A is for Adelphi, Liverpool - DON'T STAY HERE and other Europe Hotel/Accommodation Reviews

Initial signs were not good - just inside the front door a bucket was catching raindrops coming through the stained ceiling.

The room rack rate (nobody ever pays it) is around 160 pounds, but after inspecting a room we were glad that we had saved our pennies. The furnishings were very dated and a little frayed whilst the 'Four poster bed' looked so flimsy if anything more energetic than sleeping took place, then it would surely be matchwood within seconds.

Unique Qualities: The Main public rooms are very 'over the top' and worth a look.

The hotel is also famous for being used a few years ago in a BBC 'Fly on the wall' documentary. Famous scene including the old battleaxe of a general manager ejecting a fat hooker from reception and a wedding party where the best man declared 'This is a real Liverpool wedding, the tables will soon be cleared for the fighting'.

Avoid unless a good re-fit occurs soon.

Leave a Comment

Theme: Hotel
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$80-120  » Currency Converter
Address: Ranelagh Place, Liverpool, Lancashire L3

The Norbreck Castle hotel in Blackpool is a very large hotel, which outwardly resembles a castle (surprisingly enough). In the past many would perhaps swap the word 'castle' for 'prison', or perhaps ask if the castle has 463 dungeons.

It got a a very bad press last year and featured on the BBC consumer affairs programme - Watchdog. Dated rooms, queues for check-in and dining rooms, paper thin wall, scriffy furniture, fire alarms set off half the night, loud music, squeaky beds, rude and surly staff etc etc

Even with a 9 million pound refit, it would appear that the owners, Britannia hotels, have their work cut out. After all, it's difficult to make a silk purse out of a cows ear !


Leave a Comment

Theme: Hotel
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: US$40-80  » Currency Converter
Address: Blackpool

The best deal in London?

There is a catch (now there's a surprise)...you have to bring your own boat.

If you are a sailor however, then you can stay right in the heart of London at St Katherines Dock next to Tower Bridge and the Tower of London.

Berthing charges at Twenty-one pounds (up to 10M boats) may be relatively expensive compared to other moorings...but an absolute bargain for staying in the centre of London.


Leave a Comment

Theme: Other
Comparison: least expensive
Prices: less than US$20  » Currency Converter
Address: St Katherine's dock, pool of London
Website: www.stkaths.co.uk

Only a three stars - but what a setting. The extensive grounds are lovely for walks and you can sometimes get a band playing in the gardens.

They nearly always have grand piano playing in the lounge area on Sundays, usually by stunning blonde. (my analysis not my wife's)

Unique Qualities: The place was the officers mess for 617 Squadron during the second world war. That's the famous dambusters squadron that attacked the Rhur dams with Barnes -Wallis's 'bouncing bombs', which worked on the same principle as a stone skipping over water when thrown.

You can see the remains a prototype a bouncing bomb in the car park.

They also have what were Top Secret documents relating to the raid on display in the lobby area.

Leave a Comment

Theme: Hotel
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$80-120  » Currency Converter
Address: woodhall spa, lincs, uk

One way of keeping cost down is to is to look on the websites companies like Formula 1 ,Travel inn, Travelodge, Holiday Inn Express.

There are a number of these places in the east end around Barking and Docklands. As long as the transport links are reasonable and you don't want any local nightlife these places are good value.

The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) also provides a more pleasant way of entering London as most of it is above ground before diving underground to get to "Bank" station on weekdays.

Room only prices often come up at about 40-50 pounds a night.

For example, I recently stayed in the Travel inn at Excel (the exhibition centre). There are loads of new hotels springing up around here, including an ETAP and a Ramada.

When there is not a conference / exhibition on then many of the rooms are available and only cost between 40 and 60 pounds a night.

Transport links are limited - but the DLR is increasingly useful and reliable.

Another example is the Holiday Inn express at Canning Town (£60 a room with cont. Breakfast), Standard hotel, as you would expect from a train but right next to Canning Town Tube (jubilee line) which is only eight stops from the heart of the West End.

Unique Qualities: None - we are talking chains here, but at least you won't get dodgy decor, unexplained stains on the sheets, or a greasy heart-attack breakfast in the morning. There is also zero chance of the place doubling as the local knocking shop. Unlike most hotel in central London, if you arrive by car, it can be parked for free at most hotels in the Docklands area.

Leave a Comment

Theme: Hotel
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: US$20-40  » Currency Converter
Address: East End of London and Dockland
Website: www.hiexpress.co.uk

The finest TV comedy of all time is of course "Fawlty Towers".

The actual building used in the series was not in fact a dodgy hotel in Torquay (with a sea view of course), but was actually just outside Wycombe (and you would have to use a very powerful telescope to see the sea from there!) in Bucks, UK.

The buliding was located in a village called Woburn Green, near High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire and operated as the Woburn Grange Country Club. According to "The British Location Guide" the house was an Indian restaurant, then a nightclub called "Basil's" (oh, wonderfully original).

In an incident worthy of the great Basil fawlty himself the structure was damaged by fire some years ago and was subsequently demolished. Today the location is occupied by eight houses - so not exactly worth visiting unless you are the most hard-core Fawlty towers fan on the planet.


Leave a Comment

Theme: Other

Address: see above

The Gellert was THE hotel in Budapest, a product of the inter-war years many famous people have passed through its doors including the heads of a good number of the world's countries.

Being such a grand old lady refurbishment is a continual problem. Some rooms, such as the impressive corner suites are up to five-star western standards whilst some split-level cheaper rooms benefit from weird light fittings and turd-brown carpets.

As it is so large, the management are fairly amenable about changing rooms within the same or similar price bracket.

Public areas are well maintained with a small bar, a brasserie, shop and the other usual stuff you would expect in a hotel in this class.

Unique Qualities: The stained glass is quite interesting. It appears in a number of places throughout thye hotel. I especially liked the ones based on transport on the fourth floor.

The Gellert's main unique feature is the spa, with its own clanking, connecting lift, manned by a woman whose being going up in the world (and down) since 1953.

See other tips of The Gellert spa

Leave a Comment

Theme: Hotel
Comparison: more expensive than average
Prices: US$80-120  » Currency Converter
Address: Szent Gellrt tr 1., Budapest null
Directions: opp gellert hill

The Hotel de Paris is considered to be one of the finest hotels on the planet. I admit I have not actually stayed in the joint - but it is an ambition.

They say that every whim will be catered for at this establishment unless you turn up in reception and say things like :

"Got room mate ?...I didn't bother to book'.

"Can I check the rooms to see if they are allright ?"

"The names Bond, James Bond" - they get very bored of this apparantly.

I would however love to drive across Casino Square in a battered old Skoda with the exhaust pipe dragging along the tarmac (having pre-booked into the hotel) and sling my keys at the doorman as the bell boy drags up assorted luggage in plastic bin-bags up to the room. I would then use room service to send out for McDonalds.

A standard room can be had for around 350 Euros.


Leave a Comment

Theme: Hotel
Comparison: most expensive
Prices: US$180 and up  » Currency Converter
Address: Casino Square, Monaco

Like certain women of a certain age, the hotel can be compared to a woman entering late middle age : place is beginning to show its age.

The odd cosmetic enhancement here and there (cable tv and jets in the baths) cannot hide the fact that she is slightly past her prime.

Despite this, there is many a good tune played on an old fiddle and a stay here will be very pleasent.

The courtyard is beautiful, and the Bar Hemmingway reminds you of a conquest she had earlier in her life (he stayed here)
and the antique lift still works, even if it takes some coaxing.

Unique Qualities: Try to get a room facing onto the courtyard - opening the shutters onto it in the morning and allowing the sunlight to stream through make a great start to the day - but skip the expensive breakfast.

The website is also worth a visit with an extrememly impressive 360 degrees view of the lobby area.

Leave a Comment

Theme: Hotel
Comparison: more expensive than average
Prices: US$80-120  » Currency Converter
Address: Quai De La Fontaine, 30900 Nimes
Website: www.hotel-imperator.com

The Irish Hotel Chain Jury's own a number of hotels in Dublin that are three, four, or Five star.

The more upmarket ones tend not to have the word "Jury's" in their name.

Some of them may be architecturally pretty awful on the outside, but they all seem (and I've been in most of them) well fitted out and well-run.

The Custom Inn Hotel in particular is a modern building in an excellent location.

The website is well worth looking at. It often contains some very good special offers.


Leave a Comment

Theme: Hotel
Comparison: about average

Website: www.jurysdoyle.com/