Hi All,
So, as I said earlier, Jo and I have arrived safely in London, but it wasn’t a “smooth” transition. We took the Picadily line from Heathrow to Paddington Station and crawled up the stairs and down the street to Cravin Hill to the Hyde Park Premier London Hotel. We were promptly informed that there was “a problem.”
The staff explained how there was a problem with the electrics in the rooms and we would not be able to stay there that night. They offered another location and said they would get a taxi and cover all expenses for us. The problem was that it was way out in Zone 4 and our Oyster passes for the tube only cover Zones 1 and 2. We explained this and said that this solution was not acceptable for us.
They then put us up in the Comfort Inn Kensington and it was definitely closer, but a bit of a step down on the quality side. The deal was that would we stay there for two nights, after which the problem was to be sorted and we could return to the other hotel.
During our time at the other hotel we managed to get out to see the Tower of London and St. Paul’s Cathedral. Both were very interesting and visually stunning.
Yesterday we switched hotels and found something interesting. While the look and style of the Hyde Park location were supperior, the functionality of it was lacking. There was a towel rack in the bathroom that warmed the towels… the problem though is that it is extremely hot and burns at the touch. There is no way to turn it off and it is hard to avoid bumping into! Not cool! Also, the lights don’t work unless you slide you keycard into a special slot by the door. Never seen that before anywhere. There was a fridge provided, but it didn’t cool worth a darn and it produced a ton of heat for your trouble! I ended up unplugging it. The air conditioner didn’t go below 18 degrees, which really ended up heating the room rather than cooling it! Sigh. We liked the cheaper location better! 😉
Anyways, we are now living at our friend Kim’s place in Chealsea near Sloane Square Station. It is a very nice neighborhood and the flat is very nice.
Alright, that’s enough for tonight. Using borrowed time on Kim’s flatmates lappy so this will have to do for now.
Cheers!