Holidays 2024

Darlo1973 said:
I didn't mean stay next to the airport rather consider flying to proper airports rather than Ryanair aerodromes in the middle of nowhere which then take you 2 hours on a bus to get to your final destination. Fly into Malaga and you are only 10 minutes and 3 stops on the Metro to the city centre. From landing to beer in hand in less than an hour.
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Oh. I see. Then I’m in.
 


Im so deliriously happy I am going to write it again…

It’s just 4 months until I jet away back to Frigiliana. On the 20th of July me and my lass will be at the airport.

I’m guessing we will have had something for breakfast before we fly. I don’t know if we’ve booked breakfast on the flight.

The way we are going to do it I find it’s the most time efficient method. After I clock out of work on the 19th it’s a quick freshen up, put luggage in the car and pick my lass up for the virtually straight journey to the airport hotel. Doing it the night before removes any time pressures and allows for total relaxation. Time really doesn’t seem to be an external temporal factor. We just take things at an extremely leisurely and sedate pace.

Yet lots of people prefer to only drive up on the day of the flight. Leaving travelling to the last minute. You really are pushing for time in a world that relies on punctuality. You really need to be at the check in I think an hour at the latest before the gate closes. I’m not altogether sure what the time schedule is for check-in but I would get there well before the last hour before boarding.

Has anyone ever stopped overnight? There is three great hotels to choose from. Hilton, Britannia and the Premier Inn.
 
ShieldsBlackCat2015 said:
Im so deliriously happy I am going to write it again…

It’s just 4 months until I jet away back to Frigiliana. On the 20th of July me and my lass will be at the airport.

I’m guessing we will have had something for breakfast before we fly. I don’t know if we’ve booked breakfast on the flight.

The way we are going to do it I find it’s the most time efficient method. After I clock out of work on the 19th it’s a quick freshen up, put luggage in the car and pick my lass up for the virtually straight journey to the airport hotel. Doing it the night before removes any time pressures and allows for total relaxation. Time really doesn’t seem to be an external temporal factor. We just take things at an extremely leisurely and sedate pace.

Yet lots of people prefer to only drive up on the day of the flight. Leaving travelling to the last minute. You really are pushing for time in a world that relies on punctuality. You really need to be at the check in I think an hour at the latest before the gate closes. I’m not altogether sure what the time schedule is for check-in but I would get there well before the last hour before boarding.

Has anyone ever stopped overnight? There is three great hotels to choose from. Hilton, Britannia and the Premier Inn.
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Good to see you travelling more!

I'm a big fan of airport hotels the night before (or when landing back late). Takes a lot of the stress out of an early departure and makes the holiday feel longer. I've even done it when I've had a lunchtime flight as you can have a lazy breakfast either at the hotel or airport - plus the obligatory morning beers at Wetherspoons.

Not sure I'd call a Britannia a "great hotel". They are usually some of the worst around. Premier Inn aren't fantastic but at least they are reliably consistent especially when you just need somewhere to crash for a few hours.
 
ShieldsBlackCat2015 said:
Im so deliriously happy I am going to write it again…

It’s just 4 months until I jet away back to Frigiliana. On the 20th of July me and my lass will be at the airport.

I’m guessing we will have had something for breakfast before we fly. I don’t know if we’ve booked breakfast on the flight.

The way we are going to do it I find it’s the most time efficient method. After I clock out of work on the 19th it’s a quick freshen up, put luggage in the car and pick my lass up for the virtually straight journey to the airport hotel. Doing it the night before removes any time pressures and allows for total relaxation. Time really doesn’t seem to be an external temporal factor. We just take things at an extremely leisurely and sedate pace.

Yet lots of people prefer to only drive up on the day of the flight. Leaving travelling to the last minute. You really are pushing for time in a world that relies on punctuality. You really need to be at the check in I think an hour at the latest before the gate closes. I’m not altogether sure what the time schedule is for check-in but I would get there well before the last hour before boarding.

Has anyone ever stopped overnight? There is three great hotels to choose from. Hilton, Britannia and the Premier Inn.
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what Airport ???
 
Darlo1973 said:
Good to see you travelling more!

I'm a big fan of airport hotels the night before (or when landing back late). Takes a lot of the stress out of an early departure and makes the holiday feel longer. I've even done it when I've had a lunchtime flight as you can have a lazy breakfast either at the hotel or airport - plus the obligatory morning beers at Wetherspoons.

Not sure I'd call a Britannia a "great hotel". They are usually some of the worst around. Premier Inn aren't fantastic but at least they are reliably consistent especially when you just need somewhere to crash for a few hours.
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I admit I don’t like the Britannia either. The building looks like the building that used to house the science rooms upstairs and the language rooms as well as the dining hall downstairs at the old Whitburn Comp. The first building you saw from Nicolas Avenue.

Hotels have to cater for a large demographic of clientele. It’s not just families but also people like CEOs of businesses hosting corporate conferences with national or international partners. A potential backer or top executive of a company wishing to expand and buy into the parent company hosting the event might be flying in from London or Paris and need a decent facility to host PR presentations and a meeting and an area where they can have a buffet or lunch during breaks. The standard has to be high.

If they cannot provide that decent level of quality then I think families going on holiday to somewhere like Turkey or executives won’t want to stay which I think in turn won’t benefit the local economy. Mainly the airport and the facilities that the hotel provides. They won’t be staying around as much or for long enough to use the local facilities and amenities.

The only one worth staying in is the Hilton by DoubleTree. I’ve stayed in a Premier Inn and it’s more League One than Premier League. Columbus and Fratellos offer fantastic dining options and great service. It’s spacious and there is lots of areas to just sit and chill. The others are great if you’re only in the room. If you want to use the services then go elsewhere.

I’d recommend Hilton to anyone.
obrienobrien said:
what Airport ???
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Ponteland International
 
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ShieldsBlackCat2015 said:
I admit I don’t like the Britannia either. The building looks like the building that used to house the science rooms upstairs and the language rooms as well as the dining hall downstairs at the old Whitburn Comp. The first building you saw from Nicolas Avenue.

Hotels have to cater for a large demographic of clientele. It’s not just families but also people like CEOs of businesses hosting corporate conferences with national or international partners. A potential backer or top executive of a company wishing to expand and buy into the parent company hosting the event might be flying in from London or Paris and need a decent facility to host PR presentations and a meeting and an area where they can have a buffet or lunch during breaks. The standard has to be high.

If they cannot provide that decent level of quality then I think families going on holiday to somewhere like Turkey or executives won’t want to stay which I think in turn won’t benefit the local economy. Mainly the airport and the facilities that the hotel provides. They won’t be staying around as much or for long enough to use the local facilities and amenities.

The only one worth staying in is the Hilton by DoubleTree. I’ve stayed in a Premier Inn and it’s more League One than Premier League. Columbus and Fratellos offer fantastic dining options and great service. It’s spacious and there is lots of areas to just sit and chill. The others are great if you’re only in the room. If you want to use the services then go elsewhere.

I’d recommend Hilton to anyone.


Ponteland International
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wouldnt stay at any other than the Hilton / Double Tree
 
ShieldsBlackCat2015 said:
I admit I don’t like the Britannia either. The building looks like the building that used to house the science rooms upstairs and the language rooms as well as the dining hall downstairs at the old Whitburn Comp. The first building you saw from Nicolas Avenue.

Hotels have to cater for a large demographic of clientele. It’s not just families but also people like CEOs of businesses hosting corporate conferences with national or international partners. A potential backer or top executive of a company wishing to expand and buy into the parent company hosting the event might be flying in from London or Paris and need a decent facility to host PR presentations and a meeting and an area where they can have a buffet or lunch during breaks. The standard has to be high.

If they cannot provide that decent level of quality then I think families going on holiday to somewhere like Turkey or executives won’t want to stay which I think in turn won’t benefit the local economy. Mainly the airport and the facilities that the hotel provides. They won’t be staying around as much or for long enough to use the local facilities and amenities.

The only one worth staying in is the Hilton by DoubleTree. I’ve stayed in a Premier Inn and it’s more League One than Premier League. Columbus and Fratellos offer fantastic dining options and great service. It’s spacious and there is lots of areas to just sit and chill. The others are great if you’re only in the room. If you want to use the services then go elsewhere.

I’d recommend Hilton to anyone.


Ponteland International
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Nothing wrong with Premier Inn if you just want a bed for the night. No point in paying for access to a pool, gym, sauna and fancy restaurant if you aren't going to use them and will be checking out at 6am.
 
LondonMackem said:
Where are people off to this year then? Just booked Ibiza in July and Turkey in September. Helping me get through the cold miserable days before things start to turn.
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Roker in August for the old man's birthday and hopefully a match as well. Maybe take the wife on a daytrip to Paris or something while we are here.
 
Darlo1973 said:
Nothing wrong with Premier Inn if you just want a bed for the night. No point in paying for access to a pool, gym, sauna and fancy restaurant if you aren't going to use them and will be checking out at 6am.
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Exactly. It’s only good if you intend to never leave the room.
obrienobrien said:
wouldnt stay at any other than the Hilton / Double Tree
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I still have pics of the evening. It’s very swish downstairs in Fratellos and Columbus. Very beautiful looking. Take a gander at the website. The bed was amazingly comfortable. View from the room was lovely. It was a corner room so the terminal building was opposite.
richest said:
Iceland for us.
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It’s lovely there. They are doing a great offer on Goodfellas Pizzas. 🤣🤣🤣
njmackem said:
Roker in August for the old man's birthday and hopefully a match as well. Maybe take the wife on a daytrip to Paris or something while we are here.
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How the other half live! Malaga has nothing on Costa del Roker. 🤣🤣
 
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obrienobrien said:
sounds like same room we stayed in...or similar... we only live 7.5 miles away from there
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It probably is. How did you find it? Did you think it offered everything you needed?

I had another thought. We have holiday makers and we have business people who are either hosting people from Germany or going to meet them in Berlin for a conference. We also have people who travel as part of charity work. They don’t own a £500 suit from Burton but they are not there for the souvenir either or to lounge by a pool. They are there to help people with food or perhaps medical support. I think WiFi would be the most important factor. They would need to keep in touch with the people in the main charity HQ to liaise with them surely. If the WiFi isn’t good then how can they chat about what it is they need to do?

So you see. Hoteliers need to be a diverse and multi faceted industry. Be they private or part of a larger chain group like Holiday Inn. The hotel needs to offer a great standard in everything. That’s why I think so many miss flights or flights get help up by stragglers. They maybe are put off stopping overnight either by a level of service that isn’t brilliant or it’s expensive.

What did you think of the pricing?
 
Darlo1973 said:
Good to see you travelling more!

I'm a big fan of airport hotels the night before (or when landing back late). Takes a lot of the stress out of an early departure and makes the holiday feel longer. I've even done it when I've had a lunchtime flight as you can have a lazy breakfast either at the hotel or airport - plus the obligatory morning beers at Wetherspoons.

Not sure I'd call a Britannia a "great hotel". They are usually some of the worst around. Premier Inn aren't fantastic but at least they are reliably consistent especially when you just need somewhere to crash for a few hours.
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Britannia hotels got voted Uks worst rated hotel chain last year.
On the good ship lollipop tomorrow from Tyneside to Amsterdam .
 
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Parsoncross said:
Britannia hotels got voted Uks worst rated hotel chain last year.
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The only Britannia I've stayed in recently was their one at Heathrow - and only because they had a cheap parking deal. I think I spent more time in the bar than I did the room before leaving for a very early flight. The Premier Inn which is directly opposite is much better.
 
Had a couple of Scottish £20 notes in my wallet and passed a currency exchange yesterday in London,bloke inside wouldn’t change them,united kingdom but Scottish notes aren’t welcome?
 

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