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Castle Inn (Castleton)
by Rich
After looking all over Castleton for a nice place to eat. We chose the castle in based on the menu and the inviting present of the pub. With boards with customer reviews on the wall looked very promising.
After returning in the evening there was no one too seat us at our table and had to obtain our own menus from another ... table. There looked a good choice on the menu. I ordered mushrooms in white wine source and my partner had French onion soup as starters. Once they turned up they came out cold and had two whole mushrooms sliced up.
For the main we had belly pork and roasted veg and sirloin steak. The roasted veg had not been washed and the steak was over cooked. The garlic sauce was out of a jar.
For two courses we paid just under £60 with ONE bottle of house rose. The food was very average and wheathespoons would of been better. Do not waste your money on something over priced.
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Cardiff Central Travelodge (Cardiff)
by harveyspeed
Myself and my girlfriend stayed at the Cardiff Central Travelodge for 2 nights during one of the busiest weekends of the year - Friday 21st to Sunday 23rd December 2012. We were visiting the area for some friend's Wedding in nearby Penarth (about 4 miles away).
Location
The hotel has a fantastic location in the heart of ... the city. The area is very popular with hotel companies, with many of the big names located within about a 400m radius. The Cardiff Central Travelodge is probably the least spectacular of the buildings, as it looks as though it has been converted into a hotel. The hotel sits upstairs of a Walkabout bar/club, so the street was very lively on our arrival on Friday evening, with many people out celebrating Christmas parties or the end of work for the year.
Arrival/Check-In
Check in was fairly straight forward, I provided my name and address and was handed a key card which was required to access the lobby with lifts and stairs and then once again to enter our room, which was located at the rear of the building on the 1st floor.
Room
Our room was located down a higgledy corridor which seemed a bit run down, but we eventually went through another set of doors and it looked like your traditional hotel corridor again. On first inspection our room seemed OK, with a lovely view of the quaint looking Cardiff Central train station (About 2 minutes walk). We had tea and coffee making facilities, a nice clean bathroom and fresh bedsheets with 1 pillow each. I wanted an extra pillow each, as I really struggle with 1 pillow, which I'm sure most people would. We delayed the order of extra pillows until we passed through reception on our way out later in the evening.
We decided to have a cup of coffee, but was a bit disappointed to discover the cups and tea spoon were sticky and smelt like coffee. Either the cleaner had just rinsed them quickly under the tap or their dishwasher is rubbish. It wasn't a big deal for us, but it's not really acceptable at all is it?
On our way out of the hotel on the Friday evening, we requested 2 extra pillows, but the man on reception said they had a shortage due to some large numbers in the family rooms. Again, I wasn't too bothered, but once again it is simply unacceptable for a hotel to run out of pillows. Their fundamental purpose is to provide a good nights sleep and they were unable to provide us with 2 pillows each.
There was a restaurant/breakfast room on the 1st floor, which I popped my head in. It looked a little dated, but the chef was friendly and said Hello. Cannot comment on the food as we chose to have a McDonalds breakfast which was located 400m up the road.
Sleep
Our 1st night in the hotel was poor, being above a Walkabout bar, we thought we had fell lucky with being given a room to the rear. However, we were so wrong! Every 30 minutes or so, we were woken by the clattering of glass bottles from the bar being emptied into a bin at the rear, right below our room. Later in the night/very early morning, a delivery lorry was reversing in the street at the rear of the hotel, which once again woke us up. I was quite tired the next day, but following the wedding on the Saturday night and following a good amount of ale, I slept very well and didn't wake once! The solution to a good nights sleep I guess!
Check Out
Check out consisted of dropping our key through a letterbox and we were done.
Conclusion
A good hotel if your going to be drinking in the nearby bars. If not, I strongly suggest you ask for a room on a higher level (floor 2 or above) as hopefully the noise will have dissipated by the time it reaches your windows!
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Best Western Corona (London)
by screedsean
My girlfriend and I went for a weekend's trip to London for Christmas. The visit was just for some sightseeing and to have a break from work etc. We booked our hotel online through laterooms.com after looking at a few reviews of hotels in/near the centre of London so we were near what we wanted to see while there.
The stay was for ... two nights, in a double room and I had asked kindly if we could have a quiet room if possible as I am a fairly light sleeper. This was easy to do on the online booking process which I would highly recommend.
Arriving at about 6:30pm on the Saturday, we checked into the hotel with no hassle, and had our room key cards in under a minute, as we had already paid for the room during the booking process with a credit card. The reception was clean and tidy with a few racks of information booklets for the local area as usual, first impressions looked good. Our room was located on the lower ground floor (-1) so we made our way down the elevator, as directed by the reception staff.
As we opened to door to our room, we were greeted by a small but clean and welcoming double room with an en-suite bathroom. The room was nothing special but for the money we paid it was perfectly acceptable and had everything that we needed for the two nights that we were there; having a hairdryer, TV with sky, kettle with tea coffee etc., biscuits, trouser press, heater and all the other normal things there are.
The bed was very comfortable, not being too hard a mattress and being located out the back of the hotel it was nice and quiet, only the occasional noise from the room above but I slept fine so it must have been quiet.
The bathroom was very impressive, with no sign of mould even starting, the shower was a very powerful power shower that really invigorated me in the morning and woke me up. Tiled floor to ceiling, this sparkling bathroom had a sink, toilet and shower, great for me but I suppose not if you wanted a bath.
In the morning we went for the breakfast that we paid for when we booked, the 'restaurant' for breakfast was located on our floor so we pooped round the corner to find a great continental breakfast. (Choice of orange or cranberry juice, cereals, yoghurt, croissants, fruit, tea coffee, toast, jam etc...) You chose your breakfast yourself but after sitting down the waitresses poured your choice of tea of coffee if you wanted it and brought your toast to your table. I could not complain, even the décor was great with stylish leather chairs and a bright interior with old fashioned photos in modern frames around the room and a few Christmas decorations keeping the festive spirit alive.
The second night was just as pleasant as the first, returning to the room to find that it had been cleaned and the bed made, it was very welcoming and it showed that the cleaners didn't just rush round, they did a proper job.
Overall the hotel made our weekend trip to London very pleasant and hassle free. All the paperwork was done online beforehand so there was nothing to worry about when there. No view and not the biggest room but it had everything that we needed and for the price it was excellent! Cannot complain and would definitely recommend it to anyone going to London.
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