Generally they are at the budget end of the market, but have provided us with a basic stopover point, to give us opportunities to visit and explore new places in the UK and we have never really found any to be so bad that we didn't stay. They usually provide a very large family room, with double bed, sofa bed, TV, kettle (very important) and adequate size bathroom. They often do deals on rooms starting at only £19, so you can look for an area or town you'd like to visit and providing you have a car, you can probably find one within a reasonable distance, if you don’t have a car, there are many located in town centres or near transport links.
Helensburgh – March 2018
We were looking forward to staying and exploring a new area, but more importantly thus would be our first stay in a truly coastal hotel. On arrival it was a disappointing start, we arrived at an unusually located reception, there was nobody there, so as the sign said, we pressed the button, 3 times in fact, before we actually got hold of the lady covering reception coming down the stairs, we said we’d pressed the button 3 times and we’re a little surprised by her immediate response of you’re doing it wrong and she then pressed it to show us it worked, the sign did not tell us that it would make a noise at reception, otherwise we would have known it hadn’t worked. Other than her initial response to the buzzer, she was friendly and gave us our key.
We were delighted to find the room did lookout to sea, the road can be quite busy, especially as we found the room quite warm, so we had the window open, but it wasn’t the road noise that kept me awake, it was our inconsiderate neighbours at 01:12!!! Spending over an hour chatting, the walls are either very thin or they were very loud!
The bathroom was a little small, it only had a shower cubicle, but for us (and probably most) that wasn’t the issue, taking a shower was though. There wasn't enough space for a glass door on the shower cubicle, so they had to use a shower curtain, but the curtain was too long; hang it outside the cubicle and you would obviously get water onto the bathroom floor, inside the cubicle and it blocked the plug hole, therefore I had to push the curtain back out at the bottom over the lip of the base, so it didn't block the plug, but kept the water running down it off the floor. They'd also put a narrow glass panel to the right-hand side, so I couldn't push the curtain over there and despite my efforts, water got behind and onto the bathroom floor. My solution would be to do either sink the shower tray below the floor line or do away with the tray and create a wet room floor instead. For a little more space I would have also put the sink to the left-hand side (relocated the shaver plug point) and put the toilet cistern up high, to allow the toilet to sit further back, however that would require more work and assumes there is space behind/under to allow any pipes to be moved).
Part of the building (most of the ground floor) of the Travelodge, is the Commodore Pub and Restaurant. It's a lovely Vintage Inns pub/restaurant, with a more typical pub dining area at one side and more restaurant dining at the other. We both had the Wagyu burger, disappointingly mine was a little over done and they were a bit tight on the amount of sauce they gave us, apart from that it's a lovely restaurant, nice relaxed atmosphere and friendly staff.
We were looking forward to staying and exploring a new area, but more importantly thus would be our first stay in a truly coastal hotel. On arrival it was a disappointing start, we arrived at an unusually located reception, there was nobody there, so as the sign said, we pressed the button, 3 times in fact, before we actually got hold of the lady covering reception coming down the stairs, we said we’d pressed the button 3 times and we’re a little surprised by her immediate response of you’re doing it wrong and she then pressed it to show us it worked, the sign did not tell us that it would make a noise at reception, otherwise we would have known it hadn’t worked. Other than her initial response to the buzzer, she was friendly and gave us our key.
We were delighted to find the room did lookout to sea, the road can be quite busy, especially as we found the room quite warm, so we had the window open, but it wasn’t the road noise that kept me awake, it was our inconsiderate neighbours at 01:12!!! Spending over an hour chatting, the walls are either very thin or they were very loud!
The bathroom was a little small, it only had a shower cubicle, but for us (and probably most) that wasn’t the issue, taking a shower was though. There wasn't enough space for a glass door on the shower cubicle, so they had to use a shower curtain, but the curtain was too long; hang it outside the cubicle and you would obviously get water onto the bathroom floor, inside the cubicle and it blocked the plug hole, therefore I had to push the curtain back out at the bottom over the lip of the base, so it didn't block the plug, but kept the water running down it off the floor. They'd also put a narrow glass panel to the right-hand side, so I couldn't push the curtain over there and despite my efforts, water got behind and onto the bathroom floor. My solution would be to do either sink the shower tray below the floor line or do away with the tray and create a wet room floor instead. For a little more space I would have also put the sink to the left-hand side (relocated the shaver plug point) and put the toilet cistern up high, to allow the toilet to sit further back, however that would require more work and assumes there is space behind/under to allow any pipes to be moved).
Part of the building (most of the ground floor) of the Travelodge, is the Commodore Pub and Restaurant. It's a lovely Vintage Inns pub/restaurant, with a more typical pub dining area at one side and more restaurant dining at the other. We both had the Wagyu burger, disappointingly mine was a little over done and they were a bit tight on the amount of sauce they gave us, apart from that it's a lovely restaurant, nice relaxed atmosphere and friendly staff.
Warrington Gemini Junc 8 M62- February 2012
This is the most modern Travelodge room we have stayed in and although located right next to the motorway, the double glazing windows did a great job and we never heard the motorway noise
This is the most modern Travelodge room we have stayed in and although located right next to the motorway, the double glazing windows did a great job and we never heard the motorway noise
Holyhead- March 2012
This is another more modern Travelodge, with plenty of space & everything you will need, TV, kettle, however another couple of sockets would have been ideal.
This is another more modern Travelodge, with plenty of space & everything you will need, TV, kettle, however another couple of sockets would have been ideal.
Donnington Park M1 Services
Based in the motorway services, these Travelodge rooms are above and look down to the services below, so we couldn't open our window, however our room had an A/C Unit, which was a relief. The room was a typical Travelodge room, with the basics you need. I can't complain about the shower not having enough power, this shower was almost too powerful, as the jets felt like needles in my back. Having just stayed in a Premier Inn the two nights before, I would say one night in this Travelodge was enough, any longer I would prefer a Premier Inn, but as usual the room was clean and tidy, the only thing I find with a Travelodge is the mattress is a little bit too soft, but that could be down to my personal preference.
Based in the motorway services, these Travelodge rooms are above and look down to the services below, so we couldn't open our window, however our room had an A/C Unit, which was a relief. The room was a typical Travelodge room, with the basics you need. I can't complain about the shower not having enough power, this shower was almost too powerful, as the jets felt like needles in my back. Having just stayed in a Premier Inn the two nights before, I would say one night in this Travelodge was enough, any longer I would prefer a Premier Inn, but as usual the room was clean and tidy, the only thing I find with a Travelodge is the mattress is a little bit too soft, but that could be down to my personal preference.