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In a recessionary world that is trading down, guests will be pleasantly surprised at the quality on offer at branded hotels in this level. Not only have all of these hotels arrived at a good standard bedroom, but all offer a food service that varies from the good to the very good. At Holiday Inn South London, despite being lumbered with a name that might mean something to a foreign tourist but little to the local market, the restaurant, through intelligent food design, is attracting a regular clientele from Thames Ditton. There is a chef who, according to the hotel owners, previously worked for Oberoi hotel group in India. This chef is joining the growing number of Asian restaurateurs who are developing their own version of fusion food, an Anglo-Asian (largely Anglo-Indian) variation that capitalises on the fact that England's national dish is now curry.
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Conference area has its own reception desk. Click to see a small meeting room.
A function room laid out for a reception. This space is one third of the main conference area (sliderwalls separate the space). Click to see the corridor detail.
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This ability to give variety on a local level is also an indicator of the brand system, and IHG appear to have thought through their systems to allow local variation whilst still maintaining brand standards. I have written previously about brand standard hence this series on the brands at this level ( see branding articles) and the what IHG seem to have firmly gripped in Europe is the relationship between the brand, design and its location in the market place.
"Developing their own version of fusion food - an Anglo-Asian (largely Anglo-Indian) variation."
The restaurant and bar are almost successful but some minor problems with furniture spoil them. In the restaurant the chairs work on the marble section of floor but where there is carpet they fit too tightly under the tables and you need a wrestler's muscles to pull them out.
In the bar if your head spins it may well not be the drink. More likely it will be the seats which swivel uncontrollably. In both areas the lighting is the winner. Both the buffet area and the bar are well placed to be serviced from back-of-house kitchens, which are fitted neatly in between the restaurant and bar and the already popular banqueting rooms. In the banquet and meeting areas there is disabled ramp access that is not duplicated in the front areas. Instead, out front a temporary ramp can be pulled out when needed, requiring staff assistance for use. This reduces the independence of the disabled. Ramps are difficult to include because of the regulations on slope angles which make them sometimes difficult to fit, although ramps are not the only solutions, of course.
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