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This weekend just gone me and the missus thought we'd go off on a short break in London. We chose the SAS PortmanHotel since its location was fab and the price fell within our budget of £300 for 2 nights. We had heard only good things about this one so we booked at Lastminute and paid £240 for a Superior room with breakka. Or breakfast, in English. If we had booked through the hotel's own website it would be nearer £300.
Where is it, then?
The hotel is located just off Oxford Street, opposite Marble Arch tube station. It has easy access by tube, since Marble Arch, Bond Street and Oxford Circus are within walking distance, and many buses stop nearby. Even night buses! I don't need to tell you how good Oxford Street is for shopping.... but I will. All the major chains are there, plus its home to some of the biggest department stores ...
Advantages: None Disadvantages: Arrogant, listens to no-one
Portman, like all mutual societies, is owned by its members. This means that members do vote on who becomes a director, and can recommend and vote on changes to the business.
A while ago over 500 members got together and invited the directors of the Portman to consider demutualising and becoming a bank - and in the process paying a windfall to members.
Now the pros and cons of demutualisation are complex, and you may or may not think that Portman should demutualise. But Portman responded not by having a vote, or by the directors saying they would indeed consider demutualising, but by kicking out 500+ of their members. In theory a legal challenge could be brought against the Portman, because the members own the society. But in fact its horrendously expensive, and may not happen.
I suggest that the actions of the Portman in ...
Advantages: great rate of interest, variety of products, prompt service. Disadvantages: Hidden cost of local searches.
How long did I search the internet for the best mortgage rate for remortgaging?! I had found what I thought was the best deal and then I stumbled upon Portman.
Their rate was the best and, in a strange way, I liked that they were little known, were not amongst the big players in terms of lots of TV or other advertising and were not in with all the big financial institutions, like Charcol.
The particular product I chose was a tracker - they are favourable at the moment anyway and Portman were offering 2 years at Base Rate then the remainder of the term at Base Rate +0.75%. I moved from Halifax (also a tracker) that was costing Base Rate +1.05%.
Costs were covered by cashback and free valuations etc. The one thing to watch out for (and I got caught out here) is the cost of the local searches that were done when I moved into ...
