Holiday Inn

Holiday Inn for good poached eggs

Back to work after the early May Bank Holiday and I’m working in leafy Surrey. The toss up between Premier Inn and Holiday Inn was won by the Holiday Inn Guildford which was marginally cheaper than the nearest Premier Inn.

Yesterday, after I’d got my breakfast from the hot buffet, I discovered that you could you could get poached eggs to order so, when I checked in for breakfast this morning, I ordered two poached eggs. They arrived fairly quickly, in their own little bowl. They looked perfect! I carefully transferred them to my plate, without the water that they were sitting in and tucked in. The eggs were the right shape and perfectly cooked, and even better than that, there was fresh black pepper to grind over them!

Pity I didn’t notice the “eggs cooked to order” notice until too late yesterday. I will be staying here again the next time I’m in this part of the country.

Holiday Inn, Reading West

I’ve stayed here a number of times over the last couple of years and, unlike my staple Premier Inns, the breakfast is neither a buffet nor generous!  So, why do I stay here?  The staff, mostly!  

I’ll get straight to the point.  I stayed here for a couple of nights and so had a couple of breakfasts here.  First day, I forgot to ask for the bacon to be cooked how I like it… not nice, and neither was the poached egg (yes, singular!).  The egg was watery and the yolk and white seemed to have had an argument in the pan of water and we’re desperately trying to get away from each other.  Day two, I forgot about the bacon again!  As for the egg, at least the kitchen was consistent…  less watery but still falling apart.  I do like to find something positive to say, though!  At least, on both days, the yolks were nice and runny!

I need to remember next time that I stay here, ask for the bacon well done and see if I can’t have two poached eggs!