OT (Very) Chicken in a Basket

[Huge]

I have done an ironic post-modern dinner for friends before now of prawn cocktail, steak & chips and black forest gateaux.

[Huge]

I can strongly recommend the Mishnish Hotel on the seafront in Tobermory. The week we were there it never closed, that I saw. At the time, there was only a policeman on Mull one week in three.

[Huge]

They weren't that picky about whether you were or not, either.

[Clive George]

They vary in cleanliness + maintenance, but all provide soap + towels.

[Tim Watts]

On Thursday 07 November 2013 19:51 Dave Liquorice wrote in uk.d-i-y:

Yep - I have read that. Premier Inn wipes the floor with them anyway and I've stayed in a few!

[Tim Watts]

On Thursday 07 November 2013 19:51 Dave Liquorice wrote in uk.d-i-y:

I remember Crappy Eater at least being one step up from Little Chef. Little Chef involved a cafe that looked like the one from the film "If..." but without the tasty girl.

Then there was the 30 minute wait for a waitress.

Then a 30 minute wait for some cold chips and fishfingers.

I did never work out though who designed the Crappy Eater logo:

If there was any reason not to eat there, it was the little round autoemetic guy

[Tim Watts]

On Thursday 07 November 2013 20:03 Huge wrote in uk.d-i-y:

Lay an extra place next time - I'm coming over :)

[Clive George]

My experiences have generally been positive. Most hotels seem to be about as comfortable as each other - I didn't get a better night sleep in the 4 star hotel than in the neighbouring travelodge. I don't eat their breakfasts though.

The hotel in Las Vegas was the poshest one I've stayed in. And that didn't have a kettle. Three TVs, a phone in the bog, but no kettle. Even the skankiest motels we stayed in after that had one.

(yes, I know the reason why - they want you on the floor gambling)

[charles]

on holiday in South Africa a few years ago, we were taken to a Zulu Village. We had a "genuine Zulu lunch" which included ("genuine zulu"?) Black Forest gateaux.

[Sam Plusnet]

If anyone has a menu from a 1970s Berni Inn, that should do nicely.

[Bob Eager]

I was going to post this anyway:

Look under "Fare".

[Tim Watts]

On Thursday 07 November 2013 21:26 Bob Eager wrote in uk.d-i-y:

Ah - dinner always ended with Irish Coffee :)

[Mike Barnes]

Huge :

Done properly, that's a great meal. Those dishes were popular for a good reason, it's just a shame that the catering trade cost-reduced them to crap.

[Dave Liquorice]

before

They all used to be OK but then started to slide to greater or lesser degrees. Once you have stayed in a few that have all been "shabby" the impression sticks.

They do soap now? I know that at one stage they didn't which was effectively the last straw. I'd put up with a bit of shabby for the price but no soap, that really is a basic requirement. Their "excuse" was that people bought and used their own, really? What do you do with a wet bar of soap when you pack and leave...

I see from the website that they do towels and soap now but the damage has been done as far as I'm concerned. I might try one again but if it's a bit random on the shabby it might not be worth the risk. Another problem they also started to get was noisey hen, stag, wedding groups in. Not good at 2AM when you are up at 7AM working the next day...

At least with Premier Inn you do get your money back if you have your night disturbed by other guests, fire alarms or WHY.

[Huge]

Precisely.

[Dave Liquorice]

If Travel Lodge is as low as you have been you haven't been very low... B-)

Only a kettle? You need a motel with "conveniences", ie a full kitchen. Fridge, cooker, microwave etc...

[Nightjar]

On 07/11/2013 22:23, Dave Liquorice wrote: ...

I put it in my travel soap holder.

Colin Bignell

[Mike Barnes]

Dave Liquorice :

I always take my own bar of soap (in a travel soap dish) in case one isn't provided. Sometimes there's no soap, but more usually there's only liquid soap, which I don't like for showers or baths.

[Bill]

In message , Dave Liquorice writes

My wife wondered why she kept finding "sanitary bags" in my luggage when I came back from trips, until I pointed out that were ideal for putting the half used bar of soap in. Where there is a will there is a way!

What bugs me now is that a lot of the places I stay only have liquid soap dispensers beside the bath. Most are easily opened and the containers removed and "milked" to get a decent amount of soap out. I'm glad I know how to milk a cow by hand, it is a very similar process!!

[chris French]

In message , Tim Watts writes

They do seem a regional thing - but they were common in the chippies when I lived in Brighton in the mid-late 80's