Just come back from an action packed week at Center Parcs. Review to follow - Ang.
Just come back from an action packed week at Center Parcs. Review to follow - Ang.
Member since:08.09.2001
Reviews:149
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Very occasionally I am lucky enough to be able to steal a night away from the hum drum of normality and stay away from home for a night. About four months ago, we decided we were going to just pick a weekend, book a travelodge at random and just get away. I didn't need telling twice! I was straight onto the travelodge website and browsing through the lodges to choose where we could stay. As we didn't have a destination in mind, I decided to go via the special offers which quite often pop up online, saving you quite a bit of money on certain dates. Our room rate should have been £55 per night being a weekend, but we managed to secure it for £29. Sometimes you can be lucky enough to find £10 room deals but I feel you have to really hunt for these.
Plymouth travelodge seemed appealing for a variety of reasons. - close to town centre. - Had a deal on during the weekend I wanted. - It was somewhere I hadn't been so why not. - It was far enough away from home to be classed as "going away".
Right credit card at the ready, I booked. I wont go into the booking process here as this review isn't about the Travelodge website but the hotel itself. Seeing as we didn't know where we were going, I made the most of the direction provided on the website and printed them off for use on our journey.
We actually managed to find the hotel fairly easily, as it is located right next to a roundabout. The only downside was that there is no free onsite parking, as we had to use the multi storey car park opposite which applied a charge. The travelodge itself, is a very modern looking
building, situated on three floors. As we parked the car, we were just in time for the 3pm check in time. The website assured us we could check in any time after this and departure was middday on the day of departure. This was better than some 10am times of leaving rooms. The surrounding area of the Travelodge consisted of an older style cinema/theatre right opposite. This looked like it wasn't open when we visited but I'm sure it must have been as the films being advertised were current choices. There was also a Pizza Express round the corner. However as the hotel was so close to the town centre we didn't bother with either of these during our weekend.
Going into reception, the area was completely modern, with electric glass doors. There was a porter on 24 hours so you didn't need your key to access the front door at a certain time of night as some lodges do. Inside the main reception area was an open plan reception desk with two members of quite busy looking staff, a couple of taxi phones and the usual cabinet for buying those forgotten toiletries etc. There was also the complimentary maps and guides to local attractions.
Booking in was a bit of a chore, as they had our booking down on the wrong date, but luckily I was carrying my booking confirmation with me so I could prove we had arrived on the right date in my mind. We had a booked a family room, and were able to secure the same style booking. It was a standard non smoking room. Payment is made at the time of booking, and you don't have to use the same card you secure your booking with. (This is done so they can charge your card if you don't turn up). You can pay with cash or a wide variety of cards. The rest was a fairly simple process. The staff were friendly enough, but you could see they were very busy. We were issued with our key card, a receipt, and directions to our room which was on the second floor. We had remembered to ask about the parking facilities just incase it was one of those discretionary things that you didn't get unless you asked. Unfortunately we weren't able to get free parking, but the receptionist did tell us if we parked on the upper floors after a certain time at night, the parking would then be free until a certain time in the morning. I forget the exact times now, but this was handy as we then were able to work out our ticket times accordingly.
There were lifts and stairs allowing access to all floors, and we managed to find our room without too much hassle. I had stayed in Travelodge's before, and knew the basic room layout etc as they are all the same, and all have the same room interior. This one wasn't any different, except the room was laid out in a slightly different style. The rooms are automatically locked when the door is shut and opens by inserting a key card into the slot. As all the doors are fire doors, they do slam when they shut and can be quite heavy to open. Care is needed if children are around, but for the health and safety side, they do have to be fire doors. I'm not sure how easy wheelchair access would be to a lone traveller here.
We still got our fairly comfy bed with the sofa bed to one side. There was a desk with lighting, tv, and plug sockets etc. wardrobe space is sparse, but for a night or two, it's not too much of an issue. The bathroom is set off to one side of the room, and contains the usual toilet, bath/shower and sink. All was very clean and there was the complimentary teeny tiny bottle of bath and shower gel. The room itself was basic, but clean. I do wish they wouldn't leave those bibles in the bedside cabinet though!
Provided with the cost of your room is towels, and bed linen. I usually try to go prepared where ever I go, and still always forget something.
So we'd got here and the room was fine. We needed to go exploring. From the hustle coming from the street opposite the Travelodge, we decided to take a look in that direction. Not very far away we found a busy high street full of all the usual shops. Now we didn't go away with the intention of shopping, but it was perfect as we were able to get in some early Christmas shopping.
Time soon went on, and we were needing somewhere to go in the evening. As we had our daughter with us it had to be family orientated. My partner asked at reception and was recommended a Leisure park not too far away consisting of the usual cinema, bowling, nightclub and a few restaurants etc. This seemed like the ideal choice, and with only a short taxi ride, it turned out well. We were able to book the taxi via reception and it collected us and dropped us off right outside the main entrance.
A few glasses of wine and games of bowling later, we returned back to the room, tired and happy. I seem to sink into the beds every time I stay in a Travelodge, and this time was no different. The mattresses are quite soft, but I find this very comfortable. The bed is also large enough for two people to share very comfortably. Having not slept on the sofa bed, I can't comment on it's comfiness, but my daughter dropped off quickly enough using the spare duvet provided by Travelodge.
We didn't have a great view from our second floor window, as we found we were overlooking the car park, however I thought about this and decided that I wasn't really going away for the view was I, so I shant complain.
During my stay at Plymouth, I found everything to be exact in my room in the sense of enough towels etc, but I know from experience of other Travelodges, that if you just ask at reception, they will usually comply quite easily to your requests. Also avaialable is the usual iron and board for useage, but you have to request these items, and we didn't find the need to ask.
Check out was very simple. We made sure all our items were packed away, and the room was fairly in the state we found it. I know they have cleaning services, but even so. We dropped our keys off at reception, which you can do in a drop box at the desk, and then I'm afraid it's away you go back to normal-dom.
We took advantage of using the rest of the day and went back to doing a bit of shopping before we went home, but all in all it was a very pleasurable adventure, and I would definately go back again should any occasion require it.
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I got a bit lost in the details - will re-read when less tired, though . . . - .................................................................................................... ~ ♥ ~ jes ≈≈≈≈{; -)-{{::::: |||||< ♥♥
tractor-boy 07.01.2006 01:26
Sounds worth checking out if I find myself away from home. S x
Gemerina 07.01.2006 00:28
a good review with lots of helpful details, i may look out for these offers on travelodges whenever i go away, thanks , gemma x
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Jan 6th, 2006
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