The HfP chat thread – Saturday 31st October

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• Harry T says:

  31 Oct31 October 15:35

  So I said I would report back on the Sheraton Grand Park Lane. So far, I’m very impressed. Excellent upgrade as Plat from basic room to Park View Suite. Breakfast was decent and the service was attentive, swift and friendly. The food in the hotel bar is also well priced for London and tasty. In lieu of the usual lounge offering, they are providing complimentary drinks between 5.30 and 7.30pm. The decor of the hotel is very classy and unique, with the 1920s Art Deco theme. Happy to answer any questions.

• S879 says:

  31 Oct31 October 15:54

  Fab stay at JW Marriott, booked via Emyr. We booked the family rate and both rooms were interconnected and upgraded. A small cheesecake as a welcome treat. We enjoyed dinner at the steakhouse; service was top notch. Executive Lounge was big and clean but the food offerings were not to our taste. Some labelling of food ingredients would be useful. We don’t drink alcohol so perhaps we didn’t see much benefit in spending time there but there were a few couples and families. Breakfast was included along with late checkout. Thanks to HfP for highlighting this offer and many others for their mini reviews. First time booked with Emyr and very happy with what we received.

• Crafty says:

  31 Oct31 October 16:04

  Peston has the Lockdown measures.

  No international travel except for work.

  • Anna says:

    31 Oct31 October 16:25

    They’re going to have to dig deep to find something that’s going to work here. Effectively in Tier 3 since August and one of our wards is now at over 1200 cases per 100,000.

    • Lady London says:

      31 Oct31 October 20:21

      perhaps another way of looking at it could be Yes, you have 1200 cases per 100,000 now, but if you hadn’t been in Tier 3 yoi would have had 20,000.

  • Baji Nahid says:

    31 Oct31 October 16:30

    If it comes out to be true, that’s killed off Virgin .

  • Anna says:

    31 Oct31 October 16:34

    https://www.itv.com/news/2020-10-31/covid-what-are-the-new-lockdown-measures-for-england
    Schools are still the weak point, the only reason I can see for them to stay open is to facilitate parents working.

    • Crafty says:

      31 Oct31 October 16:36

      Crazy they didn’t do this over half term. It was such an obvious thing to do.

      • Anna says:

        31 Oct31 October 16:49

        Quite, and now there will no doubt be a bumper Halloween party weekend throughout the country in preparation for Thursday 🤦‍♀️

        • Heather says:

          31 Oct31 October 16:59

          A stupid question (maybe) – It all starts at one second past midnight on Thursday. according to peston.
          Is that 00:01 Friday Morning then? or 00:01 Thursday?

        • Cat says:

          31 Oct31 October 17:20

          Exactly Crafty. It’s like we learned nothing from the last time. Locking down too late only prolongs the outbreak and the lockdown, puts the NHS under increased pressure, and increases the death rate. Doing it a week ago and using half term would have been an easy win.

          I really feel like school staff are being thrown under the bus here. You have no idea how often I have to tell students to hand sanitise every lesson after I’ve watched them scratching their nose, wiping snot off their nose with the backs of their hands, biting their nails, wiping sleep from their eyes, applying lip balm / gloss with their fingers (all of the above without sanitising their hands first). I hate to think what happens when I’m not looking, or in the playground, when they still hug their friends, chase each other round and play tag. The infection rates are most alarming in the 11-24 year old age group. Kids are bringing it home to parents, and bringing it into school and infecting their teachers and teaching assistants.

          Ooh, it boils my p*ss.

        • Anna says:

          31 Oct31 October 17:32

          @Cat, I totally agree and as above think keeping schools open is purely to keep parents at work (appreciate it’s also very difficult for most parents but I’m looking at this from the perspective of potential virus transmission). Even if they announced today that there will be an extra week of half term from Monday it would have minimal impact on education (the private schools manage it), and must have an effect on the infection rate.
          Fortunately my teenager is a bit OCD, would wear a mask 24/7 if required and is never without one of my mini scented hand sanitisers!

        • Cat says:

          31 Oct31 October 18:12

          If only they were all like that, Anna!

          I have one child who keeps coughing without in any way covering his mouth. For SEN & medical reasons, he has to sit near the front, close to me. He keeps coughing in my face.

        • Lady London says:

          31 Oct31 October 21:09

          @Cat I would feel the same. This was totally predictable. Children are superspreaders of lots of bugs, unfortunately in the case of covid largely asymptomatic too. And schools are bug swop shops.

          School was my solace as a kid so thank you for supporting kids with reasons not to be at home as well as the children of key workers by still providing school space for them to come to. But for all other children education needs to become largely remote delivered as this isnt going to go away and children are our future.

          Would be nice if staff and teachers had full top-half transparent protection with microphones, or if staff could even also be remote! but I know that”s all hard without completely different approach.and money..and organisation, all in short supply now. I just wish you stay safe and thanks for doing the job.

        • Cat says:

          31 Oct31 October 21:53

          😘 Lady London

          Don’t get me wrong, I love my job, and adore my students (admittedly, some more than others, but I find something I like in all of them eventually), but they are little superspreading vectors of ming. I hate teaching them remotely, but I hate it even more when I get emails telling me to ignore missed homework for little Johnny, because his mum just died, or when I find out a colleague has been hospitalised

          I think the biggest problems are money and governmental leadership, not necessarily in that order.

          Can’t believe I’m expected to spend all day inside with up to 30 students, in a space that’s impossible to socially distance in, but I won’t be able to see my sister with my nieces outside anymore!

    • Charlieface says:

      31 Oct31 October 18:20

      Hey, kids need to study too.
      And have you ever thought about how many kids come from poor or dysfunctional families, and school is their only solace?

      • Cat says:

        31 Oct31 October 18:25

        Yes, Anna was a teacher, and I am.

        School was open for key workers’ kids, and kids with major SEN needs. My school did an awful lot to support those kids during the last lockdown (some of them were allowed to come into school during that time too, to support them).

        • Lee says:

          31 Oct31 October 19:56

          Lots of adults are working from home now, should there be at least an option if you want your kids to have online course like most of other countries do?

        • Chris says:

          31 Oct31 October 20:16

          But was still closed to those from poor backgrounds.

          The health and wellbeing of our nation’s children is the number one priority, and far outweighs anything else this virus might throw at us.

        • Cat says:

          31 Oct31 October 21:55

          …like the deaths of their parents when they bring the virus home from school?

        • Cat says:

          31 Oct31 October 22:38

          IMHO, yes Lee. I don’t think school’s should be fining parents who choose to keep students home right now.

• Ali M says:

  31 Oct31 October 16:34

  will Hilton offer be triggered with getting gift cards then?

  • Rob says:

    31 Oct31 October 20:03

    No.

• Anna says:

  31 Oct31 October 16:46

  Looks like no overnight leisure stays permitted under the new rules.
  Can bookings through Emyr be cancelled via one’s online account? Otherwise the poor guy is about to be inundated …

  • Jill (Kinkell) says:

    31 Oct31 October 16:58

    Yes….your booking should be in your account ….just cancel . I think they are all cancellable up to 24 hrs before.

• DJ says:

  31 Oct31 October 16:49

  With the potential upcoming national lock down in England, is it possible for anyone to extend the 15-night Platinum challenge with Marriot?

  • Freddy says:

    31 Oct31 October 17:14

    I would give up – no point being a plat stuck in your house for the foreseeable, they don’t even dish out physical cards anymore to admire

• Pauline says:

  31 Oct31 October 17:13

  Hi
  How easy is it to get a points stay to the Maldives (Hilton) in December? Are they released at a specific time?

  • Ali M says:

    31 Oct31 October 17:40

    I am not sure but Dec is going to be popular. I managed next Oct half term pretty easily 😉

    • Pauline says:

      31 Oct31 October 17:48

      When did you book it?

      • Ali M says:

        31 Oct31 October 19:21

        I booked it a few days back – so for next Oct,booked now.
        I am not an expert but unlikely they’ll offer 120k rooms for v busy periods but they may do this year due to lock downs etc and looming suboptimal occupation of hotels?

• MD says:

  31 Oct31 October 17:21

  I suspect Berners Tavern is about to become very popular amongst Amex Platinum card holders for a few days. Might see some of you there. 😉

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.