Countrymouse Bloomsbury Trip Report
Jul 18th, 2004, 09:11 AM
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Countrymouse Bloomsbury Trip Report
Hi All
Just returned from our London trip and thought I'd let you know how we got on.
Many thanks by the way to all who replied to my Bloomsbury restaurant posting last week, very useful info.
We stayed at the Holiday Inn Bloomsbury on a special rate found in the UK national sunday press. Very satisfactory for the money ( £94 per room B+B). The Hotel is very well situated just around the corner from Russell Square tube and with lots of buses going down Woburn street towards Aldwych and the theatre district.
It appears to have been refurbished recently and although the room was quite small it was nicely decorated and very clean and quiet. The bathroom was a bit of a laugh as I had to wait until my husband climbed into the shower before I cound enter the bathroom to clean my teeth it was so small. However you get what you pay for and it was adequate for our needs.For another £39 (we found out later) we could have upgraded to a business class room which would have been larger and had quite a few 'freebies' included.
An advantage to driving travellers is that there is a car park directly beneath the Hotel with access by lift (elevator) to the hotel reception which was very handy when it rained, and the daily rate (£15 per day) is reasonable by London standards. It is within the congestion zone so you have to budget for £5 per day each time you enter the zone, but we just parked the car for the duration and used public transport so we only paid £5 for the weekend.
The dining room is pleasantly decorated and the buffet style breakfast very good with plenty of choice of hot and cold dishes and of course you could eat as much as you wished. The staff were all helpful and cheerful.
There is a pub and restaurant on the premises and it is just accross the road from another pub which was extremely cheap by London standards.
On friday evening we went to a Greek restaurant just around the corner from Coram Street (where the hotel is situated ) in Woburn Street I think it was called Yaisou or something similar but I wouldnt recommend it as the food was nondecript and rather overpriced for what you got.
The next day we bought a daily rover ticket at Russell Square tube for £4.60 which enabled us to travel by tube bus or train within zones 1+2 for 24 hours. This was very good value as we covered quite a distance in the one day quite easily, going to Oxford Street (Russell Sq to Holborn on Picadilly line then change to Central line to Bond Street)Then from Oxford St to Hammersmith and back again. Later we took the picadilly line direct to Harrods in Knightsbridge where we got many bargains as the July sales were on. In the UK the main sale times are July and January.
In the evening we took the Picadilly again two stops from Russell Square to Covent garden where we found a lovely restaurant called Christophers, almost opposite the Lyceum theatre where we had a very good pre theatre meal. There is a choice of four starters, main courses and desserts for £12.75 for two courses or £16.75 for three, however you have two budget for the small print on the bottom of the menu which says that there is a £1 per person cover charge and a further 12 1/2 % service charge added to the bill. Having said that it was a delicious meal and the restaurant itself is clean quiet and elegant and overlooks the Lyceum so you cant get any closer if you want to go to see the Lion King.
The Lion King was excellent and the ingenious costumes were a miracle of engineering. We booked our seats over the internet from www.londontheatrebookings.com and they were exremely good and there is feature availble on the sight were you can view and print off the layout of the seating plan so you can check the seats out before you book. However it must be one of the most expensive shows to see in London as there are never any discounted tickets available. We paid £57 per person for J14,15,16,17 in the stalls which were very good seats as they werent too close to the stage but right in the middle of the row so we all had a good view of the stage. The show is inveriably a sellout so I suggeat you book in advance. Ticket touts operate outside the theatre but the tickets they sell are very overpriced, highly illegal and sometimes even forgeries so I wouldn't recomend buying from them. We all enjoyed the performance, but I must admit we enjoyed much more the Ben Elton show Tonight's the Night at Victoria which we saw in January for which we paid £25 per person on the day of the performance from one of the ticket booths in Leicester Square. If you have children though, they will love the Lion King.
We returned to the hotel by tube again which is only a short walk from the theatre and had a very good nights sleep, which must say something about the comfort of the beds as I am usually a very poor sleeper in hotels.
On sunday morning we left and were impressed that we drove to the start of the M1 motorway in under 20 minutes, which any one who has driven in London will tell you is very quick. At most of the central London Hotels you can count on taking at least an hour to reach the motorway.
Anyway I hope you found this report helpful and informative and if you do visit London in the near future please remember the golden rules, always wear comfortable shoes have frequent 'water' stops, dont try to do too much in the one day, and pick up a good free map from either the tube stations or mainline stations information kiosks.
Have a great time
Countrymouse
Just returned from our London trip and thought I'd let you know how we got on.
Many thanks by the way to all who replied to my Bloomsbury restaurant posting last week, very useful info.
We stayed at the Holiday Inn Bloomsbury on a special rate found in the UK national sunday press. Very satisfactory for the money ( £94 per room B+B). The Hotel is very well situated just around the corner from Russell Square tube and with lots of buses going down Woburn street towards Aldwych and the theatre district.
It appears to have been refurbished recently and although the room was quite small it was nicely decorated and very clean and quiet. The bathroom was a bit of a laugh as I had to wait until my husband climbed into the shower before I cound enter the bathroom to clean my teeth it was so small. However you get what you pay for and it was adequate for our needs.For another £39 (we found out later) we could have upgraded to a business class room which would have been larger and had quite a few 'freebies' included.
An advantage to driving travellers is that there is a car park directly beneath the Hotel with access by lift (elevator) to the hotel reception which was very handy when it rained, and the daily rate (£15 per day) is reasonable by London standards. It is within the congestion zone so you have to budget for £5 per day each time you enter the zone, but we just parked the car for the duration and used public transport so we only paid £5 for the weekend.
The dining room is pleasantly decorated and the buffet style breakfast very good with plenty of choice of hot and cold dishes and of course you could eat as much as you wished. The staff were all helpful and cheerful.
There is a pub and restaurant on the premises and it is just accross the road from another pub which was extremely cheap by London standards.
On friday evening we went to a Greek restaurant just around the corner from Coram Street (where the hotel is situated ) in Woburn Street I think it was called Yaisou or something similar but I wouldnt recommend it as the food was nondecript and rather overpriced for what you got.
The next day we bought a daily rover ticket at Russell Square tube for £4.60 which enabled us to travel by tube bus or train within zones 1+2 for 24 hours. This was very good value as we covered quite a distance in the one day quite easily, going to Oxford Street (Russell Sq to Holborn on Picadilly line then change to Central line to Bond Street)Then from Oxford St to Hammersmith and back again. Later we took the picadilly line direct to Harrods in Knightsbridge where we got many bargains as the July sales were on. In the UK the main sale times are July and January.
In the evening we took the Picadilly again two stops from Russell Square to Covent garden where we found a lovely restaurant called Christophers, almost opposite the Lyceum theatre where we had a very good pre theatre meal. There is a choice of four starters, main courses and desserts for £12.75 for two courses or £16.75 for three, however you have two budget for the small print on the bottom of the menu which says that there is a £1 per person cover charge and a further 12 1/2 % service charge added to the bill. Having said that it was a delicious meal and the restaurant itself is clean quiet and elegant and overlooks the Lyceum so you cant get any closer if you want to go to see the Lion King.
The Lion King was excellent and the ingenious costumes were a miracle of engineering. We booked our seats over the internet from www.londontheatrebookings.com and they were exremely good and there is feature availble on the sight were you can view and print off the layout of the seating plan so you can check the seats out before you book. However it must be one of the most expensive shows to see in London as there are never any discounted tickets available. We paid £57 per person for J14,15,16,17 in the stalls which were very good seats as they werent too close to the stage but right in the middle of the row so we all had a good view of the stage. The show is inveriably a sellout so I suggeat you book in advance. Ticket touts operate outside the theatre but the tickets they sell are very overpriced, highly illegal and sometimes even forgeries so I wouldn't recomend buying from them. We all enjoyed the performance, but I must admit we enjoyed much more the Ben Elton show Tonight's the Night at Victoria which we saw in January for which we paid £25 per person on the day of the performance from one of the ticket booths in Leicester Square. If you have children though, they will love the Lion King.
We returned to the hotel by tube again which is only a short walk from the theatre and had a very good nights sleep, which must say something about the comfort of the beds as I am usually a very poor sleeper in hotels.
On sunday morning we left and were impressed that we drove to the start of the M1 motorway in under 20 minutes, which any one who has driven in London will tell you is very quick. At most of the central London Hotels you can count on taking at least an hour to reach the motorway.
Anyway I hope you found this report helpful and informative and if you do visit London in the near future please remember the golden rules, always wear comfortable shoes have frequent 'water' stops, dont try to do too much in the one day, and pick up a good free map from either the tube stations or mainline stations information kiosks.
Have a great time
Countrymouse
Jul 18th, 2004, 09:44 AM
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Agreed. Good trip report. I am a very big fan of Holiday Inn's worldwide (I'm a Gold club member, and you get little perks if you upgrade, like free internet use, or free movie, expedited check-in and the like). Excellent value for the money. No it's not part of the Great Hotels of the World chain, but one can pay a whole lot more money for an allegedly more prestigious hotel, and get a LOT less than one expected or paid for. Haven't been to a H-Inn in London, but will do in the future.
And your point about the 4.60GBP tube/train/bus ticket is an excellent one. When you consider that any single trip on the Tube is 2GBP, and doing just one return ticket is then 4GBP, then the one day pass for Zones 1 and 2 is really the only choice to make.
And your point about the 4.60GBP tube/train/bus ticket is an excellent one. When you consider that any single trip on the Tube is 2GBP, and doing just one return ticket is then 4GBP, then the one day pass for Zones 1 and 2 is really the only choice to make.
Jul 19th, 2004, 02:09 PM
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Dear Elaine
We paid £94 (british pounds) per room per night which included the breakfast. Todays rate is 1.76 dollars to the pound in the UK if that's any help.
By the way we could have had a rover ticket for £6.80 which would have lasted for the weekend, but as we were going home on sunday morning we didn't bother. We could also have bought a bus only rover ticket from machines at bus stops for £2.50 per day, which if you dont like travelling underground and aren't in a hurry is also a good deal. You can also get a free map from mainline stations which shows all the numbers of the bus routes as well as the tube stations which are very useful in getting around. We asked at the hotel reception and were given another very good free map which was quite large print, which if you have poor eyesight is a must as some of the maps available are so small and don't have enough detail such as one way streets etc, which if you are driving can be essential.
By the way we went to have a look at Belgo Centraal as we were interested in the 'beat the clock' specials but two of our party dont like mussels or sausages so we couldnt all get excited about the set menu included in the offer, but if you like mussels it was a very good deal.
Usually when I accompany my husband on business trips we stay south of the river at the Mad Hatter Hotel which is a very traditional B+B with all the rooms being above a real English Pub. The rooms are spacious and clean but you MUST ask for a quiet room in advance as it is on a busy corner between Blackfriars Road and Stamford Street and can be very noisy if you get a room overlooking the road. The English breakfast is included in the price ( about £98 to £110 per night) and is one of the best in London. It is all cooked freshly as ordered, not a buffet , and there is a choice of kippers as well as the traditional Engish ,and there are help yourself cereals fruit and continental breakfast included in the price. The only drawback is that you have to go through the bar to get to the restaurant. The 'pub grub' at lunch time and in the evening is very good too with home made steak and kidney pie being a favourite and more 'exotic' dishes of the day for the more adventurous. It is a proper 'working' pub used by the locals and is very close to Waterloo station and Soutwark tube station (jubilee line). There is a bus stop just around the corner which has buses which go accross Blackfriars bridge and on to Kings Cross station. It is also close to the London Eye, National theatre, Globe theatre and the OXO tower. Definately worth a try if you want to stay in the 'real' London but be able to get to the centre easily. By the way trains from Waterloo go direct to Hampton Court and if you have a rover ticket tell the ticket office when you book your Hampton court ticket and you will get a cheaper ticket as they take into account that youve already paid for zones 1+2. If you also plan on going to the tower of London ask for a combined ticket which gives you entrance to Hampton Court too and you will save a couple of pounds.
It is also easy to get by tube to Victoria where you can see Tonight's the Night and Bombay Dreams (another very enjoyable show).
Hope you find this useful
Ta Ta for now
Countrymouse
We paid £94 (british pounds) per room per night which included the breakfast. Todays rate is 1.76 dollars to the pound in the UK if that's any help.
By the way we could have had a rover ticket for £6.80 which would have lasted for the weekend, but as we were going home on sunday morning we didn't bother. We could also have bought a bus only rover ticket from machines at bus stops for £2.50 per day, which if you dont like travelling underground and aren't in a hurry is also a good deal. You can also get a free map from mainline stations which shows all the numbers of the bus routes as well as the tube stations which are very useful in getting around. We asked at the hotel reception and were given another very good free map which was quite large print, which if you have poor eyesight is a must as some of the maps available are so small and don't have enough detail such as one way streets etc, which if you are driving can be essential.
By the way we went to have a look at Belgo Centraal as we were interested in the 'beat the clock' specials but two of our party dont like mussels or sausages so we couldnt all get excited about the set menu included in the offer, but if you like mussels it was a very good deal.
Usually when I accompany my husband on business trips we stay south of the river at the Mad Hatter Hotel which is a very traditional B+B with all the rooms being above a real English Pub. The rooms are spacious and clean but you MUST ask for a quiet room in advance as it is on a busy corner between Blackfriars Road and Stamford Street and can be very noisy if you get a room overlooking the road. The English breakfast is included in the price ( about £98 to £110 per night) and is one of the best in London. It is all cooked freshly as ordered, not a buffet , and there is a choice of kippers as well as the traditional Engish ,and there are help yourself cereals fruit and continental breakfast included in the price. The only drawback is that you have to go through the bar to get to the restaurant. The 'pub grub' at lunch time and in the evening is very good too with home made steak and kidney pie being a favourite and more 'exotic' dishes of the day for the more adventurous. It is a proper 'working' pub used by the locals and is very close to Waterloo station and Soutwark tube station (jubilee line). There is a bus stop just around the corner which has buses which go accross Blackfriars bridge and on to Kings Cross station. It is also close to the London Eye, National theatre, Globe theatre and the OXO tower. Definately worth a try if you want to stay in the 'real' London but be able to get to the centre easily. By the way trains from Waterloo go direct to Hampton Court and if you have a rover ticket tell the ticket office when you book your Hampton court ticket and you will get a cheaper ticket as they take into account that youve already paid for zones 1+2. If you also plan on going to the tower of London ask for a combined ticket which gives you entrance to Hampton Court too and you will save a couple of pounds.
It is also easy to get by tube to Victoria where you can see Tonight's the Night and Bombay Dreams (another very enjoyable show).
Hope you find this useful
Ta Ta for now
Countrymouse
Jul 19th, 2004, 02:30 PM
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Apologies folks I really should spell check the postings!
I mean Southwark tube and traditional English.
The British education system is rather good , really !
Its just that it's a trifle late and me old mince pies, (a bit of local colour there you understand, cockney rhyming slang for eyes!)are a bit tired.
yours wearily
Countrymouse
I mean Southwark tube and traditional English.
The British education system is rather good , really !
Its just that it's a trifle late and me old mince pies, (a bit of local colour there you understand, cockney rhyming slang for eyes!)are a bit tired.
yours wearily
Countrymouse
Jul 19th, 2004, 11:32 PM
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Hi Cigalechanta.
What a small world we live in. The Everyman was one of my favourite haunts when I lived up there. I was a member of the Merseyside youth theatre and 'trod the boards' myself for a while until my parents persuaded me that there was no future in it and I'd starve in an attic if I pursued it as a career, so I became a civil servant. Who knows what would have happened if I'd continued, Hollywood,or maybe the Royal Shakespeare! Anyway I'm a great beliver in things are meant to be and if I hadn't chosen the path I did I wouldn't have met my lovely husband or had my wonderful son, and between you and me I probably would have starved!
Cooer how I do ramble on, its the thesbian in me I suppose. Anyway I'm glad you liked the report. Where is your favourite destination?
Bye Countrymouse.
What a small world we live in. The Everyman was one of my favourite haunts when I lived up there. I was a member of the Merseyside youth theatre and 'trod the boards' myself for a while until my parents persuaded me that there was no future in it and I'd starve in an attic if I pursued it as a career, so I became a civil servant. Who knows what would have happened if I'd continued, Hollywood,or maybe the Royal Shakespeare! Anyway I'm a great beliver in things are meant to be and if I hadn't chosen the path I did I wouldn't have met my lovely husband or had my wonderful son, and between you and me I probably would have starved!
Cooer how I do ramble on, its the thesbian in me I suppose. Anyway I'm glad you liked the report. Where is your favourite destination?
Bye Countrymouse.
Jul 20th, 2004, 05:02 AM
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Thesbian? That would be a lesbian thespian, I suppose?
Countrymouse, unless London Transport has recently changed the name of their Day Travelcards and Weekend Travelcards, you are in danger of confusing novice travellers with your discussion of rover tickets.
Countrymouse, unless London Transport has recently changed the name of their Day Travelcards and Weekend Travelcards, you are in danger of confusing novice travellers with your discussion of rover tickets.
Jul 20th, 2004, 07:50 PM
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Sorry if I caused any confusion folks.
your'e absolutely right Ron they are called day travel cards not rovers,but you are wrong by the way, I am not a lesbian!
A lady never reveals her age flanneruk, but maybe I heard about wirral and southport rovers from my mum, (!?).
Anyway I hope my error did'nt spoil my posting too much although in mitigation I did say I was tired at time of writing and consider myself repremanded I will check my facts in future.
Bye CM
your'e absolutely right Ron they are called day travel cards not rovers,but you are wrong by the way, I am not a lesbian!
A lady never reveals her age flanneruk, but maybe I heard about wirral and southport rovers from my mum, (!?).
Anyway I hope my error did'nt spoil my posting too much although in mitigation I did say I was tired at time of writing and consider myself repremanded I will check my facts in future.
Bye CM
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