The Peugeot has a very well judged blend of ride and handling and here we take a look at the new 308 model to see if it stands up against some fierce competition

The Peugeot has a very well judged blend of ride and handling, even on models with wide 17-inch wheels.

The steering is taut, it’s capable through corners and feels one of the most mature cars in its class. It’s just not much fun, and the drivetrain needs to be slicker to be genuinely user-friendly; the gearbox is extremely poor, with a vague shift, and the clutch bite is high.

We’d also advise choosing a diesel-engined 308; both 1.6-litre and 2.0-litre HDi units are smooth and torquey, whereas the non-turbo petrol units are gutless.

Even the 1.6-litre 120 (developed with BMW and used in the MINI Cooper) fails to feel alive or even slightly energetic, though it does remain composed and quiet. Much more impressive is the 1.6-litre turbo 150, particularly as it’s also able to officially average 40mpg.

Marketplace: The 308 is an example of evolution, not revolution. It’s virtually identical to its 307 predecessor, and they also share the same floorpan and wheelbase – it’s not an all-new car. it’s a little larger than the 307, but most of the gains have been added to the nose. Peugeot offers the family hatch in three-door and five-door guise, with a line-up of Urban, S, SE, Sport and GT models; there are two different designs for the front and rear, depending on whether the trim is ‘classic’ or ‘sport’. Fierce competition comes from the Ford Focus, Volkswagen Golf, Vauxhall Astra and Honda Civic, while national rivals Citroen and Renault will also deal hard on the C4 and Megane.

Owning: Peugeot concentrated on improving interior quality for the 308 – and it’s been successful. The centre console, white dials and shapely steering wheel give a sense of quality, while the soft-touch plastics are smart. However, rear passenger room is little better than the 307, while the boot sill is very high and the 348-litre load volume disappointing. In order to fold the rear seats, the front chairs have to be slid forward; it’s clear practicality was not at the top of Peugeot’s agenda. However, with the glass roof that’s standard on SE and Sport models, the cabin is beautifully light and airy; the effect is best experienced from the rear. Sadly, the Peugeot’s running costs let it down. It’s expensive, retained values aren’t great and fuel economy of hard-driven petrol engines is poor. At least service intervals are lengthy – up to 20,000 miles between checks.

Read more:
Motoring Review:The Peugeot 308

Where is it? In the centre of Boston’s financial district, a minute’s walk from the almost completed Rose Kennedy Greenway. Some rooms overlook the small Norman B Leventhal Park in Post Office Square next to the hotel.

Room facilities All guestrooms have a double turndown service, extremely fast wired broadband access, costing US$10 for 24 hours, and the signature Langham Blissful Bed. The recently-renovated 147sqm presidential suite on the seventh floor costs US$2,000 per night, but you get to take (legally) home the Langham bathrobes (that normally cost US$90).
The restaurant also has seasonal menus to attract the local market – necessary because Boston has many fine restaurants to tempt guests away from their hotel. From September until June there’s a weekly Chocolate Bar on Saturdays, with fresh fruit, waffles, made-to-order chocolate crepes and 50 desserts.
The restaurant and bar are best reached by taking the lift down to the second floor and following the signs that indicate wheelchair access; otherwise it’s down to the lobby and walking through to the back of the building before ascending back up to the second floor. Another anomaly of the renovation of this former bank.

Business and meeting facilities There is a good choice of meeting rooms and a ballroom, but no business centre. The concierge and reception staff can help with printing, and the hotel shop has a printer.

Verdict Boston has no shortage of five-star hotels, from the Ritz-Carlton and Four Seasons to the new openings of the Westin and Intercontinental. The Langham remains hard to beat, however, for its prime position in the centre of the small but influential financial area and, coincidentally, only a short walk from the new Greenway area that had been cleared as a result of the Big Dig ‘s completion.
Prices for a midweek stay were US$265 for a moderate queen room and US$355 for a deluxe king room.
 

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Hotel Review: Langham Hotel Boston

ROOM FACILITIES: All rooms have tea and coffee-making facilities, air conditioning and TV. Wireless and wired broadband is available in the bedrooms from £15 for 24 hours. Not all rooms have a minibar – some just have fridges, which apparently more and more guests are requesting. I stayed in a deluxe room, which was spacious and comfortable with modern décor and black and white photos of London streets on the walls.

RESTAURANTS AND BARS: Woburn Place Dining Room is set in a beautifully adapted conservatory space at the back of the hotel, with brick walls and white steel girders from the previous outdoor space. The décor is polished wooden floors, plants and dark wooden tables. It is a lovely bright and airy space and has mains from £9.95 (pasta) up to £17.95 (8oz fillet steak) and starters from £5. The bar is off the lobby on the left, furnished with olive and cream chairs and a large plasma-screen TV, which seemed to dominate the proceedings while I was there. It seemed quite a small bar for the size of the hotel, but perhaps it was because it was busy. There was a fireplace and some comfortable sofas too. Breakfast is served in the Mulberry Room downstairs, which was part of the renovations and is a small room with dark wood tables and olive chairs. It was quite busy when I had breakfast. The queue for cereal and toast was too long for me to wait, but the cooked breakfast was tasty, as were the muffins, pastries and fresh fruit juices.

MEETING AND BUSINESS FACILITIES The hotel is ideally placed for meetings with business passengers arriving at Euston and Kings Cross St Pancras stations. The largest space is the Stevenson room, which can take 110 theatre-style, and there is a private breakout area. There are three other rooms but not with daylight. There is no business centre as such but two computers are available next to the Mulberry Room to check email and reception can help with other services. There is wireless internet access on all floors, charged at £35 for 24 hours, £4 for one hour.

LEISURE FACILITIES The gym is a very attractive space, an atrium with Victorian touches and a circular raised platform with the cardiovascular machines. The gym is a Profile Health and Fitness Centre. The personal trainers are degree-qualified or above and can offer full dietary planning with exercises to suit each individual. This is essentially a free body MOT and well worth the effort – relax afterwards in the hotel’s sauna.

VERDICT A well-located hotel, perfect for train travellers and those who want to be in the centre of the action without the noise which goes with it. The restaurant and gym were particularly impressive and really lifted the feel of the old town house.

PRICES Fully flexible internet rate for a midweek stay in mid-April started from £175 room only.

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Hilton London Euston

ROOM FACILITIES My executive room was on the ninth floor, and had one double bed and a pull-out sofa bed. Facilities are standard throughout (executive rooms being larger in size), with air conditioning, safe, minibar, tea and coffee facilities, iron and ironing board, work desk, and a flatscreen TV with complimentary satellite channels, as well as paid-for services such as movies (from £3), music albums (£2) and TV internet (£3 per hour) – a bundle package giving access to all services plus wired internet access costs £17 for 24 hours. There is also a cable connected to the back of the TV which can be plugged into your MP3 player so you can play your own music. Rooms are simply but tastefully decorated in creams and whites, with splashes of red and brown. Bathrooms have separate bath and shower, and are divided from the bedroom by slatted concertina doors.

RESTAURANTS AND BARS Guests can pick from a range of dishes on the menu, and decide to have them as tasters (tapas size), starters, or mains. It sounds gimmicky, but it actually works really well – Elements dishes include Thai green curry, seared duck with green bean salad and fillet of salmon (there is also a menu of "old favourites"). The restaurant also has the new "TV dining" concept – a couple of flatscreen TVs with headphones at single tables, where lone diners can eat and watch terrestrial channels (or CBeebies for the kids). The hotel also has a trendy bar overseen by Leon Hachuel, an enthusiastic manager who has created a wide-ranging cocktail and champagne list – and guests can log on with wifi internet access.

BUSINESS & MEETING FACILITIES There are eight meeting rooms (some of which have sliding partitions, making a total of ten room combinations). Room capacities range from 12 boardroom-style up to 90 theatre-style. Wifi internet access is available in all rooms, along with individually controlled air conditioning, black-out curtains and AV equipment on request.

LEISURE FACILITIES The fitness centre is located in the basement of the hotel. There is an indoor pool, steam room and sauna, and a gym with the latest cardiovascular equipment, including personal TV screens.

VERDICT Novotel has obviously put a lot of thought into its new generation of hotels – the rooms and public areas feel fresh and modern, and little things like the MP3 cables and TV dining concept show that the brand is aware of its increasingly tech-savvy customers. It has also stolen a march on brands like Hilton and Malmaison, which will both be opening upmarket properties in Reading within the next 12 months.

PRICES Fully flexible internet rates for a midweek stay started at £145, room only. 

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Reading’s new Novotel

The advantages are clear. By its very nature an "employed" fleet department is unwieldy and slow to respond, whereas an "implant" is a true specialist with wide experience of its business. Also, because of the level of competition in business travel, the rental company is kept on its toes, concerned about securing contract renewal. The user reduces its costs and improves flexibility, and the rental company increases turnover, customer retention and buying power.

New for the SME Market

Until recently, this integrated approach applied only to large organisations, but now the rental companies are looking to widen their reach and offer arms-length support to small and medium-sized companies. They are also addressing the huge potential in this market with packaged versions of the tailored systems developed for the majors. Even the smallest company renting on a regular basis can make savings in time, money and convenience by signing up for one of these programmes.

Avis
In a recent survey of 13,000 renters, Avis discovered business users require speed, fairness and transparency. These results have driven their latest strategy, which includes refuelling vehicles at 10p below pump prices and ensuring renters only pay for fuel used. Avis has also launched Avis Advance for the business market with reduced rates, inclusive or "own" insurance prices, online booking discounts and loyalty points towards free rentals. Also included is the Avis Preferred Service card which speeds up collection and return with pre-prepared paperwork, priority Avis Preferred counters and cars parked in the most convenient spaces. In major UK airports, Avis Rapid Return is part of the service and allows travellers to process the return in 60 seconds with a final receipt being issued immediately showing mileage and fuel used in one of seven languages.

National
Although now part of Europcar, National is still being marketed separately and offers every form of transport from a motorbike to a 38-tonne "artic". It has a Specialist Vehicle Management Centre with state-of-the-art reservation and fleet-management systems, and provides delivery and collection, and payment by credit card or on account. As a business account customer, its Emerald Club is available free of charge at major airports and London, Marble Arch and the service includes dedicated reservation numbers and desks, and pre-prepared rental agreements.

Europcar
Its Business Travel Options offers preferential prices, reasonably priced delivery and collection, payment options, fully inclusive or "own" insurance pricing, free membership of Ready, the fast-booking service, full management information and discounts from partners. The icing on the cake is an annual cashback incentive scheme in the form of a cheque or rental vouchers. Staff will like the Business Travel Options as it offers them special holiday rental schemes around the world.

Hertz
The Hertz Link gives special rates, £1.50 rebate for every online reservation, a reasonably priced delivery and collection service, and inclusion in Hertz’s #1 Club, which provides fast-track reservation through the Hertz Express Service – just show your licence and credit card, sign and go. The programme also includes Hertz Instant Return and a 5 per cent discount on rentals. You also get two Nectar points for every £1 spent.

Sixt
Its Express Card, issued individually or to a company, stores all the relevant information to reduce paperwork and also offers frequent flyer points with various airlines. Sixt has also developed the Express Terminal but this is currently limited to Manchester in the UK. It is a great free system allowing you to insert your card into the Sixt machine, which prints the rental agreement, with the car keys available from a key safe which can be opened with a Sixt Express card or a credit card.

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Breaking into the big city service