Starbucks

I happen to love the Starbucks brand, I enjoy their coffee and their loyalty program
I have the app and I’m disgusted to say I am gold too (yes I drink too much coffee)
I use the app all the time, apart from the free extras you get when you build up loyalty points, it’s just really useful to lay with the app, easy to access from the lock screen using apples wallet
I drop off here eager for my caffeine fix and order my drink, open my app and that’s when the dark clouds come over … Sorry we don’t take the app here as its part of the hotel
GUTTED!!!
They guy obviously saw the joy drain from my face and was very apologetic.
Anyway I got my latte with the 4 shots of coffee in a great big ceramic mug, took a seat and my first sip, lovely… often if you go for ceramic they done pre heat the mug and it cools the coffee down too quickly, not this time it was perfect
Looking around from my comfy leather seat, it’s a very nice place to be, Nicky decorated and plenty of seating options for different sized groups, music playing at a nice background level so you can still have a conversation without the need to raise your voice
The cleanliness however wasn’t the bests l, tables full of crumbs and stirrers, the black floor tiles as lovely as they are just highlights the dirt more, I’m not just talking about footprints from shoes just general dust and crumbs
this could have been my new Starbucks as parking is ample however not taking the Starbucks card has killed it for me

I tend not to go to Starbucks a lot as I seek out smaller coffee shops as a whole, but this one is in the Village Hotel where Velocity gym is so sometimes I relax on a comfy couch after a workout, with a coffee (or something healthy snack wise).
In my experience the staff are very friendly and generally quick to serve you, and always happy to advise you on seasonal drinks or customising your choices.
Due to its location and the good service I am a fan of this branch. Happy post gym treat!

The wife was hoping to meet Christopher Blanchett.
Across from The Beeb there’s a shiny new hotel/​leisure complex thingy.
«Ohh look at that» I smiled. «Time for a quicky?».
«Yeah, ok» she replied.
Kind of surprised I gingerly said «you do mean a Starbucks, don’t you?».
«What else» she came back at me rhetorically. «I might meet Chistopher»
After being greeted by a camp, snappy «barista» with a ‘why wouldn’t you know that?’ attitude (sorry, but I don’t know how else to describe him — Basically, that way some camp people aren’t trying to be rude, buy are) and the guy who couldn’t be bothered making our coffee (who wasn’t camp, but had the ‘I can’t be bothered, ned-​like’ attitude). This turned out to be a pretty good place to bunker down with a large coffee and fruit toast. It has an immensely comfortable ambiance, but I’m not entirely sure we were sitting in Starbucks or the hotel bit. The boundaries are blurred, but I don’t suppose it matters.
Just read the above through and I sound like a real homophobe and a pretty vulgar snob. I suppose this is the time I’m obliged to claim that I have gay friends and I speak about all walks of life the same way. Thankfully though I have no Ned mates. Oh, and we never met Christopher or Catriona Shearer for that matter.