of the convenience and their very decent breakfasts I have never experienced more comfortable hotel beds. It's the only place I'm guaranteed to sleep properly for eight hours. Expensive but worth it.

Your budget must be about £100 a night greater than mine

The Renaissance with a runway view room is my choice, usually about £130-140... but I always keep the hire car I've driven there in, park it at the hotel overnight and drop it in the morning and let Hertz shuttle me to T5, because I did the Hotel Hoppa once, it is a disgrace of a service, and it's not even free or remotely cheap...