dwzemens

I am making last minute plans to go to London next week. The B&B I have settled on is in Chelsea, and I would be interested in your thoughts on using this area as a base for first time visitors to London.

Thanks!

Cholmondley_Warner

Chelsea's nice. Very upmarket area - and very expensive. There's one iffy bit - the Worlds End Estate.

But beware "chelsea" in location terms can be a very elastic descriptions. Lots of places claim to be chelsea but aren't.

Where is the B&B?

Tulips

I was going to say the same thing; where in Chelsea?

dwzemens

Thanks -- I assume it is on "Church Street" as the name of the B&B is "Old Church Street"

dwzemens

Old Church Street, Chelsea
London SW3
England

avalon

Church street is in a very nice area. Further along it becomes Onslow Gardens. There is excellent bus service to all the tourist areas from King's Rd and Church St. The #11 bus passes through most areas of central london and the tourist stops. You will be a short walk from either Slaone Sq or Gloucester Rd tube stations. An excellent pub at Onslow Gardens is the Anglesea Arms, very good food in a seperate dining area.

Cholmondley_Warner

That's smack bang in the middle of Chelsea and it's a very nice area indeed.

dwzemens

Thanks so much to everyone -- the B&B looks very nice indeed.

Tulips

Very nice residential area, close to restaurants and shops. Bluebird Restaurant, Cafe and food shop on the Kings Road is also nearby.

And if you turn into the street next to Waterstone's on the King's Road, you'll end up in Chelsea Green, which is a bit village-like, with some nice restaurants and food shops.

julia_t

And Chelsea Old Church (on the corner of Old Church Street and Cheyne* Walk) is worth popping in to for a look round - I went to a wedding there a few years ago and was quite surprised by it's beauty. http://www.chelseaoldchurch.org.uk/

Great location BTW for your B&B, have a great time!

*pronounced Chain-ee

dwzemens

Thanks so much to everyone. I feel a bit stupid, but I made a one day mistake with my reservation that may have caused my B&B choice in Chelsea to be unavailable.

It looks like I will have another option to stay in Notting Hill W2. Any comments on that area?

My thanks once again.

Cholmondley_Warner

Again "notting hill" is an elastic description that ranges from Notting Hill itself (which is like the film, but the real one has some black people in it) to Ladbroke Grove (well dodgy).

Get the street name.

dwzemens

The most accurate description on can get for the location in Notting Hill is:

"five-minute walk from the Portobello Road street marke and Notting Hill Gate tube"

Does that help define the particular area of Notting Hill?

Thanks so much!

WillTravel

The problem is believing the "5 minutes", which is usually not true, and then knowing which direction it's in. Why are they being so cagey about the actual location?

alanRow

<<< but the real one has some black people in it >>>

Come on Notting Hill did have a black guy in it - it was in the scene where he walks through the seasons through the market.

<<< The most accurate description on can get for the location in Notting Hill is: >>>

The most accurate description would be the address of the place

janisj

You can't work out the address -- OR -- they won't tell you the address???

Might give me pause . . .

Anyway - either give us the street name, a link to the website - or at least the name of the B&B so we can work it out.

Notting Hill is one of the most "mis-described" areas by B&Bs/hotels - maybe only surpassed by "Kensington" guest houses that are really in Earls Court.

WillTravel

Based on the quote provided above, and a little assistance from Google, it's this place (the one with Juliette as the hostess):
http://www.londonhometohome.com/homes_central.html
Presumably because it's a private home, and possibly to mask the real location, the address is not provided. But I wouldn't book without having at least cross streets so you can narrow the area down to half a block or so.

WillTravel

I was able to figure it out from TripAdvisor now, on the basis of what I had already deduced. The address is 29 Dawson Place, with postcode W2 4TH. Maybe someone very familiar with the area can say what this is like. The review on TripAdvisor is good (for "Juliette's Guest House&quot. I don't get the impression it's a private home.

Cholmondley_Warner

My knowledge of London is mainly based on crack houses, police stations, doss houses and iffy boozers (I lead a glamorous life). In the case of Notting hill it is based on the Probation office (I told you it's glamorous). There's a very good Oxfam shop opposite it (more Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous)

As it happens I do know this area and it is very nice indeed. It's the Notting Hill of the film. With lovely old houses and squares. There's also a cracking (not iffy)pub in the street - the Prince of Wales - a proper pub in an area running alive with ponces' pubs.

dwzemens

Wow, quite some investigators here at Fodor's. That is the guest house that I was referred to, and I appreciate the comments about the area.

Sounds like one of the commenters must be a law enforcement officer, eh?