Slough

I had a double room, and it was certainly of a higher standard than previous Travelodges I have stayed in. The hotel is very new, and this is apparent from the cleanliness and freshness of the rooms. My room had a single open plan wardrobe with at least ten hangers, a TV with the terrestrial channels and radio, tea and coffee making facilities, and adequate wall and ceiling lighting. My main gripe about the room is the fact that there are no drawers for one's socks and other items, and as the wardrobe is open plan, there was no adequate place to store these. The bathrooms are once again brand new, and very clean, with a powerful shower, and ample fresh white towels. The other little niggle is that there is no telephone, which meant if you needed to speak to reception, you had to trail back downstairs to see them face to face!

Checking In
--------------
I checked in quite early, at 1030am, and as it was a Monday morning, and Sunday is often a quiet night in the hotel game, my three colleagues and myself were all able to gain access to our rooms right away. Our checkout was quite slow though, and a queue of three more people built up behind us, while we were checking in. There was only one staff member assisting guests.

Our room rate was £49.95 per night per person room only, and we paid an extra £8.40 per person per night for breakfast. We were provided with vouchers to exchange in the café bar for breakfast. It later transpired that a clerical error had occurred at check in, and the hotel had not noted that we also all required dinner, which is available in this Travelodge.

Reception
------------
Reception is quite basic, as you would expect for this type of accommodation, but the reception area is very modern, with a small seating area; a fridge selling soft drinks, and a variety of toiletries and snacks, suck as crisps and chocolate, at reasonable prices. There is also a direct telephone link to a nearby taxi company.

Security
----------
Each guest is provided with a passkey, and it is not possible to access the accommodation from outside after 11pm at night without this key. It is also impossible to leave the main reception area, and access the lift lobby or stairs. The passkey is also required to use the lift, although I felt the security lets itself down a little here as any passkey can access any floor in the hotel, which seemed a little counter intuitive to me.

Breakfast
-----------
My colleagues and I all felt that breakfast was a bit of a let down. The choices are a full breakfast at £8.40, or a continental breakfast for £5.25. Typically we went for breakfast at 815am, and we struggled to find a table that was clean from the previous diners, or set with the required cutlery and crockery. Even if we had a table it was difficult to gain the attention of the staff to place an order for coffee and toast. The breakfast was buffet style, and the staff did not seem on top of stocking up the breakfast items, including glasses for orange juice. The choices included a range of cereals and yoghurts, as well as a good range of hot breakfast items. However the eggs were absolutely dreadful and the hash browns didn?t fare much better. The coffee tasted ok, when it eventually arrived, however it seemed to go cold very quickly too, in the pot.

Dinner
--------
This Travelodge has a 'BC' Bar Café bar and restaurant that is open for dinner as well as breakfast. This is the first time I have experienced this kind of eating within a Travelodge, although I believe it is more common in the more central properties. The service at dinner did fare much better on each evening that the equivalent morning service, and this suggests a little staffing problem for morning shifts! The restaurant is fresh and modern, although a little bland and while it is adequate for commuters who need to dine alone it doesn't really have a great atmosphere. Menu choices typically included dishes such as coated mushrooms, combo's deep fried brie, goats cheese salad for starters; fish, burgers, curries and pizzas for mains and a range of sweets. A typical main course was about £7. During the week we managed to work our way through most of the dishes, between the five of us, and overall we were satisfied with the quality of both the meals and the service. Wine choice was limited, with a couple of Stowell's bottles including a Shiraz and a Sauvignon Blanc.

The Travelodge, Slough is a modern travelodge, set two minutes walk from the main shopping area and office area. The hotel can offer overnight car parking for guests from £5 per night. The Travelodge is situated on Herschel Street.