When cheap means cheap.

Advantages: Cheap, reasonably clean
Disadvantages: Facilities not as available as advertised, expensive food, staff are cold

...It's been a tough time at work for my sister and recently she has been feeling particularly down. I've also been needing to get away, so we decided to book ourselves a little weekend break just to have a change of scene. Both of us following the philosophy that to be a proper break we needed to stay somewhere comfortable and with things to do as winter is coming and we can't trust weather to be great, we decided to go for a hotel with leisure facilities. After much trawling for a decent deal on the Internet, we came across The Croydon Park Hotel. Basically the deal was £120 for two nights in a twin room, no breakfast. Normally I am keen to book breakfast but as my sister often skips it, we just couldn't justify the price. For the two of us for two nights breakfast on top would have added a whopping £40 onto our bill. I booked...

Ayesha- 15.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of Croydon Park Hotel, London

Croydon Hilton is not in Croydon...

Advantages: Breakfast was great when I got it
Disadvantages: Location and lack of top quality service,

...Just over a week ago I was visiting London. As usual, I tend to look for hotel deals a little out of the centre of town as it usually works out much cheaper even when you've factored in the public transport costs (I don't drive.) I am a member of the Hilton Honors scheme - it is free to join and well worth it if you use hotels often as they do have regular special offers and you can earn Hilton points and frequent flyer miles at the same time. See website: http://hhonors.hilton.com - so I thought I would take a look to see what deals there might be. I was pleasantly surprised to get an offer on the Croydon Hilton for £43.50 a night (Fri/Sat) including breakfast and dinner the first night. This worked out more than £20 cheaper than my usual choice of the Holiday Inn Express in Croydon. The Hilton Honors website is simple to...

Maestrolover 18.11.2007 · Read review
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Review of Hilton Croydon, London

A casino royale with Amy Johnson

Advantages: Historical significance, attractive art deco frontage
Disadvantages: Situated near a busy dual carriageway

...May 5 1930 . This was the date of the first solo flight to Australia by a woman, non other than Amy Johnson. She took off from Croydon Airport and 11,000 miles later landed in Darwin. The feat is even more amazing when you consider that the plane in question was a single engined plane made ostensibly of wood. Along with Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin, Amy is believed to have stayed at the impressive Aerodrome Hotel, which was part of the airport complex. As Croydon Airport gradually lost most of it's civil airline business to Heathrow after the second world war, the airport went into decline, subsequently closing in 1959. The adjacent hotel, however, seems to have gone from strength to strength. A small hotel with just 50 bedrooms originally, it catered mainly for the staff and crew using the airport itself, but within...

kevin121 08.01.2009 · Read review
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Review of Aerodrome Hotel, Croydon

Why Tom Hanks loves Croydon

Advantages: centrally located, large concert hall, good performers
Disadvantages: Steep booking fee if not in person

...Tom Hanks loves Croydon. So, from everything you've heard about Croydon, what possible link could there be with Tom Hanks? It's arguably the chav capital of south London; childhood home of both Dame Peggy Ashcroft and Kate Moss; June Brown (who played Dot Cotton in Eastenders) and that rude girl from Big Brother. Well, read on. What better way to enjoy the festive cheer than go to a Carol concert, I thought. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra were scheduled to play at the Fairfield Hall's, in central Croydon on Saturday 13th December, so I thought I'd book some seats. As I've been there many times before, I feel that I know it well enough to review it for Ciao. They claim to be South London's premier Arts, Entertainment and Conference centre. How they quantify the term premier, I'm not sure. ~ Some history ~ The Halls were...

kevin121 18.12.2008 (27.12.2008) · Read review
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Review of The Fairfield Halls, Croydon

Esporta Health Club, Croydon

Advantages: Opens early, closes late. Lots of facilities and services
Disadvantages: Too many noisy children, expensive

...Esporta Croydon, also known as The Surrey Health and Rackets club, is part of a huge UK chain, owned by venture capitalist Simon Halabi. It was primarily a rackets club and has been responsible for helping train some of the up and coming Tennis stars of tomorrow. Esporta is situated in a purpose built warehouse on a large industrial estate not far from Waddon mainline station and houses a spacious gymnasium, also known as the "Fitness Arena", a large family pool and an even larger olympic sized pool. There are numerous Tennis courts and several Squash courts. It is a club which encourages families, so may not suit those in search of halcyon days. Having parked in the spacious car park you will come through the double doors into the reception area, where you will be greeted by the welcoming reception staff, who will actually greet...

Velvetee 22.07.2007 · Read review
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Review of Esporta Club, Croydon, London

Virgin Active Croydon - It Didn't Work Out

Advantages: Clean, functional, has all key facilities and equipment.
Disadvantages: Cramped, basic and has a poor ambiance.

...regular exercise, and so upon taking up my current role at a college in South London, I soon sought out a gym that was close to where I was living at working. Virgin Active Fitness Club in the Grants complex, Croydon, fitted the bill in this respect and I?ve been a member there since November 2008. Why Did I Join a Gym? There are many reasons for joining a gym. These include vanity; concern about health; a desire to improve fitness for sporting or professional reasons; programmes for recovery from injury; and no doubt various other reasons that haven?t even crossed my mind. My gym-going is a combination of the above. Vanity probably takes top spot; I?ve got no desire to possess body-builder biceps or even a modest six-pack, but I am always trying to manage my weight. This has considerable health benefits, but my weight control...

MikeOCarroll 04.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of Virgin Active Fitness Club, Croydon

The Strand Palace Hotel

Advantages: Central location, clean
Disadvantages: Food, rooms

...We stayed at this hotel in London a little over a month ago now for two nights, we chose this hotel mainly because of the central location and because it was only a ten minuite walk from the show we had booked to go too. Check in was very quick - About ten minuites and the staff at the reception seemed very friendly. My first thoughts on the hotel was that it looked really clean and that it was nicely decorated and it looked modern. I was a little dissapointed with our room as it was very small and basic, our room had a double bed, tea and coffee making facilities, a tv with satellite and a small, basic en suite bathroom with a shower. The views from our room very very poor - A block of offices which made our room dark as they were so close. The hotel has two bars and two resturaunts, the bars were again nicely decorated...

kate44 03.05.2007 · Read review
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Review of The Strand Palace Hotel, London

Hotel International

Advantages: Location, breakfasts
Disadvantages: Poor rooms

...I recently went on a cultural girlie trip with a friend to Paris. I was left to do all the booking. I was looking for a reasonable hotel, near a metro stop, which included breakfast. I came across the Hotel International on various travel sites and it seemed fairly highly rated so I booked us in for three nights. LOCATION: The hotel is located 6 Rue Auguste Barbier in the 11th Arrondissement. The nearest Metro stop is Garcourt which was a two minute walk away and it was a five minute walk to Republique which gives good links to other lines. It's not really central enough to avoid the Metro and walk to the attractions but it was located so close to a stop that it seemed ideal. PRICE: Prices vary depending on size of room and season. There are singles, doubles and triples available. We paid Euro254 for the whole time...

tartlette83 17.06.2009 · Read review
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Review of Hotel International, Paris

Holmes Place Croydon - a place to call home

Advantages: Great location and easy acess to trams, buses and rail
Disadvantages: I am soon to change jobs and the town in which i will be working doesnt have a Holmes Place! a huge shame!

...Having been a total virgin to all gyms, health clubs and fitness centres up until just over two years ago, I now find myself reluctant to leave, like a child clinging to its mothers skirt! When i started work in Croydon, i joined Holmes Place as a founder member when it first opened as part of a Corporate Membership. Very reluctant to pay what i thought then to be a phenomenal amount of money (£54 per month), for facilities that I calculated I would use, on average, 3 weeks out of 12 months(namely post-xmas), but with high hopes that the expense would induce me to visit the gym at least a couple of times a month! Needless to say that upon joining I now feel that it is home from home and spend on average 3-4 days/evenings a week down at Holmes Place. (That is a considerable amount of time for someone that lives a good 30 mins train...

Healthhog 29.11.2004 · Read review
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Review of Holmes Place, Croydon

sachas hotel

Advantages: good price,great location
Disadvantages: no window

...****Sachas hotel- Manchester**** I booked this hotel last minute as i had a job interview in Manchester and needed somewhere quite cheap ,that was also near the centre. **Location/Getting there** This hotel is located in Tibb street which is a 2 minute walk from Piccadily Gardens or 10 minutes away from Chorlton street bus station.The Train station is a little bit further away say maybe a twenty minute walk but i don't think that this is that bad .You can also get a tram from Piccadily gardens and this goes to quite a few places.You could also get a taxi to the hotel but i am not sure what parking is like if you were to take your own car. **Reception/staff** Since i had never been to Manchester before i phoned and asked the staff for directions -they were very nice and helped me out.When i got there i think i got the same...

katie22008m 04.09.2008 · Read review
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Review of Britannia Sachas Hotel, Manchester