Europe a la Carte Blog

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I read a post today by Phil Caines, one of the organisers of the Travel Blogger Summit in Berlin last week, describing the Newsweek report on the growing disillusionment among consumers with user generated reviews.

I think that there’s too much emphasis on user generated reviews. If you’re going on a trip where you’ll spend most of your time out exploring, how much time and effort should you place in finding the perfect hotel? Surely what you’ll remember most about your trip is what you saw and did rather than your hotel room. I know a bad hotel can spoil a trip but as long as the hotel is clean and comfortable it will serve as a place to sleep.

Personally speaking I’ve been caught out by reviews. For a special occasion I do want to stay somewhere with a bit of character. Last year I booked a hotel for our wedding anniversary which received good reviews but we thought our room was pretty awful. The booking was made through Active Hotels were you can only write a review about a property that you have booked through their site and actually stayed at the hotel. We had a much better room on our way home for a fraction of the price at a Travelodge.

Thinking back a few years, when you booked a hotel blind, I had my share of good and bad hotels, much as I do now, even although I may spend hours searching through user generated reviews.

Good - right next to S Bahn, tram and bus stops, good continental buffet breakfast, clean shared bathroom facilities, reasonable prices

Bad - noisy, mainly from banging fire and room doors but also surprisingly from housekeeping staff starting work early and talking loudly to each other

Rating - 7 out of 10

I choose the Generator Hostel for a stay of 4 nights during my attendance at the Berlin Travel Trade Fair in March 2008. Prices had rocketed at any accommodation close to the Fairground in the west of Berlin, so opted for this hostel, a converted factory, in the east of the city. I’d booked a twin room as I initially thought my husband might come over for a couple of nights. In any case I didn’t want to sleep in a dorm. It cost 213 US dollars for the 4 nights for a twin room including breakfast, booked through a third party, after searching for the best price on the HotelsCombined price comparison site.

On check in I was upgraded to a four bedded room which was more spacious and told jokingly by the receptionist I could have a different bed for every night of my stay. The room was clean, apart from some stains on the carpet and had a small sink. The issue of stained carpets is being addresses as laminate flooring was being laid in the rooms during my stay.

I never had any problems with access to the bathroom facilities which were always clean but the toilet paper was more like kitchen roll.

The breakfast was pretty good, fresh white rolls and sliced rye bread, a selection of cereals, yoghurt, cheese, jams and salami. The coffee from the machine was very good.

My only problem, serious to me, was not being able to sleep. There was a certain level of noise made by other residents from the adjacent rooms, the corridor and slamming doors but I was awakened every morning from around 06.30 by housekeeping staff banging away and talking very loudly to each other.

I have been disturbed by noise from other residents in more expensive accommodation on some occasions and I acknowledge that I am a light sleeper but the experience has really put me off staying in hostels in the future.

Good - £45 a night for a twin room with breakfast on the Great Getaways rate, which could be canceled without penalty up to 48 hours before arrival, peaceful rural location.

Bad - long queues at breakfast buffet, no sound insulation between rooms. Rural location means you’re dependent on car to get there and if you want a selection of restaurants or pubs.

Rating - 6 out of 10 (at £45 a night)

We stayed for 3 nights in February 2008 at the Shap Wells hotel, which lies around 20 miles south of Penrith. I’d assumed the hotel was in Shap. so had to call into another hotel to ask for directions after we’d driven through Shap with now sight of the hotel. It’s down a single track road a couple of miles south of Shap. It’s a grand old buidling in a quiet, rural location, next to a stream.

There were no spaces in the car park when we arrived and my husband had to move a glass recycling bin so we could squeeze into a space. The receptionist on duty was not very friendly or warn just efficient. Our room was adequate. fairly compact with a small window overlooking the inner courtyard. The bathroom sink had a large crack and there were some cracks in the side of the wardrobe door. We could hear quite a lot of noise from the corridor and nearby rooms.

Breakfast on Saturday morning was an ordeal as there was a 15 minute queue at the cooked breakfast counter. The queue snaked around our table and it wasn’t very relaxing having all these people standing next to your table. There were several large unused tables left all along the window from a function the previous evening which meant that you couldn’t enjoy the lovely view out to the stream.

I asked to speak to the manager to voice my displeasure and while he listened politely he more or less said it was inevitable that there would be a queue for breakfast at a large hotel and there had been no time to remove the large function tables before breakfast. I did try to explain to him that I was trying to be constructive in order to improve the guest experience in ways that don’t necessarily involve spending more money, just more consideration of the guest. The view from the restaurant is one of the best features of the hotel and it’s a waste not to let guests enjoy this because you can’t be bothered to move some tables. When I told the manager this, his reply was “everyone would want to sit by the window”. Well at least some guests would have their wish fulfilled if the function tables had been removed.

Overall at £45 a night the Shap Wells was OK but if I’d paid much more for a rather basic room and poor breakfast service I’d had been pretty hacked off.

Good - fantastic value for £20 a night bed and breakfast for ensuite single room midweek in February 2008. Good location, just of London road, 15 minutes walk from Princes Street.

Bad - room quite basic beginning to show some minor signs of wear and tear.

Score - 10 out of 10 (at £20 a night)

I found the hotel searching on my favourite HotelsCombined price comparison site with Laterooms for £22 for a single ensuite room without breakfast. I thought this was a pretty good price but I thought I’d also have a look at the hotels own website. Unusually the rooms were even cheaper there. A single room was £19, a double £29 including breakfast if you paid upfront and £20 for the single and £30 for the double, for the option to cancel up to one day before arrival.

The hotel consists of a conversion of several adjacent terraced Georgian town houses. The receptionist was cheerful and welcoming, My room was a good size for a single room, basically furnished with an ensuite shower room. Although the room had a high ceiling and it was a cold night, the room was nice and cosy. My room was at the front of the hotel on the ground floor but I didn’t hear any external noise as it’s a few hundred metres from the main road.  Breakfast was adequate with a choice of cereal, yoghurt and tinned fruit, fruit juice and a cooked breakfast. If you have a car, you can park free overnight until 08.30 and it’s 70 pence an hour from 08.30 with a maximum stay of 4 hours.

I had a look at the availability of these low rates and could only find them midweek until the end of February, then the price increased to £37 a night. At that price my overall score would change as the price has almost doubled.

It’s always a good idea to use a price comparison tool in conjunction with a look at the hotels own site, to ensure you find the best rates.  You can use the search box below to check the best rate available through HotelsCombined.

Holiday Inn Express have rooms on their “Leisure Saver” offer for only £39 per night including continental buffet breakfast. Family rooms can sleep up to 2 adults and 2 kids up to the age of 19.  The current offer runs for stays up to the 31 December 2007 but I’ve seen this promotional rate several times during the year.

Make sure that you choose the “Leisure Saver” option, as when I did a search on the default, “Best Available Rate”, the sane rooms were coming up at £69 a night.

I’ve stayed at Holiday Inn Express on several occasions and always found the rooms to be comfortable. There’s a good choice for the continental breakfast with cereals, yoghurts, croissants, pastries, fruit juice and a selection of hot drinks.

Good - spacious, clean apartments with seaview terrace or balcony, good value for money.

Bad - Quality and choice at buffet meals inconsistent, English hardly spoken in hotel as predominantly German guests.

Rating - 8 out of 10

We stayed for 7 nights at the Morasol Atlantico Aparthotel in November 2007 at a cost of £276 for 2 guests in a one bedroom apartment on half board. It was good value for money as the apartment was a good size with a huge sun terrace. Although the kitchen facilities were limited with only 2 electric rings, a coffee maker, a toaster and a fridge. There was a sea view but this was partly obscured by the building opposite. It took less than 5 minutes to walk down to the beautiful beach, one of the best beaches that we visited on the island.

The hotel was totally geared towards German guests, with the staff and other guests assuming that everyone was German. All the hotel notices were in German. Personally I didn’t really have a problem with this but if you like to spend time chatting and socialising with other holiday makers this could be an issue. The whole resort appears to have a very high percentage of German guests.

The buffet breakfast and dinner varied greatly from day to day. There was more choice of food at breakfast than at dinner. For dinner there was one soup, a few bowls of salad, a choice of two main courses, one fish and one meat, and one or two desserts such as creme caramel or apple cake slices. Breakfast was rather haphazard with unreliable coffee and juice machines and when items such as fried eggs or yoghurt ran out there was a long wait for replinishment. However you have to bear in the mind the price that you pay and overall the meals were acceptable.

I would recommend the apartments for the standard of accommodation and accessibility to the beach. I’m not sure about the half board option you’d really have to look at the difference in price between self catering and half board to make the decision. I didn’t notice many restaurants in the resort but there is a well stocked Spar store just beside the apartments.

I booked the apartment through Medhotels. You can search for the best rates at the HotelsCombined price comparison site.

As a fan of Travelodge, I was very disappointed by the room in which I stayed at the Stirling Travelodge earlier this week. The bathroom ceiling of room 26 was mouldy and covered in brown spots.

Bathroom ceiling of room 26, Stirling Travelodge

Now I have to admit that I checked in late after a long day and I’d already started to unpack when I noticed that state of the ceiling. Also my room was at the quieter back of the building so I didn’t go down to reception to complain and ask for another room.

On checkout when asked if everything was OK I did mention the ceiling and the receptionist did apologise, assuring me that the room was due for renovation in the next couple of weeks.

This incident hasn’t put me off staying at Travelodges as the vast majority of rooms in which I’ve stayed have either been good or acceptable. However Travelodge should ensure that all rooms meet a minimum acceptable standard.

Good - reasonable price, unique view onto West Ham stadium, easy access to Excel conference centre, close to Underground station, free parking, clean, quiet rooms.

Bad - out of city centre, surrounding area a bit shabby.

Rating - 8 out of 10

View of pitch from my room at Quality Hotel West Ham

I stayed at the Quality Hotel West Ham for 3 nights in mid November 2007 when I was attending the World Travel Market at the Excel Conference Centre in the Docklands. I spend some time searching for reasonably priced accommodation of an acceptable standard, fairly close to the venue. Some hotels next to Excel were charging £200 a night, some cheap hotels in the area received very low guest ratings. I certainly didn’t want to stay in noisy dive but neither did I want to be ripped off because there was a trade fair running.

The only accommodation I could find that received very good ratings from guests, at a reasonable price, costing £65 for a double room without breakfast, was the Quality Hotel West Ham Continental breakfast costs £6 per person, a cooked breakfast costs £10 per person.

It’s a two minute walk to the bus stop and a 10 minute ride on the number 147 bus will take you directly to Excel. The service runs every 1o minutes. A day bus pass costs £3.50. To reach the bus stop you turn left on exiting the stadium grounds and walk to the crossroads, cross the main road, (Barking Road), at the traffic lights and turn left to the bus stop.

The hotel is quite unique in that it sits in the grounds of West Ham United so if you’re a West Ham fan you’ll be in seventh heaven as you can gaze out onto the pitch from your room. The towels, cups and chairs are adorned with the West Ham emblem but don’t be tempted to take anything apart from the pen or toiletries bag home as a souvenir or you’ll be charged £15 per item. Free parking is available in the stadium grounds. However there are restrictions on check in and check out times at the hotel on match days so watch out for this.

The rooms are just adequate for double occupancy. There’s not much storage space available as what should be the wardrobe is locked and used as storage for match days. There are just a few clothes hangers on a couple of hooks and some drawers. I had to leave my suitcase lying on the floor. The bedroom and bathroom were very clean and the daily housekeeping service was very good.

A double room at the Quality Hotel West Ham costs from as little as £40 a night. The hotel is located in east London within 3 miles of London City airport and Canary Wharf . The hotel is close to Upton Park Underground Station, with a journey time of around 20 minutes to the Tower of London and 45 minutes to Kensington.

The neighbourhood is bit run down but I felt safe walking around on my own in the evening as the streets you walk on to reach the Underground station, a 5 minute walk or to reach bus stops are fairly busy streets lined with small shops and lots of people walking around.

I’d recommend the hotel if you’re attending an event at Excel or are a football fan. Although if you can book the hotel at a rate of around £40 a night, it is worth considering for a stay in London as there is a good service on the Underground into central London and all day travelcard only costs £5.70 if you start your journey after 9.30am on a weekday.

Good -  cheap rooms in a central location.

Bad - cooked breakfast awful, rooms could be cleaner.  Lack of parking.

Rating - 7 out of 10

I needed to stay for a night in central Edinburgh so I did a search on HotelsCombined, a hotel price comparison site.  The Osbourne Hotel through Venere came up with the cheapest ensuite single room at £24 for the night.

The Osbourne Hotel is located five minutes walk from Princes Street and Waverly rail station.  I’d to park my car a ten minute walk away in a side street with pay and display parking charged at £1 an hour from 8.30 - 17.30. I was upgraded to a spacious twin room.  I’d requested a quiet room and was allocated a room at the back of the hotel, away from the main road. My room was pretty plain and simple with a good sized bathroom.  I had to move one of the single beds away from the wall to access the electric socket to charge my mobile phone and it looked as though this area had not been cleaned for months as it was really dusty on the skirting board and the carpet in this area.

The Osbourne Hotel

Breakfast is served between 7.30 to 9.30.  I found the breakfast room to be cold.  It was a self service buffet. I have to say the scrambled eggs were probably the worst I’ve ever tasted, totally inedible, cold and hard.  I wasn’t offered any tea, so tried the coffee and it was awful.

However thinking about the price I paid I could tolerate a bad breakfast and just have fruit juice, cereal and toast.  Apart from the dust behind the beds my room was pretty good.  If you are looking for somewhere cheap to sleep for the night in a central location the Osbourne Hotel is worth a look.

Good - Charming, friendly hosts. Clean, well equipped bedrooms. Great breakfast in garden conservatory. Good value for money.

Bad - Rooms at the front of house, very close to main road and therefore rather noisy.

Rating 8 out of 10

We stayed at the Glenvar Bed and Breakfast in Perthshire for one night in October 2007. It cost £50 for a double ensuite room. We received a very warm welcome from the couple who run the B&B and were given a pot of tea with scones and jam. Our room had a really comfortable bed and was spotlessly clean. There were additions such as bathrobes and slippers that you wouldn’t expect in a B&B. The only bad thing about the room was that it faced the main road through the town. Every time a car drove past you could hear the loud whoosh. This also meant that your only view from the window was the road and houses on the other side. However the road noise didn’t disturb our sleep.

Breakfast is served in the conservatory which faces the lovely garden. We started traditional porridge, made from oatmeal, served with cream. My husband had smoked haddock and I had the vegetarian cooked breakfast. The food was of excellent quality with generous portions.

If it hadn’t been for the bedroom location at the front of the house and the subsequent road noise and lack of view, I’d have scored the Glenvar at 10 out of 10.