We do like to be beside the seaside …. at the new Holiday Inn hotel in Bournemouth

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• Matt B says:

  16 Jul16 July 09:10

  OT – looking for a Paris hotel for a few nights at start of August. Budget is tight so looking for any hidden gems. I can get a couple of Melia properties using my gold 20% off voucher for under £100 a night. They are well located centrally but reviews seem hit and miss. Anything better I should aim for? Thanks.

  • Lady London says:

    16 Jul16 July 11:59

    have mentioned before but for qualilty of rooms and reachable location (but 65 from Opera/Haussmann/Gare St Lazare 25min almost ot the door) I really like Hampton Clichy. If you stay 3 nights I’ve seen rates can approach their best. Quality rooms, well run, new. All unusual for Paris.

    There is parking at, I think, about 12 eur pn. A new metro will open soon nearby. Can also get there by RER then a walk or short bus. Bus fiddly to find but close to RER and 2 or 3 stops. For a first visit use the bus 65 if you can or it cost me 15EUR on a Sunday from Gare du Nord with big luggages. So very reasonable to reach by taxi and might cost less other times.

• Michael says:

  16 Jul16 July 09:31

  Is there a 3rd article to come?

  • Robert J says:

    16 Jul16 July 09:35

    I am assuming (From what has happened in the past) that because there were 4 articles yesterday there will only be two today – I don’t think the 3 a day is a hard rule and Rob will bring one forward if there is value in getting it out sooner.

    • Rob says:

      16 Jul16 July 10:18

      Correct.

      The rule is driven by the email system, which is only set up to send three articles per day. (We can combine if necessary, but physically sending 4 separately as a one-off is messy. Not impossible, but messy.)

• Robert J says:

  16 Jul16 July 09:33

  I am assuming that you can’t use the Hilton pool if you are staying at the Hampton? It looks like the Hilton in Bournemouth doesn’t have any family rooms, so I guess the Holiday Inn is as good as any Hilton option if you have kids with you.

  • Rob says:

    16 Jul16 July 10:22

    Correct – we had two connecting rooms when I went back with my family. The suite I got when I was there golfing is big enough for a family but I don’t think it is allowed. This may be deliberate as I’m not sure families are their target market. There is a big banking and insurance industry in Bournemouth and the Hilton would tell you that it is serving those guys first.

• Yorkieflyer says:

  16 Jul16 July 09:33

  Today’s Virgin Money shenanigans. Applied for +card 24July last year, account opened 31 July, rang to close account today and next years fee applied, rep spoke to manager, as a special concession 1/12 annual fee to be charged. When queried saying year not up so should be no fee, the to be fair helpful rep immediately suggested raising complaint and freezing card.
  I suspect the pushback to this is now commonplace?

  • Lev441 says:

    16 Jul16 July 09:53

    I was also charged a month early. As I’m keeping the card it’s not such a big deal, however it’s very cheeky.

  • Graham Walsh says:

    16 Jul16 July 11:34

    Freezing the card should stop it, but the agent I spoke to could not confirm it, so I paid the balance online so they could close the account.

  • Lady London says:

    16 Jul16 July 12:03

    Don’t acceot this.

    similarly, Metro Bank’s computer will charge you a whole month’s business account fees even if you opened your account on the 31st. They are happy to open the account pending funds transfer but they don’t mention that if you don’t transfer 5K in on the day it opens you will be charged for the whole month even if the account is only open 1 day pre-transfer. (as Metro bank charges if on any one day within the month the balance goes below 5K)

  • Louise says:

    16 Jul16 July 12:31

    I rang on Friday and still have the 160 balance on the card, the agent said I should clear it and I said no as it’s not a year since I took the card out, he came back and said it would be passed to another department but may take 5-7 days to close

  • roberto says:

    16 Jul16 July 16:50

    My year is up on the 7th of August. I rang to preempt the situation and was told (a) clear the balance 5 days before (b) don’t use the card (c) phone the day before renewal and cancel.

    I did ask if I will be getting the 12000 miles from this months spend and was told yes. I will still get (a) a end of month statement and (b) an end of year statement which will detail my miles.

    Does worry me cancelling before the miles post but if I wait until the day they post the renewal fee will be attached to my account.

    What could possibly go wrong?????

• AG says:

  16 Jul16 July 09:34

  OT, Question for this who applied for the Virgin cars for the recent extra points promotion.
  I have received the regular 15k bonus for my Virgin Premium cc as per my first statement. When should I expect to receive the additional bonus for spending £3k within the first 3 months? (I spent more than 3k in first month). Should I call them?
  Thanks.

  • AG says:

    16 Jul16 July 09:47

    card *

  • Liam says:

    16 Jul16 July 13:43

    I received mine the next statement after I hit the spending target

• simon says:

  16 Jul16 July 09:41

  For the Durban competition I wonder if you can extend your stay longer than 3 nights at your own expense? I don’t think I could cope with an 11 hour flight in Y twice within 3 days. Can’t see the competition rules anywhere.

  • Rob says:

    16 Jul16 July 10:17

    I couldn’t find them either. Doubt they would mind. I agree that 3 days is tight – OK if flying business (no jet lag to South Africa) but you’d want recovery time if flying economy.

    • Radiata says:

      16 Jul16 July 13:15

      Rather odd to have Y flights with the Oyster Box which is beautifully located on Umhlanga on the beach and has a restaurant with great good and a lovely patio. A favourite of some of the political and business elite although I prefer the elegance of the Beverly Hills (name aside) next door.

      Would certainly advise trying to extend stay and remain local. Perhaps a few days in the Drakensberg mountains, a trip to some of the Anglo Zulu battlefields in the midlands and a taste of Durban cuisine in the city itself.

      For any with a sweet tooth, try some of the Indian sweets including the gulab jamun. Absolutely nothing like that with the same name here (cigar shaped and firm).

      Forget Cape Town and Jo’burg…

• Dimitri says:

  16 Jul16 July 09:43

  The awfully decorated Ramada had an 8.4 on booking.com so I have high expectations when it is fully renovated to a Holiday Inn!

  They should really renovate the bathrooms though too.

  Hopefully it will be as good as the Holiday Inn at Bath road in Heathrow!

• Leafwarbler says:

  16 Jul16 July 09:46

  OT : BA website is being “updated” at the moment. At least that is the excuse I’ve been given for a booking I’ve been trying to make for the past 2 days which has failed for different reasons, the most prevalent being that the tickets have been sold before I’ve completed my booking, yet the OH tries again on a different device minutes later and the same prices are showing. Don’t waste time trying online again as I did – ring straight through. Saturday, the price was £450 for 2, this a.m. £545, now thru BA Sales £590.

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