London apt advice needed

Old Feb 7th, 2009, 06:21 PM
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London apt advice needed

Am travelling to London with husband and teen daughter for 1 week in April. We have decided that an apt will be best for our needs and are narrowing options. I am having trouble figuring out best location (want to maximize convenience for sightseeing). Here are the choices so far:

Chelsea Kensington
Knightsbridge/Hyde Park
S. Kensington
Pimlico Mews area
102 George St.

Any thoughts on these?? Prices are relatively comparable ($200-$300/nt).


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Old Feb 7th, 2009, 09:04 PM
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There is no Pimlico Mews that I know of. Are you sure you aren't talking about a mews house located in Pimlico. Do you have and ad for a "Pimlico mews house" or something like that. Pimlico is a nice area but it stretches from near Victoria station to the river and from Tate Britain to Chelsea. The actual street name would be useful . . . .

Chelsea/Kensington covers a big area -- and a lot of owners claim their flats in Earls Court are in Kensington/Chelsea. What street is the flat in?

South Kens is generally quite convenient since it stretches along the Piccadilly tube line.

George Street is a pretty common name in London - there are several - at least two in central London. What is the post code so we know which George St you mean.

Knightsbridge/Hyde Park is generally a very posh/upscale area.
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Old Feb 13th, 2009, 06:30 AM
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Thanks and please accept apologies for my earlier post - I was trying to be polite, thinking I wouldn't ask people to follow hyperlinks, but wound up being merely annoying - sorry!
Here are 5 apartments I am considering, with the location info I have available:
http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p410052 location???
http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p413882 - think it is in Postal Code SW1 – location???
http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/Eng...ndon/p1424.htm – Elgin Crescent, near Portobello, Kensington W11,
http://www.vrbo.com/194622 - near Gloucester Road Tube
http://www.vrbo.com/139002 - Egerton Gardens, Knightsbridge, SW3



These vary in size/price, but location is really important to us. I know we will be travelling all over the city to do typical tourist things but it would be great to be in a location that is convenient, lively (restaurants, etc) and safe. For example, I prefer Upper East/Upper West NYC to the financial or theater districts. Any thoughts??

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Old Feb 13th, 2009, 08:42 AM
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Gloucester Road is on both the Picadilly (bifurcates central London) and Circle lines (this centers around central London), so this would be a pretty good location. As someone earlier said, Knightsbridge is very posh and expensive, but maybe that's what your looking for. This is where Harrod's and many of the high-end shopping stores are, but it is quite proximate to everything too. (also on the Picadilly line)

The Marlyebone apartment is gorgeous too though! But it's maybe not in the most happening area. My friend worked off Baker Street, and when I went to visit him, it seemed very business'y to me.

I've stayed in Notting Hill before, and it was just fine (regarding the Elgin Crescent apt), however, it's also close to Bayswater where I've stayed and wouldn't choose to do so again. Not the nicest part of London, IMO, but perhaps the Holland Park actually is nice.

I guess the long and short of it is that all of these are pretty central to everything in London. And being that most of them are on/near the Circle and Picadilly tube lines, you would be able to reach most everything from any of them.

Good luck!
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Old Feb 13th, 2009, 08:54 AM
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I haven't looked at the exact location of your apartments but thought I'd add some general comments.

S. Kensington is very convenient for the tube and has lots of amenities while maintaining a fairly upscale neighbourhood feel.
Knightsbridge is more upscale yet.
Some parts of Chelsea would be good to stay in but it can be less convenient to major sights.
Marylebone proper is actually a very nice neighbourhood with lots of restaurants and shops.

I prefer S. Kensington which was confirmed by my latest trip (got back Monday) when I stayed on Park Lane in Mayfair. Next time I'll go back to S. Ken.

I like being on the Piccadilly tube line best. Knightsbridge would be my second choice - I actually normally stay right on the border of S. Ken/Knightsbridge. I like Marylebone very much but for me the tube lines it's close to aren't the most convenient.
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Old Feb 13th, 2009, 08:57 AM
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I don't know exactly where the Pimlico Mews house is but there aren't that many mews in the area so I have a few ideas. But in any case - I really like these types of properties since they are usually very quiet. Mews aren't through streets so there is little or no traffic.

Elgin Crescent is a bit out for my liking but is a nice area. You'd be closest to the Ladbroke Grove tube station on Hammersmith & City so not that convenient. It would be a bit of a hike (but not too bad) to Notting Hill Gate station w/ its 3 lines, and you'd be close to Portobello Rd Market.

The "Gloucester Rd" flat is actually in Earl's Court (note the EC tube station is a 2 min walk). Not terrible of course, just not my favorite area.

The Egerton Gdns flat is actually closer to the V&A than it is to Harrods (and closer to the South Kens tube station than to Knightsbridge). This is a terrific area for access and walking to some sites.

George St would be an okay-ish walk to Marble Arch and a fair hike to Baker Street or Bond Street tube stations. Seems really central - but isn't really all that convenient.

Of all the flats I'd personally choose 1) the mews (mainly because I like Mews houses) or 2) Egerton Gardens
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Old Feb 13th, 2009, 09:43 AM
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Yes, I like the mews house too. It looks quite large for a mews house. Though Pimlico, in general, isn't close to a Tube station. It would be nice to know its actual address or complete postal code.

The Knightsbridge location looks small for 3 people.

I notice several of your options have dryers in addition to washers. I wonder if they're really combination washer-dryers, which are not as good as having the 2 separate.

It would be fun to have your own little house in the middle of London.
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Old Feb 13th, 2009, 09:52 AM
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some of Pimlico is quite close to Victoria Station and some is centered around the Pimlico station. One mews I know of is just off Hugh St (it may be called Hugh Mews but not sure) which is about 2 minutes fro Victoria. I think there are some mews off/near Elizabeth street which is close to Victoria and not far from Sloane Square.

So if you could get the actual address of the news house we could pin point it for you.
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Old Feb 13th, 2009, 07:00 PM
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Thanks- this is very helpful - and i liek teh mews house, too. I have an email out and will post back with address ASAP.
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