Tossing and turning without being overheard

Some of you will know from my ops that over the last 18 months I have been a regular visitor to Glasgow, and apart from a disastrous visit to the Quality Central Hotel, tend to stay in Jury’s Hotel in the West End. It is not fantastic, but reasonable with good facilities and excellent rates.

Browsing the internet I stumbled across the Milton Hotel Glasgow. A check on Ciao established that their outlet in Inverness was OK, but the website made this place sound out of this world. However, at a rate of £169 a night for the room, I was fast beginning to believe that I would have to find something else. Plus I was booking for two nights for me, and one for a colleague so needed to ensure that I got things right.

LOCATION & ARRIVAL
Just off Junction 18 of the M8, the hotel is situated just up from the Clyde River in an area that looks like it is undergoing massive refurbishment. Turning into the Milton’s road (which incidentally used to be an old rice mill) was met with some trepidation, this didn’t look too savoury. A taxi from the airport will set you back around £18 and from the main train station, £4. The hotel is within easy walking distance of Glasgow centre although it is all uphill.

It transpired there was confusion over my booking and that between laterooms and the hotel they had managed to have me checking out and then back in the following day. After a little bit of muttering from the receptionist, and checking of my booking confirmation from ‘laterooms’ (always a good idea to take it with you), they assured me that I would not have to vacate my room in the morning and then check back in later.

THE ROOM
Placed on the second floor, I was still nervous, until I entered the room of course. A twin as advised on laterooms, I was suitably quietened by the attractive green décor with dark oak furniture, the obvious presence of a minibar, wardrobe, iron and ironing board. I was happy. As you would expect from a £169 a night hotel it was en-suite with bath, overhead power shower, toilet and sink with a large mirror area. The towels were large enough for my ample frame and there was a fantastic range of freebee shampoos, conditioners, body lotion and shower gel, which were replaced once opened. You can always tell when you are in a classy establishment; the glasses in the bathroom were made of glass rather than plastic. There was tea and coffee making facilities complemented by a Madeira cake and a Toffee cake, none of your Nice biscuits here (remember them?). A hair-dryer was supplied (surprisingly not attached to anything), and there were ample power plugs, so didn’t need the extension lead bought to cope with the Novotel and so loving packed in my suitcase by my other half. Some readers will be pleased to know the bed cover was a quilt rather than sheets, and was inexplicably comfortable.

A Quadriga system with BROADBAND INTERNET ACCESS – OMG – someone must have read my ops. Any belief that this service may be free was quickly dispelled on discovering I needed to pay £12.99 for a 24-hour period. This can be booked onto your room and is something I did without hesitation having paid out some £15 at the Novotel simply collecting my e-mails on their ridiculously slow dial-up connection. The system is ridiculously easy to connect providing you have a network card in your laptop, but for those encountering difficulties you could discover that it is your own firewall. For those without laptop, a keyboard is provided and you can surf the net through the TV. If you don’t see the benefit of 24-hour access you can buy an hour for £5.99 or a package of 20 movies, CD’s and Internet access for 24 hours for £19.99. This all represented good value for hotel standards in my eyes, although I must confess had I have paid full price for the room I possibly would not have been as happy about the extra charge.

The rooms are designed by Jui, and soundproofed to 53Db, what this means in technical terms I am not sure, but I didn’t hear my neighbours (assuming I had any) during my stay. There is climate control in the room with temperatures on offer from 18 – 24 C. I must confess that I didn’t find this effective, but opening the window was not viable as they were not tilt and turn.

SCORE: 9/10 as I didn’t like the inefficient air-conditioning

EATING & DRINKING
There is a bar, café and restaurant at the hotel. Drinks are surprisingly cheap for a 4* hotel and certainly comparable with Jurys, coming in at £2.55 for a pint of Tenants lager and £5 for a double Gordons and Tonic. The bar is well used by residents and locals alike, and Sky TV and numerous free newspapers are supplied for your enjoyment. The ambience was light-hearted and friendly and the staff (except for one) were friendly and helpful, even stopping their work to direct my colleague when he got lost en-route to the hotel. The bar meals are limited to steak and burgers, and at £14.50 for an eight-ounce steak not cheap, but again comparable with Jurys and the Quality Hotel in Glasgow. Served with flat mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and chunky fries with a large dollop of mayonnaise it was extremely palatable.

The restaurant provides a 3 course set menu, but displayed no prices.

There was also the option to upgrade your breakfast to haddock, kippers or salmon for an extra £4.

The hotel also offers 12 self-catering apartments at £249 a night, but they do provide discounts early in the year.

SUMMARY
What can I say? The Milton, Glasgow to me was the epitome of the service every good hotel should provide, but there again with rates like that I suppose they can afford to. However, in contrast to other outlets where I have been made to feel almost guilty for paying heavily discounted rates, there was none of that here. Broadband internet access, movies on demand, cakes with my coffee, and leisure facilities to die for – what more can I say?