Small security breach at John Lennon

Some bloke allegedly broke through the vehicle entrance and ran towards the planes. Fair enough, could happen anywhere. What's alarming, though, is the different stories coming from the airline and the airport:

The airport say the man was stopped at the top of the stairs but Thomsonfly say he got on board where he was discovered by cabin crew.

Even more interestingly, apparently, a man running through the airport and getting on a plane (or not) is, apparently, not a breach of security according to Liverpool airport:

Robin Tudor, spokesman for Liverpool Airport, said: "The man forced his way through a security barrier by the main access gate on the airport apron.

"Security guards saw this happen, gave chase immediately and the man was apprehended.

"We don't regard this as a security breach. There was no lapse in security - the man broke a barrier to gain access.

"As a matter of course we have informed the Department of Transport about the incident and they have not instructed us to alter procedures."

So a barrier that doesn't keep people out isn't breached if it is, erm, broken and someone passes through it. It's funny that, in an age where taking a half-bottle of shampoo on a plane is considered dangerous, John Lennon is so laid back about people running onto airside.

Glimpsing Terminal 5

BBC News has had a sneak preview of Terminal 5 at Heathrow, where they're testing the baggage system:

Security officer Mick Pearman, who gave the BBC News website a tour, explains: "We've got cases and bags just like normal but without passengers."

Actually, Mr. Pearman, cases without passengers and passengers without bags is also pretty normal for Heathrow.

BA must be very forgiving

After all its tussles with Virgin over the years, to say nothing of Branson's airline dumping them in the compost over the rigging of fuel surcharges, it's surprisingly generous of BA to be one of the first advertisers on Virgin 1, Dickie's new TV service.

Or perhaps they're just going to display a caption reading "SWITCH OVER TO SKY ONE NOW".

Living like Alan Partridge

To be honest, staying in a Travelodge is something we'd only do when there was no alternative. We don't know if we should squawk in admiration or hang our heads in desperation, then, as we discover a couple who've lived in a Travelodge for the last decade. Before that, they lived in a different Travelodge for twelve years.

The best bit?

"We only have to walk across the car park for meals."

Yes, ten years of eating at a Little Chef into the bargain.

The Taco rings a bell: Salon explores Mexicanish takeaways

Mark Dery wonders at how a nation full of Mexicans can still believe in Taco Bell:

Daniel Olivas, on the other hand, seems to savor the cognitive dissonance of Taco Bell's "wonderfully wrong" gloss of Mexican cookery. "I admit to being awestruck by the warped brilliance it took to invent something like the Mexican Pizza," writes Olivas, a lawyer and fiction writer living in California's San Fernando Valley. Obviously, he concedes, "It's nothing like the food my mom makes, but I'm not expecting that ... I'm not one of those Chicanos who believes that Mexican food is sacred. I'll leave such snootiness to the French."

EasyJet exports customer service

Making it just that little bit of a cheaper experience: EasyJet is offshoring its customer call centre to Poland and Germany.

Hotel review: Parkhotel Sonnenhof, Oberammergau

First thing: In one of the public rooms, there was a massive wall display given over to blueprints for a massive expansion of the hotel buildings, so it's likely that the hotel will change a lot in the next twelve months or so; it's also possible that the slightly drab feel of the hotel may have been because they were planning to overhaul.

However, as it was in May: it's in a beautiful setting, with views across the river to the main part of town, the church and the mountains. We stayed on the suite on the top floor, which gave us the best views - although the downside was the tiny lift doesn't actually go to the top of the house, which is a bit of a problem.

The suite was actually shaped a bit like a railway carriage, with a one bed-room at one end and the double room at the other; the odd layout meant you had to go through the shower-room to get to the sitting room, which made it a bit redundant for practical use.

The hotel inside was a little bit tired, and the room too could do with a bit of a spruce up. Most disappointing was the boxes and boxes of flowers cascading down the front of the hotel on its website were missing, leaving a 1960s extension to dominate the frontage rather than the promised Bavarian chalet style which had drawn us in.

To be honest, after checking in we'd snuck across the river to ask the hotel there if they had rooms for the rest of the week: they hadn't, so we stayed put. And it wasn't terrible, just basic.

There's no coffee or tea in the rooms - common enough in Germnay - but instead, you could buy a coffee machine cartridge for two Euro. Even this outrageous scalping could be forgiven, though, were it not that the room the machine which turned the cartridges into slightly disappointing cups of coffee was locked at about 10.30pm. With the bar shut, any hope of a hot drink was scuppered until daybreak.

The wi-fi was the most modern aspect of the hotel - every part of the hotel seemed to have a great signal.

If you're security conscious, you'll probably want to give this place a miss: there's a side door open all day and well into the evening which enters into a pool room that's usually empty and leading onto the lift - we didn't have any trouble, but it did leave you feeling a bit uneasy when you head out for the day.

The staff were polite and helpful, but not especially warm; the breakfast was included, but this didn't really constitute an act of generosity.

Still, look out of the window: it's a beautiful place to be.

Hotel review: Staybridge Suites, Cherry Creek, Denver

We came to the Staybridge a couple of days after the first of the two big snows that hit Denver at the turn of the year - a lot of services in the city had been having a difficult time of it in a town that had ground to a halt, but the Staybridge kept going without - as far as we could see - missing a beat.

The suite was basic but very comfortable and in excellent condition - clean, everything working, comfy bed; TVs in both rooms, lots of storage space. (Handy, as it was Christmas, and we ended up with a lot of stuff we hadn't started out with.)

The staff were friendly and very helpful - especially Andrew on the front desk who instantly added all guests to his extended family. The business centre is a little sparse, but the rooms all had wired internet for free so, really, you only needed to pop down to print out the odd document - assuming there were no children playing solitaire on the PCs.

There is a hotel library, but to be honest it seems to consist of little more than books that have been pre-enjoyed and abandoned by guests: abandoned, presumably, in shame. The BridgeMart will contain no surprises for anyone familiar with the 24/7 shopping option in this chain - great for snacks and pop; less useful for satisfying nutritional requirements.There is, however, a Target bang opposite, so if you do require potatoes, cheeses or Taco Bell, you've got that on your doorstep. (There's also two strip clubs on the block, too, although it's not really that sort of neighbourhood.)

The breakfasts are basic - mildly more elaborate than you'd get in a British Holiday Inn Express - but the Sundowners can be quite fun; each evening a themed meet-and-greet; the only slight downside being when there's a mix of free beer and younger guests in the room at the same time.

The free laundry (Boxes of Tide a dollar each) is a great touch when you're having a long stay; there is ample parking - and even with a full-ish hotel and much of the lot under snow and pack ice, there was never any problem parking.

The hotel opens out onto Cherry Creek, on one of its nicest stretches in the neighbourhood. Great for a brisk walk - you won't need to use the small gym inside...