MIxed Reviews

When you book a big trip like Justin and I did, make sure you do your homework. I researched our hotel in London weeks before I booked it. The reviews were mixed and, as we found out, with good reason. It was in a cool area of town. Everything was in walking distance, including the BEST falafal I have EVER had. It was so good, we had it two nights in a row. So freaking good! Did I mention it was the best I've ever had?

The hotel offered free breakfast which was a bonus since our dollar was so weak there; we needed something free. And the room was adequate and cleaned almost daily. And we had a trouser press in the room. How British! I don't think we brought trousers but that didn't stop Justin from using it.

Now for the bad reviews. The room was VERY small but we didn't care because we were celebrating my 30th birthday all week in London...not in a small hotel room. With all the luggage we had, there just wasn't enough room. The room was cleaned for the most part. Sometimes the trash wasn't taken out or the bed made but we thought, "This is London. Maybe they do things differently over here. Lets go get falafal!"

Early one morning we got up to catch the Eurostar train to Paris. Looking back, I'm glad we got up at 6am because right before we left all dressed up for our big day in Paris, we started to hear something. We knew immediately what that sound was. Then it became obvious when we could see our bed hitting the wall...without us in it. Justin was impressed with our neighbors. I was impressed with our luck; us leaving that morning. I think they were French because they smoked all the time in their non-smoking room. I threatened to call the front desk but I didn't want a wake up call from them again in the morning, so I gave up.

Phone charges are killer at this hotel or again, our dollar just sucks. Make sure to ask about premium phone numbers (aka 1-900 numbers, but we didn't call one of those numbers. It was the BBC, I don't think they are that skanky.) One call cost us $30. I'm NOT kidding. Justin limited our cell phone time due to $1/min charges. Looking back, that wasn't smart. It would have been cheaper to use the cell phone. Live and learn and pay the $60 phone bill. Grrrr

Besides all those silly little problems, we enjoyed our trip to London. I'd recommend this hotel even if there are French there.