Work trip - no food in hotel!

[Boxingshibes]

I'm way for work for the week. I'm staying in a hotel in the middle of nowhere. It took me 4 hours to get here in v hot trains.
Room and hotel lovely but I went down to the bar/ restaurant and asked about dinner- to be told as they have an event on the kitchen is closed.
They offered me a free drink but apologised and said unfortunately there are no takeaways that deliver.
I'm on a meal allowance. I'm pissed off!
And I'm having to pay £200 for taxis for the. Grr
I'm hot hungry and annoyed. Aibu?

DH has a credit card that is only used for work expenses which he claims back at the end of every month, so he never has to pay out of pocket for long if that makes sense?

The card we use gives us loads of points that we then use for holidays!

For the future can you do something similar?

Exactly - was at do at the weekend in Bucks, so not far out of London really, but the hosts had been at great pains beforehand to point out the single bookable only taxi based at the station and the fact there’s no Uber coverage, or Deliveroo or its like and distinctly patchy mobile network availability. There’s a village shop 3 miles away , run by volunteers, open from 10am to noon. People coordinated beforehand to give lifts to those without car access.

Probably too late now (I assume the event was only for the one night?) but could you contact work and ask for an instant bank transfer of some expenses to cover this?
And obviously leave stinking reviews of the hotel everywhere you can.

It's only one meal - you will survive.

Yes I guess so, a taxi is a lot of you are on limited budget but I guess I was thinking she's saving money not eating in the restaurant and a loaf of bread and some sandwich fillings won't cost much. I'd personally do that and claim cost of taxi back from employer.

I would be complaining at work. For bigger trips they should offer advances

Can you not eat at the mess at the barracks? Most units will have a coffee shop and naffi, or little shop for the staff that work there etc, just to get a few things to tide you over.

You've not read all of OP's posts have you?

It was late at night. She didn't have the cash for a taxi to anywhere. And if she had, the mess would probably be closed anyway.

Probably had to cook her own sausages.

(It’s all about as real as Flowery Twats.)

Well Op hasn’t been back since 11pm last night so maybe not!

Op if you’re still reading this the hotel have behaved appallingly here. They know they’re in the middle of nowhere and failed to let you know the food situation. I would be making a complaint and leaving a review warning other potential guests.

I can’t believe they wouldn’t rustle up a sandwich or even a range or bar snacks.

I always take an emergency Ginsters when I travel - a veggie one like cheese and onion so it doesn’t matter too much if you can’t fridge it. I started doing this after being unexpectedly stuck on a train for hours on end.

Hope you’ve had a lovely big breakfast this morning OP!

Invent time travel

I work away a lot also. Same as you sole earner (single parent) and don't have the luxury of being able to magic money out of thin air. I too have arrived at hotels with a meal allowance added to only find they aren't doing meals that night. I now keep an emergency fork in my laptop bag and pot noodle in the car. Hotels don't care, they only care about the £££. Hope the rest of the week goes well for you.

As others have noted, OP has said she can't afford to pay for a taxi. But, even if she could: getting a taxi to come to you at a poorly connected location with no notice on a Sunday night to drive you three miles to a petrol station, wait for you to buy something then take you back really isn't likely to be easily done. As noted, I grew up and my parents still live in a location a bit like this (small village, poorly connected, no amenities of its own, about 5 miles from a town) and you would never get a taxi to do that there. A frequent problem is that even booked taxis don't show because they don't actually want to do the journey, especially if it doesn't end in the town - there are much easier and more attractive fares.

I'm only here to see if OP got a breakfast.

And to see if she's still alive and not weak and shivering on the bed from hunger.

I think you do learn from bitter experience, don’t you?

. Get a credit card and pay it off every month.

. Eat on the train.

. Take food / snacks with you (any of: emergency instant noodles, biscuits, cheese & crackers, an open-pull tin or jar of whatever, sandwiches, bread, condiment sachets, fruit - I’m a bloody expert these days).

. Take a drink.

. Drive if possible (although I much preferred the train so I could work).

ETA to add: this was working in government!

Not true if you have an illness that means you have to eat , not everybody is the same and a few biscuits / bar of chocolate doesn’t help

Fair enough.

You think every hotel in Wiltshire is within walkable distance of a pub, garage or shop (open on a Sunday evening)?

But...5 miles to the nearest town is... 5 minutes if you drive with 60mph or 10 minutes if you drive with 30mph. I still don't understand how taxi amounts to £200? I pay £100 for airport that is 65 miles away.

No takeaways to my village in southern England, either!

What? I drove to a shopping centre yesterday that is 5 miles from where I live and it took me 20 mins to drive there, and that was with minimal traffic.

Also- taxi prices vary in different locations, and are more in places where there is less taxis available and therefore higher demand. It's not difficult.

Why is everyone trying so hard to somehow prove the OP is wrong about her own situation that she herself is actually in?

Get a delivery from Wiltshire Farm Foods.

Op says she is in remote area, how can it be traffic? Also, taxi does not charge you if is traffic,you are quoted for point a to point b doesen't matter how many traffic light the driver hits!

Yes but if you live somewhere where taxis are scarce, they can charge what they like for that A to B journey!