Travelodge - Finchley Central

 

Yes it was new year so not wanting to cope with the main line trains from Euston late on I booked the night here so I could stay out later. As I was going to be in Soho for the new year do, I wanted a hotel near an underground station as I knew most lines would be running all night.

The hotel is conveniently located a short (5 min at most) walk from Finchley central underground station which is on the Northern line so it has good connections to central London.

 

Arriving.

One unusual thing here is that the reception and check in desk is on the 6^th floor so, thankfully via the lift, you need to go there first. This means the foyer area on the ground floor may attract non-guests to hang out in but I did not see anyone doing this.

The reception area was clean and tidy, all be it a little small, but the check in was efficient and friendly. The bar/restaurant area was also on this floor and a short walk from the reception desk.

My room was on the 5^th floor so down one to get to my room.

 

The room

For the price I paid it was a fair size and it was clean rather odd to see an unplugged electric convection heater in the room but as there was no visible radiator this was possibly the only heating alternative. The air con unit did not work and the controls on the wall did not function and the air con unit did not respond at all. However, on December 31^st I doubt air con was needed. The view was ok and some hillsides were visible but the rest of the building was also there so perhaps not brilliant.

There were the standard coffee making facilities and a fair number of well placed power points, so there was no problem in charging my phone. Although there was no actual wardrobe there was a short rail with a few coat hangers on so for a short stay this is fine. There was a desk and desk char as well as a small arm chair so all in all not a bad room.

The bed was comfy the mattress was not overly soft, thank goodness and the linens were, as you would expect, clean. There was a wall mounted TV, all be it a rather small one, but I do often wonder – who stays in a hotel to watch TV? The lack of a phone in the room is something I have gotten used to with Travelodge and I suppose most of us do have mobiles these days.

The shower room was a bit cramped but it did have everything you need. One major positive was the towel rail was not above the toilet, something I am seeing more and more in some hotels. The shower was hot with a fair pressure but perhaps the ceiling was a little low but I accept there is nothing they can do here. The towels provided were the standard hotel type but the two bath sheets were clean but the hand towel did have a couple of obvious stains on it. I know ‘stained’ does not always mean it wasn’t clean but it was off putting

Now like with a lot of hotel chains Travelodge do not provide small bottles of shower gel, shampoo etc nor small bars of soap. They do have a ‘shower gel’ dispenser on the wall of the shower but I strongly advise to take your own as the one provided did not smell like anything I want on my skin.

Perhaps my main bug bare is that they charge extra for Wi-Fi. OK you get 30 min free but this appears to be 30 min from when you start using it rather than 30 min of actual usage. Hence if you use it for 10 min then turn it off on your device and go back 40 min later, your 30 min are up. I do feel free Wi-Fi should be included as other smaller, cheaper hotels do include it in the room rate. OK I know it isn’t all that much to pay for it but it is more a principle thing here.

 

Quality of sleep

When I got back to the hotel, as it was after 10pm I needed to use my key card to open the outer door to the hotel which wasn’t an issue.  I did sleep well but perhaps a couple of extra pillows would have made it more comfortable. Yes, there was a bit of noise from outside but with the wind that night (no, not THAT type of wind) and the hotel being near an underground station when the night tube is in operation so that is always going to happen.

The curtains did do a good job of keeping most of the morning light out but perhaps having them a little longer and an inch or two wider than the window would have been better in this respect.

 

Breakfast

I don’t tend to book a room with breakfast for just a night or two’s stay but Wednesday was going to be a long day so I opted to do a pay as you go thing with it and paid £9.99. OK it is the standard bulk cooked buffet breakfast with sausages which were of a fairly low-quality bacon again, not the best and, for me, a tad undercooked. The hash browns were the standard cooked from packaged frozen ones the eggs were scrambled and looked very unappetising but as I don’t eat eggs so can’t comment further. The beans were cheap generic ones and slightly cold and the mushrooms. When the tomatoes were restocked, they were raw salad tomatoes cut in quarters. Was this worth £9.99 – not really, no. Yes, there was a make it yourself toast option and some pastries as well but I wasn’t in the mood for those.

The coffee machine well the coffee was week and insipid not so much coffee more like a cup of hot water stirred with the spoon just used to stir an espresso with so this perhaps needs looking at.

Really, I think there are some local cafes which would serve a better value breakfast – but you live and learn.

Departure:

Check out was fast and efficient and the friendly person at reception was able to provide me with the printed receipt.

 

Score:

Check in & out: 4/5

Room and Shower room: 3/5

Cleanliness:  4/5

Sleep quality: 4/5

Food:  3/5

 

Total:  18/25