Holiday Inn - Wandsworth.

Those who know the scrimping and penny-watching that has been part of my character from Scottish schooldays, will know that my regular trips to London all target the cheapest accomodation available.
Well, not quite the cheapest - I try to ensure they are flealess, clean and with a bed that accomodates my full frame. Usually Travelodge gets the vote, and I have ladled the praise to them in the past for clean, comfortable basic rooms.
Holiday Inn this time actually beat the local Travelodge on price, believe it or not.
Well, it was a bit more complicated than that. Members of David Lloyd leisure clubs have (or had until the buy-out) access to members' benefits with other organisations. I don't usually pursue these as you are offered 10% discount, say, off of a full price - which is discounted by 20% everywhere else.!
However, this time I discovered that the price offered for the Wandsworth Holiday Inn was far less than I could get any other way - £45 for a double including breakfast in the morning.
I felt as though I had been upgraded to business class, as I walked past the Travelodge on Battersea's York Road, and into the impressive Holiday Inn at the Wandsworth roundabout.

I am sure there is someone, somewhere who has calculated the exact square footage needed for a reception area in a hotel, depending on the star rating of the hotel concerned.
Frankly, he/she needs to be re-educated as I have no need to enter half an acre of empty space and spend the next 20 minutes trying to guess where the reception desk is.
Wandsworth does have a spacious area as you enter, given over to information tables, soft chairs, the breakfast area and a very obvious, well-positioned desk The ultra fussy will comment on the fact that only two staff could really work side by side at this desk, and that there would be chaos if a coach load all arrived at the same time.!
My retort is that even the biggest hotels rarely have more than two staff doing checkin and if a coachload all arrives at the same time, there will always be chaos - it is something to do with the pent up frustration of sitting on a cramped coach with no comfortable loo for four hours at a time.!!
I was welcomed warmly, located on the system in seconds, given the key card, and directed to the lifts for my first floor room.

I was well briefed that the hotel has no evening meal facility - it is just an Express, after all. So eating had been reasonably provided for before theatre time.
But there had been a conscious decision to refuse dessert and opt for something sweet from M&S to munch in bed, with a bottle of something conducive to relaxation and sleep.
Despite years of hotel assurances that staff are there to help if something arises, I have rarely had to ask for something out of the ordinary. However, I now had a bottle with a cork, but no multifaceted Swiss army penknife, not even a fishing implement that does everything you could ask.!
I approached the desk with some trepidation. After all, they had their own bottles on sale, and I had given them no trade.
While waiting for staff to listen to my plea for help, I noticed that all the bottles they had on display in the small bar area, were screw tops.
When I meekly made my request for a corkscrew, I was amazed that one was produced instantly, the cork removed, the bottle returned and I was even offered two glasses to take with me.!
That is good service, which may not have swollen the hotels coffers there and then, but would entice me back to the establishment in the future.

It is amazing how often we fail to sleep properly in a hotel bed, even though that is, ( usually ) the purpose of the stay.
The room was perfect in temperature - and this was one of those air-con systems that can be adjusted by the occupant.
The shower was both powerful and adjustable, and there were dispensers of Dove at the basin and shower.
I hear complaints rising from the brigade who believe the purpose of a hotel stay is to take home a selection of minature Molton Brown bottles as souvenirs! - freebies, they reckon, without realising they were paid for in your room charge.
I prefer the dispenser system, so full marks, Wandsworth.
The bed was kingsize, comfortable and supplied with the Holiday Inn genius of a variety of types of pillow with others available on request.
I would happily pay extra for this pillow arrangement anywhere, as it is the way to a certain sleep for me.
The rest of the room was standard Holiday Inn fare, so I'll spare you the details of the TV screen size and the dimensions of the lamp shades.

My usual routine in the area before a Saturday board meeting, is a very good bacon sandwich in Putney with a superb coffee. The Holiday Inn does breakfast, and includes it in the price.
It is described as continental, so it is cereals, fruit, breads, rolls, croissants, toast, juices and hot drinks.
There was sufficient space to get a table for oneself, and the staff were clearing vacated tables, and replacing food stuff very efficiently.
To be honest, I prefer the Putney option, but this was a perfectly adequate, if not delightful, way to start the day.

Check-out was a non-event, as the account had clearly been checked already, and there was nothing to be said, other than the question about whether everything had been OK, and a wish for a pleasant day to follow.
This had not been a holiday, but it had been a good night's preparation for a day's work to follow.