Ballymun Travelodge

Ballymun Travelodge



Not for the first time has the Celtic Sage modestly demonstrated his gift of prophecy! A couple of weeks ago I rounded off my review of Travelodge Dublin Airport (actually in Ballymun; see the review) by stating “In summary, nice building, poor management, woeful security, good value if you don’t get robbed.” I pointed out flaws with the security of the Car Park, and card controlled electronic security locks being out of order allowing access from the car park through the stairwell to all floors in the building.



http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2010/01/tale-of-two-travelodges.html



I also pointed out that the CCTV & “security guard” in the car park were not effective. Well today’s Irish Independent carries a report of a €1m robbery in the middle of the night where a gang broke into a room. €1m is equal to £901k or £751k if you buy a gift card at Marks and Spencer!



http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2010/01/its-not-fair-exchange-rate-its-rip-off.html



The paper reported a diamond dealer bravely tackled an armed gang as they robbed him of €1m worth of precious stones and jewellery as well as cash in his hotel bedroom early on the morning of the 29th January. Wholesale jeweller Noah Stefancki (64) was battered on the head with a hammer as he tackled one of the three raiders, but failed to prevent them taking his suitcase. Mr Stefancki told Gardai he had lost his life savings in the robbery of the jewels, which were not insured.





Gardai searching bins in one of the semi-derelict flat blocks behind the Travelodge



Russian-born Mr Stefancki, who lives and works in Southampton in England, is a regular visitor here and travels around the country for business deals with local jewellers. He booked a room in the Travelodge hotel in Ballymun after flying into Dublin Airport as he had stayed there previously and was known to some of the staff. Gardai believe he was the victim of opportunistic local criminals, who became aware that he was carrying a valuable haul in his suitcase, and kept watch on his movements until they established where he was staying. Officers suspect that the thugs did not anticipate such a major haul when they carried out the robbery. Publicity around the raid may now attract the attention of an organised crime gang boss, who could seek a slice of the proceeds.



Mr Stefancki was in his bedroom at around 12.15am when three masked raiders, armed with a gun and a hammer, forced their way in. He lunged at the closest member of the gang and attempted to stop him from grabbing the suitcase. But he was thumped twice on the head with the hammer and the gang escaped from the hotel on foot. They were pursued by Mr Stefancki on to Shangan Road but the three then turned into Coultry Road and escaped. There was no sign of any getaway car. Mr Stefancki immediately returned to the hotel and raised the alarm. After Gardai arrived at the scene, he was taken to the Mater Hospital for treatment for lacerations to his head. He was later discharged.





The insecure "security door" giving access to the Travelodge from the car park





The insecure underground car park



I had pointed out “However the big weakness is apparent when we came back that night and parked in the “secure” underground car park. We pressed the intercom at the car park entrance and without any conversation or checks we were let in. The car park is shared with apartment dwellers and retailers but there are plenty of clearly marked Travelodge spaces. You need to use your card key to access the hotel (and the lift and your room) but when we got to the “secure” doors they were “open” with the electronic lock disengaged so you could go straight in. Once in the lift lobby you could then access all the floors without a key by going up the stairwell. We spoke to the young receptionist the next morning she said the security lock was due to be repaired and had been out of action for weeks. She also said there was CCTV and there was a security guard in the car park. Well there may be CCTV but there is little point to it if there is nobody at reception to look at it. As for the “security guard” we saw what was happening when we were leaving the next day. There he was in an office in the car park chatting away to a friend and just opening the barrier without checking.”



Afterwards the hotel management commented on Trip Advisor;



“Management response from Lisa Walsh, Travelodge Group Revenue Manager

Jan 22, 2010

Hi there,

Thank you for taking the time to write your review. I would like to discuss these issues with you further as your comments disappoint us greatly.

I can assure you the under ground car park is secure – if the magnetic lock was off during the day it was for a maintenance purpose. It is always connected back up.

At this time I can only apologise for your bad experience & for any inconvenience caused.

Kindest Regards,

Lisa”



While proactive the main flaw in the response is that the security lock was not down during the day for maintenance but during the evening and according to the receptionist had been for weeks. It would be wrong to comment on a current criminal investigation but it will be interesting to see if the security flaws I pointed out were a factor in this robbery. As for Mr. Stefancki if I was a diamond dealer I would have stayed in a more central hotel with staff who had been there for ever like Buswells but I can see the attraction if he is travelling around of a hotel near the airport and the ring motorway around Dublin. It is not unusual as I found when I was with Irish revenue and called on manufacturing jewellers in Dublin for diamonds to be transported and dealt this way. Loose diamonds are kept in cloth rolls by grade and the value can be substantial. However if I was Noah Stefancki I would certainly be checking with my lawyer to see if any of the security defects the hotel was told about were a factor in this robbery?





One of the semi-derelict blocks of public housing behind Ballymun Travelodge

It’s not a fair exchange rate; it’s a rip off M & S rate!

Marks and Spencer’s is the ubiquitous UK High Street chain, commonly known as M & S, which has been struggling of late but trades heavily on being an ethical business which consumers can trust and identify with, as it says itself it represents; “Quality, Value, Service, Innovation and Trust which have stood the business in good stead for 125 years.” Indeed its corporate tag-line is “YOUR M &S.”

So just how trustworthy is this trusted retailer? Well lately it has changed the terms of trade with its customers. It used to allow you return products within 90 days, with no great fanfare it has changed this to 35 days and returns must now be in a “saleable condition.” This is now interpreted differently than before so if for instance you wear a suit which you decide is too big / small, they won’t let you return it despite many stores not having fitting rooms (they close them during sale periods) or indeed or indeed enough staff to help you due to cutbacks. They have also stopped in-store ordering and this can now only be done over the internet, neatly excluding their loyalest older customers.

But they also trumpet M & S Money and their competitive commission free exchange rates on foreign currency. However there is one category of customer they don’t want to be competitive with, UK customers who receive Euro gift cards from abroad. So I (gratefully) receive a 50 Euro gift card at Xmas and I think “Great, the Euro is almost 1-to-1 on the exchange rate and M & S have the conversion plugged into their UK tills so no problem!”


Thank you for buying a Euro gift card - We will now rip you off; there is no Plan B

Imagine then my astonishment in trying to use my 50 Euro card on 28th December 2009 and finding out they were giving a conversion rate of 1.33 making it worth paltry £37.59 sterling. If they gave you the same rate of 1.0939 their Bureau de Change’s were offering on the same day it would be worth £45.71 or an amazing 22% more. Consider the double-whammy of arrogance on this one as somebody has paid them that 50 Euro some time in advance so they have had that money interest free – hence this “trusted retailer” feels free to rip off Euro gift card holders by offering them a totally uncompetitive exchange rate that M & S Money would never offer as they would have no business.

I wish I could tell you what this trusted retailer thinks in its 125th anniversary year but their “Customer Services” on 0845 609 0200 has not kept its promise to get back to me. I suspect this con on mugging Euro gift card customers along with Sir. Stuart Rose and Marks & Spencer’s are after 125 years a bit past their sell-by-date!

A Night at the Museum

Poet Laureate, Sir John Betjeman

Covent Garden Piazza is always a lively and dynamic part of London with a permanent throng of natives and visitors drawn to the spectacle of street entertainers, the wonderfully restored produce market and the glitz of the Royal Opera House, all under the imperturbable gaze of Inigo Jones St. Paul's Church, commonly known as the Actors' Church. For all around you is the Theatre land of London from Richard D'Oyly Carte’s Savoy Theatre with a small hotel attached to the Lyceum, The Strand , The Garrick and the Adelphi to name a few. Tonight I was going to a performance which would bring together three of my favourite things; London’s Underground which is the lifeblood of the City, The Transport Museum which gives a fascinating insight into the growth of London and the unique and indomitable figure of the Poet Laureate, Sir John Betjeman, who died in 1984 but who is still remembered with great affection, having championed Victorian Architecture and Railways but not in a tedious way but as in his poetry and writing with an impish wit which belied the depths of his undoubted insight. Oh, and there is the slight complicating factor that I actually live and commute in Metroland in a part which is still rural!


Entrance to the Museum

John Betjeman described himself as a "poet and a hack", a sentiment typical of the wry self-deprecating wit that has earned him an indelible place in the affections of the British public. By his death in 1984, he was probably the 20th century's most popular Poet Laureate.

Born in 1906, Betjeman grew up in the suburbs of north London. At school his German name marked him out for the attention of bullies. He arrived at Oxford University with a teddy bear which gave his contemporary Evelyn Waugh the idea for Aloysius, Sebastian's teddy, in Brideshead Revisited. Betjeman was more concerned with his social life and writing for university magazines than his academic studies and failed to complete his degree.





Betjeman spent the Second World War working for the Ministry of Information and as a cultural attaché in Ireland (but by all accounts as a spy), where the IRA considered his assassination but decided against it as "a man who could give so much pleasure with his pen couldn't be much of a secret agent". Work for the Architectural Review fuelled a lifelong passion for unloved Victorian buildings, which Betjeman campaigned tirelessly to save, in later life becoming known as much for his architectural programmes; recognisable by his large waist and avuncular style. A statue of Betjeman stands at London's St Pancras station, which he fought to save. He developed an affection for the Irish people and the country which is reflected in his poetry;

“Stony seaboard, far and foreign,
Stony hills poured over space,
Stony outcrop of the Burren,
Stones in every fertile place,
Little fields with boulders dotted,
Grey-stone shoulders saffron-spotted,
Stone-walled cabins thatched with reeds,
Where a Stone Age people breeds
The last of Europe's Stone Age race,"

IRELAND WITH EMILY

Betjeman campaigned strongly against the architectural vandalism of the 1960’s where disastrous architectural, town planning and transport mistakes were made, none more so than the destruction of the Euston Arch. Its demolition, with the rest of Euston Station was regarded as one of the greatest acts of Post-War architectural vandalism in Britain, the campaign to save it lead to the foundation of the Victorian Society and involved the indomitable Sir John Betjeman.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2009/09/euston-arch.html

Whilst that battle was lost up the road the campaign to save St. Pancras Station was a turning point. The greatest threat to the station came in 1966 with plans to amalgamate King's Cross and St Pancras. However public opinion had been sharpened by the appalling demolition of Euston in 1962. John Betjeman took up the cause to protect the station and in 1967 the Government listed the station and hotel as Grade 1.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2007/11/st-pancras-reborn.html




Tonight we are going to a presentation in my favourite London Museum, The Transport Museum at Covent Garden (http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2007/11/londons-transport-museum.html ) on Betjeman and Metro-Land co hosted by the Museum and the Betjeman Society in the Cubic Theatre under the Museum whose construction was somewhat delayed when they discovered a Saxon graveyard during the excavations. These are the perils of digging in this ancient city!


Map of Metroland

The talk is part of the Museum’s Suburbia exhibition and season which explores how public transport helped to create the myths and identity of suburbia and how it has featured in the cultural fabric of London and Britain over the last 100 years. The exhibition looks at how transport has shaped the suburbs and celebrates suburban lifestyle, architecture, design and popular culture through a series of unique displays. Mixing fun, fact and a little bit of fantasy to rejoice in a place that we collectively continue to love and hate.




Metroland Magazine for the 1924 Empire Exhibition at Wembley

The talk on Betjeman and Metro-land was co-hosted by David Bownes, Head Curator of the London Transport Museum John Heald, Vice-Chairman of the Betjeman Society. It was trailed as an exploration of the suburban ideal, through the words of Britain's best loved poet, including rare archival footage, poetry readings and vintage promotional material celebrating Betjeman's beloved Metro-land.



Of all the works of Sir John Betjeman none has caught the public imagination more than Metro-Land, the BBC documentary which he made in 1973. It was Sir John's gift to romanticise the mundane: in this case a tube ride from Baker Street to Amersham, celebrating the north-west London suburbs created by the Metropolitan Railway between 1910 and 1933.


Metroland DVD

"Metro-Land" was the advertising slogan developed to entice workers from cramped homes in Central London out into the rural paradise of Middlesex, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire. It was invented in 1915 by the Metropolitan Railway's in-house copywriter James Garland, who according to legend was ill with influenza and sprang out of bed when he thought of the term. In the company's advertising material, Metro-Land was certainly not a place where you were expected to go down with flu: posters and a magazine which carried the name Metro-Land depicted a sylvan landscape where ladies in hats picked flowers and drifted through sun-speckled meadows.


Baker Street


Harrow on the Hill

It was, of course, largely a con. The creation of Metro-Land destroyed the very thing - open countryside - which was used to advertise it. The speculative homes thrown up around the new stations bore few resemblances to the Tudor cottages depicted in the advertising materials: most were dreary semis, constructed at great haste and sold for as little as £400 each. Modern first-time buyers can only dream: that is equivalent to just £20,000 in today's money.



No developer would be allowed such free rein today. Indeed, the suburban sprawl created by the Metropolitan Railway did much to influence the creation of the post-war town and country planning system. A dozen years after the railway was subsumed into the newly-formed London Transport in 1933, the growth of Metro-Land was finally halted by the instigation of London's green belt.

See; http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2010/01/northern-heights.html

Metro-land may have lost its official standing only eighteen years after its invention, but the name had already entered the language as an almost generic expression of suburban life. A popular song called My Little Metro-land Home had been published in 1920. The word had even, through Evelyn Waugh's fictional character Margot Metro-land, appeared for the first time in the pages of a novel (Decline and Fall, published in 1928). Metro-land's characteristics were later to be affectionately evoked in the poems of John Betjeman such as The Metropolitan Railway (1954) and in his nostalgic BBC television programme Metro-land, made in 1973. Yet another perspective appears in Julian Barnes' first novel, Metroland (1980) where the writer draws on memories of his own suburban upbringing in the area in the 1960s. For Barnes 'Metro-land is a country with elastic borders which every visitor can draw for himself, as Stevenson drew his map of Treasure Island'.



In little more than half a century, Metro-land grew from being an ad man's creative invention into a more prosaic reality in the 1920s and 30s, a wistful post-war recollection from the 1950s onwards and finally a new land of personal imagination by 1980.

Metroland

The Song!


The houses

David Bownes and John Heald explored Betjeman’s fascination with Metro-Land with authority and affection and it is indicative of the respect with which Betjeman is held to this day, 25 years after his death, that there was not a spare seat in the Cubic Theatre. John Heald recited from Betjeman’s works with charm and affection at times looking and sounding uncannily like his hero. He also made a pitch for people to join the Society as it is “great fun” and indeed watching rare archive footage of Betjeman none present doubted the statement.

As for the late, great and much loved Poet Laureate, Sir John Betjeman, he loved wild Cornwall and was buried there; he loved suburban Harrow. The two come together in his poem "Harrow-on-the-Hill", when dusk over the Metropolitan Line makes suburbs look like Cornish seas:

"There's a storm cloud to the westward over Kenton, / There's a line of harbour lights at Perivale."

For the story of the world’s first Underground Railway and a Great Railway Journey see;

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/01/great-circle-line-journey.html


Live in Metroland - The door catches on Metropolitan Railway carriages

Martin Luther King Day 2010

Martin Luther King Jr. achieved much in his life before it was tragically cut short on the evening of April 4, 1968. Martin Luther King Day is on Monday January 18 2010, this year. It is a day that celebrates one of the greatest civil rights leaders the world has ever known.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

"I Have a Dream"

Delivered 28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.



I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.



We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.



The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.
We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: "For Whites Only." We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.
And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.



I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.
With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,
From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.
From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

Help the people of Haiti

The citizens of Haiti are currently dealing with devastation and suffering that few of us can even imagine. Tuesday's earthquake has reduced large parts of the the country's capitol, Port Au Prince, to rubble and devastated their already poor infrastructure making the task of delivering aid extremely difficult.

Official estimates from the region say that approximately 3 million people have been affected by this disaster and that somewhere between 45,00 to 50,000 people are may have died as a result of the earthquake.



How You Can Help

The most important thing you can do is donate to organizations providing aid to the citizens of Haiti. Bloggers can also use their sites to motivate others to give. It takes just a few minutes to add a donation widget to your blog or write a post informing your readers about how to give.

Doctors Without Borders is one of the organizations in the best position to provide critical medical care to those affected by this disaster.

A Tale of Two Travelodge’s

Travelodge are the chain of budget hotels in the UK, Ireland and Spain originally started in 1985 by Forte Hotels in the Midlands of England which are now expanding rapidly under the ownership of Dubai Capital. Like Ibis and Premier Inn they strive to provide a no frills comfortable room and price according to demand using the same “load management” techniques used by the budget airlines. So generally the earlier you book the cheaper the price and with pre-payment you get the best deals. As well as helping their cash flow this simplifies check –in and means customers don’t need to check out. They either offer simplified breakfast catering with the layout pioneered by Ibis of having the Reception, Restaurant / Bar in the same area and multi-tasking staff. As for catering in Travelodge’s there is either a help yourself breakfast buffet and snack machines or a Bar / Restaurant run by a franchisee.







There is nothing wrong with the no frills hotel concept particularly when access and parking are good and Travelodge are very good on mobility issues. Disabled rooms come with a wet room shower in a very well equipped and well thought out ensuite. They simplify the operation further by not providing room service, toiletries in the room (they will sell them to you) or a room telephone and sometimes, car parking. They wrap this up in the marketing tag-line “It is madness paying for things you don’t use.” They also levy extra charges for early check-in and check out and unlike their competitors don’t allow you to store luggage. They run slick marketing and frequent special offers. So how does the delivery compare with the marketing? Well, before and after Xmas I used Travelodge’s in Ireland and England and the feedback will not make for comfortable reading at Travelodge’s HQ in Thame, Oxfordshire.



Travelodge, Dublin Airport







Arriving in Dublin Airport a week before Xmas I was delighted to see that the normal queue for the taxi rank was not there and I got a taxi to go to the optimistically entitled “Travelodge Dublin Airport” right away. That was the good news. The bad news is the Dublin Taxi driver has zero training or customer service ability. His first gambit was a foul mouthed rant about his 3 hour wait for a “job” with the implication that I he was hoping for a longer trip than mine. He also took two mobile calls (he had no hands free), nearly missed the turn off the motorway and clipped the kerb in doing so and took the longer route on the congested M50 Ring motorway instead of the quicker, shorter, less congested route by the back road to the airport. Oh, there was a final racist tinged rant about “foreign taxi drivers” not knowing their way and “Irish girls” not being safe with them. If this is true then this local product has set a high benchmark for them. Did I say a word to him? I did on my Nelly, I am not the overpaid Dublin Taxi Regulator and I was not going to waste my energy. But here as in so many other areas in Ireland they just don’t get the BIG STORY; they are charging too much money for a poor product and the rest of the world has little interest in their self indulgent whinging.





Entrance



So we arrive at “Travelodge, Dublin Airport.” Now as a Dubliner I knew where it was and it was convenient for my parents who I was visiting. However the title is deceptive as it is actually 3 miles from Dublin Airport in the middle of the Ballymun Flats Public Housing Project which is in the middle of redevelopment but still retains a somewhat grim reputation. If you have seen the hit movie “The Commitments” this is where the boy is bringing the horse up in the lift because he gets too tired using the stairs! Dublin Airport is described as a 5 minute taxi ride away – 15/20 minutes and 15 euro is the reality. It is not the only misleading info on the Travelodge website. The hotel number is described as 10p a minute from a BT Line, it isn’t a BT number, it is an Irish Telecom number attracting International Call charges from the UK. It is described as 2 miles from Dublin City Centre; it is actually over 5 miles. An American tourist who had relied on the website descriptions might be confused at this stage by this “Airport Hotel” close to the City?





Drop off areas at Ballymun Travelodge blocked by vans



However first impressions are positive, it is a 4 storey new build hotel open over 8 months which is attractive looking and has fresh interiors. However first impressions don’t last. The drops off areas are permanently occupied by trade vehicles and you have to pull up in the middle of the road with the added danger this entails and difficulty for mobility impaired guests. When we complained we were told that these were guests and the vans were too high to use the underground car park and they had to be parked in sight of reception so they wouldn’t be vandalised – so no proper drop off / pick up bays. Inside the reception is bright and modern but it took 15 minutes for somebody to come to the desk to check us in. We had to change from the first room we were assigned as the shower fitting was broken but the room we eventually got was nice and bright, clean and of a good size with two beds (bigger than older Travelodge’s) and the bathroom was excellent. It also had a TV, trouser press and tea/ coffee making facilities. As we had booked online at 29 euros a night this was a lot of room for the money. However there was evidence that things had been finished in a hurry, spacers left in tiling, floor strips loose, areas being redecorated after only a few months.





Room





Bathroom



However the big weakness is apparent when we came back that night and parked in the “secure” underground car park. We pressed the intercom at the car park entrance and without any conversation or checks we were let in. The car park is shared with apartment dwellers and retailers but there are plenty of clearly marked Travelodge spaces. You need to use your card key to access the hotel (and the lift and your room) but when we got to the “secure” doors they were “open” with the electronic lock disengaged so you could go straight in. Once in the lift lobby you could then access all the floors without a key by going up the stairwell. We spoke to the young receptionist the next morning she said the security lock was due to be repaired and had been out of action for weeks. She also said there was CCTV and there was a security guard in the car park. Well there may be CCTV but there is little point to it if there is nobody at reception to look at it. As for the “security guard” we saw what was happening when we were leaving the next day. There he was in an office in the car park chatting away to a friend and just opening the barrier without checking.





Underground Car Park





The unlocked door from the car park giving access to all the floors without a key



The next morning when we were in reception there was a young German couple remonstrating with the receptionist. Their car had been scraped and damaged on one side. Seemingly when they were entering the car park there was a large van delivering to Travelodge blocking the entrance and they were told to go down the exit road. As they did so the barrier descended and scraped their car. The delivery drivers didn’t want to know and refused to swap details. They then went to reception and they were similarly uninterested and refusing to take ownership. By the time we were leaving the Gardai (Police) had arrived to deal with the situation. A friend of mine stayed in the same hotel over Xmas and when he was checking out on the 27th December there was a couple at the desk whose car had been vandalised in the “secure” underground car par with a Security Guard and CCTV. Once again the receptionist was trying to fob them off telling them there was nothing he could do. The operation of the car park and the security at this Travelodge leaves a lot to be desired and is an area where the hotel management really need to take ownership.





Bar / Restaurant





Reception



When we went down to breakfast the next morning (it ends @ 11) we were greeted at 10.45 with a somewhat uncouth statement “Oh, I was about to close up” To welcome us. The “Irish” Breakfast consisted of bacon, sausage, beans and pudding looking somewhat worse for wear. Coffee and orange juice (no choice was offered) was brought to the table. There was no healthy alternative, no yoghurts, no cheese, no cold meats, and no selections of bread or rolls. There were min-croissants. The waitress was friendly enough but was very untrained with a poor manner. For this you have to pay 9.95 euros directly to the café as they are not part of Travelodge and we noticed heavy layers of dust on the partition beside our table.





Semi-derelict public housing behind Travelodge





The run down shopping centre opposite Ballymun Travelodge



In summary, nice building, poor management, woeful security, good value if you don’t get robbed.





Travelodge, Stansted, Great Dunmow











Heading across to pleasant rural Essex for a wedding at the historic Leez Priory, a Tudor Manor near Chelmsford, in the days after Xmas and before New Year we had a not so difficult choice. To stay in a charming B & B for £85 a night or book into a Travelodge for £19? Even adding on 2 breakfasts it still came to £30 for a decent well equipped room so bit of a no brainer.





Out of Order parking machine



Checking in was well organised as effectively you book online and prepay to get the cheaper deals and all they need to do at the desk is give you the key card for the room. However the picture was not so good when we got to our room as toilet rolls, remote for the TV and pillows were missing – what housekeeping check list were they working off? The rolls and pillows were retrieved from a store by the desk but the friendly receptionist said he’d have to retrieve a remote from another room as “customers keep nicking them.” He then checked it for batteries as he informed us these were also frequently stolen. Not the best customer service behaviour sharing these thoughts with us?





Overflowing rubbish and litter at the front of the hotel



The room otherwise was fine, clean, well equipped and as described. Very good value at the price, being next to Stansted Airport the “turn up rate” is £59. Good storage, good shower, TV (with remote!) and Tea / Coffee making facilities in the room.



Next morning we went down to breakfast in the relatively small café area which is too small for the number of customers. All the tables were smeared and uncleaned. Once again the staff on duty were young and were obviously struggling to cope but really it became apparent that the problems were caused more by poor management than by the generally helpful but untrained staff on duty. The beverage bar ran out of cups four times during the 30 minutes we were there for breakfast. It turns out they were short of cups and had to keep washing ones when customers were finished. Once again we were told this is because customers steal cups and their General Manager hadn’t authorised replacements (!!). When cups were replenished the coffee machine had run out of water so no coffee. The hot offering consisted of bacon, sausages, scrambled eggs and beans. At various times these ran out and it was up to customers to find staff and tell them and then wait 5/10 minutes for fresh supplies by which time something else had run out. Bread ran out for toast – the only choice offered was white sliced and there was a single 2 slice domestic toaster, hardly sufficient for hotel catering. Plates (unheated) and glasses were put on the reception desk to maximise confusion, these also kept running out. There was also the delicious moment when a customer took one of these glasses and put it down telling the receptionist it wasn’t clean. The receptionist was helpful; she held 4 glasses up to the light before giving the fifth one to the customer as a clean glass. There were no teaspoons (yes, you guessed, the enemy – the customer, keeps nicking them) and no stirrers either so you had to use soupspoons or forks but these kept running out. We could have been annoyed at this Marx Brother’s impersonation of a breakfast service but like all the customers we just laughed as we had gone through the pain barrier at witnessing the truly shambolic organisation and eating off dirty tables. Like all Travelodge’s it also only stocks sugar so if you are the 10% of the population who use sweeteners this “luxury” item is also not available.





Brittania Parking Sign



Outside there are notices telling you that the car park is managed by “Britannia Parking Services” and hotel customers (including disabled drivers) have to pay £3.00 to park. Britannia here is in the form of a burly man in a van with clamps in the back. However when we arrived in pouring rain the machines were broken and the hotel took your registration number. This charge is not obvious or highlighted when you book but can only be found under the information for this hotel under the car parking tab. This fee doesn’t extend to keeping the car park clean. It and the front of the hotel were in fact strewn with litter from overflowing bins which very obviously had not been emptied for some time. The food and snack vending machines in the hotel lobby were also in need of a visit with 3 out of 4 out of order.



So there you have Stansted, Great Dunmow, Travelodge. A nice modern building, well located, with good disabled access and very competively priced if you book online and pre-pay. It doesn’t have enough cups, plates, glasses, pillows, remote controls, teaspoons etc; for all its customers / rooms and appears to be mis- managed remotely. It is a pity to build a good facility like this, to market it well and then let yourself and your customers down (and undermine your demotivated staff) by not equipping and managing it properly. Hardly a winning customer service proposition?





Village, Great Dunmow



Travelodge, which operates hotels in the UK, Ireland and Spain, was sold by its private equity owner Permira in 2006 to Dubai International Capital. The Dubai firm said it would invest in Travelodge with the aim of making it the UK's leading budget hotel operator by the 2012 Olympics. It was originally set up by Forte and was then part of Granada and Compass Group. The lack of proper training and management systems is painfully and embarrassingly obvious particularly when you compare it to a very similar 2 star budget chain like Ibis run by the French Hotel group Accor. In Travelodge you are continuously faced with disempowered, untrained juvenile staff and poor management systems and processes and non-existent customer service values. Contrast Travelodge with the cheerful and well decorated Ibis Hotels, The Ibis “If we can’t fix it in 30 minutes the room is free” promise, the excellent and healthy breakfasts they offer, the “Breakfast Non-Stop” and the 24 hour snack availability not to mention the contrast in the customer welcome then by comparison Travelodge is a very poor customer service proposition indeed.



It is a great pity that Travelodge’s management is not as good as its marketing. The chain badly needs to be back in the hands of somebody who understands the hospitality industry, treats customers and their staff with respect. The buildings (if they are maintained) are not bad but need to aspire to something better than the atmosphere of the local A & E Department. As their better managed competitor Ibis Hotels demonstrates you can be BOTH cheap and cheerful and with happier customers achieve a better price point.



Travelodge, Dublin Airport

Shangan Road, Ballymun, Dublin, 9. Ireland



Travelodge, Stansted, Great Dunmow

Chelmsford Road, Great Dunmow, Essex, CM6 1LW, United Kingdom



http://www.travelodge.co.uk/