For us, a good hotel is better than a bad hotel if: it is clean (especially the bathroom); has friendly staff across all functions; has a reasonably-sized room without broken fittings/fixtures; has a good selection of food that tastes nice and does not cost a fortune; is located in an area where it is easy to walk to local attractions or become part of the streetlife; and represents overall good value (or that feeling like you've not just been ripped off). We've rated the hotels that we've stayed in over the past few years after much family debate! However, our views also reflect our reflective perception so the ratings may change as we keep on going on holidays.
Impressed!
Hawaii Grand, Lemesos (Limassol), Cyprus
http://www.hawaiigrand.com/home.htm
Time of year: October-November
The Hawaii Grand was much better than we expected, given the silly-sounding name for a place in the Mediterranean, and the relatively inexpensive price. The hotel itself was well-maintained with an attractive foyer and friendly reception. The room was adequate with enough room to spread our cases out, store a pram and include a cot. The bathroom was in a good state of repair and clean – the complementary toiletries were also well presented and of good quality. Even the advertised ‘garden view’ was good insomuch that we had a nice view west across the coast towards Limassol town.
Food was pleasing too, with a nice daily variety of night theme menus at the main hotel restaurant that included an outdoor dining area and an entertainment session (usually music but also an occasional magician). Breakfasts were also a nice spread of items that included a handful of regular fatty fare (bacon, sausages, eggs to order, waffles), cold meats and cheeses, fruits and similar. The only let-down in the food department was the pizza: we ordered three during our stay and each one came out on a floppy base that was obviously bought and cooked from frozen. Of course being Cyprus there were a few cats around the heels under the table.
Not being used to a resort lifestyle – our holidays are usually in colder climes – we were pleasantly surprised how a resort hotel was self-contained. There really was no compelling need to go visiting all the sights of Cyprus (been there done that before in any case) when we could veg out beside the nice pool or go for a dip in the sea or just enjoy lunch outside. Maybe it was the time of year, but there were plenty sunbeds available both around the pool and the nice shaded areas coming up off the seafront.
Looking back up from the pool area View from our room in the morning
It was nice to be a bit out of Limassol town so there was no psychological pull of more street-life to be drawn towards with the attendant stress of wandering up and down the main drag looking for a reasonable enough place to eat. But if we were really keen it would have been a good beach walk down and back to the Amathus archaeological site (worth a visit, but buy a guide first to help in understanding what it is you’re looking at). Bit difficult to do with a pram, though, as the roadside walk is not pram and only just foot friendly for most of the way.
Overall, Hawaii Grand represented a good-value hotel as it was clean and the staff were helpful and friendly, especially to our baby. I doubt we would stay anywhere else (unless the price was compelling enough!) when we go back again to visit.
Vienna Marriott Hotel, Austria
Time of year: December
All good, except that we found mould at the back of the bar fridge...
Hilton Athens, Greece
Time of year: November
The Hilton Athens had just been finishing up its refurbishment in preparation for the Athens 2004 Olympics so we were curious about how much work was really left to go! When we finally got there (of course there was a taxi strike when we arrived, yet we did manage to find a rouge taxi driver who was kind enough to take us almost to the hotel…got dropped off at the corner so he wouldn’t be spotted breaking the strike). The foyer and general appearance was really nice but it was quite busy so there was not much chance to hang about to admire the spaces.
The room had been refurbished and was done to a high standard so we were very pleased. As can be expected, it was clean and the maintenance was all done well. We even had a view of the Acropolis from the sixth-floor which was great.
One of the most pleasant features of the Hilton Athens was the food: the breakfast, lunch and dinners we had there were all very good with excellent variety and presentation. I’d go back just for this! But it was also well enough located that to do a round walk to the market area/Agora, Acropolis and Olympic Stadium (plus all the places in between) made like you had got a bit closer to the ‘Athenian ground’ than might otherwise had been th case if located closer to a major site.
Om Kolthoom Hotel & Tower, Cairo
http://www.omkolthoomhotel.com/
Time of year: November
While on the lower-end of the hotel’s we’ve stayed at so far, this is a place that we’d be happy to stay at again. The basics were all okay, with a clean bathroom, clean sheets and everything working fine in the room. But we were especially impressed with the size of the room, being one of the largest we’ve been in (beaten in floor space by the Waldorf). It was, however, a corner room and we believe the largest the hotel has. The view is good, with a nice view of the Nile and, on a good day with the sun in the right place, you can even see the Giza pyramids. It was also pleasant to have a walk over the bridge and along the Nile to get a taste of street life as well as the nicely shaded parts of Zamalek Island that the hotel is sited on.
The furniture and fittings were basic and in a state of bearable repair, and the carpets in need of a good deep clean. The room did get a bit warm in the afternoons as it has wall to floor windows on the two sides leading out to the sweeping balcony. The sliding door ‘seals’ were not fitted well, so this increased the amount of road noise (which is plentiful!) reaching up to the room, despite being on the 16th floor. But that’s just part of the wonderful Cairo experience.
From the road the hotel is hard to distinguish from the other buildings along the street as it is only the top few floors that are the ‘hotel’ as such. There are a number of cafes on the ground floor, including one with internet access, which are both quite nice. The staff were all pleasant and we could communicate well enough in basic English. The manager was a nice chap too. Be warned that they take your passport here too. The other thing to note is the tourist police outside the front of the hotel with the guns which is a typical feature. Heaps of taxis go past at all hours so getting one was never a problem. Even in morning rush hour a taxis were easy to get (airport was 45 minutes journey).
Not bad, but given a choice...
Holiday Inn London Heathrow, Ariel
Time of year: all round
If stretched for choice for reasonably priced hotels adjacent to Heathrow, this is the one we’d prefer. But do be careful about the room you request: if you’re single you may well end up in one of the inner ring rooms which are very narrow indeed: hardly any room there to put your meal tray down. If nothing else, these small rooms do get you in the mode of ‘strictly business’ so definitely not fun for a holiday.
The outer ring rooms we’ve stayed in have all been of a good size. Like many of the hotels adjacent to Heathrow, the buildings are rather worn and to a certain extent grubby and the Holiday Inn Ariel is no exception. Yet, the bathrooms were always clean enough and the furniture and fittings in a good state of repair.
Perhaps one of the more pleasing aspects of the Holiday Inn Ariel has been their room service Holiday Inn’s house burger. After a hard day’s work the large meaty patty and chips really filled a gap in the stomach and is probably one of the nicest we’ve tasted anywhere in the world in this category. At around GBP 10 it was also relatively good value considering McDonalds is ten minutes walk down the road. The hotel restaurant is acceptable, but does not represent good value when compared with McDonalds or for more of a walk the Italian restaurant about 20 minutes walk away on Sipson Road.
What helps to set the Holiday Inn Ariel apart from the other choices if you do have to stay at Heathrow and don’t want to spend too much money for luxury is its location to the village of Hayes. Just a brief (45 minutes or so) brisk walk up the road and you can find a few shops including an Iceland food store where we’ve bought a few snacks to save on eating out - but you have to be keen on the walking and don't mind the rain. Bus connections are all good out the front or across the road to the hotel as well, with easy access to a buses that go direct to Houndslow (where you can get a tube into London), Slough and Uxbridge plus of course Heathrow.
Oh dear! Hard to attract me back.
Crowne Plaza London Heathrow & Holiday Inn Heathrow M4 J4
Time of year: all round
Both the Crown Plaza and Holiday Inn, M4 J4 are nice enough hotels with adequate rooms (the Crowne Plaza's room fit three of us with plenty of room to spare) of fairly good cleanliness and state of repair. Both have a good choice of restaurants which is just as well given it is a bit of a walk to civilization (the Holiday Inn is on the Sipson Road that you can walk down towards Heathrow (Bath Road) for 20 minutes or so and find a convenience store and nice Italian restaurant if you don’t get waylaid by two pubs on the way.
Hilton Kensignton, London
Time of year: November & October
We’ve been here twice now and it would be difficult to return! Our first visit saw us squashed into a little room but it’s London, we thought, so weren’t to concerned. While not the best location for tourists, Kensington is a lovely area and as avid walkers it did give us the opportunity to walk plenty although bus links into central London (94 and 148) and the Holland Park tube station are easy to access.
Although the size of the room was disappointing (including a terribly placed TV set which one of us hit twice with incredibly great bangs on the head) the breakfast was really good with an excellent variety of cooked and cold items including cook to order eggs, omelettes and similar. The hotel restaurants were, however, on the pricey side and while the food was good you do start to think if there would have been better value down the street.
The one bit of excitement on our first visit was a late evening fire alarm. Given us Neralians have a safety first culture (years of experience with fireballs), we had reviewed the evacuation plan when first entering the room so knew the drill and fire escape. Curiously, we were the only ones stumbling down the fire escape during the alarm and upon exiting were the only ones standing out the front awaiting the arrival of the fire brigade. Bit of a worry, but when we did eventually ask a concierge he seemed rather oblivious of the fire trucks parked at the side of the hotel but said all was well. So we went back in and went to sleep, somehow.
On the second visit, well...
On arrival (after an 18 hour flight) we were quite tired and looking forward to a refurbished room and, naturally, a clean one. On checking into the HHonors desk (being a member) there was a man in front who was extremely upset about not having clean towels in his room - he demanded to see the manager. When the manager came who he thought we were the person complaining (little did we know what was to befall us later). Anyway, we don't know the outcome of the dilemma of the unclean towels…
Soon, we were up the lift to the room; hooray, time for a shower. Oh dear! We couldn't believe our eyes - were we hallucinating and back in time to November 2004? Alas, no. it was indeed the late evening of chilly November, 2007. The room had not been refurbished and so small it would have been difficult to swing a cat in it. The bathroom was dirty (and consequently we refrained from having a much desired shower). It looked like it was out of a standard 1950's bathroom (although it was actually 1970's) and had the most unusual arrangement for putting on the light - a dirty cord that ran from the ceiling to almost the ground. It took some time to register that this was the apparatus for lighting the bathroom.
An immediate phone call to reception and they advised that it was only certain floors that had been refurbished (which was not as stated on the Hilton website at the time when booked, at least we think so). They assured us that next day (after returning from my expedition around London) that a refurbished room would await me. Now to sleep…
Upon returning the next day we did have a new room but it was only partially refurbished and even smaller than first room to the point that (as there was no luggage rack or similar to put a suitcase on) it had to be put on a small glass table so it could be unpacked. Another note: unlike all the other hotels where we have asked for one so far, the Hilton Kensington makes us pay for a plug adapter. Anyhow, we unpacked again and prepared for a night in, but again we could not stay in the room more than one night as the bathroom had its ‘resident mould’. So once again a call to reception and request to have the room changed. Again, they gave an assurance that the next day we would come back to a lovely clean and refurbished room! We were really looking forward to this after having already had two rooms in two days (unpacking and packing each time).
Now when we returned after a day out we learned that a room had not after all been blocked for that night! As they purportedly had no rooms available but one slightly larger room on that night, we shifted to that room. At least it would be larger enough to maybe swing a cat in it. Then we went into the bathroom and could not believe that not only was the resident mould in occupancy in the grouting around the bath, but the toilet was not cleaned! The air conditioner heating did not work either, so the only time we had to use a scarf in London on this trip was around our neck in bed to stave off some of the cold - along with a jumper on as well (no spare blankets in the wardrobe unlike most other hotels - let alone spare pillows).
We were just too tired to phone the reception that night so flopped into bed - and cast an eye across to one side - my hell, please don't let that stain on the bottom sheet be blood! It was, so that just about finished us off, but as we were so tired we could only move to the other side of the bed. Things had gone too far this time, so there was no alternative but to talk to the Manager the next morning.
After dressing the next morning (without shower - couldn't handle the mould) we went down to reception and asked politely to speak to the Manager. When he came we proceeded to download verbally and calmly the dilemma of THE ROOMS and that we needed a clean room. He said he didn't have another one available at that time. We then re-iterated our disappointment that our trip was being spoiled by the accommodation and magically he found a room for and escorted us to it. It was a lovely room, relatively speaking, clean and refurbished just like what we had been lead to believe on their website. We thanked him and asked if he would have a look at the previous room for his own feedback. We went down to the previous night's old dirty room (to pack our things for the third time in three days). Upon arrival at the dirty old room we showed him the bathroom and the bed sheet - he was suitably appalled and agreed with us about the mould and the blood stain.
The upshot of the dilemma of the rooms was they gave one free dinner and one free night’s accommodation (considering we were staying for eight nights, this was only fair).
Addendum - on the last night we decided to order room service, but when we signed for the bill we noticed a discrepancy in the amount and thought maybe it was our unmathmatical mind. So we signed for it and then went and checked the menu - we were right - so we phoned room service and they came up with the menu to my room to clarify. We had ordered off the menu in the room which unbeknown to us was an old menu with accompanying old prices. So after a discussion we said we’d ordered off the menu in the room in the knowledge that that was the current menu and that is not our concern if they haven't put the new menu in the room. We were assured they would adjust the bill. But at 5 am the next morning (when we went to pay the eight night’s hotel bill) naturally the food bill had not been adjusted downwards (we had taken the precaution to take the old menu down to reception) so explained the situation and eventually it was adjusted correctly. Then we departed for Heathrow.
Not sure that I would ever want to stay here again even though we are in London quite a bit, which is a bit of a shame given a much better Hilton experience in other locations. Clearly, they were having difficulty getting the right staff to train and supervise the housekeepers to a proper standard.