I'm staying in a 'new' hotel this week, the Thistle Islington. It's cheaper than the competition, and they have broadband, so I decided to try it. The good news is that the room was a 'superior' one - the manager proudly explained how he'd done this just for us. Well, if what we got was superior, I'm sure glad I did not get inferior room! The shower in the bathroom is nice, althogh 'tiny bath closet' might be more accurate. The hotel is a further walk from the center, but on nice days (like this mornng) that's not much of a problem. It could be a pain in the rain.
The room is small, with two tiny single beds. The wallpaper is peeling in places, and the window does not properly shut (or open). The voice mail does not work (I can't retreive mail) but the announcement system (you have voice mail) works incessently.
The broad band connection does not currently work - when it does, it's charged at 50p per minute (around US$ 0.75/min). The saving grace about the broad band, however, is that there's a maximum £15/day charge. FIFTEEN POUNDS A DAY? What does the hotel think - we're made of money? The worst thing about the hotel was the breakfast experience. A nice enough buffet (although I can't eat much of what was there) but the service was appalling - a long queue to get seated, then I had to nearly beg for coffee.
The experiment of the Thistle has been interesting, but I think the Holiday Inn has nothing much to be afraid of.
