LONDON STRATFORD TRAVELODGE
HOTEL ROOM TOUR VIDEO AND REVIEW
Accommodation for my World Travel Market stay in London last week was supplied by Travelodge so I’ve put together this little YouTube video tour of my room at their London Stratford Hotel. The video’s self explanatory and I’ve noted a few additional points below about the room, the rest of the hotel and surrounding area.
THE ROOM
Our room was clean, modern and smart. All the basics are provided in the room such as plenty of clean towels, with additional items like hairdryers (and even irons, should you be that way inclined!) available on request, free of charge, from reception. Wifi is free for the first 30 minutes. This is a budget hotel so frills are kept to a minimum: soap, shower gel and shampoo are supplied in wall dispensers.
WIFI
Limited to 30 minutes free per day and £3 extra for the whole day.
RECEPTION
Reception is manned until 11pm with friendly staff. We were provided with a telephone number for out of hours queries.
RESTAURANT
Self-service full English breakfast is available in the modern airy restaurant at an additional cost, with a good choice of cereals, fresh fruit, pastries and fruit juices. A self service coffee machine offers the usual range of hot drinks.
This giant bean container amused me!
And of course there’s the healthy option.
A bar is available 24 hours.
TRAVEL
The hotel was my base for Olympia and ExCel, London. I arrived at Stratford Underground Station, which is only a ten or fifteen minute walk away from the hotel, however the maps app on my phone sent me on an interesting detour, so if you’re planning a visit, I’d advise checking on a good, old fashioned paper map or asking a local if you’d rather not walk round in circles for half an hour!
During my impromptu tour, I enjoyed this eye-catching architecture outside Stratford Underground Station and the Stratford Centre.
As an infrequent visitor to London, I’m used to trying to master the underground but wasn’t at all familiar with the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) service. On Monday morning I decided to brave Stratford High Street DLR station which is just a few minutes walk from the hotel. It turned out not be at all scary and offered a pleasant and efficient ride, right to the approach to ExCel London. My Oyster Card dealt with the payment (which I believe was under £2). The Oyster Card’s an easy and cost effective way to pay: you just need to remember to tap the card when exiting the station though, otherwise it doesn’t know how far you’ve travelled and charges the maximum amount. (Yes, that did happen to myself and my fellow traveller, but a friendly underground worker realised what had happened and refunded the extra payment for us!)
On Tuesday morning, the DLR was closed due to strike action and after waiting 45 minutes for a non-existent DLR replacement bus, we took a private hire taxi which cost £7 for the three mile journey. This was shared between two fellow journalists/bloggers, so quite inexpensive. Given the choice though, I’d opt for the DLR, for both ease and speed, as we had to wait at least 15 minutes for the taxi to come and then negotiate London traffic.
EATING NEARBY
My German blogging buddy Carolin and I decided to have dinner in one of the trendy restaurants at The Westfield Centre near Stratford Underground Station. We were later joined by Italian journalist and blogger Claudia who had just flown in for World Travel Market (#WTM15). We opted for a Thai restaurant called Busaba Eathai and were very pleased with both the food and the service. I chose fishcakes and spicy noodles from the two course “Taste of Thailand” menu which set me back a surprisingly modest £12.90. A great find.
THE VERDICT
The Travelodge was a perfect budget hotel for my travel show break. I like the way that costs are kept down by only providing the basics, making it really affordable even during World Travel Market when London hotels are at a premium. I also approve of the soap and shower dispensers as they must cut down on a lot of unnecessary packaging. The hotel is a very handy base for ExCel, via the DLR. Staff are friendly and the rooms comfortable, very clean and modern. I’d be very happy to recommend London Stratford Travelodge.
This sounds like a perfectly located no frills hotel. The restaurant looks modern and quite contemporary. I will keep it in mind for future trips to WTM:)
Yes the position was very good – except when tube strikes interfered with our travel plans, but I don’t suppose that happens very often. Thanks for coming over and commenting.