How I got very drunk and discovered London hotel ‘day rooms’

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• Mark says:

  19 Mar19 March 08:19

  This must be the funniest HFP article I’ve read for a while… Maybe you’re into something here. Raffles’ weekly confession blog? 🙂

• Smid says:

  19 Mar19 March 08:28

  Don’t 297 of base points convert to like half of that for airport miles on Accor points?

  Anyway, smallest room I’ve ever been in was at a mercure Paddington. Plus I’ve never seen my platinum status get any better room in any ibis, mercure or novotel (never tried a Sofitel, but reports are good for those)

  • Brian says:

    19 Mar19 March 08:39

    My Platinum status has sometimes got me Privilege rooms at Mercures – ibis rooms are all pretty much the same, so there is no real chance of a upgrade anyway.

    297 points convert to half that for BA, but Iberia still has a 1:1 conversion rate…

  • Kai says:

    19 Mar19 March 11:50

    I suggest you use their online check-in feature, which enables the hotel to prepare your room beforehand and make any special arrangement. Even at Ibis, I’m always given a room on high floor with a view (last weekend at Excel for example).

• Callum says:

  19 Mar19 March 09:48

  Is it really wise to publish that you appear to be evading tax by claiming personal expenses as business expenses (regardless of whether you can justify it to HMRC)!?

  Don’t get me wrong – I’m not taking some sort of moral high ground on the matter, it’s a tiny amount, I’m sure it’s completely normal and it was entertaining!

  • Rob says:

    19 Mar19 March 10:15

    I pay for all of my office space on a day to day basis. It is no different to paying Regus for a day office and then sleeping on the floor. Just less comfy.

    • Callum says:

      19 Mar19 March 11:00

      I’d personally say getting a hotel room because your wife seems to have forbidden you from getting drunk and you want to hide it from her is a bit different!

      • plastikman says:

        19 Mar19 March 12:00

        wholly, necessarily, exclusively. It did cross my mind too!

      • Worzel says:

        19 Mar19 March 15:08

        Callum 11:00am.
        ‘getting a hotel room because your wife seems to have forbidden you from getting drunk and you want to hide it from her’ .

        Where’s the evidence?

        • callum says:

          19 Mar19 March 17:01

          Well unless I’m going mad, the article initially talked about hiding the drunkenness from his wife – the way it was phrased implied (hence the “seems”) that she wouldn’t have approved. I can’t think of any other reason why sleeping in his own bed wasn’t an option because his wife was working from home either – unless she is a drum teacher or something!

          Not that I understand why you are finding this so objectionable. I hoped I made it clear that I wasn’t having a go at him or looking down at him for it.

          Though if an MP claimed a hotel on expenses (at an equivalent amount to whatever the tax write-off from this expense would be) to recover from a drinking session I’m not sure people would be so supportive!

        • Rob says:

          19 Mar19 March 17:07

          I wasn’t hiding it, but neither was I keen to be in the house to remind her of my condition – or to be dragged into playing with my little boy when he got home at lunchtime! You are clearly not married Callum!

        • Waribai says:

          19 Mar19 March 17:17

          “You are clearly not married” Haha 🙂

• Hillary says:

  19 Mar19 March 10:06

  Cocktails make people drunk (Duh)

  I’ve already been home, slept in bed, and my tuned-in wife didn’t smell any drink or realise I was still in the aftermath of a drunken stupor. I’m so tired that I desperately need sleep, but instead of going home, (remember I’m so tired) I’ll get on the laptop, search for day rooms, find an appropriate website, search for a hotel, do a booking, GET TO THE HOTEL, take a “day room” (nudge nudge) use it for a whole two hours @ £29.50 an hr. Apparently entirely Logical.

  If the wife every takes a cursory glance at either the blog or the credit card bill, that’ll work out FAR better that just saying I was drunk and need to go to bed.

  • Rob says:

    19 Mar19 March 10:14

    This seemed like a totally normal course of action for me to take, to be honest! If you look back through HfP, you will see that I often book hotels in sales to use as office space because it is cheaper than paying for an office. Most recently I had a few days in the Holiday Inn Kensington opposite the Mercure, for instance.

    Working out of hotel rooms is standard behaviour for me. The alternative, apart from day offices, is paying £800 or so per month for a permanent office which I don’t need all the time. We are talking central London costs here remember. There is also variety in working out of different places – I have a few Hi Wembley days lined up soon at 10k IHG points.

    Getting to the hotel is a doddle, Uber picked me up outside Pret and took me there. And home again. For no cost.

  • Lady London says:

    19 Mar19 March 23:56

    Actually it will work out far better.

    As I know from colleagues who’ve let slip such things over the years and seem to have the knack of staying married 🙂

• Worzel says:

  19 Mar19 March 10:18

  Hillary 10:06am / Callum 9:48, maybe you should both meet up-you seem well matched!

  • Callum says:

    19 Mar19 March 11:03

    I don’t think getting together based on a mutual very slight “objection” (for want of a better word) to a stranger booking a hotel day room is particularly wise!

    • Rob says:

      19 Mar19 March 11:06

      Come on, you’ve probably seen people get together on flimsier pretexts!

    • danksy says:

      19 Mar19 March 13:38

      Maybe you could get a ‘day room’ together!

      • Waribai says:

        19 Mar19 March 21:41

        This must be one of the most entertaining threads I’ve read in a while. Evidently, a clear (inevitably) disconnect in logic between the married and unmarried folk!
        I’m struggling to think of a married couple I know where the wife would say “Oh dear, sorry to hear you’ve got a bad hangover. Why don’t you sleep it off while I look after the child!”

• Nick says:

  19 Mar19 March 11:04

  Le Club Accorhotels have just, without informing cardholders (mine is only a Gold), raised their threshold for transfer from 2000 to 4000 points. As late as summer 2014 there was no minimum at all – points became Avios automatically within a few days. Their customer “services” (in Paris I guess, though there is an 0800 contact number) have been promising to transfer the 501 points I earned last November to Avios, but keep making excuses not to do so – their latest advice 2 days ago was “contact Avios – it’s their problem”. I did – awaiting a response from Avios. Wouldn’t be an issue if Accor points didn’t expire after a year – mine will disappear this November as I’ve no intention of using their hotels again after all their empty promises.

  • Rob says:

    19 Mar19 March 11:13

    Haven’t seen this, thanks. Will run something tomorrow.

  • Kai says:

    19 Mar19 March 11:45

    Accor runs great promotions, but to use their points can be a pain sometimes!

• Tim says:

  19 Mar19 March 11:11

  Hope the head in feeling better Rob,

  Re getting drunk quickly, in my experience it is more likely to be my age than the strength of the cocktails. Remember you are not a student anymore.

  • Rob says:

    19 Mar19 March 11:15

    No, it was the cocktails. I can still drink copious amounts of champagne with no ill effects! I have pretty much given up beer these days, though, with the exception of – weirdly – Peroni Gran Riserva at Pizza Express!

    • Jason says:

      19 Mar19 March 12:16

      Is that Peroni Gran reserva? Looks like predictive text kicked in!!!!! 🙂

      • Rob says:

        19 Mar19 March 12:22

        Now un-auto corrected!

• S***o says:

  19 Mar19 March 12:58

  As a Tax question was brought up…
  In regards to the tax side of points collecting is there anything to pay on the points you earn?

  Probably over thinking things!

  Example:
  So you buy something from Tesco to Sell on eBay, you should pay tax on profit or file a loss if you happen to sell for less than brought?

  How about if say you bought a CD from Tesco for £10, Sold for £9 on ebay (Paid ebay fees say 90p) – You’ve made a money loss of £1.90.
  However, you also gained 200 Tesco points worth on paper £2.00
  Final +/- Up £0.10?

  Example:
  As above, you claim the £59 as an expense.
  You’ve gained a €6 bonus for staying there, so should you expense actually be £56ish?

  • TimS says:

    19 Mar19 March 13:52

    It is often said that points have “cash” values of 0.001p. The value only comes later at redemption and is based on the value placed on the redemption by the provider at the point of redemption.

    Therefore, at the time of earning, their value is essentially nil.

    Their subsequent value depends on the redemption scheme at the time, whether or not they are expired and the provider’s terms and conditions.

    • Rob says:

      19 Mar19 March 14:36

      Giving the points a cash value is a legal requirement although I am not entirely sure why. It may be linked to contract law (or may not) ie you have to give something a value in order for the terms surrounding it to be legally valid. Promises linked to free things don’t hold much water under UK law.

  • Rob says:

    19 Mar19 March 14:38

    The Revenue does not tax airline miles or loyalty points. This is specifically made clear somewhere on the Revenue website.

    Even the USA does not tax miles, and this is the country that makes you pay full tax on the value of any competition prize you win!

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.