Saturday, 20 October 2007

UK hotels

I found this site for UK Hotel Reservations and Bookings and had a good look around. This is a welcoming hotel booking site, with a pleasant lay-out and clear sections divided up around the page. There are quick tabs for types of hotels; city breaks, coastal classics, country retreats and more.

There is a highlighted pick of week, which was a nice looking hotel in Warwickshire when I was on the site. There are London hotels, obviously, and there is a top 5 UK city breaks. You can also click on a map to find your hotel. The site is easy to move around and is not too busy or fussy.

To me what makes for a good hotel is a combination of factors that all need to come together. The location needs to be good. If I am on a city break the hotel needs to be in the centre but in a good location. If I am in the country a nice view and some rustic scenery would be a bonus, on the coast a sea view would be nice et cetera.

The hotel room should be satisfactory in that it needs to be comfortable and clean and it should be kept clean every day while I stay in the hotel. In some hotels the cleaning regime can be a bit hit and miss which is always off-putting. It’s nice when the staff are friendly and helpful and can give you tips and suggestions for places to see and things to do in the vicinity.

A good restaurant is a feature that is much appreciated as is a hotel bar with a modicum of character where you can have a nice drink at the end of the day. All these things combined can make for a good hotel experience. I am not mentioning price as that is subjective and relative. I have stayed in some nice hotels and in some hotels that were not so fantastic. A lot of things need to come together for it to work. Just don’t ask for the Basil Fawlty room!




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