amynuzz

Hi -

We are traveling through London in May and have been surfing around for a unique, stylish, yet cosy place to stay. I found the Bulldog Club's properties - we particularly like the one in the "Historic Docklands" neighborhood. Has anyone stayed there, or at any of the Bulldog Club's properties?

How convenient/inconvenient is the location of the Historic Docklands neighborhood to central London?

Any other ideas for unique places to stay (on a moderate budget)?

Many thanks
Amy

Scarlett

Topping this for you.

mimosa

The Docklands are not near Central London.

CotswoldScouser

Anyone who calls Docklands 'historic' is ignorant of Docklands, history or both.

The area stretches for miles: the westernmost bits are slap next door to the Tower and the easternmost practically in Amsterdam. Some bits are very close to good tube lines. Input the postcode of the place you're looking for into www.multimap.com and zoom.

m_kingdom2

A horrible area.

It's a cold, ugly, characterless area that should've been left as commercial/wasteland.

Don't even consider staying there, it'd be a big mistake as it's miles, and miles away from central London.

CotswoldScouser

It's simply ridiculous to dismiss an area as immense as Docklands completely.

I certainly wouldn't live there: practically every house and flat in the area has been recently redeveloped in today's minimalist, pokey manner. But that's true of most London properties up for short-term rental.

For a week or so's stay, there are parts round the Tower and round Limehouse that have great charm and are about five feet from the water's edge. You get a great deal more for your money, and a much more pleasant "village" feel, than you'll ever find in a hedge fund ghetto like Mayfair. On the Isle of Dogs, you can find yourself with London's most spectacular view, overlooking Greenwich a few yards away (and one of London's nicest villages), and seconds from fast tube and train links. You might even find your flat is in two different hemispheres.

Londoners, when it comes to their own city, can be among the most insular people in the world, often extraordinarily bigoted and ignorant about places a few hundred yards away. Mistrust us.

m_kingdom2

It's a dump. The restaurants/bars are all mediocre at their very, very best. The architecture is bland. The new build is a vast improvement on the horrid council blocks that tend to be prevalent there.

As for the Tower? Are we talking Canary Wharf Tower or the one of London? I'll assume the former as the latter is miles away. It's just a place that people have no need to go to if they don't work there. Greenwich is pleasant enough, but once again it's miles away from the centre.

Also, ceiling heights tend to be low in the new developments, which always irritates me as a high ceiling makes a room so much more pleasant. I'd imagine the flat that you've found has low ceilings.

Londonders are perhaps too hasty in dismissing places in their own city, but then they don't just dismiss them without reason. If I were a tourist I would perhaps go to Greenwich to see the historical "things" they have there, but the Docklands just wouldn't feature on my "to do list".

PatrickLondon

This is at the western end of Narrow St, a pretty expensive area for a resident. No more of a dump than some parts of Mayfair (their ceiling heights look suitably loft-style to me), but (river view and walks apart) not the liveliest or most convenient part of London for a short-term visitor. You would be within about 5 minutes' walk of Limehouse DLR station, and from there, it is a 10 minute ride to Tower Gateway or Bank to connect to the rest of the Underground - assume 20-25 minutes to the West End. The nearest pier for river services is at Canary Wharf.

There are a few nice enough pubs and restaurants in Narrow St itself or a little further afield along Wapping High St, but I think you would probably be going all the way to Canary Wharf (5-10 minutes on the DLR) or staying out late in town.

I see their advertised rate is £115.50 a night, for what is, in effect, a B&B (albeit in a self-contained suite). As a resident, I don't know a lot about London hotel rates, but I can't believe you couldn't find somewhere more convenient (say, around Bloomsbury) for that price.

The area's worth a stroll on a sunny day, but unless you have business at Canary Wharf, are particularly fascinated by maritime history or are getting the accommodation really cheap, I'd look elsewhere.

londonlad

And remember while the map on their website shows that the "City of London" is close, this is not the center of London. Mistake often made by tourists...

I would be inclined to choose one of their other properites that are in fairly tourist central locations...

nona1

I can't see any attraction in being based in the Docklands. there are two types of street: either really yuppified loft apartments (so deserted all day and expensive wine bars etc for evening) or really grotty, dirty, narrow ones I wouldn't want to walk down at night!

By the way though, if anyone fancies a trip to see some very old almost Dickensian stuff - go to Wapping station out of peak times and walk round for half an hour.

Wapping station gets my vote for the weirdest, creepiest, underground station on the network. It is tiny, the tunnel is tiny dark dank brickwork more like a sewer, the platforms are only about 3 feet wide, and you leave by climbing up an ancient old cast iron spiral staircase that looks like no-ones been there for centuries!

Then you are in an area which still has the old working docklands look about it (although there won't be many people around).

caroline_edinburgh

I looked at the Bulldog Club site & I see this is a conveted warehouse apartment in Limehouse (indeed a historic area); and as Patrick says it is a 5 minute walk from the DLR station. I have to say it looks like a fabulous apartment ! Is the £115.50 pn per person, per room or for both double rooms in the "guest wing" ? If the last this would be cheap; and although it's not an obvious area to stay, I might give it a go.

PatrickLondon

I read it as per person, but if it's for as many people as you can cram in, it might well be cheap enough to offset the travelling and the relative quietness of the area.