RAMADA
LONDON FINCHLEY
It's often said that you shouldn't mix business with
pleasure, but that's hard to do when your business is the leisure
industry! I often find myself visiting wonderful places in order to
carry out reviews, and even when I'm on holiday, and not officially
there to review the accommodation
or destination,
I find myself looking around with the critical eye of a writer. And
sometimes, it is just very convenient to mix the two.
So it proved to be recently, when my wife and I attended
a travel show in North London. It just so happened that the travel
show was on the day before our 41st wedding anniversary,
so
I thought why not have a hotel stay and combine
visiting the travel show with celebrating our anniversary? Having
carried out a thorough search of hotels in the area of Allianz Park,
where the travel show was to be held, I decided upon the 3 star
Ramada Hotel Finchley London, for a one night stay to rest after the
show and to celebrate our anniversary.
Allianz Park is in Hendon North London, approximately
ninety miles from where I live, and less than five miles from
Finchley. We arrived at the show around midday and left at 4pm, which
meant we arrived at the Ramada Hotel Finchley in good time to settle
into our room before dinner.
The hotel was easy to find and is within easy access to
the A406 London North Circular
route. There is also quick and easy access to London city, by means
of the underground network or bus route, allowing guests at the hotel
the opportunity to be in the heart of London within thirty minutes.
There are numerous shops and restaurants in the area, many within
walking distance, which is ideal as the hotel has its own free car
park for guests.
On viewing the hotel for the first time, I was aware
that it has three very distinct areas. There is of course the main
hotel entrance, clearly marked 'RAMADA',
and
adjacent to that is a large deck area, aptly named 'THE
DECK', this is a fully heated area ideal for al fresco eating. Then
there is 'FLAMES',
a Greek restaurant serving Greek and Mediterranean style food, this
is where we had booked our 6.30pm anniversary dinner.
On check-in at the hotel, the reception staff, on the 24
hour front desk, were exceptionally friendly and helpful, and made
sure we had all the information we needed to make our stay as
pleasant and
comfortable
as possible. We were then
given directions to our room which was situated
on the second floor overlooking the car park. The room was accessible
by either lift or stairs.
The
Ramada Hotel London Finchley offers 88 spacious and
well equipped en-suite guest rooms, located
over three floors. There are four room types, Standard,
Standard Triple, Deluxe and Executive. Accessible
rooms are available in either Standard, Deluxe or
Executive.
Our room, an Executive Room, was designed with the
business traveller in mind. The room comes with all the features of a
Standard Room, shower, work desk, tea/coffee making facilities, LCD
TV with freeview channels, free wi fi, double or single beds, but
also features
Temple Spa Bath products, a Nespresso machine, complimentary bottled
water, and complimentary snacks. At 22 square metres, the Executive
Rooms are also 2 square metres larger than the Standard Room. I found
the room to be well designed, bright, and nicely decorated, with all
the comforts we would need for our overnight
stay.
Once we had settled into our room and freshened up, we
then made our way to Flames
restaurant for our anniversary dinner. I had made the
reservation for dinner by emailing the hotel with my request prior to
arriving, a quick, easy and efficient means of booking.
As with the check-in staff, all the restaurant staff
were very pleasant and helpful, we were immediately shown to our
table by the window, handed a menu and our
drinks order
was
taken. The
menu provided a very good choice of food and drinks,
all
at very reasonable prices. We were
both tempted
by the Swordfish and Greek Salad, accompanied by Pitta Bread and
Hummus. My wife chose a soft drink, whilst I chose a
glass of very palatable red wine. The restaurant was fairly busy,
with a number of tables occupied by party groups, with a group of
youngsters at one table celebrating a birthday. There was a good
atmosphere in the restaurant and the staff were attentive at all
times. Having enjoyed a very good meal, we retired to our room for
the night.
Breakfast the next morning was served in Flames
restaurant.
At check-in we had been given, along with our room key, two coupons
for redemption at breakfast time. As we entered the restaurant a
member of staff greeted us, took our coupons and invited us to sit
where we wished, and informed us that breakfast was self service. We
sat, once again, at a table by the window, and helped ourselves from
the array of breakfast cereal, fruit, bread
and yoghurt etc. A
selection of hot food was
on offer, which was served at a serving station, but
tea and coffee was self service.
Check-out was as quick and easy as check-in had
been on our arrival, and we were soon on our way,
having had a most enjoyable
stay. The hotel is extremely well placed for visiting London and
surrounding area, and was perfect for our needs. The Ramada Hotel
London Finchley is a budget priced hotel that certainly doesn't skimp
on hospitality, and I would have no hesitation in recommending
this hotel, or indeed staying here
again. Both my wife and I
thoroughly enjoyed our stay and found it an ideal place to celebrate
our anniversary, as well as meeting
our business needs perfectly. Now, what was I saying about mixing
business with pleasure?
For more information on The Ramada London Finchley,
please visit.
Telephone: 0208 446 6644.
Post Code for Sat Nav: N12 0QZ.
