Well that was a bit of a long day....thick end of 500 miles and, I'm pleased to say, a successful outcome
First off - the hotel. Check-in is from 3pm, checkout on Sunday 11am latest. Upon arrival, as you enter the hotel, there's a temperature scanner to the left which everyone will have to test themselves against; it incorporates a camera and shows what it sees on a screen below the sensor. After a very short measuring perios it displays the reading and tells you if you're OK or not. You can then proceed forward to Reception and check in. At this point you'll also be asked about your breakfast preference - cooked full English served in the Brasserie, with a dining time, or Continental in your bedroom. For our evening meal, we have the Brasserie for our own use. It's not open to anyone else and is very spacious with well-spaced-out tables, and a great view out over the beach. I anticipate we'll be sitting down to dinner at 7:30 or 8:00 - I forgot to ask about the time but I'll check with them!
Post-prandial drinkies are available just across from the Brasserie in the Drawing Room, a bar open only to residents, or Copperfields, the pub-type thing round the back which is also open to the Great Unwashed.
Car parking - they've reserved us 4 spaces undercover in their own "The Stables" car park, just up the street from the hotel, and these are for those going in a Stratos. There might be spaces for the rest of us but it's first come, first served. There are also spaces at the front of the hotel, but you can also park around the corner in Hotspur St. The on-street parking across the road has been removed by the daft one-way system the council's set up to provide extra space for pedestrians and cyclists... not that I could see many of either today despite it being school hols...but, there are spaces on the road that runs down to the beach opposite. It's £3 for all day between 9am and 6pm, free the rest of the time, so that's an option too.
The route - well, that seems fine too, with caffs and pubs etc all seeming to be open and doing great business (it's the first week of the school hols up there, so everyone was out and about). I'll knock up the directions this week and post them on here for you all to see.
So, all looking good, and I'm looking forward to it even if you lot aren't. Still space left if you wanna come along and hone your crap-talking skills....
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