Well, that was a bit of a shock, to say the least. Last night I received an email/message from the hotel I have booked for us in Portsmouth, for the night before we sail, to say that it is changing ownership and that the new owners plan on having it refurbished before they start running the business. That means the hotel can no longer accept my booking. Mild panic ensued whilst I searched other hotels on booking.com, with nothing coming close to what I'd already booked, at least not at a reasonable price. Checking alternatives, Holiday Inn, Travelodge, Premier Inn, etc, I settled on the Portsmouth Travelodge. It has a Hungry Horse on site restaurant and just across the car park a pub, so I think it will satisfy our requirements where dinner/breakfast and beer are concerned, plus it is literally a 2 minute ride to the ferry terminal. It's not the first time I've had a booked hotel spring that sort of surprise on me but we're sorted now. I guess you don't have that problem when pitching a tent!
Simon & Viv, our Route 66 pals, were also booked into the hotel, for a re-union, so hopefully they will be able to book in the Travelodge and we can still meet up.
In a few weeks time, Brittany Ferries will take the balance of the ferry fare, so there'll be no turning back after that. Apart from that little hotel scare, everything is tickety-boo. Let's hope it stays that way.
Before I hit the road with Sanch, I'm off to Le Mans in May with my brother Paul, for MotoGP. You'll be able to read about that in my blog, https://ndtea.blogspot.com/
That's all for now.
Sunday 24 March 2019
Friday 15 March 2019
Finally
Hotel booked! 😀
After weeks of checking this hotel and seeing 'not available on your dates', I was actually taken aback, when it listed rooms available this morning. In like a flash, I've booked a twin room for us. It says it has a balcony with a city view. Normally that would be a bit of a turn off but as the city is several hundred metres down in the valley, I don't think this will be anything to grumble about. That was the last tiny piece of the jigsaw and now that has slotted into place, I can sit back and admire my handiwork. There may be one or two extras to take care of, as a result of Brexit but for the moment I'm done and can turn my attention to the 2020 tour!
After weeks of checking this hotel and seeing 'not available on your dates', I was actually taken aback, when it listed rooms available this morning. In like a flash, I've booked a twin room for us. It says it has a balcony with a city view. Normally that would be a bit of a turn off but as the city is several hundred metres down in the valley, I don't think this will be anything to grumble about. That was the last tiny piece of the jigsaw and now that has slotted into place, I can sit back and admire my handiwork. There may be one or two extras to take care of, as a result of Brexit but for the moment I'm done and can turn my attention to the 2020 tour!
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| City View? |
Sunday 10 March 2019
As you were
Not much to report. There he goes again, before writing another 20 lines!
Still waiting on the last hotel on booking.com. Still unavailable for our date.
I've sent most of the routes to Sanch, with just those involving the elusive hotel to go.
In the meantime we have discussed a 2020 tour, taking in Germany, Poland, Austria, Croatia and Italy, to name but a few countries on the list. If the lottery numbers come up though, we'll be hitting the USA.
That's all for now.
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