The HfP chat thread – Sunday 11th July

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• Craig says:

  11 Jul11 July 09:37

  Might actually get to use my Addison Lee Amex credit for the first time ever! Are there any promo codes kicking around?

  • Ste C says:

    11 Jul11 July 10:02

    Use Addison Lee whenever you need a lift. Get £8 off your first ride with code RIDE8. No surges even when it rains or demand is high! T&Cs apply. Minimum fare £15.

    https://addisonlee.app.link/bL72FYgINhb

    good luck though, I am in Manchester and when I looked the other day at about 18:30 the next available time was 23:30. think they must only have one taxi up here.

  • Andrew says:

    11 Jul11 July 10:06

    Best thing to do is prebook, I always do that when I’m using my credit.

• mr_jetlag says:

  11 Jul11 July 09:44

  yes but you have to ring.

• Harry T says:

  11 Jul11 July 09:48

  Conversely, the soft product at the Langley is currently pants and the elite treatment is basically non existent – I stayed a couple of weekend ago. I was genuinely treated better when I last stayed as a Gold member. Upgraded one category, despite multiple suites being available for sale consistently in advance of my stay and during it – staff insisted they were full. Charged for breakfast without any mention of what the elite breakfast benefit was – I had it taken off the bill. I was told via email and in person that 4pm checkout was subject to availability – I’m Titanium and it’s a guaranteed benefit at this hotel (I was begrudgingly granted 4pm checkout, which was a wise move by the hotel 😂). The service at breakfast was absolutely world beatingly shite – on the first day it took them ages to serve us, despite not being busy, and they forgot some items. On the second day, they forgot our hot order but were incredibly attentive to the middle aged couple who arrived after us, including serving them very anally niche items. The manager hastily offered to comp my free breakfast in the end 😂.

  It’s a real shame because the hard product remains phenomenal – the rooms are gorgeous; the spa is ridiculous; and the gym is the best gym I’ve seen in a gym – we both do a lot of weight training. The bones are there but the hotel just doesn’t have the requisite service to charge £600 a night for a base room and I’m actually glad I paid the old points prices. The elite treatment has also clearly gone downhill. This strategy might work whilst there are plenty of rich trust fund kids and families who can’t or won’t go abroad but there will come a time when they have to work harder to attract customers.

  I would say that I still enjoyed my stay but that was entirely due to the beautiful location and hard product. I wouldn’t stay again until I hear reports of significant improvements in management, service and elite treatment. I’ve stayed at plenty of hotels at this level and price point, and the soft product is just not luxurious in the slightest.

  • Harry T says:

    11 Jul11 July 09:48

    *seen in a hotel! Not had my coffee yet

  • Matt says:

    11 Jul11 July 10:04

    We stayed there at the end of May, just after it re-opened, and our experience was similar to yours, although possibly not quite as bad. The service was definitely not good enough, especially when 12.5% service charge is added to everything.
    I had been assuming it would get better after a few weeks, but apparently not.

  • YC says:

    11 Jul11 July 10:05

    Agree not worth cash rates but everything in the UK is inflated this summer. I’m undecided if 50k/night for Sunday night is worth it

    • TGLoyalty says:

      11 Jul11 July 10:08

      It’s worth 50k-60k points.

  • Mr. AC says:

    11 Jul11 July 10:07

    Hear hear! Stayed recently as well, and they managed to check us into a room that was not yet cleaned after the previous guests (dirty plates in the sink at all…) Didn’t even bother with the Cedar, just did room service – but even there items were forgotten. Spa disorganized. Reception staff took 10 minutes trying to charge my Marriott gift card and gave up!

    • Matt says:

      11 Jul11 July 10:12

      For points it’s probably worth it, as long as you go with the right expectations. It is a lovely place – the building, the park land etc. Paying cash, don’t event think about it!

      • Mr. AC says:

        11 Jul11 July 10:15

        Yes, stayed on a 35000 rate (now ancient memory) – originally was booked for spring 2020. Had to fight for them to honour though and I’m glad I did.

        • Si says:

          11 Jul11 July 10:42

          I’m there this week on a very postponed 35k points pn rate (been postponed 3 times I think – medical and Covid reasons).

          I want to say that in my experience, the contact I have had with staff has been fantastic and they have been extremely sympathetic to my plight when they could have very easily and justifiably shut my booking down. The spa staff have also been very good when I’ve been booking spa time for the OH.

          Obviously, the actual stay could shatter the dream, but as I “paid” next to nothing for it, I’ll happily roll with the punches. Feedback to follow…

      • TGLoyalty says:

        11 Jul11 July 10:15

        Cash rates are hyperinflated.

        It was £350-400 in previous years. Asking £600 is ridiculous

        • Rob says:

          11 Jul11 July 10:20

          Either they are unbelievably stupid or they feel they can fill it at £600 (probably with overspill from those who don’t want to pay £800 at FS Hampshire, Chewton Glen or Cliveden.) I am guessing the latter.

          And what is really more ridiculous? £600 at The Langley or £200 at the Holiday Inn Express Bodmin, the one at the service station I reviewed last year? Or indeed £71,000 per week for a cottage in St Ives as per the Sunday Times today?

          Having just booked a Portugal trip for later this month, I have to say that foreign travel will be massively CHEAPER this year after paying for all the tests. I would expect to pay £300+ per person for an economy flight in Portugal in peak season at sensible times of the day. We are paying £125 all in, inc all fees. We can cover the testing and still get a good deal. This is before you factor in the cheap hotel rates.

          There is a good reason why SSDV isn’t kicking us out of their suites – they have no guests. We have just added The Yeatman in Porto alongside it and every room category was available.

        • TGLoyalty says:

          11 Jul11 July 12:45

          @Rob. I’m not saying the hotel isn’t doing the best for their situation.

          There are people who will pay £600 because it’s a far better option than most U.K. getaways.

          I’m just saying this summer is extraordinary.

          Anyway lovely breakfast outside on their terrace today and apart from some small service lapses which I’ve been clear to feedback on I have 0 complaints for my 170k points for 3 nights. My dinner on Friday was actually pretty good (drinks prices are pretty top end for where and what it is but they were actually both very good)

        • Harry T says:

          11 Jul11 July 12:53

          You did well to extend the 35k points rates, as many have failed. They have not been anywhere as near as obliging with rebooking as other hotels, in my experience. The spa staff are lovely on the phone, from what my gf reports.

  • Harry T says:

    11 Jul11 July 10:30

    @Rob agree on all points. One of the reasons I’m keen to travel abroad is that the prices for flights and hotels are so keen – much better than the UK and far better than usual for abroad. We’ve got provisional flights booked to Barcelona for £16 each return later this month. We will need to add bags but that’s still a ridiculous price for direct flights to Barcelona in peak summer.

    • ChrisBCN says:

      11 Jul11 July 11:43

      Agreed with that, headline prices for Barcelona are very low all summer! I was expecting them to increase after last week’s announcement, but they are still very cheap.

  • BuildBackBetter says:

    11 Jul11 July 12:12

    With so many restrictions on travelling abroad plus the ever changing rules, is it a surprise that uk properties are super expensive?
    Some people need lessons in basic demand and supply.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      11 Jul11 July 12:47

      No it’s not … and what I’m saying is it lived up to a £300 price point. If it’s wants to charge £600 a night then it falls into a different bracket and needs to up
      It’s games.

      • Jonathan says:

        11 Jul11 July 13:39

        Every hotel/F&B (especially in SE) is suffering on service at the moment as they’ve lost all their experienced staff to furlough/returning home. You can’t turn an 18yo school leaver into a top level front of house in 3 months no matter how much you’re paying. You just have to accept that fact this year.

        Where it gets interesting is next year, can they tempt the old staff back with inflated pay rates & how will they cover that. Presumably next summer overseas will be an easy option again so the 50% price premium won’t wash.

        • WaynedP says:

          11 Jul11 July 16:24

          Agree 100%, Jonathan

          @BBB, if some patrons need a lesson in supply and demand, then just as many proprietors need a lesson in playing the long game rather than short-term profiteering from a captive market with long memories that will one day enjoy the freedom of a much wider choice of holiday options again.

        • TGLoyalty says:

          11 Jul11 July 18:11

          @WayneP exactly. I don’t think you should charge a price which brings expectations above your service levels.

          Just to be clear this is a weekend premium. They’re charging these rates every night of the week and my previous stay was Sunday night where it was clearly very quiet.

          Anyway come on England.

        • TGLoyalty says:

          11 Jul11 July 18:11

          Meant to say isn’t a weekend premium.

  • TJones says:

    11 Jul11 July 20:30

    I’m just wondering what “very anally niche items” are…

    • meta says:

      11 Jul11 July 21:40

      Late to the conversation. But Langley has obviously got downhill since my last stay in December. Even then the soft product was terrible and I also had to negotiate an upgrade as Plat by saying I’ll arrive an hour later. The food is also nothing spectacular. My partner and I had similar experience with staff at breakfast where they were so focused on one table and forgot about others. And there were only 3 tables to serve!

• Oh! Matron says:

  11 Jul11 July 10:17

  I hope that you’ll ball be watching the main event later. No, not the football, but Beardy going off up into space:

  https://www.cnet.com/how-to/virgin-galactic-launches-richard-branson-to-edge-of-space-how-to-watch-live/

  Streaming from 2PM UK

  • David S says:

    11 Jul11 July 10:35

    The Douro valley will be super hot this month. When we toured the Cockburns Port Lodge back in Sept 2019 they said there weren’t many staff at the lodge because they were all working out in the field as it is so hard to get seasonal staff willing to work in the heat. PS do go for a Port Lodge tour – informative and great sampling afterwards

  • Axel says:

    11 Jul11 July 11:12

    Flights been delayed, reckon Beardy is filling in the claim form right now. What’s the compo rules on these flights?

    • Ls says:

      11 Jul11 July 15:07

      I think space is outside the EU. So UK261 doesn’t apply…

  • Brighton Belle says:

    11 Jul11 July 15:05

    At over 70 he won’t be covered on his Amex Platinum travel insurance for this trip. Since it isn’t a commercial flight I don’t suppose he’d be covered anyway.

    Naturally he’ll have Amex Business Platinum which gives much better age terms.

    Not sure if it’s eligible for Virgin Points though and the cabin class isn’t very clear.

    Always tread the T’s&*C’s

    • Brighton Belle says:

      11 Jul11 July 15:06

      and always check the spellchecker’s improvements

• TheInsiderFly says:

  11 Jul11 July 10:37

  I’m sure this has come up recently but couldn’t see it. Officially the Portugal requirement to quarantine for 14days if not double jabbed was due to end on 11th July. Has anyone seen anything about this being extended or is it actually ending??

  • Rob says:

    11 Jul11 July 11:28

    Seems to continue except for 12-18 year old kids. You’re not going to Portugal if not vaccinated.

    Even the vaccinated need to show a negative test on arrival.

• Martha says:

  11 Jul11 July 10:52

  Hi there.
  I have put in eu261 claim with BA for a flight in May that was pushed off 3 days. They have responded that the flight was “cancelled due to operational reason.
  We take all reasonable measures to avoid disruption to a flight and we always consider if there are any other alternative solutions before we make a decision. The cancellation was out of our control and caused unforeseen disruption to our schedule.”
  How best is it for me to respond?
  Many thanks

  • Sam G says:

    11 Jul11 July 11:02

    What are you claiming for and did they give you +14 days notice?

    • roberto says:

      11 Jul11 July 13:31

      I have a flight cancelled three days out and was transferred to an early flight which was a pain but little else. I did try to push for eu261 as were my rights but they came back with “covid”… ExpertFlyer online also listed the cancellation as covid related.

      There will become a time when they can’t make late flight changes and just hide behind the extraordinary situation – maybe after the 19th? After all its hardly extraordinary if its been the same for 18 months now.

      • Lady London says:

        11 Jul11 July 14:36

        Rob also wrote an article about an airline got told at CEDR their “it was Covid so out of our control” excuse for not paying compo was invalid. As the Covid situation had not actually worsened in the 14 days before the flight so they should have given 14 days notice at minimum in order not to pay compo.

        You do have duty of care though which you should claim and which CEDR or MCOL (IMV MCOL is more reliable) will give you if airline tries to abuse you by denying.

        Even if airline cancels 364 days before your flight duty of care lets you (not airline) choose refund (even if just one of the flights was cancelled on a nonrefundable ticket, reroute (ie another flight (even on another airline if needed) either as close as possible to your original flight (ie ideally same day) or reroute on any later date of your choice ( not the airline’s choice).

        All of the above the airline cannot ask for more cash/avios/miles etc. Not even if your convenient future date would now cost more. For seats involving avios/points/miles, airline is not allowed to insist on there being a seat for those available. Any seat coming up on a search for normal cash booking in same cabin is yours.

        These rights all apply to each seat regardless of how you bought them – 241, voucher, sake, discount (not staff discount) etc.

• NG says:

  11 Jul11 July 10:53

  Hi,

  Question re referral bonuses-

  Is the calendar year allowance 90k membership reward points AND 90k avios? Ie I’ve got 90k referral bonus points from my plat card. Would now like to refer my BAPP, wondering if I can potentially also get 90k avios here??

  Thanks

  • Rob says:

    11 Jul11 July 11:26

    Yes

    • NG says:

      11 Jul11 July 15:32

      Cheers Rob

• OP says:

  11 Jul11 July 11:15

  Does anyone have any tips on best use of the IHG free night (up to 40,000 points) vouchers? Struggling for inspiration at the moment after an hour of playing with the calendar to find good hotels that fall under the threshold on weekends.

  • Rob says:

    11 Jul11 July 11:26

    Because it is revenue based pricing there are no tips.

    There is a feeling, however, that if a hotel comes out in the high-30ks then IHG has programmed it to show as 40,001 to block voucher use ….

    • Ryan Gill says:

      11 Jul11 July 11:55

      Having also looked, I think it is fair to say that getting 150 quid of value is unlikely. Especially in the UK with no IC 02 availability. I think the average value of the certificate would be £90-100.

    • OP says:

      11 Jul11 July 16:06

      Now that you mention it, it sure looks like it – have seen a few examples now with some obvious hotels where this is happening.

      Hotel Índigo Gran Vía for instance is the most blatantly obvious example – 105EUR or 29,500 points but on a night more expensive by *one euro* at 106EUR it’s 41,500 points.

      Not really thrilled with this behaviour…

      • TGLoyalty says:

        11 Jul11 July 18:14

        Would skip the hotel anyway.

        Tiny little rooftop pool is a bit of a novelty but everything has been done on the cheap.

    • Jimmy says:

      11 Jul11 July 16:47

      Wait – there is a 40k cap on IHG CC free night?

      • Pete says:

        11 Jul11 July 16:53

        I think they are talking about the Ambassador free night offer which does have a 40k cap.

  • Reney says:

    11 Jul11 July 14:51

    I have 2 of those to use by year end. Currently booked in with St Honore Paris when HFP mentioned them. I might have to cancel depending on how complicated it is to get to Paris at end of August. I think they have put up each night to 80ks now.

    If I have to cancel, someone else mentioned Wotton House, which looks like there could be nice walks near by. I think others said food not so good. Playing around with dates I can see nights for 35k.

    I’m planning on a road trip to highlands so could try and use the nights on the way but not looked into it yet.

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