Travelodge, Belfast

Author's product rating:   

Advantages:	Well situated, clean and comfortable
Disadvantages:	External noise from nearby building site

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

One of the factors that resulted in us booking a few days in Belfast was news of a room sale at Travelodge. The company was offering something in the region of 20,000 rooms for the bargain price of 5 Pounds per night and this coincided nicely with a seat sale on Easyjet. We did have to fiddle around with dates to gt the cheap rooms and cheapest flights to coincide but we found it no problem to secure a five pound room for two consecutive nights. We booked online directly with Travelodge and found the process simple and speedy.

The hotel is situated in the heart of the city, close to the main Europa Bus Station and just around the corner from the famous Crown Liquor Rooms. It is a stone's throw from City Hall and the city's main shopping area. Away from the city centre, the hotel is conveniently situated for a short stroll to Shaftesbury Square from where you can easily access the more "alternative" parts of Belfast (see my review of "Belfast in General").

Brunswick Street is open to traffic but never seemed excessively busy, during the day or at night. There are a couple of bars nearby, one of which did prove to be a little bit of a problem on the first night. It is a club at the back of Robinsons Pub which has live music at night. The problem manifested itself every time the door was opened for customers to come and go and there would be another blast of music. However it did not go on really late and on the second night we barely noticed it - we must have become used to it. If you are a light sleeper I would say that earplugs should probably do the trick. In the hotel's favour, I would point out that the information about the location on the website does say that there is the potential for noise at night from a nearby club.

We arrived early in the day because we had chosen an early flight and, although the booking confirmation we received clearly stated that check-in was not until 3.00pm, the friendly and helpful receptionist said that we could leave our bags and that there might be rooms ready around mid-day if we wanted to come back before 3.00pm. The bags could be stored in the small cleaners cupboard in the corner of the reception area, within sight of the reception staff. We were given a numbered sticky strip - like the ones they label your luggage with when flying - and the number was entered onto a sheet and we had to sign alongside to say we had left our luggage. When we returned, we signed to say that we have retrieved our luggage and found it to be in good condition (although they did say that Travelodge could not be held responsible for any theft or loss of property).

Before we left, the receptionist offered us a lstings magazine for Belfast and the surrounding area and helpfully marked the location of the hotel on the map, explaining which direction to follow for various attractions and amenitites. Unfortunately, it was an old copy of the magazine (from Christmas) so the actual listings were no longer useful but it did have some useful information about restaurants, bars, shopping and tourist attractions.

There were some other leaflets available at reception advertising specific theatre productions and cultural attractions.

There were a couple of easy chairs in the reception area and freshly brewed coffee available free to guests waiting in that area. There was also a vending machine selling soft drinks, crisps and sweet snacks.

We were checked in quickly and without fuss. We paid at check-in thus eliminating the need to check out on departure, all we would have to do was return our room key. We were advised which floor our room was on but left to make our own way there, though it was easy to find and there were clear signs in the corridors to point out which way to go.

Our room was not large but an adequate size. Unlike some double rooms I have stayed in, there was room to comfortably move around the bed (I have stayed in rooms where there was no room at all around the bed and you had to get into bed by climbing fom the bottom to the head!).

There was a colour television which I have to say (and this sounds like an odd remark) was too big - well it certainly was for that particular room. Still, it worked and there were the usual UK television stations plus Eurosport, CNN and a couple of awful shopping channels. However I did not go to spend three days watching television so all this was really not important.

The room had tea and coffee making facilties and I had my usual gripe about there being plenty of sachets of coffee (regular and decaffeinated) and teabags but there were only two of those tiny cartons of milk. Considering how big the mugs were it wasn't even enough milk for one coffee. I know that it 's quite simple to phone reception and ask for more milk but I do think it is something so obvious that you shouldn't have to.

There was a hair-drier - although not working, but this didn't cause a problem as, not expecting the luxury of a hair-drier I had brought my own.

Other furniture in the room consisted of a desk (with no suitable lighting on or by it for anyone wishing to work) and a decent sized wardrobe with a fair number of hangers.

The room had no central light just two small lamps on each side of the headboard and a small wall-light at the other end of the room. I would imagine that on dark days the lighting would not be sufficient.

The bathroom was small but again adequate and was spotlessly clean. There were two bath towels (not my idea of bath towel size) and two hand towels but no bath mat - and the floor did become quite slippy. Next to the bath were two tiny complimentary bottles of shampoo/shower gel - probably not enough for one person to shower let alone never mind wash their hair too.

The only problem with the bathroom was the awkward positioning of the toilet immediatley to the right of the toilet which meant that unless you locked the door when using the toilet, you risked being hit by the door as someone else entered the bathroom. There was no problem with hot water but I did find that it took ages to run a decent bath and it was a bit awkward trying to get a happy temperature when showering.

Our room was at the back of the hotel which gave us a view of a small square - no green but a few trees. The window opened only a few millimetres and I would imagine that it might become quite stuffy in summer. In the mornings I was aware of the noise from some nearby building works although I would not claim that I had been woken by them. some light sleepers, however, might find it a problem.

Having been out all day we returned to the hotel in the late afternoon to find that he maid had been in to tidy and we found everything to our satisfaction.

Security seemed fine: in the evenings there was generally a security guard in attendance alongside the receptionists and you had to buzz the doorbell to be allowed in to collect your key having first had verified your name and room number.

A cooked or continental breakfast is available until around 11.30am in the Bar-Cafe and you pay for this at reception, taking your voucher to the cafe. The cooked breakfast is in the region of 5 Pounds and the continental around 4.50 Pounds. We did not have breakfast at the hotel so I am unable to add anything further. The Bar-Cafe is open until around 11.00pm for guests and offers a range of light meals and snacks.

Free parking is available for guests.

While I have highlighted some negatives about the Belfast Travelodge, we found it perfectly adequate and pleasant for a city break and would thoroughly recommend it. Travelodge frequently has promotions offering bargain accommodation and even it's full prices are reasonable.

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At present there is a room sale with a limited number of rooms available at 25.00 Pounds per night - this includes double and family rooms (family rooms are for two adult and two children under 16 years) - but you do have to jiggle dates for availability.

Usual prices are from 45 Pounds per night, double rooms usually cost around 50/55 Pounds per night depending on whether weekday or weekend.

Go to www.travelodge.co.uk for information on this and other Travelodges and to register to be kept up to date with room sales and other promotions.

Belfast Central Travelodge
15 Brunswick Street
Belfast
BT2 7GE

Tel - 0870 191 1687
Fax - 02890 232999

The hotel has a limited number of ground floor rooms for guests with mobilty problems and there are no steps to the entrance.