Hotels...too many or not enough?

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Hotels...too many or not enough?

Postby RapidAssistant » Mon Jul 08, 2013 12:29 pm

When the Glasgow Hoteliers Association back in 1986 were steamrollered over by Malcolm Rifkind when they tried to block what we now know as the Crowne Plaza from being built, it seems like the floodgates opened soon afterwards and hotels have been popping up in the city centre like mushrooms on a rotting tree trunk ever since.

So folks - Hotels. Whether we like it or not, hospitality is one of the city's major service industries. But are there too many of them, and is it sustainable in the longer term?

My position on the matter is that the emphasis should be on quality not quantity - I think the city needs a few more "destination hotels", like Malmaison, One Devonshire, Blythswood Square, Indigo etc - not yet more wretched Travelodges and Premier Inns.

But that's purely my opinion....thoughts pls?
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Re: Hotels...too many or not enough?

Postby The Egg Man » Mon Jul 08, 2013 4:08 pm

I thought, and perhaps someone knows otherwise, that the bulk of the bed/ nights for 'destination hotels' business comes from conferences and the like of MOBO.

Much of these events are subsidised by the City Council, effectively putting money into the pockets of the owners of the Radisson, Hilton, Crowne Plaza etc.

Elsewhere the second division of hotels gets business from stag/ hen nights which obviously bring money into the city but one wonders about the cost in police time etc.
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Re: Hotels...too many or not enough?

Postby Dexter St. Clair » Mon Jul 08, 2013 11:02 pm

I always wondered why there was a police presence in Glasgow at the weekend. Stag and Hen nights, eh.
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Re: Hotels...too many or not enough?

Postby crusty_bint » Tue Jul 09, 2013 9:07 am

Too many hotels? can you imagine how many hotels and hostelries were in Glasgow say 100 years ago? A hotel, like a corner shop, or an ice cream van, won't open or operate somewhere if there isnt a business case for it. How is it possible to have too many hotels? I can't figure the logic here.
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Re: Hotels...too many or not enough?

Postby The Egg Man » Tue Jul 09, 2013 9:49 am

Only a few weeks ago the EasyHotel in Garnethill closed.


Fiona Taylor of Ernst & Young said: “The company is a victim of the economic conditions that continue to have an adverse impact on the hospitality industry. We are currently undertaking a full review of its financial position, but an immediate lack of funds has necessitated the closure of the hotel and the resultant job losses.

If there isn't enough demand, there's too many hotels.
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Re: Hotels...too many or not enough?

Postby crusty_bint » Tue Jul 09, 2013 10:16 am

who would want to stay in an easyhotel though. thats like using the Queens Park Hotel as an economic indicator...

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Re: Hotels...too many or not enough?

Postby The Egg Man » Tue Jul 09, 2013 10:48 am

Clearly not enough people did but, as you say, horses for course.

For some folks £25 a night with extra charges for bog roll and bedding are just the jobbie.
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Re: Hotels...too many or not enough?

Postby Josef » Tue Jul 09, 2013 8:34 pm

I've no idea what it's like to stay in an easyhotel, since I've never done it and don't know anyone who has.

When I book hotel accommodation, I don't do it for the 'leisure experience' or the -yeeuurrgh - 'pampering'. I do it because the hotel is in a place that I want to visit. As such, my concerns are that I get a reasonably clean, comfortable bed in a reasonably quiet room for the minimum price possible.
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Re: Hotels...too many or not enough?

Postby RapidAssistant » Wed Jul 10, 2013 7:48 am

crusty_bint wrote:Too many hotels? can you imagine how many hotels and hostelries were in Glasgow say 100 years ago? A hotel, like a corner shop, or an ice cream van, won't open or operate somewhere if there isnt a business case for it. How is it possible to have too many hotels? I can't figure the logic here.


Probably the same reason there were too many branches of Jessops, HMV or JJB Sports in Glasgow not that long ago - too many shops chasing a dying or changing market. I was responding to someone (not on HG, but a bit of a troll it has to be said...another story), who had a bee in his bunnet about the number of hotels going up in the city and I thought I'd just gauge what ppl's opinions are here.

I guess we are on the cusp of a wider trend, that we do a lot more travelling than we used to, hence a greater need for hotels in general. Personally on the subject of hotel experience, it all depends - I used to slum it a lot as a matter of course; but have had my fingers burnt too many times at the hands of Travelodge and el cheapo independents. So I tend to try and get into the posh places as long as the price isn't outrageous - I've learned a few tricks of the trade from friends who do a lot of business travel to get upgrades and stuff - it's great fun playing the system to get deals :)
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Re: Hotels...too many or not enough?

Postby SomeRandomBint » Fri Jul 12, 2013 10:45 am

Didn't know the Easyhotel had closed. I guess the weren't helped by being right next door to a Premier Inn, and the fact that Garnethill has a fair few B&Bs still - not to mention the student halls which are let out for the summer as well. Add to that the fact that parking in Garnethill is pretty much impossible unless you have a residents pass or a blue badge.

Incidentally, I have actually stayed in an Easyhotel, in London. It was in the basement, no carpet on the floor. One tiny window at ceiling height and you had to pay £5 extra to have a TV remote. It was basic, to say the least. But it was clean, had a working toilet and a shower, and I had a good night's sleep (which was all I wanted, I was out and about most of the time).

I've never thought about having too many hotels - I guess if we're driving to be a tourist destination, it pays to have enough rooms to cope with demand. We need to have a good range of prices as well - if I were going on a city break somewhere, I wouldn't want to book into the Hilton, because I don't like paying a premium for things that I'm not going to be around to use. We get a wide range of tourists coming here, so it makes sense to have a wide range of choice.
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Re: Hotels...too many or not enough?

Postby Josef » Fri Jul 12, 2013 12:54 pm

SomeRandomBint wrote:I have actually stayed in an Easyhotel, in London. It was in the basement, no carpet on the floor. One tiny window at ceiling height and you had to pay £5 extra to have a TV remote. It was basic, to say the least. But it was clean, had a working toilet and a shower, and I had a good night's sleep (which was all I wanted, I was out and about most of the time).

I've never thought about having too many hotels - I guess if we're driving to be a tourist destination, it pays to have enough rooms to cope with demand. We need to have a good range of prices as well - if I were going on a city break somewhere, I wouldn't want to book into the Hilton, because I don't like paying a premium for things that I'm not going to be around to use. We get a wide range of tourists coming here, so it makes sense to have a wide range of choice.


I'll go for that. A much better way of saying what I meant to say. Ta, rb.
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Re: Hotels...too many or not enough?

Postby The Egg Man » Fri Jul 12, 2013 4:03 pm

The challenge with hotels is that they try to provide sufficient beds to cope with maximum demand (eg Edinburgh during the Festival) and then try to find a use for them the rest of the year. Or they load the rate at busy times to soften the hit of quieter times.

My brother has booked 2/3 nights a week at c £95/ night in the same hotel at Euston station for a couple of years. This year, during Wimbledon, the rate became £225/ night.
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Re: Hotels...too many or not enough?

Postby SomeRandomBint » Mon Jul 15, 2013 11:46 am

True that, Eggman.

Chap who I see occasionally in Hengler's Circus travels up from Birmingham on business round the rest of Scotland and stays at the Ibis near Pitt Street. He was complaining that he was having to go elsewhere the nights Robbie Williams was playing Hampden because the price of his room shot up from £80-odds to £200.
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Re: Hotels...too many or not enough?

Postby Josef » Mon Jul 15, 2013 8:36 pm

The Egg Man wrote:The challenge with hotels is that they try to provide sufficient beds to cope with maximum demand (eg Edinburgh during the Festival) and then try to find a use for them the rest of the year. Or they load the rate at busy times to soften the hit of quieter times.

My brother has booked 2/3 nights a week at c £95/ night in the same hotel at Euston station for a couple of years. This year, during Wimbledon, the rate became £225/ night.


A colleague from Down South had to book a hotel in Edinburgh to come up for a week. Even the downscale hotels were charging £500 per night.

Curiously, the normally expensive hotels were by far the cheapest, presumably on the basis that people go "Jesus, if that's what the Holiday Inn is charging, feck knows what Y is" and don't even bother looking.
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Re: Hotels...too many or not enough?

Postby RapidAssistant » Tue Jul 16, 2013 11:58 am

Josef wrote:
The Egg Man wrote:The challenge with hotels is that they try to provide sufficient beds to cope with maximum demand (eg Edinburgh during the Festival) and then try to find a use for them the rest of the year. Or they load the rate at busy times to soften the hit of quieter times.

My brother has booked 2/3 nights a week at c £95/ night in the same hotel at Euston station for a couple of years. This year, during Wimbledon, the rate became £225/ night.


A colleague from Down South had to book a hotel in Edinburgh to come up for a week. Even the downscale hotels were charging £500 per night.

Curiously, the normally expensive hotels were by far the cheapest, presumably on the basis that people go "Jesus, if that's what the Holiday Inn is charging, feck knows what Y is" and don't even bother looking.


I've had similar experiences in London - the Premier Inns seem to be the biggest culprits - who bang on about their £49 rooms but try finding one!! I've often found that Hiltons are cheaper on their pay-in-advance rates if you play the system well enough. They'll try and stuff you on the food and drink prices as you will discover, so be warned!! Even in Glasgow I've seen that the main Hilton or the Hilton Grosvenor can sometimes be only £20 dearer than your Premier Inns if booked well in advance at the right time of year.

Same goes for flying down to London come to think of it - when you factor in all the added costs of check-in, priority boarding, catering on plane, luggage and all the rest of it - flying BA to Heathrow or London City is cheaper (not to mention far more convenient) that easyJet. As you say - people always assume the 'low cost' guys are the cheapest without actually checking for themselves. Probably the same for a lot of things. Is ASDA always cheaper than Waitrose or Markies for example??
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