The three nail bombs triggered by ISIL’s suicide bombers at Brussels airport and a Metro station on March 22 killed 32 innocent people and part-paralysed the Belgian capital in the deadliest terrorist incident in Belgian history.

It’s still quiet there. Booked, before the bombings, to make press visits to two hotels there two weeks afterwards we decided to go anyway, show some solidarity and be as careful as most people moving around Brussels are now being, staying away where possible from crowded places and keeping public transport trips to a minimum. In the event it was actually reassuring to see armed soldiers on street corners and to have our bag searched and body wiped down with a metal detector before being allowed into a shopping centre. And we have to admit to a guilty pride, stupid possibly, in not cancelling anything we’d agreed to do because of sick acts of terrorism. Continue reading →

One hotel user we know has told us of a bad experience received at the four-star Park Grand in Hogarth Road, Earls Court.

Apparently he booked a room there through Booking.com and was told when he arrived that, due to an error, he was being moved to a room in an annexe opposite, but that to compensate for this he could enjoy a free breakfast in the hotel, worth £15.95. He reports that the room he was switched into was “definitely not four-star standard” and was “cramped and dirty with a blocked toilet and sink” He wondered if this was a normal occurrence for guests booking through Booking.com as the Park Grand would be paying them a commission. Continue reading →

There can’t be too many hotel venues in the UK that have their own garden centre and marina just up the road, but the Barton Grange Hotel does.

This is located on the A6 five miles north of Preston, Lancs and just off J32 of the M6. A few miles north of the hotel on the A6 is their large garden centre offering the usual garden centre range, including a huge variety of food items, some from suppliers of the foods the hotel serves in its restaurant. From the nearby marina a range of cruises on the Lancaster Canal from Lancaster Canal Boats can be enjoyed from prices starting at £8 for an hour and for up to 60 passengers. Popular are the evening Barton Grange Fish and Chip cruises, with a stop to pick up the food order at an award-winning local chippy, as well as the Quiz cruises, Entertainment cruises and afternoon Cream Tea cruises. (Web: lcboats.co.uk) Continue reading →

Those looking for a small, three-star, independent boutique hotel in Brussels centre should check out the charmingly quirky Brussels Welcome Hotel, which really does offer a five-star welcome to guests.

This is located in the informal and ancient St Catherine area of Brussels, where the fishing boats used to sail up the canal to unload their catch, and where many of the City’s best seafood restaurants are now based, and is a six-minute walk from the Grand Place For fans of Asian cuisine there is a small area with Asian restaurants a few minutes walk away and the St Catherine Metro, with connections to the European Commission area, Avenue Louise shops, the Atomium and rail stations for Eurostar and Thalys trains is opposite the hotel. Continue reading →

To The Brocket Arms, a traditionally-styled Wetherspoons pub/hotel around three-quarters of a mile from Wigan town centre.

This offers 28 en suite bedrooms, 14 with baths, and broken down as 14 doubles, 6 twins, 3 singles, 3 family and 2 double twins. Some bedrooms have separate toilets, a thoughtful feature if one is sharing. Prices, for accommodation only, range from £44 for a single, £49 for a double and £54 for a family room, with all rooms at £39 on a Sunday night. All have tea/coffee making facilities with biscuits and free still and sparkling water, digital Freeview TVs and hairdryers, iron and ironing boards. Free unlimited Wi-Fi is available throughout the building. Continue reading →

o Concerns that the 212-room Britannia Airport Hotel at Northenden is changing its use to a hostel have been voiced over recent reports that 300 asylum seekers are staying there. Asylum seekers are placed in hotels by Home Office contractor Serco when there is a shortage of housing.(The Business Desk)

Apparently Manchester City Council knew nothing of this and have said that the agreement between Serco and Britannia could have broken planning laws, and that they did not believe that hotels were “appropriate places for asylum seekers to be housed”

o Planning permission for the US Embassy in London’s Grosvenor Square to be turned into a five star hotel is being sought by the Quatari Investment Authority.

The Grade 11-listed building becomes empty in 2017 as the American officials move out to Nine Elms, and the plan is to convert it to a 137-bedroom unit with a spa, a ballroom for 1,000, and six luxury shops and restaurants.

o Dutch firm Flexotels, which offers temporary cabins for accommodation to festival and concert organisers are expecting to have the first en-suite versions ready for June.

Currently the 3m x 2.5m cabins, which are delivered, erected and then dismantled on site, accommodate two persons on two separate boxspring beds and are fully furnished with power for heat and light provided.

Those who like taut, cat and mouse political thrillers will love this prescient 1975 film of a rogue cancer in the CIA that desperately wants to protect American oil interests in the Middle East and is prepared to kill its own to do it.

Adapted from the 1974 novel Six Days of the Condor by James Grady, which has the CIA killing to line its officer’s pockets with drug money, the film was directed by Sydney Pollack and enjoyed a stellar cast. Robert Redford, at the top of his game here, plays the lowly CIA analyst Joe Turner, codenamed “Condor”, whose job, along with six others in the clandestine department is to read books, magazines and journals looking for coded messages. When he stumbles on some he reports his suspicions to his CIA bosses, not realising that they link to a CIA plot to take over an oil-rich country. As a result the CIA send in a murder squad which ruthlessly wipes out their whole department, all except for Condor who is out buying sandwiches at the time and who gets back to find all his colleagues dead. Thereafter he goes on the run, not knowing who to trust, as his CIA bosses try to kill him. Continue reading →