The Halcyon bikes have been seen as far away as Bristol! We have 2 bikes to rent for guests which has proven a great success. Bath is a wonderful place to explore and many guests have taken the opportunity to take to the saddle to get around this buzzing city. Unsurprisingly they're been seen at Royal Crescent, The Circus and Great Pultney Street but we were a little surprised to learn about the less obvious places our little bikes have visited - up to Lansdown race course (tough hill climb) to see the horses, Bath University to see friends, even PC world to buy a new USB connector apparently! Nothing compares to their epic journey last week to Bristol - it was reported to have been a lovely day out, they enjoyed the riverside cycle path all the way and stopped for cakes and tea halfway...very happy bikes.
So when you are next staying at The Halcyon why don't you hop on and go explore - after all that's why we are here...your launch pad to Bath, PC World and beyond! Remember to book ahead, we wouldn't want to disappoint you.
The Independent
By Lucinda Baring
Saturday, 27 February 2010
In a city where the prevailing décor is chintz and hotels are the most expensive in Britain, a stylish new hotel comes like a breath of fresh air. And when that hotel's rooms start at just £99, that air is decidedly sweet.
The Halcyon, built in 1743, occupies a double-fronted, Grade I-listed Georgian townhouse, constructed in the characteristic honey-coloured Bath stone. It was a rundown B&B called George's Hotel until last year, when a local property developer, Giles Thomas, bought and refurbished it for nearly £3m. This is his first of a series of affordable, boutique city hotels, and he will start looking for a new venture in a year or so, with Oxford, Brighton, Chester and Cheltenham on the list.
Inside, The Halcyon is so new (it opened on 11 February) you can still smell fresh paint. The furnishings and décor follow typical boutique hotel territory, where subtle palettes are offset by bursts of brilliant colour. As a listed building, all the original features have been maintained; the Georgian panelling and cornicing echo the elegance of the façade and give the hotel character and charm beyond its boutique label.
There is just one public room, which serves as the lobby, bar and breakfast room, with the bar doubling up as reception. Here are wooden floorboards and stone-coloured walls contrasted with a black and white striped banquettes and orange leather chairs.
Despite not having a restaurant, the original hotel kitchen was retained and serves a superb and good-value breakfast, with bacon and sausages from the local butcher and nice touches such as a mashed potato patty and black pudding, for £9.99. The bar has a good cocktail list and a licence to serve drinks on the pavement in front of the hotel; summer plans include tables, chairs, awnings and a wicker basket full of blankets and hot water bottles.
The hotel is positioned as a "launch pad" for visiting Bath. To that end, don't plan to spend hours whiling away time there; it is not that kind of hotel. Its 21 rooms are comfortable and equipped with plasma televisions (though not satellite systems or DVD players), but they are small and not the kind where you can spend hours languishing in bed without becoming a little claustrophobic.
Location
The Halcyon is in the city centre, a two-minute walk from Bath Spa train station. Two of the city's major draws – the imposing Gothic abbey with its beautiful fan vaulting, and the Roman Baths, a world heritage site and Britain's only thermal spring – can be found in Abbey Church Yard, a five-minute walk in the opposite direction. Though it is no longer safe to swim in the baths because the water passes through the original Roman lead piping, the Georgian building and museum are well worth a visit. You can go on to bathe in the thermal waters at Thermae Bath Spa on Hot Bath Street. To explore a bit further, borrow a Halcyon bicycle or one of the hotel's MP3 players, which are loaded with a walking tour of Bath and a music playlist.
Comfort
There are three categories of room: standard, deluxe and studio. As they are all on the small side, plump for a studio if you can. Rooms on the first floor are biggest, so ask for one at the front to capitalise on the views; the rooms at the back, though quiet, look on to the back of another row of Georgian houses. It is in the bedrooms that the decorative scheme finds real expression. Velvet headboards and cushions come in one of three dramatic colours – mustard yellow, scarlet or mauve – and have blankets to match, balanced by grey linen trim. The effect is chic but not contrived, and stylish in its simplicity.
Bathrooms are fresh and bright, with Manhattan-style white brick-effect tiles, Philippe Starck fittings and White Company products. Only two of the rooms have baths, and these are small. Other details include jam jars filled with Smarties and gummy bears and black and white photographs of Bath. There is no room service, though there are plans to introduce a breakfast hamper (every room has a kettle for coffee and tea). The four studio rooms also have a tiny "kitchenette", allowing you to prepare a basic meal.
When I visited, The Halcyon was still finding its feet. A corridor was piled high with chairs and staff were trying to find a balance between make coffee and cocktails at the bar while checking in guests. However, occupancy is presently running high, with strong bookings for the coming month.
The Halcyon, 2-3 South Parade, Bath, BA2 4AA (01225 444100; thehalcyon.com )
Rooms x x x x
Value x x x x x
Standard doubles start at £99; deluxe £115 and studio £125, room only.
It was the Bath Half Marathon on Sunday, the hotel was full as usual on a weekend and we had a few guests competing, the weather was fantastic, bright blue sky but cool enough for the competitors not to over heat. You could certainly tell who was who when you look around on Sunday morning at breakfast - there was obviously the competitors and supporter who nibbled on a piece of toast and we had a great group of ladies from Wolverhampton that were staying to celebrate an upcoming wedding who were much more interested in the eggs and bacon, no doubt trying to fight the effects of the night before. We are known to organise massages for our guests at the Thermae Spa or Champneys and there were a few who definitely looked like they needed it.
Everyone was in great spirits and Bath was packed full of people to support all those running, some running to reach personal achievements and others in aid of charities and most with a smile on their face. At the end there was the obligatory sea of silver kitchen foil draped over shoulders and energy drinks being guzzled but for a lucky few they managed to find a table at The Halcyon. There were a few celebratory cocktails, teas, coffees and a few cheeky Sunday beers! They definitely deserved it. So we did our bit for this year (supplying refreshments!).
Next year Hector, the General Manger has challenged me to take part in the Bath Half and we will be raising money for a local charity. We are hoping to get a few others to take part and that means you!...yes that's right, you!...sitting there reading this Blog!!....we will make a donation for every person who wants to join us run the Bath Half next year. So email us at info@thehalcyon.com and join up for the Bath Half 2011. There will drink and refreshments at the hotel after!!
Its been two weeks today and The Halcyon is quietly getting on with its business. After the furore that was the first two weeks, things are much more relaxed and we are all quite accustomed to the steady influx of new arrivals at 2pm every day, the mid afternoon coffee crowd and the early evening gin and tonic takers in the bar.
The staff are great and have years of experience in the hotel industry but as owner this is all quite new. The day to day running is left to the General Manager, Hector and his team of Ann, Jenny, Lucy and Corela - not forgetting the vital role the housekeepers play. I enjoy being at the hotel, as I have said before there is lovely atmosphere created by the friendly staff and guests who are in Bath on a break so in the main are in high spirits equally.
I've chatted to a number of guest from all over and it is real joy to get their feedback. Good or bad it is so helpful to be able to learn what works and what could be approved on. Without chatting to guests and asking them about their experience, how would we have known that the beds were "OMG, just sooo comfy I couldn't get out of bed this morning" (hence the late check out!) or that the floor board in room G3 was squeaking (all fixed now!). I think it is important to talk to our guests from the moment we come in contact, that way we can help get the most out of their visit to Bath - booking restaurants, activities, Bath Spa or just offer them our Halcyon map and MP3 audio tour and let them explore.
We have had some good reviews "The coolest of the hotels in Bath" was how one reviewer put it although he was 12 year old. We have had 5 reviews on Trip Advisor already which I was a little scared about - they have all been great so far which is really fantastic. We will inevitably have a bad one at some stage which I am not looking forward to - I think I will take it quite personally but it will definitely make us stronger and make us strive to do things better. As I said its great to get the feedback.
Five days in and apart from a couple of teething issues we are finding our feet and the hotel in Bath is beginning to take on air of grace and elegance....we have had to battle a little over the past few days but its looking great and the real test is when guests compliment us on the hotel and promise to be back again... all of a sudden the 3 months of hard toil before the opening fades away.
We have had an amazing amount of guests in our opening days - for the first 10 days we are already hitting 81% occupancy which is phenomenal for a new hotel without any photos on the website!...Speaking of photos, we had the photographer in today. He was there all day and took an amazing amount of images which are all stunning and so they should be, his one camera cost £40,000! It means images will be up on the website within a couple of weeks.
So its going well, the staff lead by the GM Hector, are settling in nicely to the routine and systems - as I say there have been a few testing moments like when South West Water carried out work to the pipes in the middle of the road resulting in our water pressure plummeting - a couple of our guests were enjoying an energising shower under the large rain dance style shower heads when the water either stopped or the temperature fell...not helpful South West Water! Its a terrible thing to happen, the guest expects and deserves all these things to be working and it is awful for the staff - they desperately want the guest to have a great stay but in these circumstances there isn't much they can do apart from apologise and find another bathroom for them.
These problems seem to have disappeared - so its all going rather well at The Halcyon...just don't say it too loudly!
