Cycling UK Forum

Has anyone stayed at the Caernarfon Travelodge with their bike?

Any problems with bike storage? Or is it like the other Travelodges I have read about, where they are happy to store your bike securely or let you take it to your room?

I don't know if this will be of use, but I just looked at my B&B research for my Lon Las trip last year, there are 2 reasonably priced B&Bs in the centre near the castle: Tegfan, tel 01286 673703, and Bron Menai tel 01286 672612. I ended up camping so can't comment on them.

The YHA at Llanberis is good, not far from Caernarfon.

They let me stow my bike in the canteen.

I reckon you are better looking for a small family run place to stay. Firstly they are more accommodating and it won't be all "Healthy and safety prevents us from doing that", secondly, you're not giving your money to "the man".

I've stayed at plenty of Travelodges and never been told I couldn't put my bike in the room. Might be different if you turned up on a muddy MTB, but they are generally OK about road or touring bikes.

Never stayed at the Carnavon one though.

When B&B's start offering a room for 2 for £19, i'll use them instead.

Travelodges have always been good about this in my experience. Give them a ring.

Big T wrote:When B&B's start offering a room for 2 for £19, i'll use them instead.

Travelodge type hotels are certainly cheap, but they're usually a bit out of town, not always ideal if you want a stroll to a pub in the evening. Also a good B&B throws in a free and substantial breakfast.

james01 wrote:

Big T wrote:When B&B's start offering a room for 2 for £19, i'll use them instead.

Travelodge type hotels are certainly cheap, but they're usually a bit out of town, not always ideal if you want a stroll to a pub in the evening. Also a good B&B throws in a free and substantial breakfast.

Well it's not really free as you're generally paying through the nose for a B and B.

I tried booking a Travelodge, and found it was £59 per night for one person! This includes zero breakfast, zero creature comforts, and zero hospitality, with 100% boringness.

B+Bs can be found for £25, which include a breakfast, creature comforts, and hospitality. If you check around, your B+B can be near shops, pubs, restaurants, and in a town too!

Travelodges are on main roads, on major roundabouts and next-door to Little Chefs.
Yawn.

We stayed in some nice B&b's during our JOGLE, especially in Scotland, but the further south we got, the more expensive they got. For a couple we paid between £55 and £80 a night, whereas we never paid more than £29 for a Travelodge, booked 3 months in advance. You can buy a substantial breakfast for 2 and still be quids in at those prices.

B&B's tend to cost the same whether you book in advance or not, so I'd rather grab the Travelodge bargains and then fill in the gaps with full price B&B's. There's usually a pub next door to a Travelodge (IME) and after a day's cycling I'm usually too tired to explore, so I don't care if the hotel is in a business park or next to a roundabout.

The quality of B&B's varies enormously, whereas with a Travelodge you know what you are getting. A large-ish room, en-suite bathroom and a comfortable bed. Boring and predictable but I don't care.

I find a Little Chef Olympic Breakfast, just the thing to start the day.

Different if you are travelling alone but i rarely do.

Thanks everyone for the comments.

I have now booked a Thursday night stay at the Travelodge for £19. My plan is to ride from Bury to Caernarfon on the Thursday (in May), and back on the Friday on a different route.

Last year I did a similar tour to Leyburn in North Yorks, where I stayed at a traditional B&B. For £45 I got a tiny room with a very dated bathroom, and a bedroom door that would only lock after I had loosened the hinges with my bike multitool!

The Caernarfon Travelodge seems well located - close to the town and castle, one of the reasons I booked it in preference to eg Bangor (ring-road location). I'll take my chances re bike storage and report back after the event whether it can be added to the bike-friendly list.

We often stay at the Premier travel inn at Bangor .. and at Plymouth .. and Dumfries, the bike comes in to my room with me ..never been any issue ...

Well, the Travelodge in Caernarfon can be added to any list of bike-friendly accommodation. Reception is on the first floor of the building, but a lift is available. When I asked about bike storage, the immediate response from the reception staff was to advise taking the bike into my room.

Mick F wrote:The YHA at Llanberis is good, not far from Caernarfon.

They let me stow my bike in the canteen.

A YHA without a bike shed? What have things come to!!

Last month my friend and I used 4 Travelodges on our tour. They were in the right places for our itinerary. Bikes were always allowed in our room.
When B&Bs were in the right places for our route we used them.