GABIT attendees thread

[AmberMoon]

I agree, Kat. The GABIT special rate per night is the way to go. For those of you who are new to the event, the morning breccie in the dining room is a full buffet and the most accessible space for dining. There are local pubs etc. for later meals but the included breakfast is worth doing.

When you're reserving a room, you can also ask for a small refrigerator. There's a little convenience shop up the street not far from the hotel (definitely within walking distance ) so the refrigerator comes in handy if you purchase items that need to be kept cold. There's also a deli in the shop and the selection of foodstuffs was pretty decent.

[AmberMoon]

I know of a really good Chinese restaurant if you don't mind walking a tad. Heh Ooh the stories I could tell! It's too bad there aren't more places around there that delivery. Now that would be nice. Maybe we should just have a party in one of the rooms -- pizza and jello shots! I volunteer Maggie's room.

Oh yeah, the infamous walk...decent food once we got there though.

My room!

[becky_preen]

I agree, Kat. The GABIT special rate per night is the way to go. For those of you who are new to the event, the morning breccie in the dining room is a full buffet and the most accessible space for dining. There are local pubs etc. for later meals but the included breakfast is worth doing.

As most of you have stated those internet room special often exclude VAT ( Which Is 17.5% tax) and are room only. if you purchased breakfast seperately it can be 10-15 pounds each!

This hotel does indeed not alow roll-away beds in the rooms they are really too small so it's a fire/Saftey issue.


Some rooms already have mini bars so they don't have many fridges available but you can ask ( just don't hold your breath).

As for the chinese resteraunt, We didn't walk, the food is good but the service was a little.... ummmm.... "intense"

We recently went to the hotel for a meeting and the bar meals have chaged a bit. The fish and chips was very reasonable and absolutly out of this world...

Hugs
becks

[SEREN LWCH (MAL)]

250 DAYS TO GO!!!!!!!!!

[dipsofjazz]

250 DAYS TO GO!!!!!!!!!

Woohoo!

[Skydiver]

food wise

there's the 3 magpies down the road - just a couple of blocks away
another pub a bit further away, the mcdonald's, the deli in that grocery store, and of course the hotel

the food is all good, per se. Just a bit of a culture shock for the american stomach

when i ordered fish and chips, for example, i didn't expect half a freaking cod...complete with skin, tail and head. I was kinda thinking fish fillets.

It's also a bit heavier since they don't tend to do the 'low fat' that we do. Took my stomach a bit to get used to it all.

there's also the drinking issue. I don't do beer, but it was hard to get anything BUT beer in a nice big glass (i'm a fan of 32 ounce glasses of diet coke complete with ice...the only thing you can easily get in a 32 ounce glass is beer) although one pub did gladly give me a nice big glass of ice water

Once you get out of pub food, the food is a bit more varied because of all the ethnic input. there are taste combos that i've never heard of...and some that i jsut can't wrap my head around, like putting tuna salad on a baked potato or having a prawn salad sandwich

vegetarians might find things a bit easier than they do here in some places.

[ForeverSg1]

food wise

there's the 3 magpies down the road - just a couple of blocks away
another pub a bit further away, the mcdonald's, the deli in that grocery store, and of course the hotel

the food is all good, per se. Just a bit of a culture shock for the american stomach

when i ordered fish and chips, for example, i didn't expect half a freaking cod...complete with skin, tail and head. I was kinda thinking fish fillets.

It's also a bit heavier since they don't tend to do the 'low fat' that we do. Took my stomach a bit to get used to it all.

there's also the drinking issue. I don't do beer, but it was hard to get anything BUT beer in a nice big glass (i'm a fan of 32 ounce glasses of diet coke complete with ice...the only thing you can easily get in a 32 ounce glass is beer) although one pub did gladly give me a nice big glass of ice water

Once you get out of pub food, the food is a bit more varied because of all the ethnic input. there are taste combos that i've never heard of...and some that i jsut can't wrap my head around, like putting tuna salad on a baked potato or having a prawn salad sandwich

vegetarians might find things a bit easier than they do here in some places.

I didn't have too much trouble foodwise, but I'm pretty easy going. I can normally find something I'll eat. The only issue I had was finding ice water. We may just be spoiled in the states( particularly the south ) because ice water is just something I'm used to seeing on the table when I sit down at a restaurant. And once I found out that lemonade was basically a Sprite/7-Up with a slice of lemon in it, it was all good.

But I think I'll just follow Scari and my other English friends around to make sure I don't make a complete fool of myself when ordering something from a food menu, because as a Yank ya never know what to expect when you see things like Spotted Dick on the menu. I really have to remember some of the other interesting menu choices we came across while there.

[ShimmeringStar]

I didn't have too much trouble foodwise, but I'm pretty easy going. I can normally find something I'll eat. The only issue I had was finding ice water. We may just be spoiled in the states( particularly the south ) because ice water is just something I'm used to seeing on the table when I sit down at a restaurant. And once I found out that lemonade was basically a Sprite/7-Up with a slice of lemon in it, it was all good.

But I think I'll just follow Scari and my other English friends around to make sure I don't make a complete fool of myself when ordering something from a food menu, because as a Yank ya never know what to expect when you see things like Spotted Dick on the menu. I really have to remember some of the other interesting menu choices we came across while there.

Yeah, I think that was at the pub called The Pheasant, wasn't it? As I recall AmberMoon really loved the SD!

Actually the fish-n-chips at the Pheasant were good - crisp like they should be (and much better than the ones that I had at place in central London). And since I saw the rack of ribs that the fish were when we went there Thurs. night (who ordered it that night?), I knew to share the entree with roomie when we all went out for a final meal Sunday night.

The McD's was okay, but then the ones here in the States about the same (if not worse in places). If I remember correctly at least one of the days the Ren was selling sandwiches in front of the bar - great to get one of those and share a bag of crisps (potato chips) with a fellow GABITeer. I think another day I tagged along with Strix and Tsax over to a gas station/convenience store across the street and down to the left (I'm pretty sure it *wasn't* a Tesco's.) and they had a decent selection of sandwiches, drinks, candy and other assorted munchies.

And yes, the full English breakfast at the Ren is wonderful & the price is definitely right as part of the room price. (Becky is right about it being around 15 pounds per person if you're paying for it separately from your room rate - something I discovered Monday morning. ) The nice thing too about the Ren is the dining area is large and it's great to have another opportunity to talk with other congoers.

[samcarterrules]

Ooooh you guys are making me excited and bouncy LOL.
I book our rooms too, a wheelchair accessible one for me and a twin one for my carers That breakfast sounds lovely too. Oh and that pizza and jello shot party, I volunteer my room cause its bigger HeHe!

Julia(samcarterrules)

[JanSam]

food wise

there's the 3 magpies down the road

Magpies?? Magpies are annoying birds in California......

Spotted Dick on the menu.

really starts to wonder about our British cousins.....

Beers no problem though eh Sky....so as Jack says....beer "is a refreshing substitute for ....food".

[Skydiver]

lol

well i don't do beer, so i'm definitely the odd duck in the UK. Gimme rum or tequila and i'm fine.

and you want food oddities....i never did ask what '**** and chips' were.

and i'm another american who needs her ice water. In fact, i have to have a glass of ice water by the bed...fortunately the red DOES have little ice machines, you just need to know how tofind them (and i'm sure they were put in just for us pesky yanks)

[Tracy Jane]

and you want food oddities....i never did ask what '**** and chips' were.

*looks confused*

Do you mean "******s and chips"?

[Mandysg1]

*looks confused*

Do you mean "******s and chips"?

Are you telling me you Brits actually eat and chips

[JanSam]

Are you telling me you Brits actually eat and chips

**looks for Sky's noodle**


guess they go with the spotted dicks.....

[Skydiver]

yeah, i am soooo not gonna touch that

but what was on the menu was, well the word that the censor won't let through