Another Week, Another Hotel
Another week, another hotel. This week I'm in the Holiday Inn, a couple of hundred miles from home for a couple of nights. I can't help humming the Elton John track whenever I stay at the Holiday Inn. To be honest, I wouldn't normally stay at the “big” hotels – I try and get the smaller ones to save a bit of money (they are all as good as each other), but this was a late call, and other hotels nearby were fully booked.
So what do you get for a bit more money in a hotel like the Holiday Inn? It appears you just get a bit more room to swing a cat in your room. If I was having to stay here for some time, it would be absolutely fine; you get cupboards, a chest of drawers, and a wardrobe. You get a tea-set, a TV (hooked up to a crappy DRM ridden pay-per-view system), and a heated bathroom floor.
The one thing that has instantly annoyed me is the WiFi. I regularly stay at a smaller Holiday Inn while visiting another client, and there the WiFi is free. Here it costs 12 for 24 hours. Can you believe hotels still do that? It's not like it's a cheap hotel either – this is the expensive option ?!
I could sneak down to the bar at 6 for something to eat, but I don't want to be the first person down there. I'll hang it out for a bit first. I've done my fair share of being “Billy No Mates” in hotel restaurants. Hopefully I can just get bar food, and a drink.
The journey itself was uneventful. I left the office at lunchtime, raced home, packed my bag, jumped on the 1pm train, and was here by 4pm (after disappearing underneath London for a while en-route).
For those that read the earlier post deliberating about packing light, I did it – I have absolute minimal clothes with me for the trip in order to let me survive from one backpack. I realised on the way that I forgot shaving cream, but substituted that with posh soap in the bathroom when I got here. These are the kinds of exciting decisions I'm having to make on an hourly basis – it's pretty gripping stuff.
I have a huge bag of chocolate on the desk next to me (“Maltesers” – not sure they exist anywhere else in the world – cinder toffee balls, covered in chocolate). I swear they are whispering to me. I've already had a look at the bar menu though, and they have burgers... expect an instagram photo at some point.
(an hour passes)
Well the restaurant was an experience. I'm guessing I arrived during the change-over of staff – before the “real” evening service staff took over – the staff that had a clue what they were doing. The food was fantastic, but the fawning idiot waiting tables was useless – I saw several people's food sitting for quite some time in the (exposed) kitchen, with the chefs shouting “SERVICE”, and him ignoring them. My own food stood there for a good couple of minutes. Who knews what he was doing?
The food was excellent – but then I didn't choose anything difficult – a “New Yorker” burger (which translated to a cheese and bacon burger – why they couldn't call it that is anybody's guess). I stupidly ordered a side of onion rings before I really thought about it, and now I can't move – because of course I ate everything.
I'm such an idiot.
Did I mention that you have to pay for breakfast seperately at this hotel too? It's usually costed into the room – but not here. Given how expensive it is, I might go down at 6am and drink coffee for several hours to get my money's worth.
It's stupid really – I'm sitting in a nice hotel, complaining about the most minor things. The room is clean and tidy. The bed is pristine. There's a heated bathroom floor, for heaven's sake. The alternative would have been to commute for 3 hours each way for the next couple of days, and befall every failure of the British public transport network. Instead, I have a warm bed, and no washing up. At a cost.
I won't be turning the hotel TV back on, because anything worth watching has a pay wall in front of it. Luckily I brought my hard drive, and my netbook.
Those Maltesers look like they're going to start whispering again later. I must be strong. I must be strong.
Maybe a coffee will help.