UK and Eire: Positive Reviews

Premier Inn Dunfermline – Dunfermline – UK and Eire

We booked a last minute holiday at £29 for an overnight stay on the way back from holiday. The hotel is located on a leisure park on the outskirts of Dunfermline & has 61 rooms on two floors. There is a Brewer’s Fayre directly across the road & a McDonald’s & Frankie & Benny’s nearby.

We arrived at 22. 30 & were allocated Room 39. Good size room, spotlessly clean & so much better than the Dunfermline Travelodge. We had a family room with double bed & sofa bed. The bed was comfortable as were the pillows as there were extra ones already in the room. We had a good nightÂ’s sleep.

There was a desk with CRT TV above, mirror & hairdryer & tea & coffee making facilities with additional supplies available from reception. There was ample hanging & shelf space for a couple of days.

The room was quite cool & adjusting the thermostat according to the instructions in the room didn’Â’t make any difference so it was just as well we like a cool room for sleeping. We didn’Â’t complain as we arrived very late & doubted that anything could be done at that time of night although we could have asked for a different room if it had been a major problem.

The bathroom was spotless & in good order with toilet, sink & shower over the bath. Liquid soap & shower gel was provided from dispensers on the wall. The only complaint was that the fan in the bathroom keeping running for at least 5 minutes after the light was turned off. Didn’Â’t bother me, but disturbed the other half.

There is wifi available which is payable & expensive at £5 for an hour. However there is free wifi available at Brewer’s Fayre. Breakfast is also available there at £7. 99 for the full buffet & £5. 25 for a Continental breakfast. Breakfast is free for under 16’s with a full paying adult staying at the Premier Inn.

All the staff we encountered were really nice & friendly, asking if we had a nice stay. I would have no hesitation in staying at this Premier Inn in the future.

Rock House – St. Abbs – Scotland – Uk and Eire

Rock House is owned by Paul & Rachel Crowe & is located literally right next to the harbour in St Abbs in the Scottish Borders. They also run Rock House diving.

There is the main house which has a room in & the two bungalows at the side next to where the air fill station is.

This place is ideal for a group of divers & they have the facilities to be able to accomodate 18 people.

We stayed in the little bungalow which accomodates 5 people. It is a tiny tiny little bungalow but they have utilized the space really well. There are two bedrooms, one downstairs which accomodates two people in single bunk bed type formation at right angles to each other & a further room upstairs with 3 beds in, a single & the bunk beds. The bathroom is equipped with a shower, loo & sink. Downstairs, there is also a very tiny kitchen area with a table, a little sofa & a few kitchen units. There is a TV on the wall.

The bungalow is ideal for a load of divers. there is not alot of space but all you need it for is getting your head down. It is clean & tidy & there is also a free wi fi connection. but you wont be able to get a signal at all for your mobile phone unless you are stood by the gate post!

We went there on a self catering basis but you can get a breakfast from the main house cooked by Rachel for £5. This is quite essential really as there are very few cooking facilities in the bungalow, just a toaster & a microwave. There is a fridge & coffee making facilities. but the majority of people that stay are divers & are out all day. For meals at any other time, there is a small cafe called Ebbs carr which is popular & also there are plenty of menu’s provided for various eating establishments in Coldingham (the next door village) & Eyemouth.

The location is spot on, you overlook the harbour & of course the views of the sea are stunning. St Abbs is one of the most beautiful places (when the weather is right) & once all the tourist visitors have gone, it is so quiet & peaceful.

Paul is the skipper of the boat “Tiger Lily” & is always busy ferrying divers in & out. There are 4 dive trips a day & depending on what you have booked, you are either one & 3 or two & 4. the dive sites are all located not far from the main harbour but of course all dives are weather & tide dependant.
Rachel sorts the accomodation & both are incredibly helpful & friendly. Thier two kids are also enterprising, selling sea shells & crab shells to tourists. oh & everyone loves Eddie the black labrador.

There is no entertainment. the nearest pubs are in Coldingham which is about two miles away. The Anchor is more of a drinking establishment & the New Inn does excellent excellent food. but you would need to book in advance as it gets very busy.

I would definitely visit Rock House again as I love St Abbs & stopping there is ideal for the divers.

Holiday Inn Mayfair – London – UK and EIRE

My friend & I decided to take our 11 year olds to London for a shopping weekend & a visit to Wicked.

Green Park is the nearest Tube Station, turn left & walk up to the first road & turn left & the hotel is on the right hand side right opposite Starbucks. The entrance is easily found.

The lobby was very similar to other Holiday Inn’s we have stayed in. Large area with sofa’s concierge & a big reception desk. My friend checked in but our room wasn’t ready, as it was only 12pm, but concierge were more than helpful in allowing us to leave our luggage & head out shopping.

Just past the reception desk is double doors into the Bar & Restaurant. There are also toilet facilities opposite reception which were clean & tidy.

The hotel is a short walk from Green Park & Buckingham Palace & we walked easily to Oxford Street & Regent Street to allow us to shop.

On our return got our room key & left our ticket for our bags to be brought up to the room. We then got in the lift we couldn’t get the buttons to work as you need to put your room key into the slot before the lift will let you choose a floor which my friend & I actually said it was a positive thing which helped us feel a lot safer.

Our room was on the 3rd floor & overlooked the main street. It was a fairly big family room with two double beds & two types of pillows. We had a very big wardrobe which with 4 females in the room was extremely generous. We also had two drawers a table & chairs, a dressing table & a minibar. The room was clean & very comfortable but the bathroom was a bog standard bathroom which sort of let the hotel down.

Our only complaint was there was a constant wind/tube noise which we didn’t realise until we were about to leave that if you opened the window slightly it would go away. My friend also heard numerous sirens through out the night & horns beeping, but I heard nothing.

Breakfast is served buffet style in the restaurant. The staff were courteous & helpful, it was other guests refusing to wait in the queue to have your room checked off the list which annoyed us. We found a table of 4 & sat down & the girls went up to the hot buffet with beans, sausage, tomato, scrambed/fried egg, bacon, hash browns & mushrooms.

Toast was available with different breads & pastries & croissants, A lovely fruit bar was available with plenty of different type of fruits. Cereals were plentiful & porridge could be requested & tea & coffee delivered to your table. A good breakfast to see you through the day. Plates were cleared very quickly & constant topping up of the buffets was being done regularly too.

Check out was very easy & concierge were happy to look after our bags & the build a bear’s until we returned before heading for our train.

The room cost was £200 for a Saturday night which we found very reasonable & value for money being so close to everything it close to & the staff were very good too.