Bradford Travelodge - I do! (Travelodge Bradford)

Member Name: fizzywizzy

Product:	Travelodge Bradford
Date:	24/08/09 (106 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Basic but good budget accommodation; easy for non - drivers to get to

Disadvantages: A little way from centre of city; no breakfast other than packaged tray type

Plans for a weekend break to Bradford (yes, really) arose from a Travelodge promotion in which room prices started at just £5 a night. I was looking for ideas for the OH's birthday and wanted a destination that wasn't too far away and where the Travelodge wasn't in the middle of nowhere; Bradford seemed possible. Although I wasn't able to get the cheapest rate, I was happy enough with a charge of £19 per night for the room.

While this Travelodge isn't "in the middle of nowhere", neither is it in the centre of the city. However, as curry was to be the central theme of the weekend, and the hotel is situated in the suburb of Thornbury which has many highly recommended restaurants, I didn't mind too much that the location wasn't central. There were frequent buses to the city centre, a journey that takes only ten minutes and New Pudsey train station is only a mile away, the line connects Leeds and Bradford.

Just beside the hotel there is a complex comprising a large Odeon cinema, a sports and fitness centre and an enormous Indian restaurant called the Aagrah; the restaurant has a bridal suite which can hold huge numbers and so the adjacent Travelodge is very popular with wedding guests. I was surprised to see the carpark of a hotel in this type of location so busy over a weekend but we later learned that many of the guests were there for a wedding.

The paperwork (we booked on-line) said that check in was not possible before 3.00pm but our 2.30 arrival did not cause any problems. We were asked whether we wanted to order a "continental breakfast" at a cost of £4.50; the hotel does not have a dining room but breakfast trays are placed by your door and you eat in your room. There was one on display behind the receptionist; it didn't look very appealing - PG Tips tea or Kenco sustainable coffee, a cereal pot, a Fairtrade flapjack or cereal bar and a natural fruit smoothie; it certainly wasn't worth the money and we passed up the offer (if you book on line you can get a 10% discount on the cost of the breakfast though I wouldn't consider it much of an inducement). (We waited until we got into town and took advantage of Wetherspoons 9.00am opening time and indulged in a £3.69 cooked breakfast instead).

There is a vending machine in reception that sells soft drinks, crisps and chocolate. As a customer was busy using it when we arrived I didn't get a chance to look at the prices but I'd guess they weren't cheap. As the nearest shop is a couple of minutes walk away I'm sure that plenty of guests resort to using it.

Our room was on the first floor (there are only two); the public areas were looked after and there were enough doors to keep noise reduced. Although the hotel has some rooms that are accessible to wheelchair users on the ground floor and the doors were wide enough, it did seem that some corners were a little tight which wouldn't be a complete obstacle to wheelchairs users but would likely make manoeuvring more difficult.

The room opened not with a card as is usually the case these days, but with a conventional key. However, on closing the door the room is locked behind you so you do need to make sure you have your key with you when you go out of the room. I was pleasantly surprised by the size of the room. There was plenty of room to walk round the bed and some investigation demonstrated that the sofa opened out into a double bed for which there was also sufficient room.

As is usual in budget hotels, almost everything in the room was designed to be unstealable and unbreakable. This means that there aren't even any drawers in the bedside table, just a hole where a drawer could have been. Peeking out was the Gideons bible - possibly the only concession to "additional extras" in the room, especially now that there are no longer any biscuits on the tea/coffee tray. Clearly the hike in the price of tea has hit Travelodge as there were only two (Earl Grey) teabags compared to two sachets each of Nescafe decaffeinated and not-decaffeinated. I often gripe about the milk (but it obviously needs repeating as I am still disappointed) and once again I was annoyed to find four almost pointless little containers of UHT milk which, given the size of the mugs, are woefully inadequate. Travelodge - get it right or just don't bother!

The small en suite was perfectly adequate with a small tub and a decent shower over it. There were two decent-sized bath towels and two hand towels but, as there was no bath mat, we had to use one of the hand towels for that purpose. There was one tiny bar of soap in the bathroom and no shower gel or shampoo. Travelodges seem to really be cutting back on the extras these days. The highlight of the bathroom was the mirror which had one central section that did not steam up. I wonder why they couldn't have just made the whole thing steam resistant.
There was a small television perched on the desk opposite the bed. It was on a pivoting "turntable" but it didn't turn enough to enable guests to watch TV from the sofa. There were the five terrestrial channels and BBC News24.

We had anticipated a bit of noise in the corridors at night and early in the morning so we were delighted to find that the place was almost silent. Perhaps we were just lucky to have very considerate neighbours? The bed was very comfortable although I did need to use the spare pillow as the one provided was quite thin. Had we both wanted spare pillows we'd have had to ask at reception and it's entirely possible the reception staff have no access to house keeping supplies after the maids have finished for the day. The temperature was comfortable but when we wanted to open the window we found that it only opens a little and that this didn't really let in enough fresh air to make a difference.

I had no issues with the Travelodge Bradford that would make me think twice about recommending it although I would remind potential guests that there is not a "proper breakfast" and that you might not find it easy to get a breakfast nearby (unless you'd consider McDonalds an acceptable option - and if you'd go for that why not the rubbishy tray offered by Travelodge?).

It's not that far from the centre and a day ticket for the local buses costs just £4 so the hotel still remains a budget option. If you are coming by car the hotel is close to major roads without being too noisy. Although there is no adjacent restaurant there are lots of great Indian restaurants nearby as well as a couple of traditional pubs that also serve food.

Travelodge Bradford offers clean and comfortable rooms at good prices. If you don't need to be in the city centre and are happy with no frills accommodation it's an excellent choice.

Location info for drivers : Exit Junction 26 of the M62 (M606). Go to the end of the M606 and take the A6177 towards Leeds. Then take the A647 (Leeds Road). The Travelodge is next to Phoenix Park, which is approximately 2 miles on the left hand side, situated off the Thornbury Gyratory System.

Parking information: £3 per 24 hrs
The car park has 48 spaces and 24 hours CCTV surveillance

Summary: Decent budget accommodation on the outskirts of Bradford