It does Andy :p I made it with not very much time to spare on the way back up last time, and that was with one 5 minute pee stop somewhere round Carlisle...

It's 198 miles from Stranraer to our house and it took us a lot less than 4 hours 37 mins last week, it really depends on the traffic though :)

Derek tried his ferry discount code last night with Stena and it knocked £25 off each way, so £140 was down to £115 (one way), which is better than nothing :p

I wonder if those codes will work in conjunction with the Tesco vouchers :confused: Probably not :hmph:

Aye if you're doing it in the middle of the night (you loons :p) it probably would take a lot less :p When I went back last year on the Monday, it was on the 14.30ish ferry, which meant leaving Cedar Wotsits at 7.30am or so, and I got caught up a bit in traffic going out of Harrogate...

Oh and then there's the Magners and dodgems on the Saturday night, can't beat that :nice:

Mental note: bring stash of own dodgem tokens, and let Jules nowhere near them :mad:

That was great fun :D

And that was even funnier :p

Ah I can feel the excitement already :D

We need Vickie to tell us how many sleeps :p

186 days from today according to timeanddate.com - TF 185 for Saturday Nighters, and 184 for Friday nighters! :D

That was great fun :D

And that was even funnier :p

186 days from today according to timeanddate.com - TF 185 for Saturday Nighters, and 184 for Friday nighters! :D

Thanks for the countdown Ollie, yes all being well the dodgems will be there again :D

They'd better, I'm bidding on all sorts of dodgem tokens on eBay :o

....I'm bidding for torches and knees pads :D Gotta have everyone kitted out in preparation this time :nice:

Can you make mine a head torch please? :nice:

Can you make mine a head torch please? :nice:
Definitely ;) I've spotted one that'll clip into your John McEnroe headband :nice:

:nice:

Andy sent me a link to Google maps last night be the way with a number of central hotels, so there may be a few options if we can't get Cedar Wotsits...

Yeah I was looking on TripAdvisor too, there are lots of centrally located hotels, however some of the comments with regards to parking aren't great :hmph:
Holiday Inn was looking a bit of a bargain but for the iffy parking.

Is there parking of some sort? Sure we could just park all the MINIs at Cedar Wotsits and get a taxi to the Holiday Inn :nice:

There is parking, think HI site mentions charges of £5 per day though :rolleyes:
PMSL sounds like a plan :nice::p

Is a fiver a day (bit cheeky) offset by much cheaper accomm?

But the Holiday Inn is quite a way out of town, what about the Travelodge?

You'd have to park somewhere safe though as it doesn't have a car park

Travelodge - Hotel overview (http://www.travelodge.co.uk/search_and_book/hotel_overview.php?hotel_id=262)

Mental note: bring stash of own dodgem tokens, and let Jules nowhere near them :mad:

:p Hehehe... :D

I guess I'd better get on to my Nicky about permission for hotel costs, etc... problem about booking is, if my thesis is finished before that and I submit - I'll be moving immediately (:rolleyes:) to the States to try to get a job. Currently, I have no income at all and am being a bit of a sponge whilst writing up. :o

But do put me down as a possible. It's always nice to get a MINI full of merry Misfits/OGs. :D

Is a fiver a day (bit cheeky) offset by much cheaper accomm?
Depending on where you look, not really I don't think. The search continues! :p

But the Holiday Inn is quite a way out of town, what about the Travelodge?

You'd have to park somewhere safe though as it doesn't have a car park

Travelodge - Hotel overview (http://www.travelodge.co.uk/search_and_book/hotel_overview.php?hotel_id=262)
That looks great Nicky, however I don't think they have availability for the Saturday night :(

Or there's here -

Welcome to the George Hotel (http://www.thegeorge-harrogate.co.uk/)

Handy for the Saturday night ;)

ETA but only one room free on the Saturday :rolleyes:

What was Cedar thingy like last year? Was it alright? :confused:

Yeah Andy it was spot on, I'd be more than happy with there this year if we can get it :cool:

What was Cedar thingy like last year? Was it alright? :confused:

Crap. No it wasn't.

Should I continue, or was that sufficient? :p :p

When I first got into the room, the fire safety sheet they'd framed and hung on the wall like a picture fell down when I shut the door. Then during the night, the phone kept making clicking noises next to the bed. So the night manager came up into the room and after about 45 minutes of faffing around swapped it for a new phone.

In the morning, everyone had arranged to go to Betty's Tea Rooms (a Harrogate speciality) and I found I couldn't leave my room because the door wouldn't lock behind me - the lock had jammed in the door. The day manager came up and fiddled with it, but couldn't get it to lock - so advised me to pack my bags for moving to another room. By now, everyone else was waiting for me out by the cars to come down and do the driving. I hurriedly threw all my stuff into my bag and the hotel staff were faffing about again trying to decide what room to move me to. I left my bag with them and told them to keep it safe for me - as I was late.

By the time we finally got to Betty's, everyone else we'd been planning to meet there had finished up and it was time to go. So my car load of people and I missed out. Thanks so bloody much Cedar Court Hotel. :bad:

In the end, the hotel decided to deduct £15 from my bill of £168 for two nights' accommodation (and £30 bar tab) - you'd think for all that calamity, they'd have knocked the drinks off at least. :rolleyes: Overall, I'd say it's a well-worn hotel that's past it's glory days, with unhelpful staff (they just didn't care that everything was going wrong and handled customer service with a cavalier attitude), and it certainly doesn't deserve the 4 AA Stars it's proudly claiming to have earned - I'd give it 2 at best. They're just not worth the money.

As far as the actual accommodation is concerned, the stay the previous year in Murray House (a local B&B) was much better (and only £45 a night, as I remember it) - ok, parking was a little tricky but it was such a quaint little place and really quite charming. :cool:

Still... at Cedar Court, the company I kept at the bar and during breakfast was fabulous. :D

All the best,
Andrew.

Crap. No it wasn't.

Should I continue, or was that sufficient? :p :p

When I first got into the room, the fire safety sheet they'd framed and hung on the wall like a picture fell down when I shut the door. Then during the night, the phone kept making clicking noises next to the bed. So the night manager came up into the room and after about 45 minutes of faffing around swapped it for a new phone.

In the morning, everyone had arranged to go to Betty's Tea Rooms (a Harrogate speciality) and I found I couldn't leave my room because the door wouldn't lock behind me - the lock had jammed in the door. The day manager came up and fiddled with it, but couldn't get it to lock - so advised me to pack my bags for moving to another room. By now, everyone else was waiting for me out by the cars to come down and do the driving. I hurriedly threw all my stuff into my bag and the hotel staff were faffing about again trying to decide what room to move me to. I left my bag with them and told them to keep it safe for me - as I was late.

By the time we finally got to Betty's, everyone else we'd been planning to meet there had finished up and it was time to go. So my car load of people and I missed out. Thanks so bloody much Cedar Court Hotel. :bad:

In the end, the hotel decided to deduct £15 from my bill of £168 for two nights' accommodation (and £30 bar tab) - you'd think for all that calamity, they'd have knocked the drinks off at least. :rolleyes: Overall, I'd say it's a well-worn hotel that's past it's glory days, with unhelpful staff (they just didn't care that everything was going wrong and handled customer service with a cavalier attitude), and it certainly doesn't deserve the 4 AA Stars it's proudly claiming to have earned - I'd give it 2 at best. They're just not worth the money.

As far as the actual accommodation is concerned, the stay the previous year in Murray House (a local B&B) was much better (and only £45 a night, as I remember it) - ok, parking was a little tricky but it was such a quaint little place and really quite charming. :cool:

Still... at Cedar Court, the company I kept at the bar and during breakfast was fabulous. :D

All the best,
Andrew.

PMSL Wasn't it good fun though! :p
I'd have to agree with Carolyn, the hotel was fine and I'd be happy to stay there again :D

Unfortunately you do lead a very err... eventful life Andrew ;)

To be honest Andrew, I stayed at the same B&B as you the previous year, and I thought it was small and pokey. My room certainly was. In comparison, the room Jules and I had in Cedar Wotsits was bright, airy and extremely spacious.

Yes the carpet in the bar was a little worn, but that's fine, coz we're nabbing it for wheel arches anyway :p

Cedar Wotsits gets my vote, and it's not much dearer that a B&B all told :)

PMSL Wasn't it good fun though! :p
I'd have to agree with Carolyn, the hotel was fine and I'd be happy to stay there again :D

Unfortunately you do lead a very err... eventful life Andrew ;)

The weekend was good fun, but the hotel itself had nothing to do with it - it was you guys that made it special. :D

Realistically, things happen (for some reason, usually to me) and I accept that - the thing I was incensed about was the response of the hotel's management to the problems. They simply didn't care about customer convenience and didn't take my complaint seriously when I made it.

If I attempt the 4-star route again, I'd check out the competition: Barceló Harrogate Majestic Hotel - Harrogate, Northern England (http://www.barcelo-hotels.co.uk/hotels/northern-england/barcelo-harrogate-majestic-hotel/)

I'll probably see if anyone else is going the B&B route and try to book into the same place. ;)

To be honest Andrew, I stayed at the same B&B as you the previous year, and I thought it was small and pokey. My room certainly was. In comparison, the room Jules and I had in Cedar Wotsits was bright, airy and extremely spacious.

Yes the carpet in the bar was a little worn, but that's fine, coz we're nabbing it for wheel arches anyway :p

Cedar Wotsits gets my vote, and it's not much dearer that a B&B all told :)

Actually, your Cedar Court room was much nicer than the one they gave me. From my perspective, the rooms were a similar size and I wasn't disturbed in the night or made late by problems with the room at Murray House. :p

Given the number of broken things I found in my room... it was twice the price of a Travel Lodge and in far worse condition. Four stars? Aspects of it may have been (given nobody else experienced problems), but what I saw certainly wasn't worthy. :hmph:

By the way, do you think Cedar Court missed their carpet patches? :D




So... who's up for a B&B? :p

Or there's here -

Welcome to the George Hotel (http://www.thegeorge-harrogate.co.uk/)

Handy for the Saturday night ;)
It was nice there...... shall I, sharen't I :confused: No idea when I'm going to have my holiday in the sun :( and there's Ireland in May, Blackpool in September :hmph:

The weekend was good fun, but the hotel itself had nothing to do with it - it was you guys that made it special. :D

Realistically, things happen (for some reason, usually to me) and I accept that - the thing I was incensed about was the response of the hotel's management to the problems. They simply didn't care about customer convenience and didn't take my complaint seriously when I made it.

If I attempt the 4-star route again, I'd check out the competition: Barceló Harrogate Majestic Hotel - Harrogate, Northern England (http://www.barcelo-hotels.co.uk/hotels/northern-england/barcelo-harrogate-majestic-hotel/)

I'll probably see if anyone else is going the B&B route and try to book into the same place. ;)



Actually, your Cedar Court room was much nicer than the one they gave me. From my perspective, the rooms were a similar size and I wasn't disturbed in the night or made late by problems with the room at Murray House. :p

Given the number of broken things I found in my room... it was twice the price of a Travel Lodge and in far worse condition. Four stars? Aspects of it may have been (given nobody else experienced problems), but what I saw certainly wasn't worthy. :hmph:

By the way, do you think Cedar Court missed their carpet patches? :D




So... who's up for a B&B? :p
We'll have 'em prepare us an Andrew-proof room this time ;):p

Seriously, sorry you didn't have such a great experience at CW, trouble is we're gonna struggle in terms of availability, especially if we'd all like to stay in the one place.
I've only come up with two options so far (taking into account location, parking & vacancies), the Cedar Wotsits and the Yorkshire Hotel (http://www.foliohotels.com/yorkshire/).

Harrogate is proving to be a very popular place in July, I reckon they all got word of Nicky's run :hmph::p

It was nice there...... shall I, sharen't I :confused: No idea when I'm going to have my holiday in the sun :( and there's Ireland in May, Blackpool in September :hmph:
Yes you should! :D:D

Nicky did call The George but like so many other places they're pretty booked :(

I don't really care where we stay ... in town, outside of town. If we are outside of town, we can all chip in for taxis after drinking. Personally, I'm of the mindset the room doesn't matter, you spend so little time in it ... but good parking for all the beloved minis is important.

I'll just follow people on this one, though personally, with a dollar that's losing value faster than the pound, I like cheap. :p

We'll have 'em prepare us an Andrew-proof room this time ;):p

Seriously, sorry you didn't have such a great experience at CW, trouble is we're gonna struggle in terms of availability, especially if we'd all like to stay in the one place.
I've only come up with two options so far (taking into account location, parking & vacancies), the Cedar Wotsits and the Yorkshire Hotel (http://www.foliohotels.com/yorkshire/).

Harrogate is proving to be a very popular place in July, I reckon they all got word of Nicky's run :hmph::p

:p Andrew-proof? Is there such a thing? :D

Actually, Yorkshire Hotel looks really nice. :cool: OK, I've just provisionally booked a double room there for 2 nights: Friday 10th July (£59.00) and Saturday 11th July (£89.00). Checkout Sunday 12th July. Breakfast for two over two days is £40. So £188.00 in total.

Anyone else care to join me (and hopefully Nicky)? :D For the same hotel that is... you still have to get your own room. ;) :p


PS:
Can someone let me know ASAP if it turns out the dates I've guessed are wrong? :D

Thanks for the countdown Ollie, yes all being well the dodgems will be there again :D

ohh excellent :D:D:D

Hearing about all of these nearly full hotels is making me worry - I don't really want to stay in the Leeds/Bradford Premier Inn again :rolleyes: Though everyone has their price... And they are bloody cheap, which is handy for me!