Hotels that welcome cyclists in the UK
Traveling with your bike is now more popular than ever in the UK with nearly 20% of the population saying that cycling is their preferred form of exercise. The terrain of the UK is well suited to holidaying with a bike and many train and bus operators now run a bike-friendly service making it easier to reach start and finish points on the epic rides such as the John O Groats to Lands End 874 mile challenge and the Coast2Coast routes.
Planning a long cycle road trip requires a bit of planning and unless you are a hardened camper you are going to want the luxury and amenity of a hot shower and warm bed with decent cooked food along the way. The UK now boasts plenty of Bike Friendly Hotels catering for all budgets. Read on for the full guide...
What is a 'Bike Friendly Hotel'?
Bike friendly is a term you often hear banded around but what exactly do we mean when we say this in relation to a hotel?
In simple terms these will be hotels that allow you to bring your bike inside the hotel offering safe and secure bike storage. This may be inside your own hotel bedroom or into a store room. Either way it is not simply having a cycle rack outside the hotel's front door to lock up your bike. In addition the hotel staff are welcoming to cyclists, they understand the needs of a traveling cyclist and may offer a laundry service for your dirty clothing and they often have meal option choices that are tailored to active lifestyles.
If your bike is your main mode of transport for your trip or you simply just want to be able to bring your bike along and use it whilst away from home you are going to need to find a safe and secure place to store your bike and it's associated gear.
Fortunately now in the UK there are plenty of hotels and smaller guest houses that welcome cyclists and offer great free secure storage. Many of the small bike friendly hotels are independently owned but there are also three major UK hotel chains that as standard offer free bike storage making finding the right hotel for both you and your bike to stay in an easy job. In fact between the three main bike friendly hotel chains there are over 1500 hotels to choose from!
The biggest and most popular hotel chain in the UK also happens to be very bike friendly, this is of course Premier Inn, and not to be out done by it's closest rival Travelodge has followed with the exact same offering for cyclists. The third hotel brand is the Best Western Hotel chain, which although not every single hotel is bike friendly, a great many are.
Premier Inn has over 800 hotels in the UK currently, and can be found in every city, large town, airport and most tourist hotspots. They offer excellent value for money accommodation with on-site restaurant facilities and clean comfortable beds in ensuite bedrooms. Every standard Premier Inn hotel allows you to bring your bike into the hotel and store it safely in your own room at no extra charge and make reference to this 'bike friendly policy' on their website. Please note the bike policy does not extend to the Premier Inn hub hotels which due to the smaller rooms cannot accommodate bikes.
Your bike needs to be reasonably clean (ie. not with mud dropping off it!) and you are expected to carefully transport it yourself up to your room and gently place it against the wall without causing damage. The Premier Inn reception staff will be happy to provide disposable wipes to help clean off excessively dirty bikes.
Likewise, Travelodge makes the same offering of free bike storage in your own hotel bedroom at its nearly 600 hotels in the UK. Although they don't publicise the bike friendly policy to the same extent as Premier Inn do you will still find that they are equally accommodating to any cyclist no matter which Travelodge you stay in. Search and book the best deal for your next cycling trip at a Bike Friendly Travelodge.
Planning a long cycle road trip requires a bit of planning and unless you are a hardened camper you are going to want the luxury and amenity of a hot shower and warm bed with decent cooked food along the way. The UK now boasts plenty of Bike Friendly Hotels catering for all budgets. Read on for the full guide...
What is a 'Bike Friendly Hotel'?
Bike friendly is a term you often hear banded around but what exactly do we mean when we say this in relation to a hotel?
In simple terms these will be hotels that allow you to bring your bike inside the hotel offering safe and secure bike storage. This may be inside your own hotel bedroom or into a store room. Either way it is not simply having a cycle rack outside the hotel's front door to lock up your bike. In addition the hotel staff are welcoming to cyclists, they understand the needs of a traveling cyclist and may offer a laundry service for your dirty clothing and they often have meal option choices that are tailored to active lifestyles.
If your bike is your main mode of transport for your trip or you simply just want to be able to bring your bike along and use it whilst away from home you are going to need to find a safe and secure place to store your bike and it's associated gear.
Fortunately now in the UK there are plenty of hotels and smaller guest houses that welcome cyclists and offer great free secure storage. Many of the small bike friendly hotels are independently owned but there are also three major UK hotel chains that as standard offer free bike storage making finding the right hotel for both you and your bike to stay in an easy job. In fact between the three main bike friendly hotel chains there are over 1500 hotels to choose from!
The biggest and most popular hotel chain in the UK also happens to be very bike friendly, this is of course Premier Inn, and not to be out done by it's closest rival Travelodge has followed with the exact same offering for cyclists. The third hotel brand is the Best Western Hotel chain, which although not every single hotel is bike friendly, a great many are.
Premier Inn has over 800 hotels in the UK currently, and can be found in every city, large town, airport and most tourist hotspots. They offer excellent value for money accommodation with on-site restaurant facilities and clean comfortable beds in ensuite bedrooms. Every standard Premier Inn hotel allows you to bring your bike into the hotel and store it safely in your own room at no extra charge and make reference to this 'bike friendly policy' on their website. Please note the bike policy does not extend to the Premier Inn hub hotels which due to the smaller rooms cannot accommodate bikes.
Your bike needs to be reasonably clean (ie. not with mud dropping off it!) and you are expected to carefully transport it yourself up to your room and gently place it against the wall without causing damage. The Premier Inn reception staff will be happy to provide disposable wipes to help clean off excessively dirty bikes.
Likewise, Travelodge makes the same offering of free bike storage in your own hotel bedroom at its nearly 600 hotels in the UK. Although they don't publicise the bike friendly policy to the same extent as Premier Inn do you will still find that they are equally accommodating to any cyclist no matter which Travelodge you stay in. Search and book the best deal for your next cycling trip at a Bike Friendly Travelodge.
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Best Western Hotels in the UK tend to offer more bespoke privately owned hotels that all come under the Best Western umbrella brand and many offer cycle friendly hotel accommodation. Best Western hotels tend not to allow you to bring your bike into your actual hotel room but instead offer secure storage inside the hotel, generally in a ground floor room in the hotel.
You can use this simple map to search for a Bike Friendly Best Western Hotel. |
Bike Friendly Best Western Hotels
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Popular cycle challenges like the C2C (Coast to Coast) from St Bees on the West Cumbrian coast to Robins Hood Bay on the Northumbrian coast, and the Lands End to John O'Groats epic journey of over 1000 miles are perfect trips to make use of the many bike friendly hotels the UK has to offer on route, with many cyclists opting for a mix of camping for some nights in the remote spots interspersed with the hot showers and food only a hotel can offer for when the legs really need a decent rest.
Tips when traveling to a hotel with your bike
- Only book a hotel that you know is bike friendly or that you have pre-agreed with the hotel if they do not generally accept cyclists with bikes.
- Be sensible with the number of bikes you intend to bring into your hotel room. Although hotels do not generally specify a limit on the number of bikes allowed you clearly need to be able to move easily around your room and they must never block fire escape routes.
- Try and book a room on the ground floor of the hotel to avoid having to take your bike either in the lift or up flights of stairs, and to minimise any disruption to other guests moving around the hotel.
- Make sure your bike is reasonably clean. By this we mean not caked in mud and soaking wet, obviously the hotel will not be too pleased if you trail mud and dirt all over their carpets etc!
- Bring a suitable bike lock in case you end up leaving the bike in a room downstairs and you want additional theft protection.
- Some hotels such as Best Western bike friendly hotels offer a 'pack-lunch' service.
- If you need to wash your cycling clothing and the hotel does not offer a laundry service then pack suitable hand washing detergents, then you can wash in your ensuite and a portable washing line (retractable clothes line) will prove invaluable for drying a few items overnight in your bathroom.
- Remember you bring your bike into a hotel at your own risk and it remains your responsibility for the duration of your stay. The hotel will not accept any liability for loss or theft.
- Take some rags/old towel with you so that you can wipe your bike down before you take it into the hotel. Both Premier Inn and Travelodge will often offer free wet-wipes at reception to help you clean a very dirty bike.
- Rather than take your bike into your hotel room some hotels offer a free storage room on the ground floor which might suit you better.
- Be careful of walls and doors inside the hotel to help avoid unnecessary marks and scuffs.
- The tap water in all UK hotels is safe to drink so don't forget to fill up your water bottles before you check-out.
