Newcastle

Had to visit Newcastle today for a meeting. Quite a long way for a 1 1/2 hour meeting, but worth it I think. I flew up last night, not landing until about 11.00 PM, so I was a bit late for any bars. I managed to find something with a late license, but it was almost empty and the beer wasn’t too good (though it was blooming cheep at £1.50 a pint!).

I was back at my ‘accommodation’ fairly quickly, so for the benefit of mankind, here are my findings.

Premier Travel Inn - First Impressions

Well, I mistakenly thought that a Premier Travel Inn would be better than your bog standard Travel Inn. Travel Inns are usually OK. Basic, but OK. This wasn’t the case with the Newcastle City Premier Travel Inn!

My first mistake was getting the brands muddled, and assuming that the former was a posh version of the latter. It isn’t.

My non-smoking room stank of cigarettes, and had no soaps/shower gels/shampoos and so on that you would normally expect in even the most basic of accommodation.

The extractor fan in the bathroom was very loud - to the extent that I thought smashing it off with my shoe would be a reasonable course of action.

Did I mention everything stinks of fag smoke? Even the pillows and sheets. Not nice.

The shower dripped very loudly all night long, and the extractor fan seemed to go on for ages. Oh yes, and the bathroom door wouldn’t close properly.

To be fair though, the breakfast was very nice (except for the tea) and the staff were fairly helpful.

However, my first impressions of this place were not good. To be more precise, I would say they were bad. Never ever consider staying in one of these places unless you really have no other option.

What about Newcastle?

I actually saw very little of the city, but I think I’ve seen enough to want to go back – maybe for a long weekend sometime. Flights up from Gatwick were really cheap, so it should be an affordable trip.

Right, it’s been a long day. Time for bed me thinks!