Last week's hotel: IBIS City Centre Coventry

Well it's not cheap, for what it is.    Parking and Breakfast, which is not great, are extra.  But at least the wifi was free and ok.  I am not fond of their bathroom pods which have a shower and sink and toilet, but it was ok (at least until I slipped trying to get out of it).  I was not paying the bill, and I think that I was generous last time in saying it was cheap.  I get rooms in London for less, which is my benchmark.  Admittedly not nice rooms.

The major good thing about this hotel is that it is 5 minutes walk from the station, and also 5 minutes from where I was working (and these were not opposite directions!).

I was in a bad mood when I got there because the Birmingham-Coventry line was closed because of a fatality, and I had to take a taxi from Birmingham New Street.  and when I did get there the key did not work first time.  Again.  But it does the job. And things could have been worse.

Breakfast is a sort of small scale buffet featuring limited choice and dried up eggs for about £8.  Not good enough to be enthused, not bad enough to be angry.

Birmingham City Centre

Dodgy keys, reasonble wifi, no parking, strong shower but very low.  Bit dated and worn, but ok.

Last week's hotel: Enclave suites, Orlando, Florida

Well, I really like it.  Ok it is clearly getting a bit worn and used, but it is literally 5 minutes drive from Universal Studios.  By which I mean 5 minutes after finally getting in your car in the Universal car park, you are pulling into the Enclave Suites car park.

The staff are pleasant enough if not exactly world leaders in customer service, the pool(s) are clean, the showers are good, the cleaner's really do clean, and it is really rather affordable.  For a family on any kind of a budget it was great.  My one real gripe is that the card keys were just as unreliable as anywhere, which meant a couple of trips to reception.  Oh, and though they were willing to let us have a mail order delivery they could not quite get with the programme about telling the mail order company that we were guests.  Perhaps I should have tipped more.

It is quite likely we shall return.

Tonight's hotel: the varsity hotel and spa, Cambridge

Lovely, if pricey - £165/night.  Mind you it is graduation week, so the hotels are full.  Shame I am

not going to have time to take advantage of the great location, the spa etc.

Room is huge, and the bathroom has a balcony.  The tv is bigger than at home.  Only negative is that water pressure is not great.

Star Wars Day

May the 4th be with you

monday's hotel: room G06 Hyde Park Boutique hotel

Just behind reception, so could have been noisy but not a problem for me.  Bumped up from a single, which was nice.

As usual good wifi, shower, clean, roomy, comfortable.... If it was closer to the office it would be perfect as opposed to just very good.

Yesterday's hotel: room 211 Hilton Doubletree Cambridge

You don't really get the size of the bed from the picture.  Vast.  Very nice location, great breakfast, good shower.  Wifi free to Hilton Honours members otherwise a ridiculous £15/day - and though ok it was a bit patchy.  Lovely location on the Cam.  I am sure it is reassuringly expensive, but I didn't see the bill. Only nit to pick was the pillows were a bit soft, and one of the lifts wasn't working - small stuff.

Tonight's hotel: IBIS Coventry centre

Difficult to find, grubby, artexed walls, pay car park.  On the plus side I guess it is cheap but I am not paying so that does not matter.  Wifi free if a bit slow.  And of course the room key did not work first time.  Horrendous journey down and the election just started so I am not in a good mood.  Maybe i'll be more generous in the morning

Room 203 London continental hotel, London

Upgrade to a double room.  Hey ! Room to swing a cat.  Convenient and reasonable.  Stayed many times and no doubt shall again.

 

Tonight's hotel: Novotel Birmingham Centre

Room 409.  When was the last time you had a separate loo and shower?  Obviously old but done up nicely.  Still doing the old wifi rip off though : £9 for decent access.  Unforgiveable in this day and age.  Right on Broad Street so handy for fun.  I'll be in my bunk.

Last night's hotel: Hyde Park Boutique hotel

As before, very good value for the money.  Room to swing a cat, good strong shower (which was tricky to turn off), good strong Wifi, close to Bayswater tube.  Recommended

Southampton holiday inn

So, little bit of a mixed bag.  A bit old, poor wifi, but friendly and good water pressure.  View is what you might call interesting.  Key didnt work two times out three.  Bed very comfy.  Tv didnt work very well. Good breakfast.

Last week's hotel Birmingham Radisson Blu

Another new one for me.  Achingly funky.  Rather deliberately so.  Only problem was that the door key kept on losing magnetism.

Great wifi, great shower, good breakfast ( though the eggs were a bit over complicated.  The point is eggs shoukd be simple)

5 minutes easy walk from New Street Station - when you know where you are going.  Googlemaps found it difficukt to locate, but in reality it is easy.

Hope to go back.

Didnt use the small gym on the 18th floor which looks suitable for only 4 or 5 people - but was empty when I visited

Midland hotel, Manchester

Reassuringly expensive as they say. But I had no complaints.  Good free wifi, good breakfast, pleasant staff, a bar on someone else's expense account.  You may not have the last of those.

Mercure Piccadilly Manchester

A standard room, not the suite I had last time.  They had just had a flood so it was freezing, but otherwise fine

Marble Arch Gloucester Place hotel, London

Catching up a bit from last week. This place was down the road from my usual haunts, and very cheap. So I was not expecting a lot. In the end it was absolutely fine, with good wifi and breakfast buffet.  They dont seem to have a standard rate but vary the price on booking.com and similar. So I shall try them again, and see if they are reasonable later in the year when they reopen after refurb.

Marble Arch Gloucester Place hotel, London

Catching up a bit from last week. This place was down the road from my usual haunts, and very cheap. So I was not expecting a lot. Min the end it was absolutely fine, with good wifi and breakfast buffet.  They dont seem to have a standard rate but vary the price on booking.com and similar. Mso I shall try them again, and see if they are reasonable later in the year.

Tonight's hotel: Radisson Blu Liverpool

Pretty snazzy, wifi ok, water pressure a bit dismal.  Oh and do go in the right entrance and not walk around the block - it is a long and unnecessary journey.  So I guess, read the directions.

Tonight's hotel: Mercure Piccadilly Manchester

I don't know what I did to deserve it but I must have been upgraded.  The Graden suite is rather lovely. Not sure about the apple though.

Mercure Gloucester Bowden Hall Hotel

Lovely.  Nothing much around it, but great looking building and grounds.  Pretty reasonable with booking.com.  Excellent free wifi throughout.  Good full English breakfast.  Hope to be back

Crowne Plaza Amsterdam

Very convenient, just opposite the end of Centraal Station.  Best internet of any hotel, and very helpful staff.  The restaurant is a bit Dutch, i.e. Efficient and functional rather than warm and romantic, but I dont have a problem with that.  Lots of shops and restaurants nearby.  I am sure it is expensive, but I was not paying.  Recommended.

Last weeks hotel Travelodge Southwark

Can you tell the difference 

The Thistle Birmingham

The wind it whistled.  And the flags flapped.  Just outside the window

Last week's hotel: Kingsway Hall Hotel, London

Couple of minutes walk from Holborn station, so not far from the British Museum.

Prices can be seriously variable, from £100 to £200/night.

Staff very pleasant, food nice enough but not outstanding, room lovely. I would be seriously hacked off by the £10 internet charge if I had not been comped.  The gym is basically a large hot tub, and 4. Cross trainers.  Still by London standards, it is something.

Haapy to be back, and to stay again.

Holiday inn Express, Milton Keynes

Very nice, and very close to the M1.  Free wifi which was ok until everyone started using ut.

Travelodge Waterloo Central

Reasonable wifi, reasonable and very nice breakfast - but rather expensive at £166/night. Quiet enough too which is always a worry when you are on the ground floor.

Thankfully I was not paying.  And this time there was some shampoo - admittedly in a dispenser on the shower wall, but not to complain.

Today- Ballabridge hotel, Dublin

Hardly here long enough to form an opinion, but good wifi, good shower, full Irish breakfast.  What more do you want?  Nice bed.  Just didnt have enough time in it.

Yesterday's hotel: The Rugby Hotel, Rugby

Pretty much opposite Rugby School, this looks like the sort of place choose to stay when they are paying rather than an identikit business box.  Wifi was good, shower rather feeble, breakfast full english.

Rather nice.  Probably back to the Travelodge next year though, just because it is closer to my venue.  But I

'd be happy to stay here again.

Todays hotel: London Continental Hotel

Very affordable, and provides wifi and shampoo.  A bit hot, but then London is a bit hot today.  It might be a bit cold other days.  I shall find out.

Hyde park boutique hotel

Hidden gem

Park lane mews, London

Wifi dosnt really get to this room

Earlier in the week's hotel room: Jury's Inn, Brighton

Well it could hardly be more convenient for the train station because it is just beyond the drop off turning circle - maybe 100m from the platforms.  But no train noise.
Free wifi, which was pretty reasonable. Hotel was more expensive than I would have liked, but then again it was sea side resort in summer.  Clean and comfortable.  Typical Jury's Inn in other words (apart from the free wifi).  Shower was a bit feeble, but I had more beds than I needed.

An earlier week's hotel- the Pavillion, London

The Pavillion is a "rock and Roll" hotel.  Very cheap through Laterooms, and too small to swing a cat.  Yes that IS the bed.  But I shall use it again.  Convenient for where I need to be, and a place to crash.  And distinctly stylish.  Or weird.  Your choice. No gym, obvs.  Didn't check wifi, but there was a TV.

This weeks hotel room: Kensington close hotel london

Just off high street Kensington.  Quite roomy for London.  Pay for wifi and gym, which sucks.

Two weeks to go in the season

And Liverpool are still top.  Though not favourites, and we won't be top when we next play.  But time to appreciate our best season for a long time. It's not we could have been contenders. We were contenders. That will have to do.

This weeks hotel- Hilton Istanbul

Very "the shining".  I like it.  A reminder of the days when Hiltons were Hiltons, not over priced Travelodges.

This week's hotel: Travelodge Waterloo Central, London

Apologies for me scruffing the room up before the photo.  What is there to say.  It's a Travelodge. Quite close to Waterloo Station IF you know how to get out of Waterloo station.  I didn't.  And so it was a bit of a hike. Not their fault.

Unlike the lack of free WiFi, or shampoo.  I am sure that all helps keep the rates very reasonable, but it is a bit of a downer to have to go to the corner shop for shampoo.  Also luckily there is a corner shop on the corner.  Possibly on both corners of the block.  It is well served, along with a Sainsbury's express opposite Waterloo station.

The shower only worked if you held the head in place, but to make up for that they offered me a free breakfast.  Sadly I had already eaten.

Clean enough, safe enough, and probably reasonable enough (I didn't choose or pay - seems to be £88/night).  Not quite the Ritz Carlton though.

Last Weekend's hotel room - De Vere Greenwich, London

Not a great picture, but a great hotel and a bargain.  Less than £130 for 2 nights for 2 in London.  I know people who expect to pay twice that for one night for one.  Admittedly this was for a weekend break, but it is great value.
The hotel itself is an old Admiralty building, and the location is fantastic - about 100m from the Cutty Sark (so about 150m from a tube station and the water bus).  Greenwich itself is interesting, and has a good range of restaurants and bars.  OK, it is 30 minutes from central London, but this was the heart of Empire, and of course of GMT.
The hotel has free wifi, and is nice throughout though a little generic.  Rooms are fine, and by London standards quite roomy (i.e. you can walk in them rather than shuffle).  The Admiral's bar is reasonably priced too, which is a surprise.  Strongly recommended.

Oh, and apparently Thor stays there.

Longer days

It is already noticeably brighter in the afternoon, if not in the morning.  This is an annual good thing.

Christmas at LFC

Nice to be top at Christmas - a sign of progress.  But now we are slipping, and our lack of strength in depth is showing.  We need one or two good acquisitions in January.  Another striker and another defender.  Bet we get a midfielder.

Season's greetings

Back in 2014.

This week's hotel - Kempinski Residence & suites, Doha

Lovely, and extremely convenient.  Frightfully expensive too I think, but I'm not paying 

This week's hotel- ramada beach quorum, Mucat, Oman

Does what Ramada does.  Efficient and functional, if not the most luxurious.  And actually near a beach- if not an awful lot else

Tonight: hotel Koffieboontje in Bruges

Cannot complain about the location.  Room also has a mini kitchen.  Wifi free but does not seem to extend to the bedrooms.

Tonight only - holiday inn express, Shrewsbury

Very nice, and very reasonable with free wifi.  Fine all round.  Of course it is on business park, so it hardly has a view or other attractions.  But it makes tomorrow's journey about 30 seconds.  Which is nice.

Yesterday's hotel room. Jury's Inn Birmingham

Yesterday's rather than today's because jury's Inn are one of those chains that persist in charging (big) for Internet access.  And so despite the large room, good breakfast and extremely comfortable bed I cannot recommend it.

Tonight: Premier Inn, Birmingham Alston

Much nicer than last night.  Oddly no phone.  30 mins free wifi.

Last night's room - travelodge Rugby

Almost defines basic, and so close to the railway you almost need a platform ticket.