Visited: 17th December 2006
We weren't expecting much - we knew choosing a chain restaurant in a tourist trap the week before Christmas wasn't going to see us given an experience much beyond the basic, but we hadn't recalibrated enough, unfortunately.
First, I must make it clear that the greet and wait staff were wonderful, especially given the seething masses attempting to get fed in the restaurant - very polite, very quick, very helpful and very professional.
But the sheer number of people in the place made for a miserable experience - there must have been a couple of hundred people crammed in to the three floors, and the noise and heat that this implied.
More disappointingly, if you're being charged eye-boggling prices - there's the tourist mark-up you'd expect - you'd at least hope for edible food. But the potato skins tasted more of the ground they had been grown in than potato, and the toppings were stingy. I ended up scraping the cheese off the spud, but eleven bucks for a handfull of cheese, served in something akin to a chicken coop? Tourists are easy pickings, sure, but TGI could still make a massive profit without damaging their reputation, surely?
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Review: Hyatt, Jersey City on the Hudson
Thanks to the wonderful PATH train - which goes from outside the hotel's front door - this hotel is only five minutes from the World Trade Center station, and about half the price of anything on that side of the Hudson. Better yet, you get a tremendous view of the sunrising over Manhattan every morning - something you just can't see from the New York side.
The hotel was very clean, well-run and the staff were pretty generally friendly and efficient - one of the clerks on the concierge desk seemed to be less interested in answering tourist questions than the others, but maybe we just got him on a bad day.
The breakfast was great - not the widest buffet range we've ever seen, but what was there was tasty and fresh, and you can't argue with the view. We had supper in the restaurant one evening - it was lovingly cooked and well presented, but we'd have been happy enough with something a bit more downhome.
The hotel is located in a business district - there's a Uno and a burger bar within walking distance, and a couple of other restaurants aimed more at lunctime office staff; there's a CVS pharmacy in the gallery opposite the hotel, but this is closed at weekends. In other words: if you're there on Saturday or Sunday, make sure you've got the things you need with you, or wait until you can get into New York to shop and eat.
There's a cashpoint and a small shop of a mainly tourist-tat nature in the hotel.
We were given a choice on booking in of Manhattan View or Liberty View - nice, but be warned: Lady Liberty is quite a strong squint in the distance.
The hotel was very clean, well-run and the staff were pretty generally friendly and efficient - one of the clerks on the concierge desk seemed to be less interested in answering tourist questions than the others, but maybe we just got him on a bad day.
The breakfast was great - not the widest buffet range we've ever seen, but what was there was tasty and fresh, and you can't argue with the view. We had supper in the restaurant one evening - it was lovingly cooked and well presented, but we'd have been happy enough with something a bit more downhome.
The hotel is located in a business district - there's a Uno and a burger bar within walking distance, and a couple of other restaurants aimed more at lunctime office staff; there's a CVS pharmacy in the gallery opposite the hotel, but this is closed at weekends. In other words: if you're there on Saturday or Sunday, make sure you've got the things you need with you, or wait until you can get into New York to shop and eat.
There's a cashpoint and a small shop of a mainly tourist-tat nature in the hotel.
We were given a choice on booking in of Manhattan View or Liberty View - nice, but be warned: Lady Liberty is quite a strong squint in the distance.
Review: Crowne Plaza, Heathrow Airport
Visted: December 2006
It always makes sense to stay in a Heathrow hotel before you fly - the last thing you need is to be sat on the M1 in a panic as the check-in time gets closer and closer; there's a range of hotels lining alongside the runways, and this competition seems to keep standards pretty high.
This was our first time trying the Crowne Plaza, and although we were a little worried when we turned up and discovered an office party in full swing, the room was quiet, comfortable and spacious and the hotel busy but well-run.
We had room service - the food isn't especially cheap but was tasty; the coffee appeared to be a pot of instant coffee which was disappointing (I could have used the complementary stuff and saved two quid). There were restaurants in the hotel, although everything seems to run off the same menu. It's worth mentioning that there isn't much else in the immediate neighbourhood - if you're looking for something to eat, you're tied to the delights of the Crowne Plaza.
There's a small gift shop, which is slightly better for novelty items and local newspapers than traveler's luxuries.
We left before breakfast - there is a Hoppa bus service, which we had considered using, but mysteriously the bus parked up outside suddenly put on its Out Of Service sign and drove off. We got a taxi instead - two quid more, but much quicker and straight to the terminal. If there are two or more of you, or you have a lot of luggage, this is the way to go.
Nobody needs to be more than one night in an airport hotel, and most you wouldn't want to. But this is one of the few where you could quite happily spend a week.
It always makes sense to stay in a Heathrow hotel before you fly - the last thing you need is to be sat on the M1 in a panic as the check-in time gets closer and closer; there's a range of hotels lining alongside the runways, and this competition seems to keep standards pretty high.
This was our first time trying the Crowne Plaza, and although we were a little worried when we turned up and discovered an office party in full swing, the room was quiet, comfortable and spacious and the hotel busy but well-run.
We had room service - the food isn't especially cheap but was tasty; the coffee appeared to be a pot of instant coffee which was disappointing (I could have used the complementary stuff and saved two quid). There were restaurants in the hotel, although everything seems to run off the same menu. It's worth mentioning that there isn't much else in the immediate neighbourhood - if you're looking for something to eat, you're tied to the delights of the Crowne Plaza.
There's a small gift shop, which is slightly better for novelty items and local newspapers than traveler's luxuries.
We left before breakfast - there is a Hoppa bus service, which we had considered using, but mysteriously the bus parked up outside suddenly put on its Out Of Service sign and drove off. We got a taxi instead - two quid more, but much quicker and straight to the terminal. If there are two or more of you, or you have a lot of luggage, this is the way to go.
Nobody needs to be more than one night in an airport hotel, and most you wouldn't want to. But this is one of the few where you could quite happily spend a week.
Not so much a blog, more a scratch pad
This blog isn't really a blog as such; it's more a place to stick copies of the stuff I've posted to TripAdvisor, so I've got back-up copies of it. And Junction 13? That's where we join the motorway, so effectively the start of all trips.
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