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EK Spinner.
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November 13, 2016 at 7:29 am #26483
welshman001
Morning all,
Quite interested in building a new hotel in North Wales based on a strong US brand but there is scope to modify the design for local features. As such, I would like to seriously consider appealing to us cyclists. To that end, what makes a hotel attractive to you as a cyclist? What facilities would you consider? Food offering?
Thank you
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finer points can make all the
finer points can make all the difference.
1. Bike wash area,
NOT a pressure washer this gets water into bearings, a powerful showerhead type is better
good drainage
degreasant, brushes and cloths available
Suitable stand so bike isn’t leaning on wall nor falling over when being washed
Sheltered, if the weather has been foul then people will want to wash thier bike immediatly but they may be cold, wet and dirty and want want warm.2. Storage
Not in rooms, other guests don’t want or need them and don’t want bikes passing through hotel
Locker type space with padlocks is very good, deposit for locker key gets your keys back
Suitable stands with locks (again deposit for a key) works OK as well though people worry about things fitted to bikes.3/ Maintenance
As most have said a decent set of tools and consumables/spares available
Cans of GT85 and a couple of track pumps (Presta and Schrader) laying about also make life easier4. Others
USB Charging points is handy
Access to PC in Hotel is handy for Garmin uploads and route planning
I used to regularly viisit a Hotel in Central Scotland, in one corridor the wall had been papered with numerous OS sheets to create a coast to coast map about 7feet high – always popular with outdoor typesNo doubt I will think of others
fenix
There’s a bikes hotel in
There’s a bikes hotel in bormio. I forget the name but it was excellent. Room to hang up all the bikes and storage for shoes and helmets. Full tool kit and place to wash the bikes too. Laundry bag that you’d put your kit in and it’s ready by breakfast. So good.Good luck with it.
VeloPeo
dottigirl wrote:Friends of mine have recently opened a cycling-orientated guesthouse in South Wales near the Brecon Beacons:http://thegrangecefncoed.wales/
I’ve visited with my bike and had a great time. Bike was secured in a stand in their bike room.
That’ll be our place 🙂
Feel free to drop me an email (address is on the website) if you want to chat.
Cheers for the plug Dotti.
nopants
This may be a little obscure,
This may be a little obscure, but I’d love to see a USB port in the rooms. It would be great to not have to carry a plug-in charger when touring.
Apart from that, all th suggestions above cover everythign I’d want, the most important being secure (preferably individual) bike storage, accessable 24 hours.
ru w00dsy
I regularly cycle in the
I regularly cycle in the North Wales area, probably once a month, normally based out of Betws-Y-Coed due to facilities in that town. I normally stay in a B&B Guest House and pretty much all have been bike friendly, that said a cleaning area is one thing that has been missed.
Some features I will say that make me go back to the same B&B…
1. A drying area for clothing.
2. Fresh Fruit for me to pack. (One B&B even makes me a packed lunch for when I’m MTB’ing)
3. A hot shower! (As a guestimate 90% of the B&Bs I’ve stayed in have rubbish showers)
4. Staff with knowledge of the area, busy roads to avoid, for MTB best way to get to local trails etc.
5. GPS Routes for a series of different rides (saves people not familiar with the area trying to plot routes on roads that may not be suitable)
I’ve found the N Wales area very cycle friendly, most of the main roads are smooth and wide enough to cater for cyclists and cars. Heading towards the coast though, from Conwy towards Colwyn Bay and beyond, the roads can get busy.
kil0ran
Much the same as others.
Much the same as others.
First and foremost: secure bike storage (ideally individual and secured with room key). I don’t want to have to strip accessories off the bike so something like a greyhound trap where you can roll the bike in thereby having no external access would be best.
Alternatively, If you’re going to let people store bikes in their rooms then goods/service lift access is easier than using public lifts. Plus you don’t get your public lifts bashed around and soiled by muddy, oily bikes (this is North Wales remember)
On-site (or via concierge service) masseur
Bike service stand in shared area, with accessories/basics available for purchase (chains, tubes, tyres, lights, cleats)
Cycling breakfast with takeaway fruit/snacks
Anonymous
dottigirl wrote:Friends of mine have recently opened a cycling-orientated guesthouse in South Wales near the Brecon Beacons:http://thegrangecefncoed.wales/
I’ve visited with my bike and had a great time. Bike was secured in a stand in their bike room.
nice area for cycling. I’ve probably been past there. Will add it to my list of places to stay, thanks.
dottigirl
Friends of mine have recently
Friends of mine have recently opened a cycling-orientated guesthouse in South Wales near the Brecon Beacons:
http://thegrangecefncoed.wales/
I’ve visited with my bike and had a great time. Bike was secured in a stand in their bike room.
CarolineF
Big breakfasts, especially
Big breakfasts, especially including porridge
StraelGuy
That’s a good idea dottigirl,
That’s a good idea dottigirl, a couple of basic jetwashers maybe like a lot of mountain bike parks have?
Bike stand and cleaning area
Bike stand and cleaning area outside?Perfect – really appreciated.
Perfect – really appreciated.
We have some great ideas to keep bikes in rooms through hooks on the wall, laundry especially delicates like merino wool base layers and finally access to bike spares.
As regards food, we want to encourage using the town but that said, will absolutely ensure proper and varied vegetarian options.
Again, thanks.
P.s. It would be worth
P.s. It would be worth getting in touch with the CTC, now called Cycling UK. I bet they have guidance for hoteliers.
As a cyclotourist, mainly in
As a cyclotourist, mainly in France, the things that matter to me, above and beyond what you normally want from a hotel, are:
1. Secure indoor bike parking
2. Overnight laundry service
3. Take-away bananas and oranges on the breakfast table
4. Maybe a packed lunch service? In la France profonde you can’t rely on shops and bars being open on Sundays and Mondays; Wales can be equally not-in-London-any-more.
5. Depending on how far away the nearest bike shop is, use of a decent set of shop tools, stand, some of the commoner spare parts, paid for, obviously. Cables, tubes, brake pads – consumables, rather than say spare exotic vintage headsets.
As a vegetarian a choice of food made by someone who understands what they’re doing, rather than one grudgingly-offered veggie option made by Godzilla’s cook. The UK is generally better at this than France, where that part of the brain never evolved that understands ‘je mange ni viande ni poisson. Non, le poulet c’est pas un legume. Le saumon non plus. Lardons? Non.’.
I don’t know how to say that in Welsh, so hopefully I won’t need to at your hotel.
Worth building bike storage
Worth building bike storage into the room design. Either ceiling hooks or padded hooks for the top tube should be easy enough to incorporate somewhere – with a cleanable flooring underneath to catch drips etc.
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