Travelodge Plymouth, Plymouth

...having never stayed in a Travelodge before, but had heard that they were a cheap alternative.


~~Price~~
I have to say that I was quite shocked at how much one night would cost as I have stayed in cheaper and more luxurious places than this before. Unfortunately we couldn’t find a room anywhere else in Plymouth for that night due to various events that were taking place in the city. The Travelodge we eventually looked ...
...
~~Location~~
The Travelodge is in a great location within Plymouth, although it also has some downsides to this particular location. The hotel is right in the middle of the town centre - a stones throw away from all the shop and is located at the back of Union Street (main street running through the town). This means pretty much everything you would want to see is within walking distance.

However the downside to this ... more

A recent trip to Plymouth meant I needed to book a hotel for the night for me and my partner - but due to low funds it needed to be something cheap and cheerful. Enter the local Travelodge. I have to admit to having never stayed in a Travelodge before, but had heard that they were a cheap alternative.

~~Price~~
I have to say that I was quite shocked at how much one night would cost as I have stayed in cheaper and more luxurious places than this before. Unfortunately we couldn’t find a room anywhere else in Plymouth for that night due to various events that were taking place in the city. The Travelodge we eventually looked at didn’t have any standard double rooms available so we had to go with the family room which ended up costing us £79! I have to say these are not the type of prices I am used to hearing people quote when commenting on Travelodge.

However like I say we couldn’t find any alternative accommodation and our trip was fast approaching so I hesitantly booked the room for us and begrudgingly handed over the bank details for payment.

~~Location~~
The Travelodge is in a great location within Plymouth, although it also has some downsides to this particular location. The hotel is right in the middle of the town centre - a stones throw away from all the shop and is located at the back of Union Street (main street running through the town). This means pretty much everything you would want to see is within walking distance.

However the downside to this location is that Union Street just happens to be where all of the cities big clubs and pubs are situated, meaning that of a night time it gets extremely busy and noisy. However we were reassured that the hotel had excellent double glazing and the noise would not affect our stay - or more importantly our sleep.

The first impressions of the hotel when arriving were not great - you were almost made to feel like you were going through a back entrance to the hotel, rather than a main entrance (perhaps I was expecting too much from a Travelodge?)

Although the Travelodge doesn’t have its own parking, there is public parking directly opposite - although this obviously does come at a cost. I seem to remember it costing us about £6 to park our car there for the day - not cheap if you are planning stay more than one night!

~~The hotel~~
Upon arriving we had to wait some time as there was only one receptionist available, but four other couples waiting to check in. We eventually got our room key (after the booking showing an error that we had booked a single room despite paying for a family room).

When we eventually found our room after following room signs directing us the wrong way, we were shocked beyond belief. The room we had been given hadn’t yet been cleaned or tidied after the guests that had stayed the previous night. The bed sheets were all over the floor, towels in bath, scum all over the bathroom, paper, tissues etc all over the floor. Admittedly as soon as we reported this at the reception the staff were very apologetic and immediately issue us a new room key - however this mistake should never had happened, I would really expect all rooms should have been cleaned by 4pm (the time we checked in).

To be honest our new room didn’t fair much better. It was tidy and clean(ish) but nothing special, however when we went to bed that night we noticed several other problems.
The bed was the most uncomfortable bed I have ever slept in - and I have slept in some pretty horrible beds! The mattress was lumpy, soft and sagging. Every movement in the bed felt another spring in my back. There were two flat pillows on the bed for us both to share - to be honest I may as well not have bothered with a pillow.
But even worse than this was the temperature of the room. I tried to turn the heating down but soon discovered it was stuck on high, thus meaning we had to open the window just to keep cool. As previously noted the Travelodge is behind all the clubs and pubs of Plymouth so of course by having the windows open we could hear everything.

To be honest I was so tired after our day that I would have slept anywhere, but when we woke up the next morning my whole body ached. My boyfriend had a really sore back - so much so that I had to go out and buy him some painkillers just to get through the rest of the day.

When we checked out that morning the receptionist asked if our stay was ok, I told her of the problems we had and she just mumbled sorry - I think they are used to complaints there, however she did nothing to try and rectify the situation.

~~Conclusion~~
I definitely wont be booking to stay in this hotel ever again. We both had appalling nights sleep, the only advantage of the place being the close proximity to everything.
I am sure not all Travelodge hotels are the same, but this experience has certainly put me off ever staying in one again. I don’t think I would even book again if I found a £9 room in their sale.
 

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