Info (very long) re Scala House London apartments
Nov 14th, 2005, 03:54 PM
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Info (very long) re Scala House London apartments
For those of you looking for flat rentals in London, I just got back from a week-long stay at Scala-House and thought I would post some additional information about the apartments there. I heartily recommend the place. Some background: I went with my father. Both of us are New York city residents, have been to London several times before and were familiar with city, the Tube and basic bus routes, etc. That said, Scala House was perfect for us.
All the flats are two bedrooms. The second bedroom was quite small - a double-sized bed, a tiny closet, and barely enough room to move around to a desk with a few shallow drawers. I gave my father the master bedroom, which was very large (much larger than I expected for London), with a lot of closet space. We were on the 7th floor and the apartment had lots of light. [Apparently, the two penthouse apartments are double the size of the regular apartments.]
There was one full bath, and a tiny second half-bath with a toilet and itty bitty sink. We were not concerned with the size of the rooms or bathrooms, as we are used to European-style living and indeed, were delighted to find a place with two toilets!! Multiple sets of towels were provided. The apartment was cleaned and serviced once during our stay.
Our flat had a small L-shaped kitchen (don’t know the layouts of the other apartments), including a dishwasher, eating utensils, dishware and cookware plus a washer-dryer (European apartment size, and the kind that washes and dries in the same unit). If you need to do humongous American-sized family loads, this ain't the machine for you, but for us it was, again, perfect.
We ended up not really cooking that much, but I did use the (convection) oven to heat some dinners, and used the microwave to reheat. There was also a toaster, water kettle, iron and ironing board. I hadn’t been to London for years, so I was amazed at the variety and quality of refrigerated and frozen prepared foods sold at every neighborhood Tesco, Sainsbury’s or Marks and Spencer. We are not foodies and weren’t so interested in spending a lot money to eat out (especially ‘cause the American dollar buys so little over there), so we found it better to eat lunches out, then heat something in the kitchen for dinner before we went out in the evening. We also kept breakfast stuff around. Having the kitchen was a huge advantage.
Scala House isn't in a densely residential neighborhood but a couple of blocks behind it is Charlotte Street, a kind of “restaurant row”. None of the places were that cheap (it being London and all
but there were a few signs for Chinese all-you-can eat buffets for around 4 pounds. Have no idea about the quality.
The living/dining area was good-sized, with a dining table and four chairs, a couch and two easy chairs. The TV had the basic five channels: BBC1, BBC2, ITV, Channel4 and I forgot the other one.
For us, the location was divine. We could walk to and from the West End Theaters, Covent Garden, Soho, British Museum and Bloomsbury (just a few blocks away); the Goodge Street tube stop is literally a stone’s throw (one very short block) from Scala House. It is also easy enough to walk down to Oxford Street to Oxford Circus (and Top Shop if you’re going with teen children), and only a bit further to Bond Street, and to Selfridges. (We’re used to walking a lot - and the weather was great, believe it or not). For those who might not want to walk as much, Scala House is a block from Tottenham Court Road, a major bus thoroughfare. Anyone with any other questions about Scala House, feel free to contact me. It was ideal for us and we are already are planning our next stay,
All the flats are two bedrooms. The second bedroom was quite small - a double-sized bed, a tiny closet, and barely enough room to move around to a desk with a few shallow drawers. I gave my father the master bedroom, which was very large (much larger than I expected for London), with a lot of closet space. We were on the 7th floor and the apartment had lots of light. [Apparently, the two penthouse apartments are double the size of the regular apartments.]
There was one full bath, and a tiny second half-bath with a toilet and itty bitty sink. We were not concerned with the size of the rooms or bathrooms, as we are used to European-style living and indeed, were delighted to find a place with two toilets!! Multiple sets of towels were provided. The apartment was cleaned and serviced once during our stay.
Our flat had a small L-shaped kitchen (don’t know the layouts of the other apartments), including a dishwasher, eating utensils, dishware and cookware plus a washer-dryer (European apartment size, and the kind that washes and dries in the same unit). If you need to do humongous American-sized family loads, this ain't the machine for you, but for us it was, again, perfect.
We ended up not really cooking that much, but I did use the (convection) oven to heat some dinners, and used the microwave to reheat. There was also a toaster, water kettle, iron and ironing board. I hadn’t been to London for years, so I was amazed at the variety and quality of refrigerated and frozen prepared foods sold at every neighborhood Tesco, Sainsbury’s or Marks and Spencer. We are not foodies and weren’t so interested in spending a lot money to eat out (especially ‘cause the American dollar buys so little over there), so we found it better to eat lunches out, then heat something in the kitchen for dinner before we went out in the evening. We also kept breakfast stuff around. Having the kitchen was a huge advantage.
Scala House isn't in a densely residential neighborhood but a couple of blocks behind it is Charlotte Street, a kind of “restaurant row”. None of the places were that cheap (it being London and all
but there were a few signs for Chinese all-you-can eat buffets for around 4 pounds. Have no idea about the quality. The living/dining area was good-sized, with a dining table and four chairs, a couch and two easy chairs. The TV had the basic five channels: BBC1, BBC2, ITV, Channel4 and I forgot the other one.
For us, the location was divine. We could walk to and from the West End Theaters, Covent Garden, Soho, British Museum and Bloomsbury (just a few blocks away); the Goodge Street tube stop is literally a stone’s throw (one very short block) from Scala House. It is also easy enough to walk down to Oxford Street to Oxford Circus (and Top Shop if you’re going with teen children), and only a bit further to Bond Street, and to Selfridges. (We’re used to walking a lot - and the weather was great, believe it or not). For those who might not want to walk as much, Scala House is a block from Tottenham Court Road, a major bus thoroughfare. Anyone with any other questions about Scala House, feel free to contact me. It was ideal for us and we are already are planning our next stay,
Nov 14th, 2005, 04:34 PM
#3
budzilla: Scala House is recommended on here a lot, and having your detailed description is a great addition.
cmfong: Check the website - it lists detailed price lists. http://www.scala-house.co.uk/
Basically depending on time of year and "altitude" of the specific flat rents run from £665 - £1225 per week or £130 - £200 per night for shorter visits.
cmfong: Check the website - it lists detailed price lists. http://www.scala-house.co.uk/
Basically depending on time of year and "altitude" of the specific flat rents run from £665 - £1225 per week or £130 - £200 per night for shorter visits.
Nov 14th, 2005, 06:45 PM
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I just wanted to add one caveat. I guess I was hesitant to put it in my initial report because I didn't want to diminish how satisfied we were but....if you are used to or want luxury, or want to be in an elegant neighborhood with a fabulous view, or a lot of amenities, Scala House is not appropriate. For instance, there is no wireless access yet, no radios or alarm clocks supplied, little stuff like than....The furnishings are not stylish, the mattresses not especially firm, the towels not especially fluffy. But if you want a spacious central London holiday rental, with many of the comforts of your own home, friendly and helpful owners/staff at a mid-range price, you would be hard-pressed to find anything better than Scala House.
Nov 14th, 2005, 07:11 PM
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I just wanted to inject another opinion on the Scala house. Stayed one week a few years ago and hated it. Nice people, decent location, reasonable kitchen, and living room. Awful hot water availability if more than one person wants to take a bath/shower within the same hour, awful mattress on platform beds, lots of broken appliances, closet doors etc. A typical dormitory is nicer than this place and I have stayed at better Motel 6's. I know many on this board like this place but we would never stay there again.
