[AnotherUser]

davedent wrote:

AnotherUser wrote:

davedent wrote:

Am I right to be fed up – booked a hotel on a fully flexible and no deposit rate and then out of the blue they take the full amount for the stay. My intention was to pay with GHA$ on checkout. Contacted the hotel and they admit it’s a mistake but it will take four weeks for a refund (it’s not a small amount of money). What should I do ?[/quote

You’re right to be fed up. If the charge left you out of pocket by enough to be worthwhile pursuing – say you got stung for card fees – it’s reasonable to ask to be made whole. If you’re not out of pocket, you could ask for something like a comped upgrade or breakfast by way of apology – there’s no entitlement to anything, but I’d hope the hotel would offer something as a goodwill gesture

The only reason I don’t want to kick off just yet is its Singapore Grand Prix weekend and it’s the only trackside room left – otherwise I would have done a charge back and submitted a grim review. Hoping to save 15% with GHA$.

I can see why you might want to hold off on complaining, then – it’s not like you can easily change hotel, and they may not have a trackside room to upgrade you to

[AnotherUser]

davedent wrote:

Am I right to be fed up – booked a hotel on a fully flexible and no deposit rate and then out of the blue they take the full amount for the stay. My intention was to pay with GHA$ on checkout. Contacted the hotel and they admit it’s a mistake but it will take four weeks for a refund (it’s not a small amount of money). What should I do ?[/quote

You’re right to be fed up. If the charge left you out of pocket by enough to be worthwhile pursuing – say you got stung for card fees – it’s reasonable to ask to be made whole. If you’re not out of pocket, you could ask for something like a comped upgrade or breakfast by way of apology – there’s no entitlement to anything, but I’d hope the hotel would offer something as a goodwill gesture

[AnotherUser]

Thanks for the replies – a cancellable points booking, and then potentially changing to cash if prices fall, could be a good plan.

Agree, it’s a long way to go for three or four nights. We’ve got a hotel voucher that will expire in December, but we could look at using it later in the year (when Tenerife weather is notably better than mainland Europe) while going somewhere closer in summer. I’ll have a think…

[AnotherUser]

Looking to book Scotland to Tenerife flights for a long weekend this summer. Cash fares are now expensive (unsurprisingly, as it’s peak time). Any good ways to do use points to help? GLA is the most convenient airport, but PIK or EDI would also be fine.

Direct flights seem to be largely Ryanair or Jet2. Only a short break, so if getting an indirect flight would like either a short connection time or to go via somewhere like Barcelona (where an overnight stopover could be fun).

[AnotherUser]

Thanks for the replies re Tenerife taxi queues. All very encouraging! If you’ve had any problems, also let me know – but sounds like we’re better getting a cab from the rank than paying twice the price to prebook

[AnotherUser]

Any recent experiences with TFS taxis? Will be arriving 8pm on a Friday, which looks like pretty much peak time. Is the queue at the rank likely to be ok, or am I better off prebooking an airport transfer?

[AnotherUser]

Thanks – yeah, decided to go for the extra night in the RC. Will let you know how I get on @bobthebuilder. It looks like restaurants sometimes book out in the resort, so probably makes sense to book some meals in advance if you haven’t already

[AnotherUser]

NorthernLass wrote:

It was the DT Tower of London, sorry it wasn’t meant to be secret! The breakfast buffet both in the restaurant and lounge had a decent selection of fresh fruit and yoghurt as well as cooked items and cereal. The mushrooms were really good – cooked with parsley or something similar and not tinned. The nice wholegrain breads were only in the restaurant, though, but you could probably grab a few slices and take them into the lounge (next door) if you wanted.

There was actually no sign of the bar credit so you might need to chase it up – we didn’t want any more drinks so didn’t bother. It was per room.

We’re already committed to ICPL in May but would stay at the DT in future.

Thanks!

[AnotherUser]

Going back on topic, I’ve now been downgraded to platinum. Will see whether I miss diamond – suspect I won’t miss it that much!

Joining in the breakfast chat, that’s one thing I like about hotel stays in Sweden. Places tend to offer tasty and healthy options – last stay was at Elite Hotel Adlon (nice, but not super-luxurious or anything) and the buffet included good wholegrain bread, a couple of types of oily fish, decent eggs, lots of veg, fruit and yoghurt…along with sweet options.

Going even more off-topic, I wonder if places buying in vac packed poached eggs will improve or worsen quality. I use a sous vide machine to poach eggs at home when I’ve got time – with good eggs, I prefer the results to doing it the old fashioned way, and it’s harder to mess up.

[AnotherUser]

NorthernLass wrote:

Well I’m at a London Hilton tonight and definitely feeling the love. Booked 3 rooms for me and two girl pals, all of us given lounge access (or breakfast in the restaurant if we prefer), a cocktail voucher each, rooms were all ready at 1pm and I got an email and text welcoming me as HH gold. And what I think is brilliant is that you get a £10 bar credit if you forego housekeeping, which is miles better than 500 IHG points!

When you’ve left, could you share what the Hilton is? That’s good treatment for gold, and I’ve got some Hilton points to burn…

[AnotherUser]

Thanks! Sounds like it’s a choice between the premier Inn and an Airbnb then.

[AnotherUser]

Thanks. Also don’t know if hotels get commission, targets or something

[AnotherUser]

I might just be unlucky, but the couple of times I asked about buying Ambassador at the hotel they offered me nothing extra. Do people directly ask about perks for renewing at the hotel if they aren’t volunteered?

[AnotherUser]

Thanks for the reply!

[AnotherUser]

I’ve used it for room service before, but I’d imagine some hotels may have different rules (or just administer it inconsistently depending who is handling it)

[AnotherUser]

Thanks! That does look very nice. Maybe a bit more resort-y than we were looking for this visit, but will bear in mind for future trips

[AnotherUser]

Thanks – that does look interesting!

[AnotherUser]

Thanks! Good options there for me to look at…

[AnotherUser]

Not been to Washington for ages, but the area around the Lincoln Memorial is beautiful at night. I’d find a late bar or pizza place and then go for a walk before bed…

[AnotherUser]

Fair enough! Is booking a night as a present for someone else an option (though that might breach the T&C’s)? I’m going to be giving away two hotels.com vouchers for similar reason – never saw a good value redemption where I was travelling, and now they’re expiring soon.

[AnotherUser]

@froggee if you can make it to the Kimpton Glasgow you could get a ‘free’ dip in the very nice spa as well (times are restricted, though could go before breakfast)… Breakfast at the George was nice, but there are so many nice places for breakfast in Edinburgh

[AnotherUser]

I was looking round the city between bits of work, so did a random mix of stuff, but really enjoyed visiting! Cycling along some of the waterfront is fun. In terms of striking architecture, it’s ‘s worth going by the Sibelius monument,and into Kamppi chapel, and going by the Helsinki Music Centre and Finlandia Hall.

Suomenlinna is an interesting island to visit.

[AnotherUser]

Don’t know about a list. The Indigo in Dundee might be worth a look – it’s a nice hotel and can be around £60/night (without paying for points) in cheap periods.

Are you going to be close to getting Diamond on points? I’m not – I briefly considered buying points to get status, but realised there was no way I’d get value from this

[AnotherUser]

AJA wrote:

The train in Spain is mainly on the http://www.renfe.com.en

Sorry couldn’t resist. 😉

Yeah – very likely best booking on this site. Check out the Trainline.com, too – in case there’s a better deal from a competitor to Renfe.

On Renfrew, ‘comfort’ seats are generally in what would have been 1st class. Can sometimes be had for not much extra (you just get a nicer seat/more space, no other perks).

[AnotherUser]

ThriceForgiven wrote:

Thanks everyone for your input! Plenty of food for thought, and I appreciate that the question was somewhat vague so thanks for all your input. I’m beginning to think potential staycation with pampering in London could be another option, though not one we’d be thrilled with…

There’s loads of great places to stay in London, but if the two of you are more excited about heading further afield I’d vote for doing that. It’s not *that* bad travelling over Easter, and while travelling with a kid can be great fun it’s a very different experience to going just as a couple.