Christiane's Qype profile

The Beeafeater Restaurant in Swanley has just recently opened. It looked so nice from outside that we decided to try it yesterday. I am afraid the visit yesterday will be my first and last one. To say it nicely we were disappointed.

We had to wait 45 minutes for a table. It wouldn't bother me at all if the restaurant had been full but it was more than half empty. Just around us were seven empty tables. I asked the manager why we don't get a table and he told us that he "doesn't want to overload the kitchen". Looking back it would have been wise to leave the restaurant at this point. Later we were asked why we didn't book a table (so it was all our fault!).

We got our table and were told that a lot of dishes are not available any more. It was 4pm in the afternoon! They have different kind of steaks on the menu, half of them were gone. I ordered a fillet steak. After 10 minutes they came back to us to tell me that fillet steak are out as well.

The service was slow and not very impressive. Nobody came to ask if we are happy with the food. They just didn't care. At the table next to us were two ladies. One of the ladies got their main course when the other one had finished hers.

At the end we ordered a cappuccino and a hot chocolate. I could hear when the barkeeper told our waitress that he has no clue how to do it. So she came back and told us that cappuccino and hot chocolate were out - after we already didn't get the food we wanted. We could only order regular coffee or tea. We had to ask for the bill three time after we could finally leave.

I can understand that there are some issues with newly opened restaurants. I would never been bothered if I had the feeling they care about their guests and try to improve and apologise properly. At "The Bull" the managers just didn't care: the brand new entrance door was sticky and dirty. They didn't care. Their disabled parking spaces were used by non-disabled people. They didn't care. It's a shame so, the restaurant looks lovely and the food was ok. It could really be a nice restaurant but it isn't with such a bad service and attitude.

I stayed there for a week and really liked this hotel. It's focused on business travellers. So internet (wifi) is free! It's close to a huge park. You can see the mountains, the rooms are nice. The area is pretty safe. It's next to the convention centre and several restaurants. There is the C1 bus - an easy and comfortable connection to the main station in Lyon. The 58 bus goes to Hotel de Ville and the old Lyon. No need for a taxi!
The staff was very friendly and cosmopolitan. One of the receptionists could speak seven (!) languages fluently. They were always helpful and very service orientated.
My room was a wheelchair accessible one with a roll in shower. If the bed is too high for you, ask them to remove the legs. That's what I did to solve the problem.

Small airport with bad signage, rude staff and too long ways for a small airport. Some lifts didn't work which made the way even longer. Connection to city centre is good but expensive (13 Euro for a 30 min tram ride).

Wen es in den wilden Süden Londons verschlägt, sollte im Tigers Head vorbei schauen. Es ist ein traditioneller britischer Pub mit Ales, Sunday Roast und niedrigen Decken. Zudem gibt es einen großen Garten, man kann also auch draußen sitzen. Deshalb hat man bei gutem Wetter auch bessere Chancen, einen Sitzplatz zu finden. Gerade am Sonntag, wenn es traditionellen Sunday Roast gibt oder zur Curry night am Donnerstag, kann es schon mal voll werden und man wartet eine Zeit auf einen Tisch.
Die Bedienung ist super freundlich und es ist sowieso ungewöhnlich, dass in einem Pub am Tisch bedient wird und man nicht zur Bar laufen muss.
Tigers Head ist barrierefrei, aber es gibt keine barrierefreie Toilette.

Ich kann mich - wenige Wochen nach meinem Aufenthalt dort - schon nicht mehr an das Zimmer erinnern. Es kann also nicht sehr beeindruckend
gewesen sein. Insgesamt fand ich das Hotel irre anonym und unangenehm, zudem völlig überteuert. Ich übernachte oft in Hotels und weiß, dass man auch großen Häusern einen Hauch von Menschlichkeit einhauchen kann. Es gab riesen Schlangen an der Rezeption, Leute drängelten und das Personal war nicht in der Lage, dem ein Ende zu bereiten. Nicht, was man von einem Hotel dieser Kategorie erwartet.
Gut ist der bereits erwähnte Shuttle, der auch zuverlässig fährt. In weniger als 5 Minuten ist man am Flughafen. Es gibt auch einen Linienbus, der nach Frankfurt fährt, hinter dem Hotel.
Das Hotel hat ein (!) barrierefreies Zimmer, was fast immer ausgebucht ist. Der Shuttle ist zwar ein Niederflurbus, aber es gibt keinen Stellplatz für Rollstuhlfahrer.

Oh, what a bad restaurant. Booking was for 5 people and we got a table for 4 in a not even half full restaurant. The food was ok but not great and completely overprized. Service was bad. We were ignored most of the time. I wouldn't go there again.