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Iain Mackinnon

Iain Mackinnon

28 Jan 2011 | 08:57

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I was eight when I first came down to London. Naturally we saw all the sights: the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, etc. And just as naturally on the way home to Yorkshire my parents asked what we’d liked best. My sister and I were in no doubt at all: it was the flip-down seats in the taxis.

So it is with my recent study trip to Berlin. We all asked earnest questions, and on behalf of the group I drafted a report which has gone to the EU outpost that sponsored us. (It seems to be one of the inescapable facts of life that, in multi-lingual groups, if the report is to be in English, the Brit gets to write it!)

I loved the visit and learned a great deal: about projects for disaffected young people; about Berlin; about the rest of my group and their circumstances; but one of the stories I will tell as much as any other is about my hotel arrangements. Our host recommended that we all stay in an Etap hotel, the most modest link in the superb French Accor chain at just €52 a night. (This is Euro taxpayers’ money: be pleased at our frugality!)

It was a well-located hotel that served us well, but at such budget prices you don’t get frills. So I was a bit surprised to get a follow-up email after I booked, offering me a range of further opportunities to spend money. “Hotel chain sells car hire” is hardly news, but Etap went much further, offering me the chance to buy tickets for a walking tour of Berlin, a river tour and a show. No doubt the hotel takes a percentage.

I see in that a great example of a company managing its budget very tightly, yet still looking imaginatively for new ways to add value. Tight belts maybe, but expansive minds.
 
 

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