Not sure I like Travel Lodges any more even at £9 night

vikingaero

I've decided I hate Travelodges and won't stay at them whatever the price £9 or full rate. It's a culmination of a large percentage of bad stays.

One of the worst ones was at Alfreton Travelodge. The car park, Little Chef and decor are grim. It must be one of the first lodges built. What was really bad about it was that the floors creak so badly. Even when the person above you walks to the toilet (and not stomping or making unreasonable noise) then you hear loud creaking. On complaining at the front desk I was told that "all the rooms creak". There is also no way to complain to Travelodge - email or letters only and the reservations dept won't take complaints.

The second notable bad stay was at a brand new Travelodge in Newport IOW. The staff there were so disorganised and inept - giving us a room key to an occupied room, taking over 5 hours to deliver linen and a filthy room in a brand new lodge. I received a pathetic response to my complaint from the manager. When I wrote a letter to complain I offered them the chance to donate my room rate to charity in return for my future custom. You can guess their response!

Now the bare minimum is Premier Inns for me.

chickmug

vikingaero wrote: »

I've decided I hate Travelodges and won't stay at them whatever the price £9 or full rate. It's a culmination of a large percentage of bad stays.

One of the worst ones was at Alfreton Travelodge. The car park, Little Chef and decor are grim. It must be one of the first lodges built. What was really bad about it was that the floors creak so badly. Even when the person above you walks to the toilet (and not stomping or making unreasonable noise) then you hear loud creaking. On complaining at the front desk I was told that "all the rooms creak". There is also no way to complain to Travelodge - email or letters only and the reservations dept won't take complaints.

The second notable bad stay was at a brand new Travelodge in Newport IOW. The staff there were so disorganised and inept - giving us a room key to an occupied room, taking over 5 hours to deliver linen and a filthy room in a brand new lodge. I received a pathetic response to my complaint from the manager. When I wrote a letter to complain I offered them the chance to donate my room rate to charity in return for my future custom. You can guess their response!

Now the bare minimum is Premier Inns for me.

Yes you have hit on something I had forgotten which is the noise from all directions. I think I was misguided to have stayed in two that were good thinking they would all be to the same standard but clearly not. I think I may use them but very very selectively in future.

flea72

chickmug wrote: »

How I can find out the age or is it a case of telephoning the individual Travel Lodge?

you can tell the new travelodges from the older ones, basically due to the style of the building (they have a pic of each hotel on the website). The newer ones tend to be highrise, white rendered, with wood cladding, whereas older ones are red/brown brick, or hotels from other chains that travelodge have taken over and refitted (these tend to be the worst). Also the newer ones tend to have an onsite cafe/bar, rather than stating they are next to a little chef, burger king, etc.

or just keep an eye out on the travelodge website, to see where they are opening new ones

Flea

chickmug

flea72 wrote: »

you can tell the new travelodges from the older ones, basically due to the style of the building (they have a pic of each hotel on the website). The newer ones tend to be highrise, white rendered, with wood cladding, whereas older ones are red/brown brick, or hotels from other chains that travelodge have taken over and refitted (these tend to be the worst). Also the newer ones tend to have an onsite cafe/bar, rather than stating they are next to a little chef, burger king, etc.

or just keep an eye out on the travelodge website, to see where they are opening new ones

Flea

Thanks flea and I had better take a look at the rest of my bookings and study the pics on the web site as you suggest.

davetrousers

Travelodge is one word !!!!!!!

Some good some bad, hey !!!!!! happens

Nikkisun

We went to Alton Towers on Thurs & Yesterday and booked a £19 Travelodge thinking we didn't much care about the room we just needed somewhere to sleep.

We booked a family room for 4 people but had only 1 extra set of bedding for the pull out beds and not the 2 we needed. Also we had only 2 cups, 1 teabag and 1 sachet of coffee!!

I got into bed and immediately sank - the mattress was so thin and floppy it might as well have not been there. I had an awful nights sleep and woke up with severe back ache. I spent all day yesterday limping round Alton Towers as every step I took sent a sharp pain through my back - what a great way to spend a day at a theme park!!

Have come to the conclusion that it's really not worth saving the money - I'd rather pay more and sleep in comfort!

laudan

Nikkisun wrote: »

We went to Alton Towers on Thurs & Yesterday and booked a £19 Travelodge thinking we didn't much care about the room we just needed somewhere to sleep.

We booked a family room for 4 people but had only 1 extra set of bedding for the pull out beds and not the 2 we needed. Also we had only 2 cups, 1 teabag and 1 sachet of coffee!!

I got into bed and immediately sank - the mattress was so thin and floppy it might as well have not been there. I had an awful nights sleep and woke up with severe back ache. I spent all day yesterday limping round Alton Towers as every step I took sent a sharp pain through my back - what a great way to spend a day at a theme park!!

Have come to the conclusion that it's really not worth saving the money - I'd rather pay more and sleep in comfort!

Thinking about booking one near Alton Towers which one did you stay at?

redpete

vikingaero wrote: »

There is also no way to complain to Travelodge - email or letters only and the reservations dept won't take complaints

So emails or letters are ways to complain?

blue_monkey_2

laudan wrote: »

Thinking about booking one near Alton Towers which one did you stay at?

Have you got your tickets already? We just paid £153 for Splash Landings - 2 adults & 2 kids, full english breakfast (buffet I am told), 2 days admission to the waterpark and 2 days admission to the theme park plus free parking for 2 days for £153. And I booked it via Lastminute.com and got £11 back cashback too.

pinkcandyflossprincess

chickmug wrote: »

I like Starbucks coffee at Street but the shopping village is not my kind of place. Now Totnes is one of my favorite places of all time and we may move to there as I have friends in that area.

birmingham is riddled with starbucks:eek:

i love visiting totnes but couldnt live there i dont think as a lot of in fighting amongst the folk and too many grockles however the lifestyle is good and some lurvly shops..oh yes!!!:rolleyes: my fav place near there is cornworthy and dittisham...now i could live there!:o