Bits: Stansted Express returning to four trains per hour, Hilton opens its first Spark hotel

News in brief:

Stansted Express to return to four trains per hour

Back in May, Stansted Express resumed a ‘four trains per hour’ service during the morning and evening peaks for the first time since the pandemic.

This didn’t go down well with Stansted Airport, which made its disapproval known. It wanted a full 15-minute service throughout the day, with airport passenger numbers being virtually back to pre-pandemic levels.

Greater Anglia defended the ‘twice per hour’ service outside of peak periods because the new 12-carriage rolling stock from Swiss group Stadler has 80% more seats than the trains it replaced.

A full service is now returning

From 10th December, Greater Anglia will offer four Stansted Express trains per hour from London Liverpool Street.

Between Monday and Saturday, there will be departures every 15 minutes between 05.10 and 22.55. Coming from the airport, trains will run every 15 minutes between 06.00 and 23.59.

On a Sunday, the 15-minute service will operates between 06.10 and 22.55 from Liverpool Street and from 07.00 to 23.59 from Stansted.

Journey times at off-peak times will be marginally quicker, at 47 minutes, to take advantage of the new rolling stock.

Hilton opens the first hotel under its new Spark brand

It is only four weeks since Hilton last launched a new hotel brand, with the opening of the first Tempo hotel in New York.

You can never have too many brands, it seems, and last week saw the opening of Hilton’s first Spark hotel. Unlike Tempo, Hilton settled for a more low key launch venue – the tourist centre of Mystic in Connecticut.

Spark is described as:

the premium economy hotel brand that proudly delivers reliable essentials with unexpected touches to make every guest feel valued

This is, basically, a cheaper version of a Hampton by Hilton. I suspect that if Hampton is Hilton’s Premier Inn then Spark is Hilton’s Travelodge.

The website uses phrases like “exceptional essentials at a budget-friendly price”, “affordable” and “practical”.

To be fair, looking at the room mock-up:

…. it seems perfectly acceptable. Even better, all bookings include breakfast. Well, not quite breakfast when you go into the details: “[vist the] bagel bar and [get a] freshly brewed coffee”.

All hotels have an on-site market and the lobby is designed as a social and working area.

It seems like a decent concept, especially as in theory it will be competing with a lot of very tired super-budget hotels. However, a quick look at the pricing shows that it ISN’T budget. On 18th October, for example, it is $207 vs $217 for Hilton Mystic and $248 for Hampton Mystic which doesn’t feel very “budget-friendly” or “premium economy” to me.

There is a dedicated Spark section on the Hilton website here.