The HfP chat thread – Thursday 20th May

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Louise says:

20 May20 May 12:09

Have a stay booked for next week at the Langley, can any recommend somewhere to eat locally?
- Simon says:
  
  20 May20 May 12:48
  
  the Red Lion in Stoke Poges. Good food and service.
  - Louise says:
    
    21 May21 May 07:02
    
    Thanks everyone. Red Lion looks good think we will go with that!
- Peter says:
  
  20 May20 May 12:53
  
  Three Oaks at Gerrard’s Cross.
- AndyW says:
  
  20 May20 May 13:20
  
  I would find this useful too so thanks for recommendations so far. Is this restaurant at the Langley up to much or would people venture out?
  - Simon says:
    
    20 May20 May 14:29
    
    I think it depends on what you are up for…. Its fairly formal and the tasting menu is a bit too serious if you just want a relaxing meal. Though the quality was very good. The menu in the bar is far more accessible. We have just holed up there by the fire and grazed for a few hours. For breakfast, the tea room in the park about 10 minute walk away serves a quality sub-ten pound fry up to soak up the previous night’s excess.
  - meta says:
    
    20 May20 May 16:06
    
    Langley restaurant is hit and miss staff wise. Maybe one or two are great, others have no clue what they’re doing. Especially at breakfast it can be chaotic. My partner and I waited half an hour for orange juice when the good waiter went on a break… It was really comical as they were running around, but didn’t do much. Maybe the staff changed or got better, but if I went again, I’d eat outside the hotel. It helped that I had F&B credit to use in the rate, so didn’t feel guilty. For me, the food wasn’t anything special either.
- MadeUpName says:
  
  20 May20 May 13:46
  
  Lomito in gerrards cross.
Rob says:

20 May20 May 12:13

BAPP or Platinum Charge (the £575 one).
pauline says:

20 May20 May 12:22

I am travelling from Edinburgh to Manchester in July. Can anyone recommend a hotel as a stop over on the way to use my Marriot cc voucher
- Andrew says:
  
  20 May20 May 12:37
  
  If you’re heading down the M6, the first Marriott you will reach is at Preston, after that it’s Worsley Park. But by the time you’ve driven the 3 hours down to Preston, you’re only a short hop to Manchester anyway.
  
  Going by train or driving via the East Coast? There’s Marriot’s in Newcastle and York.
  - Anna says:
    
    20 May20 May 16:15
    
    Worsley Park is nicer than Preston, but it’s pretty much in Manchester! My sister used to work there and one of the staff perks was being able to book any Marriott hotel anywhere for £45 pn! I miss that benefit so much 🤣
- Dave says:
  
  20 May20 May 15:24
  
  Yes York is the obvious one. For what I recall it is out by the Racecourse, rather than in the centre.
- Pauline says:
  
  20 May20 May 21:38
  
  Thanks for the reples. We are driving so looks like very limited options and probably not worth a detour
DK says:

20 May20 May 12:40

Bought Eurofins pre-departure test for upcoming trip to Madeira in advance. However I will meet the entry requirements as fully vaccinated.
Any thought if I can use this test as day 2 return test instead?
- meta says:
  
  20 May20 May 12:48
  
  No, but you can use it as pre-departure test for entry into UK.
- Rich says:
  
  20 May20 May 12:48
  
  The test kit itself will be the same, but I think the Day 2 test requires the sample to undergo genomic sequencing. (Not sure if that’s the responsibility of the testco or the Gov.) But possibly there may be more costs for this?
  
  Even so, no reason they should make you buy another test. Maybe a small admin fee.
- Marco says:
  
  20 May20 May 12:56
  
  On Madeira, so if I’m fully vaccinated, I don’t need a negative test and only a pre-departure test back to U.K. and Day 2 test when I return.
  
  Also if I stay longer than 5 days will I then need another test in Madeira?
  
  If my other half is not vaccinated, it’ll be the same except she needs a negative PCR on arrival to Madeira.
Paul Pogba says:

20 May20 May 12:42

Just had an Amex offers email for £50 back when you spend £200 or more at Hilton. Doesn’t actually appear on either of my cards but it may be being rolled out, just in case anyone’s about to make a booking.
- Sina says:
  
  20 May20 May 13:17
  
  If you want, you can get them to add it manually to your account, they might ask you to upload a copy of the email first.
- Andrew says:
  
  20 May20 May 13:31
  
  I had the offer saved on my platinum a couple of weeks ago, but got this email today too with my BAPP number on it, but like you, no offer available in my list of offers for BAPP. Seems their IT is playing up a bit, was very unusual what happened with Shop Small on Monday not being loaded to all cards at the same time.
- Rich says:
  
  20 May20 May 13:38
  
  Not sure if this is the same offer which has been around a couple of weeks? The list of participating hotels was quite small on that one, but none is mentioned here. Tried to follow the link in the email, but URL returned a fault.
- roberto says:
  
  20 May20 May 14:27
  
  Have the same.
  Email asking me to click to save the offer but the link won’t connect and it’s not on my BA Amex anyways.
  Hey ho
- Andrew says:
  
  20 May20 May 14:46
  
  I find this happens sometimes in the app too, with the banners that are throughout your transaction lists, advertising an offer which isn’t in my list. Usually for something useless though so never been annoyed by it.
Joseph says:

20 May20 May 12:55

Anyone know when the BA T5 arrivals lounge will reopen? Can’t seem to find much info online. Thanks
- Rob says:
  
  20 May20 May 13:14
  
  When multiple full flights from the US and Asia start arriving again each morning ….
  - Joseph says:
    
    20 May20 May 15:27
    
    I am arriving on a flight from Asia in a few weeks time, hence the question!
Russ says:

20 May20 May 13:31

Anyone care to hazard a guess when the executive lounges and buffet breakfasts are likely to start? UK hotels were open on Monday!
- Jay says:
  
  20 May20 May 13:36
  
  Million Dollar question !
- DT says:
  
  20 May20 May 13:54
  
  Currently in the York Hilton and no self serve buffet yet. I asked when this is likely to return and got a “Im not sure, not for a while” answer
  - MattB says:
    
    20 May20 May 14:32
    
    What is on offer instead of the buffet?
    
    I rang up to ensure about the facilities ahead of our stay in the Cheltenham Doubletree this weekend and received a reply that just said “join us in the restaurant for breakfast between 7am and 11am’ which led me to believe it would less restrictive.
    - DT says:
      
      20 May20 May 18:49
      
      They serve you the buffet, so you wait in line as one staff member plates up everyone’s food. They had scrambled eggs, mushrooms, sausages, bacon and hash browns. Toast was also waiting in line while a staff member toasted each person’s bread.
      We had to order drinks, juices and hot drinks. Baked goods, cereal and granola are all served by someone as well.
      
      Not terrible, but a bit of a pain if you just want to top up something you gotta go back to waiting in a very slow moving line.
      
      Was at a DT last week and they did a cooked breakfast to order and the continental and drinks was self serve
      - MattB says:
        
        20 May20 May 20:41
        
        Thanks, that’s better than I was expecting and will probably stop me having too much as usual!
      - DT says:
        
        20 May20 May 21:21
        
        I’m not sure if each brand is doing breakfast the same as each other, but I was at a different DT two months ago that also did breakfast to order and self serve continental and drinks. With individually wrapped baked goods.
        
        I think this method is a much nicer affair than the Hilton method, people end up bunched up and queued while waiting to be served.
        
        DT had a fixed list of hot food menu items, but you could order extra of whatever bits you might want.
        
        They’re all certainly trying their best and I’m sure you’ll get at least a decent breakfast!
Eligold says:

20 May20 May 13:44

Anyone know which approved testing company will happily issue a refund in case of flight cancellation?
- Rich says:
  
  20 May20 May 15:02
  
  NPH at Newcastle Airport certainly does. Free refund if flight cancelled, free change of time. And you can cancel > 48 hrs for £4.
- HBommie says:
  
  20 May20 May 15:20
  
  Recovery4life testing have free cancellation and changes.
- Sina says:
  
  20 May20 May 15:39
  
  Testing for All org cancels within 14 days of booking.
  - egold says:
    
    20 May20 May 16:08
    
    i contacted testing for all about this. I received a very complicated long-winded response which implied that i’d get a partial refund
    - Sina says:
      
      20 May20 May 18:15
      
      I got a full refund when I was denied boarding my flight, just took an email to request it.