Beginner's Guide to Hotels

Oh hi!

The Boy and I have just come back from a very enjoyable day and a half at Donington Race Track where we watched the practise day for this year's World Super Bike Championship. For my take on this please click here.

 

This trip involved an overnight stay in a nearby hotel and on this trip we realised we amateurs at hotels. We've only ever done B&B trips or self catering type stays. Hotels are an entirely different ball game.

 

For a start... There is the culture of freebies from hotels.

I do not, am most certainly am not advocating taking the mick and basically clearing out your hotel room.

 

You don't need that towel.

You don't need a bath robe.

Please don't take the bible. That is wrong on a whole range of levels.

 

But a shower cap is fair game. It is useful for covering your dough when baking bread.

Those mini sized toiletries are clearly intended to be taken. And you can use them on a future trip what with them being travel sized.

And individual tea sachets are most definitely fair game. If you have a flask then you can take those out with you later in the day and have a lovely refreshing drink. They are great for travel and it's not that easy to pick up a selection of in ideally wrapped teabags in the shops. So fill your boots!

 

So based on my recent trip, here are my top 10 tips for staying in a hotel.

 

1. Take milk. Or at least try and pre-steal some of those mini UHT milks from somewhere before you go. There is never enough milk to have a decent tea or coffee.
2. If you are a light sleeper and/or are staying in your hotel when an event is on nearby, consider taking earplugs. Rowdy people will walk past your door at silly hours and you will be woken up.
3. If breakfast is not included in your hotel deal, or you're on a tight budget, why not take some of those instant porridge pots along with you. Your hotel room is 99% likely to have a kettle.
4. The same goes for pasta and noodle pots if you're desperate.
5. However, if breakfast is included, fuel up now! Depending on what you're doing, you don't know when your next meal is coming.
6. Speaking of breakfast, don't just dive in like I did. Do a full sweep and see what is on offer before filling your plate up. I had a very nice cooked breakfast but then I noticed the fresh fruit, cereals and pastries section and felt a twinge of regret for filling up so much on scrambled eggs.
7. Take your handbag (or a jacket with sizeable pockets) down with you. I think it is totally fine to pop an apple or two into your bag for later on.
8. If you're feeling cheeky, take a tub and pop those unwrapped muffins or pastries in there. That's lunch sorted.
9. If you're feeling especially cheeky, take a food flask down and stuff the cooked breakfast in there. This one is verging on taking it too far but if you've got the guts for it...
10. Find a friendly member of staff and chat to them. If you're nice, they're probably less likely to shop you in when they see you blantaly taking about 20 teabags.

A small sample of my free teas.

Here's looking to forward to many more successful hotel trips in the future!

 

Pip pip

Charlotte x

 

 

Day out at Donington

Hello my friends!

 

I've been on a day out. More than a day out, an overnight trip. And boy oh boy was it a change of pace. (My pun on speed was entirely unintended I promise).

 

I am not into racing really. I'll watch the odd bit of F1, occasionally Moto GP, but this is mostly if it's on when I'm eating my lunch. And then I pick a person based on if I like their name, or the team colour. So my previous favourite F1 driver was Rubens Barrichello. It is now Kimi Raikkonen. Who it turns out is pretty good. I just liked saying his surname. Thus far I've not managed to latch onto a biker name. Unless you count Guy Martin, and I first fell for him when he fixed up a narrow boat, not for being a biker so I don't think that really counts.

 

But somehow, last Thursday, I found myself wandering around the paddock of Donington race track, looking at tyres and trucks and getting signed posters at the press conference! Oh yes. (That sounds much more cool and exclusive than it was, you just turned up).

Disclaimer: I say somehow... I was invited along by the boy. I had a legitimate ticket and all that jazz.

The top 5 riders at the press conference. Some cheeky fan tried to goad the lead.

I liked the one on the left because he had a cool helmet.

Me and The Boy pretending we're cool* on the hydraulic lean bike.

*I am not cool.

My favourite park of the paddock: The comfy inflatable sofas.

Kindly provided by either: Alpha Romeo, Aston Martin or a strange looking cartoon show.

I can't remember.

Practise day, Friday, was spent having a very nice time indeed. We did a full lap of the track, saw all the corners, checked out the museum and ate overpriced food. I still don't know anything about bike racing. But I do know it's a cool way to spend a day. We were only there for the practice day I think I would struggle on actual race day just because of how busy it sounds like it would get. I have to admit I found myself getting a bit bored if we stayed at one section for too long. As a 'non-fan' there was only so many times I could watch them go around the same hairpin. But walking round, pit-stopping (intended) at each different turn was fascinating.

My favourite section of the track. Craner Curves.

The green power ranger taking on the Hair Pin.

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it to be honest but let's face it, it's not every day you sit on a grassy verge as motorbikes zoom past at goodness knows how many miles an hour!

 

Maybe bikes aren't your thing, but why not give them a go? It's a day out and you might just have fun. The same goes for other stuff you're not into. If you see a deal or an opportunity, why not have a go. You don't have to do it again if you really don't enjoy yourself.

 

Pip pip,

Charlotte x