Bits: Black Friday deals already launched, my first hotel pancake machine!

News in brief:

Black Friday deals

I am not a fan of Black Friday deals, to put it mildly.  However, I get a feeling that the travel industry will be hitting it hard this year given the impact on bookings from the recent events in Paris and Brussels.

Here are the first few – I will fill you in during the week as more are launched:

Melia Hotels – 30% to 45% discounts depending on city (London is 45% which includes the funky ME London – photo below – and the more traditional White House), booking already open via this link and runs to 30th November for stays until February

Expedia – beating the rush with a 72-hour sale which starts today, more details here

Hotels.com – have an interesting Black Friday one-day offer which I will mention nearer the time as I think it is meant to be secret

Air New Zealand – selling 100 economy flights to Los Angeles for £199 return.  This offer will not actually go live until Monday 30th November although, if you don’t fancy your chances, I believe that there will be other offers available on Friday.

Opodo – until Monday 30th, everyone who books a flight via the site will be entered into a draw for Wonka-style Gold and Silver tickets.  Your chances of winning a Gold prize are not huge but there are “tens of thousands” of £50 flight vouchers available as Silver prizes.  If you are booking a flight this week and Opodo is the same price, you may want to book it via this link as your chance of winning a £50 voucher should be pretty decent.

More Black Friday deals as I get them …

My first experience with a hotel pancake machine

I spent a recent Saturday night at the Holiday Inn Sheffield as I do once a year when visiting family.  I do not expect to be surprised at the Holiday Inn Sheffield (well, not in a positive way anyway) but for the first time in my life I found a pancake making machine on the breakfast buffet!

This is how it works.  You press the button and two piles of pancake mixture are released:

It is cooked as it moves, toaster like, through the machine.  The pair of pancakes then flip off the end onto your waiting plate:

It isn’t exactly comparable to putting a man on the moon but I’m sure you’ll agree this is a great step forward for human-kind …..