bilky asko wrote: ↑Sun 02 Aug, 2020 14.54
Wetherspoons staff weren't fired, were they?
Basically, Tim Martin badly delivered a long, rambling speech which was equally badly written (I would suggest whilst either a bit drunk or a bit hungover). At the end of it, he said if any of his staff wanted to go and work for a supermarket for Tesco had mentioned needing many extra staff then they should feel able to do that, and would get first preference to be rehired when Spoons reopened. This was after mentioning the government furlough scheme. The jungle drums of the left then reversioned it as if he had quite literally said 'I'm sacking you, fuck off to Tescos' and that's now become the accepted version of the truth for many people. I'm not claiming that he didn't knowingly drop that line in hoping that a few would resign to save any liability if he had to lay people off, but that is many miles short of what it is commonly claimed he has said. Certainly since reopening the two local Spoons that I frequent have exactly the same staff in them.
TBH, the far greater scandal involving Wetherspoons is the suggestion that they may not have paid their suppliers - some of which will be small Mom & Pop businesses.
Here is what he actually said for you to make your own judgement (the uploader clearly already has made his/hers)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2l9Bk7mAtI&t=1s
dosxuk wrote:Main thing for us (we stay in a lot of both chains) is that Premier Inn's consistency is higher and there are very few with no decent food options available on site. There's plenty of Travelodge's where your only option is to drive to the nearest town or to have a sandwich from the petrol station. For £20 room more you get a nicer room, more comfortable bed and dinner and breakfast options. The better Travelodge's (and there are some very nice ones) are often charging the same price as premier inn anyway.
May be down to location. I usually stay at central locations where the on site offering for food (if any) is not critical. That or if staying out of town I know where better options can be found (such as at Ilminster Travelodge next to the A303 which now has a Burger King, Greggs and 'Sainsbury's on the Go' crammed into a former Little Chef building as the official offering yet there is a brilliant gastropub just 5 minutes walk away which is far better than anything you'd get on site at Premier Inn).
However I don't agree that they all have nicer rooms (will concede new build Premier Inns vs new build Travelodges do as per my previous post but that's not the majority of the estate for either chain - the bulk are pretty much the same apart from aircon), and I don't really see any difference in the bed - I know they're from different suppliers but they're both very comfy and very big - in fact better than many people have in their home.