Hotels in Middlesbrough
In the end I gave up and booked the only one I could find that looked reasonable on Late Rooms, the Thistle. After my experience on Tuesday with Premier Inn, I felt that might be an idea, but that didn’t work out, as the one in the town itself was fully booked. I phoned the others locally and they were all clueless about how you get to the Riverside by public transport. They just assumed everybody comes by car and you could almost hear the sentiments that only losers use public transport down the phone. Premier Inn don’t even provide decent maps on their site about where the hotels are.
Incidentally, there is nothing on Middlesbrough FC ‘s web site either. After all, all I would need is a cosy B & B. Or don’t such things exist any more?
I have since cancelled the Thistle, as I have found a B & B, which sounds pleasant.
Premier Inn
On Tuesday night, I stayed in the Premier Inn by the Tower. I have stayed in places like this in the past, but what a revelation; a very clean room, a disabled shower, that was a joy to work and had a seat, full Freeview digital television, so I could listen to Radio 5, a compfortable bed, that you could fall onto safely a la Lenny Henry. So the breakfast wasn’t really too coeliac-friendly, but as I skipped it, it didn’t matter. If I’d wanted one, as it was the city of London, there are lots of places to have a snack.In the book, I will be using more of the hotels, but I still haven’t managed to get anything in Middlesbrough.
Of All the Hotels in all the World
There are some luxuries in my life that I will never forego.
One is to stay in the Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong when I am in the territory. They always treat you so well.
This is the view from my room.
View from my Room at Night
One of the most stunning parts of the room is the bathroom, which is all marble and glass.
A Bathroom in the Mandarin Oriental
Note the central basin with a swivelling mirror. They even supply four bathrobes; two warm ones and two in silk!
But you don’t go to the Mandarin Oriental for the facilities. It is for the staff. They aren’t just good, but they must be the best in the world.
As you know I’m a coeliac and they took care to note this and provided me with a proper Chinese translation, so that I would not be glutened in a restaurant. More of that later.
But the hotel is expensive. On the other hand, if you are in Hong Kong and want to savour the hospitality of the Mandarin, just go into the Captain’s Bar by reception and have a drink. The prices are about the same as a reasonable hotel anywhere.
Around the World in 33 Days – Nause!
I have been booking hotels and find some parts of the process very tedious.
For instance, why do I have to have a loyalty card to get a discount? I’m staying in I think about three different groups, so I’d need to have a wallet full of plastic. For what! Probably nothing, as I’ll never stay there again.
Also some hotels don’t publish a local direct number. So if they don’t, I try to avoid staying there!
If Amazon and Marks and Spencer can get a one click buying stategy for the Internet, surely some global hotel booking site can do the same. The trouble is that you won’t find the really good hotels on global sites.
Still I’ll just grin and bear it.
Around the World in 33 Days – Latest Itinerary
The latest route and itinerary is as follows. I shall be flying business all the way, as that was good value from Trailfinders.
Stop 1 – Hong Kong – Arrive Wednesday, May 12th at 16:05
I need to break the journey and what better place than Hong Kong. I am staying in the Mandarin Oriental. My late wife and I always did and it’s worth every penny.
In Hong Kong I will be seeing a few old friends and some others who are perhaps interested in my new project management system, which can produce reports in both English and Chinese. Or in fact any number of languages at the same time.
Stop 2 – Melbourne – Arrive Saturday, May 15th at 06:15
Of all the major cities in the greater south-east of Australia, Melbourne is the only one I haven’t visited. I suppose I haven’t visited Canberra either, but then my Aussie friends say it isn’t worth it.
I also want to play real tennis in the city and see the sights. I’m also going to see some old Metier mates. But if anybody else wants to see me, then just contact me. Or leave a message at the Bloomfield Hotel, where I’m staying.
Stop 3 – Brisbane – Arrive Tuesday, 18th May at 14:15
Seeing an old mate that I’ve never met! We’ll talk about Artemis, Metier and the new project management system. I shall be staying at the Holiday Inn.
Stop 4 – Hawaii – Arrive Friday, 21st May at 09:25
Now I’ve never been to Hawaii, but it looks like a place that is worth a stopover as I make my way across the Pacific. I also want to visit Pearl Harbor. After all, I’ve stood on the dock at Taranto, where the Fleet Air Arm proved the concept for the Japanese. Read the Attack on Taranto by Lowry and Wellham for more details. Note that the book is an American publication. I shall be taking a copy.
I don’t know if anybody knows me in Hawaii, but I shall be staying at the Aqua Bamboo and Spa. I chose it as I got a little kitchen, so that I can fend for myself if GF seems bad in Hawaii.
Stop 5 – San Francisco – Arrive Monday, 24th May at 20:35
I’ll probably spend a day or so in San Francisco and then it will be a car all the way to New Orleans. I’m staying at the Orchard Hotel. Note that this is at 665 Bush Street and not the Orchard Garden Hotel, which is a sister hotel.
The first leg is planned to be a drive to somewhere around Bakersfield after visiting the giant redwoods and other sights in Calfornia
Stop 6 – Bakersfield – Arrive Wednesday, 26th May
This will only be an overnight stop.
Stop 7 – Route 66 Motel – Arrive Thursday 27th May
I had a very interesting stop here many years ago.
Stop 8 – Grand Canyon – Arrive Friday 28th May
There are places in this area that I want to visit again, like the Hoover Dam, the Grand Canyon, Route 66, the meteor crater at Winslow and the ruins of the pueblas.
Stop 9 – Phoenix – Arrive Saturday 29th May
Phoenix is somewhere I’ve been before but only for a change of flights.
Stop 10, 11 – Las Cruces, Midland – Arrive Sunday 30th May and Monday 31st May
These are provisional and it all depends on weather and speed.
Stop 12 – Austin – Arrive Tuesday 1st June
If things work out, I’ll stay two nights here.
Stop 13 – Houston – Arrive Thurday 3rd June
Two nights here too.
Stop 14 – New Orleans – Arrive Thursday 5th June
I’ve never been to New Orleans, so I’ll drive from Houston. It may be that I get there a day later.
Stop 15 – New York – Arrive Tuesday 8th June
I’m taking the Delta direct flight on the day.
Stop 16 – Boston – Arrive Wednesday 9th June
I’ll probably take the train and hire a car in Boston, before driving to Cape Cod. Two nights there and one night in Boston.
Stop 17 – London – Leave Boston on Saturday, 12th June at 21:30
And then it’s back to London.
This will get filled out even more as the time unfolds.
Note that anybody who wants to see me, just contact me in the normal way. LinkedIn is probably the easiest.
Melville Hotel, Kings Cross
I booked this hotel on Late Rooms before I went to Holland.
Melville Hotel, Kings Cross
The hotel was cheap and was best described as a building site. My room was comfortable though and this would have been fine, except for the fact that there were doors banging all night.
Breakfast looked appalling and I chose the option of eating in St. Pancras at Carluccios.
I shall not be staying there again.
Shell Mex House and the Savoy Hotel
Shell Mex House has sat on the River Thames since 1930 and is one of the most recognisable buildings with its large clock. It sits next to the Savoy Hotel, which looks very anonymous compared to its brash neighbour.
Shell Mex House and the Savoy Hotel
I only stayed in the hotel once and that was on my birthday in 1987.
As happened several times in big hotels in those days, I got woken the middle of the night by a phone call. It’s the trouble with having a common name and if the hotel has more than a hundred of so rooms, there’s a chance you have a namesake. It doesn’t happen anymore, as we all have mobile phones and no-one ever rings the hotel and asks for a guest.
And then to make it worse! I went for a walk in the morning and got hit in the eye by a stone thrown up by a passing vehicle. When I returned to the hotel, they didn’t think I was a guest and tried to throw me out!
So I won’t stay there again. But I suspect, if I did it would be a lot better, as that night was just bad luck!
Strangely, the only time I’ve been inside Shell Mex House was to meet a guy with the same name as me!
Peebles Hydro
On Sunday, I went for lunch with my friends at Peebles Hydro.
Everything on the menu that was gluten-free was marked as such. All restaurants should follow their example. about half the menu was gluten-free, so I had a lot of choice.
In the end I had melon followed by pork medallions. It was delicious and if you need to a gluten-free meal, then it is definitely a place to try.
They are part of McMillan Hotels. I don’t know if the same policy applies across their five hotels.
How to Choose a Hotel
Choosing a hotel on the Internet is a bit of a minefield.
I use a two web site approach in parallel; Late Rooms and Trip Advisor.
- With Late Rooms you enter the town or city you want and then you choose the hotel according to star ratings, position and your other requirements. They also have quite a few B&Bs.
- You then check user reviews in Trip Advisor.
When you are happy, book the hotel with Late Rooms and usually you will get a good discount. I found two very good hotels this way; Terra Mia, a B&B in Naples and the Relais Piazza San Marco, a spaceous room-only hotel close to St. Mark’s Square in Venice.
Hotels and the Internet
The reason I was going to Blackpool was to see a hotel partly owned by a cousin of my late wife’s and her family. They had Internet issues as the person, who’d run the hotel before they did, still had control of the web site and it rated above them on Google. The e-mail address and domain on that site didn’t exist, so how many bookings had they lost.
So the first thing I did was to buy the domain for the cost of £6 for two years from Low Cost Names and setup the e-mail address so it forwarded to the hotel. I then took lots of pictures and in the next few days will put them up on Trip Advisor. I’ll be honest about what I found at the hotel, as to do anything else would be unethical.
Just as to give the name of the hotel here would be.
The Anonymous Widower 