Lisa in Ottawa
500+ Posts
We arrived at our overnight Ibis LHR with luggage from 4 months stay in Oxford. We had 2 huge suitcases, 2 smaller ones, 2 handholds plus little backpacks. Our plan was to store our luggage at the hotel while we went to Rome for a week. We certainly did not want to be encumbered by the burden and cost of dragging all that stuff to our little apartment.
I was so sure the hotel would store our stuff as we were overnighting there on our return. To our horror, they are no longer allowed to store anything overnight. They site security reasons. Absolutely impossible. OMG, what to do. It was 8pm and we had an early morning flight. Excess baggage at airport would cost us approx $1500 for that period. Unbelievably expensive.
Checking our baggage allowanace with BA was also very costly. We made repeated trips to IBIS storage room to rearrange our stuff so as to get the most our of carry on etc. Still we figured about $600 in excess baggage charges. We didn't need 90% of what was in those bags. Academic books and papers, summer clothes, winter coats etc. We also didn't know how we would carry everthing up to the 3rd floor of our apt in Rome or whether there was even room.
The staff at the hotel were very nice but those were the rules. apparently at all the hotels. We finally gave in and called to book a cab for early morning with # recptionist had given us. As I dialed, I realised this was not an outside number but one within the hotel. Explaining the situation to the dispatch, we would need a rather large car, he said " well why not store Your things here in our office?"What, I couldn't believe my ears. Turns out the cab company while maintaining an office at the hotel is separate and not held to the same rules. Our saviour turned out to be a lovely man in a tiny office behind reached by exiting hotel near bar and reentering via another door. The office is occupied 24/7. He offered to do this w/o charge at our discretion.
So relieved. Moral is always check info first. Decent people are everywhere. Good things do happen unexpectedly etc.
Finally got around to posting this as we end our Rome trip.
I was so sure the hotel would store our stuff as we were overnighting there on our return. To our horror, they are no longer allowed to store anything overnight. They site security reasons. Absolutely impossible. OMG, what to do. It was 8pm and we had an early morning flight. Excess baggage at airport would cost us approx $1500 for that period. Unbelievably expensive.
Checking our baggage allowanace with BA was also very costly. We made repeated trips to IBIS storage room to rearrange our stuff so as to get the most our of carry on etc. Still we figured about $600 in excess baggage charges. We didn't need 90% of what was in those bags. Academic books and papers, summer clothes, winter coats etc. We also didn't know how we would carry everthing up to the 3rd floor of our apt in Rome or whether there was even room.
The staff at the hotel were very nice but those were the rules. apparently at all the hotels. We finally gave in and called to book a cab for early morning with # recptionist had given us. As I dialed, I realised this was not an outside number but one within the hotel. Explaining the situation to the dispatch, we would need a rather large car, he said " well why not store Your things here in our office?"What, I couldn't believe my ears. Turns out the cab company while maintaining an office at the hotel is separate and not held to the same rules. Our saviour turned out to be a lovely man in a tiny office behind reached by exiting hotel near bar and reentering via another door. The office is occupied 24/7. He offered to do this w/o charge at our discretion.
So relieved. Moral is always check info first. Decent people are everywhere. Good things do happen unexpectedly etc.
Finally got around to posting this as we end our Rome trip.
