London: Nine Nights, Four Hotels, and Three Meals at Dishoom!
Jul 29th, 2023, 11:04 AM
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London: Nine Nights, Four Hotels, and Three Meals at Dishoom!
Even though we flew to England last summer for a London/Winchester/Portsmouth/Canterbury/Whitstable trip, I began 2023 thinking we might be heading to England again. My 91-year-old father had been talking about going back to Manchester where he and my late mother were born and raised; Dad, one of eleven siblings, and Mom one of two. He hadn’t been back since 2017 when a shoulder surgery and then COVID derailed his annual visit. He talked to me about the idea that he’d like all of us to go with him and his wife: his four daughters, spouses, and grandson and his wife. So in February we began to plan. Dad offered to pay for an economy seat ticket (we upgraded to Business as did one sister and husband) and three nights in a Manchester hotel for a long weekend. Nice! The Saturday of the Manchester weekend my cousin would be hosting a party for my dad’s relatives, and then on the Sunday, we’d host a party for Dad’s relatives who might not have been invited or couldn’t attend the Saturday party, my mom’s relatives, and then some of my parents’ friends. I found the Holiday Inn Express in Stockport convenient for all of us as it was right across from the Stockport train station, had aircon, walk-in showers (those steep tub sides can be deadly), and an included breakfast. My research led me to The Midway pub in Stockport which seemed a convenient and well-reviewed venue for the Sunday party. They had an “events room”, offered a ten pound each appetizer buffet, and had a patio outside the events room if people wanted to mingle there. Owner Paul noted, “Just bring the California weather with you.” I sent out emails to both sets of party goers, letting them know we’d all be in town and hope to see them at the Saturday (or Sunday) party. Although Linda and I wouldn’t arrive in Stockport (right next to Manchester) until the Friday evening, I helped Dad plan what we called his “Still Standing” tour…visiting some of the locations that meant something to him growing up…passing by his childhood home, my mom’s high school, visiting the church where my parents were married, going to the cemetery where his parents were buried, those kinds of places. A relative would be renting a passenger van so everyone could travel together. I hoped it would be a perfect weekend for my dad and our family.
We all took advantage of the time in the UK. One sister and her husband spent time in London and Glasgow; one sister spent some time in London and hiking in the Lake District; my nephew and his wife spent a week on the Isle of Jersey. My younger sister and her husband couldn’t get away from work to make the trip. And then there was my spouse, Linda, and me. We flew to London, making sure we’d book Dad and his wife on the same outgoing flight so we could help them, if needed. We’d spend three nights in London, train to Stockport for three nights, and then return to London for the last three nights. I purchased Advance tickets for the Euston to Stockport train there and back and also bought the 5.50 pounds Heathrow Express (HEX) tickets to Paddington from LHR and back. I figured we’d buy the Two Traveling Together rail card at the first train station to take advantage of 30% off the train fares.
Well, dear reader, we didn’t make it to Manchester. And that’s a whole other story.
As this was a last-minute decision made from London the evening before we were to depart for Manchester, it was bit of a scramble to line up lodging for the next three nights. So we ended up with nine nights in London departed SFO on July 10 and returned on July 20, 2023! Our first trip to London was about 25 years ago when we were travel newbies. This was our fourth visit to England, maybe our 12th European trip. We travel well together, and Linda is so good about trusting my sense of how the trip should go/flow. Not that she won’t express herself, but for the most part stays out of this planner’s way! We have similar interests so that makes it easy. I couldn’t ask for a better life and travel partner.
Our Four Hotels
First three nights: Waterloo, to me, is not the most desirable location in terms of surroundings and ambiance, but it was a very practical choice given our agenda for the first three days. On a prior trip to London we stayed at the Hampton Inn Waterloo (near the Old Vic theater) which was fine but it lacked British charm. In my research I came across the H10 Waterloo about a block or two further down from the Hampton Inn on the other side of the street. This was a Spanish chain, and the reviews were favorable. I cross-checked the price on booking.com with the hotel website and discovered if you book on the hotel website, you’d get a breakfast included in the room rate. Well done! Switch out British charm for Spanish charm!?
After making sure Dad and his wife were on their way to Terminal 5 from Terminal 2 (they were flying on from LHR to Manchester), we took the HEX to Paddington and then the tube to Waterloo. Upon exiting the Waterloo tube, there were a few steps to face with our luggage but it wasn’t bad. We walked to the hotel and arrived around 9AM to find our room wasn’t ready as I expected. It was suggested we return at 3PM. There was a bathroom downstairs from the lobby where we could wash up. Note to self: pack a washcloth in the carry-on next time; drying your face with paper towels isn’t that great. So after we shuffled some things around in our bags, we left them with reception and headed out.
We returned later that day and found the room ready. With floor to ceiling windows on one side overlooking the less busy street, the room was adequate in size, had a deadly high-sided tub to navigate for the shower (there was a plastic mat available and two grab bars placed more for a tub user than a shower user), and was overall a quiet and clean room with a view of the London Eye if you plastered your left cheek against the window and peered sideways.
But it was the breakfast buffet that made that hotel! An omelet station! Churros and thick chocolate sauce! Cut up fresh fruit! Honey dripping into a cup from an actual piece of honeycomb! I get excited by hotel breakfasts! A good breakfast means we can pretty much just have one more meal at 2 or 3PM and that’s it for the night except for a few handfuls of Cadbury buttons for this chocoholic. Meats, cheeses, yogurts, fresh orange juice, breads, stewed tomatoes, sausages, hash browns, and baked beans were offered as well. The breakfast staff was attentive; the front desk staff not as much. There was a lobby but it didn’t feel conducive for chatting with others. A small lobby bar was where you could get a glass of ice cubes to take back to the room. The mini-bar was full of various item leaving no room for your own bottles of water/soda. I would have asked to have it cleared out for our stay, but upon further inspection, the mini-fridge really didn’t keep things cold.
Fourth night: This was the night that we would have been in Manchester so I had to book something fast. We packed rather light thinking we’d wash our clothes at a laundromat that I found near the Stockport train station. I remembered that the Rick Steves book mentioned a laundry near Pimlico/Victoria and so I found the Luna Hotel on Belgravia. It didn’t have Aircon (just a fan above the bed) but it was a rainy night following a rainy day. I booked a twin bed room (rather than a full bed) through booking.com and noted that we had suitcases so if we could have a lower floor please that would be great. We were greeted warmly by the receptionist who told us we were up a floor in an upgraded room (one twin bed, one double bed). He carried the suitcases up the stairs for us and the next day, another fellow carried them down. The room was compact but did not feel claustrophic. The walk-in shower was ideal and the fan circulated the air well with fresh air coming in through an open window facing other buildings. We felt fortunate! Later that night after we had walked to the coin-operated laundry and back, I asked at reception for some ice cubes and the fellow opened up a fridge and handed me a Ziploc baggie full. Sweet! The included breakfast was served the next morning by the two brothers who own the place...a typical English breakfast, of course. The launderette was the Pimlico Launderette and Dry Cleaner at 3 Westmoreland Terrace. The hour or so we spent there went quickly while engaged in conversation with the owner and his sweet daughter.
Nights five and six: I thought it would be interesting to stay in a different area of London…the Tower Hill area near the Tower of London and London Bridge. Hotel Indigo (part of the Holiday Inn) chain would work. We were greeted by sweet Ness (as in “happiness” she said) and Gerardas. We had an executive room at 323 square feet and would welcome the extra room to stretch out. The room was ready and HUGE. There was a whirring sound coming from the closet, and I thought it was maybe a vacuum cleaner on the floor above? But when it didn’t relent, we were able to come back later in the day (Ness called us when the room was ready) for a different room. I have never stayed at an Indigo Hotel before, but it I will again. The room was a mixture of Eastern accents, a little mid-century modern, a little Mardi Gras-ish…colorful with reds, silvers, and blacks. A king size four-poster bed with two chairs in front created a little sitting area where I was able to enjoy the last of the men’s Wimbledon final in real time (no commercials either). There was a massive closet, walk in shower, toiletries storage in a shelving unit near the bathroom door, big towels, two complimentary candy bars and two sodas in the cold mini fridge, and quiet. It was the largest room we have ever stayed in Europe!
Nights seven, eight, and nine: If you read my England trip report from last year, you’d know I said next time I go to London, I wanted to stay at The Montague on the Gardens in the Bloomsbury area. I found a good rate on booking.com for a Classic Double room. As we approached our departure, I read someone’s TripAdvisor review that talked about the bed being a double bed…in other places it said it was a queen bed. I contacted the hotel and they said the bed was indeed a double bed. I knew that would not be roomy enough so a manager offered us a king-bed room with a 10% savings on the king rate. I hesitated and said to Linda, this hotel is not going to be a good value after all. She said, let’s do it anyway. I’m glad we did upgrade because the room was an adequate size. The bathroom had a walk-In shower with plenty of counter space. I was able to fit one of our emptied suitcases in the closet and the other under the desk/table so those pieces didn’t clutter up the area. There were two chairs with a table as well as a desk so we had plenty of places to put stuff. The bed was comfortable and the towels were thick and generous. We were on the top floor overlooking the garden. I really liked that part and thought that was the benefit of the Classic King allocation. Breakfast was not included and was priced at 30 pounds each for hot items. No thanks. Fifteen pounds a night was added to the final bill for tipping the staff although you could opt out. I opted out as I like to tip along the way. Complimentary coffee was in the lobby in the AM and lemonade in the afternoon. A few baked treats were brought up to our room just after our arrival…nice touch.
Hotel Reflections:
· H10 Waterloo…fine if you aren’t looking for British charm, want a great breakfast, and find Waterloo a good link to your adventures. $833.91 for 3 nights
· Luna Simone…didn’t care for the location although well-run and a serviceable room. No aircon if London heats up. $243.77 for one night
· Hotel Indigo Tower Hill…location is off the beaten track a bit with Aldgate and Tower Hill being the nearest tube stops. If a big room is important to you Hotel Indigo is the place for you. $576.63 for two nights
· The Montague on the Gardens…good if you want a place with an attentive staff, British charm, and have a generous budget. $1226.98 for 3 nights Gulp! Definite splurge!
Last year we spent two nights at the Club Quarters Trafalgar Square at 8 Northumberland Avenue for $635.55 which included a buffet breakfast. Now that location felt spot on as it felt like you are staying at London’s ground zero. Easy access to Charing Cross and the Embankment Station. Easy access to Westminster, the museums, the theatre district, and Covent Garden. Unfortunately, there was zero British charm except for the impressive façade and huge foyer. Definitely more of a business class hotel.
Trip Highlights:
We were on a bit of a mission to view Tudor portraits. We love British history especially anything having to do with Elizabeth I. We had just seen an exhibition at our nearby San Francisco museum, The Legion of Honor, entitled: The Tudors: Art and Majesty in Renaissance England featuring Tudor portraits. One of our first stops was the National Portrait Gallery. I had made on-line reservations at different times not knowing which one would work out. I figured we wouldn’t get into our hotel so I made reservations at both the Portrait Gallery and the National Gallery for that arrival morning. The Portrait Gallery had only re-opened a few weeks earlier after an extensive renovation. The Tudor portraits were displayed on the top floor and my, they were gorgeous…the colors were brilliant still. We also had to pay respects to the Bronte portraits on the floor below.
We trained to Hever Castle out of Waterloo. Prior to that first train trip, we brought along our two extra passport pictures and purchased a Two Traveler Together rail card at the ticket office. I could have purchased it on-line from home, but I wanted a physical card not a digital card. You can order your tickets with the rail card discount prior to traveling, but you do need the card by the time of your first journey. The card was thirty pounds and was a great savings for the London-Manchester ticket, although because they were Advances tickets I was not able to get them refunded. The discount applied to the Hever train, as well as later trips to Windsor, Hampton Court, and even the Thames River Sightseeing ferry from Greenwich to Westminster Pier.
The Hever website indicated two stations that served Hever…one that was within walking distance and the other a bit further out that would require a pre=arranged taxi. I thought the 25-minute walk would be fun. I watched a YouTube video of the walk through pastures and country gates. We could do this! I downloaded a map of the walk before we left. We disembarked, met a young woman from Milan who was traveling with her mother, and the four of us walked to the castle. There was signage on the road indicating the direction to Hever Castle. The first gate also had a round Hever Castle sign (the size of a large medallion) with an arrow pointing to the proper direction. The path was single-file in some parts with brambles on one side and a barbed wire fence on the other. It would be miserably muddy on a wet day, but we had a good time trudging through the fields. There was one point where we passed through a gate and there was an open field in front of us. Hmmm… we noticed a gate far down the field to our right and yes, the little round sign to Hever Castle was on the gate. Hever was so worth it. The castle/manor house was purchased by the Astor family in 1903 and they did some beautiful renovations which really enriched the experience. The place felt intimate and cozy, like a family home to the Astors and well as to the Boleyns. I loved the window niches in some of the walls with views to the manicured garden. We listened to the audio guide as we went from to room to room. A plethora of Tudor portraits were there along with the coronation costume worn by actress Kate Blanchett for her QE1 movie role and some costumes from the new-ish drama Becoming Elizabeth. The garden abutted a lake where, if we had more time, would have walked around. One of the roses featured in the garden was the very fragrant Sheila’s Perfume, one of my favorites. We walked back to the train station this time retracing our steps and looking out for the round National Rail signs. While we waited for the train back to Waterloo, we struck up a conversation with another mother/daughter team from Israel. It was delightful getting to know them and hearing about their thoughts on their country’s politics, their lives in Israel. The daughter said she was so taken with Hever, she wants to get married there.
We made a repeat visit to Windsor (first and only rainy day) to pay our respects to QE2. We tubed from Waterloo and then switched to the Windsor train at London Bridge station. On the way we met another mother/daughter team this one hailing from Long Island. We bumped in to them on the way back as well. Touring Windsor went well with the audio guide, a good upgrade from our first visit. The chapel was crowded but not so much that you couldn’t linger at the tombstone for Elizabeth, Philip, and her parents.
On Saturday the day’s highlight was walking around the financial center of London near Hotel Indigo. We walked by some of London’s contemporary architectural wonders as well as older ones including the Walkie Talkie, Leadenhall Market, St. Dunstan’s, the Gherkin, and then on to the Monument of the Great Fire. We went up eighteen floors at the reservation-free The Garden at 120, an alternative to the Sky Garden. There is an open-air terrace where you can walk around and see the London vistas. There we met a high school senior from Germany and then the rest of her family. We skipped the Sky Garden (important to have reservations which I had). It was 35 floors up in a jam-packed elevator. Linda backed out once we were through security and saw the crowded elevator…it took me a few more minutes to do the same. We later walked around the Tower of London (went there on our first visit) and saw and read plaques that we hadn’t seen before.
On Wimbledon’s men’s championship day, we trained to Hampton Court Palace along with excited fans ready to disembark at the Wimbledon stop. I didn’t book our HCP tickets in advance, hoping for a short ticket line as I was using the 2for1 voucher the rail system offered. I had the hotel clerk download the voucher for me as you needed to present a physical voucher. Fortunately, line was short and I was able to buy one ticket and get one free by presenting the voucher and our train tickets. If you do the 2for1 voucher you need to show the station attendant your ticket when you exit the HCP train station so that you can keep the ticket otherwise the exit turnstile will not return it to you. Hampton Court Palace, too, had certainly upgraded the visitor experience with their audio accompaniment and more visuals in the rooms than on our previous visit.
One day we took the Docklands Light Railway/DLR (similar to Chicago’s L) to Greenwich and walked over to the Queen’s House, a former royal residence built between 1616 and 1635. Guidebooks mention this place in passing but we were drawn to the Tudor portraits, particularly the Amada portrait. The Queen’s House wasn’t full of furniture and such…mostly portraits and paintings and elaborate ceilings. There is a beautiful staircase called the “Tulip Staircase” the first centrally unsupported stairs in England. The way the staircase spiraled with its distinctive blue railing looked as graceful as a ballerina in a slow twirl.
We returned to London from Greenwich on a Thames River Sightseeing Ferry. It was about a 45-minute ride without any verbal commentary, an easy and relaxing way to return. Seated in front of us on the ferry were a grandfather and his young grandson, and we listened attentively as the grandfather explained the various sites along the river to the boy. We were about an hour and a half away from the 5PM Evensong at Westminster Abbey when we exited Westminster Pier so after a diet coke and a hard cider at a pub across from the Abbey we lined up at 4PM. We began to file in at 4:30 after going through a bag search. Once inside I asked an attendant if using the restroom was out of the question? He directed me across the church and out the door to the end of the cloister. I rushed out and was back just in time for our line to file into the choir area. Yes! We were fortunate to sit in the back row of the choir in a little compartment of a seat. When the girls choir from the Isle of Jersey entered, they filled the rows to the left of us and kitty corner across from us. It was wonderful to sit so close to the singers, the organ, and the chief officiant.
Our last full day was our shopping day where we checked out some stores in the Regent/Oxford/Picadilly areas. We had already made the pilgrimage to Penhaligan’s, a perfumery I sought out on our last visit. I purchased a sampler set last year and loved the Luna fragrance in particular…orange, jasmine, soft rose, and fir balsam. I ordered a bottle from the US on a 4th of July sale before I left. I wanted to check out their newest fragrance called Highgrove Bouquet…silver lime, mimosa, and cedar…which, according to the saleswoman, had Charles III’s fingerprints all over it from the ink used on the box to the way the fragrance was packaged, and of course, the name. Loved that one, too! Among my favorite stops were John Lewis and the top floor of Liberty that displayed home goods. I appreciated the bright, floral, and pretty dresses in John Lewis and the eclectic mix of goods in Liberty. Our last stop was Fortnum & Mason where we purchased enough bottles and jars of this and that to warrant the 25 pounds to have the items shipped home except for the Lemon Curt jars (most were gifts) because of the dairy content. Sadly the Kath Kidson flagship store near F& M had closed for good the month before.
We had long walks interspersed as well. In addition to London’s Financial/Tower area, we did a Borough Market/Southwark/Queen’s Walk/Shard walk and a Westminster to Covent Garden walk. Though we spent three nights in Bloomsbury, we didn’t have a chance to drill down in that area. We didn’t even make it to the British Museum for a repeat visit, and it was literally right around the corner from the hotel. Next time.
One lowlight as opposed to a highlight happened on our third day when we attended the musical, We Will Rock You, featuring music from Queen. I guess we should have read the fine print, but the musical was based on a silly script, embarrassingly so. The music/singing was fine, but the venue was too small for their powerful voices. We ended up leaving during a song transition. We had seen Six last summer in London (loved!) and Moulin Rouge in NYC last fall (and again in SF this year). We Will Rock You just didn’t measure up.
Favorite Restaurants
Aside from fish and chips and Indian food, we are not that food adventurous in London. I had read about Dishoom in the travel guides, had several people recommend it, and last year’s hotel receptionist lit up and said “Dishoom” when we asked about a restaurant recommendation. It was late afternoon when we left the We Will Rock You show, walked up the street, and stumbled on said restaurant. Great! The time had come! Dishoom is everything people say it is. Our favorite dish, chicken tikka masala, wasn’t on the menu, but they did have a dish called Chicken Ruby. Wow! What a dish(oom)! Similar to a masala in terms of consistency, the flavors were wonderful (described as a makhani sauce). The service was friendly and attentive. We ended up eating at Dishoom three times over our nine days…twice at the Covent Garden location and once at the location near the Liberty department store. We tried different dishes each time but consistently ordered the Chicken Ruby. Best Indian restaurant that we’ve ever experienced!
After our Evensong experience, we trekked up to 50 Kalo di Ciro Salvo Pizzeria, near our last year’s hotel on Northumberland Avenue near Trafalgar Square. We shared a veggie pizza with ham and a green salad. The delicately shaved mounds of ham were tender, moist, and non-grisly. The salad was full of fresh lettuce (not the dreaded rocket) tossed with thin, string beans, sweet cherry tomatoes, and mini kalamata olives. Service was attentive, and the place was packed.
Another stand out was a place in Greenwich called the Cutty Stark Café Restaurant located on 38 Greenwich Church Street (one of the main thoroughfares). A little hole in the wall, they served up a flavorful omelet and the tastiest banger of the trip.
Lastly, one morning when we stayed at Hotel Indigo, we ventured across the street to the Hilton Canopy to see if they had a breakfast buffet as we were quite hungry. They did, and it was pricey at $34 each, but we went for it. The chef did a great job with omelets, and the other buffet offerings were fresh and tasty including grilled portobello mushrooms and freshly squeezed juices.
In closing:
· Wearing an Apple Watch made tagging in and out of the tube effortless so no need for an Oyster card. If your credit card is in your iPhone wallet, that would be another alternative.
· I only spent about 30 pounds cash for tipping and some minor purchases. Contactless payments are standard.
· Instead of using Uber, we downloaded the Bolt app before we left home. Easy to use and more reasonable than Uber fares, we had safe and friendly drivers.
· Worth it to monitor the HEX tickets in advance. I was able to secure tickets at the lowest price of 5.50 pounds each way five months in advance. I learned that the release of the cheapest tickets is done randomly so check back frequently until the discount price pops. What I like about the HEX is that there is room to store your luggage, and it is a non-stop shot from T2 and Paddington and back again.
· There IS a difference between the taste of haddock and cod. I much preferred cod when having fish and chips.
· We both had our iPhones with us. Linda’s phone was activated for international roaming/calling at $10 a day so we used her phone when we were out and about. I used my phone when I had wifi access while keeping airplane mode on. I took screen shots of tickets I had ordered and/or forwarded our reservations to Linda for easy pull-up on her phone.
· Huge Rick Steves fan, TripAdvisor reviews fan, and booking.com fan. I usually check out other guidebooks from the library for additional insights. I create a daily itinerary not set in stone but more so I can group sites/activities that are close together so I don’t forget anything and the dreaded realization “we were just in that neighborhood yesterday.”
· I pack a 9x12 clasp envelope to store my receipts, etc., to keep them in one place.
· I bring my own bar of soap (small Body Shop size) in a baggy. I prefer bar soap for showering than using the bottles of liquid products attached to shower walls. Sometimes the quality isn’t there unless you are staying at The Montague! 😊
· I buy a $10 Walgreens International Phone Card to use from home when calling abroad as I make my travel plans.Sometimes you just need to talk to the hotel directly and not go back and forth with emails.
· Our railcard is valid until 7/10/24. A good reason to go back next year!!
· Did I mention how much we loved Hever?
· Safe travels, Everyone!
We all took advantage of the time in the UK. One sister and her husband spent time in London and Glasgow; one sister spent some time in London and hiking in the Lake District; my nephew and his wife spent a week on the Isle of Jersey. My younger sister and her husband couldn’t get away from work to make the trip. And then there was my spouse, Linda, and me. We flew to London, making sure we’d book Dad and his wife on the same outgoing flight so we could help them, if needed. We’d spend three nights in London, train to Stockport for three nights, and then return to London for the last three nights. I purchased Advance tickets for the Euston to Stockport train there and back and also bought the 5.50 pounds Heathrow Express (HEX) tickets to Paddington from LHR and back. I figured we’d buy the Two Traveling Together rail card at the first train station to take advantage of 30% off the train fares.
Well, dear reader, we didn’t make it to Manchester. And that’s a whole other story.
As this was a last-minute decision made from London the evening before we were to depart for Manchester, it was bit of a scramble to line up lodging for the next three nights. So we ended up with nine nights in London departed SFO on July 10 and returned on July 20, 2023! Our first trip to London was about 25 years ago when we were travel newbies. This was our fourth visit to England, maybe our 12th European trip. We travel well together, and Linda is so good about trusting my sense of how the trip should go/flow. Not that she won’t express herself, but for the most part stays out of this planner’s way! We have similar interests so that makes it easy. I couldn’t ask for a better life and travel partner.
Our Four Hotels
First three nights: Waterloo, to me, is not the most desirable location in terms of surroundings and ambiance, but it was a very practical choice given our agenda for the first three days. On a prior trip to London we stayed at the Hampton Inn Waterloo (near the Old Vic theater) which was fine but it lacked British charm. In my research I came across the H10 Waterloo about a block or two further down from the Hampton Inn on the other side of the street. This was a Spanish chain, and the reviews were favorable. I cross-checked the price on booking.com with the hotel website and discovered if you book on the hotel website, you’d get a breakfast included in the room rate. Well done! Switch out British charm for Spanish charm!?
After making sure Dad and his wife were on their way to Terminal 5 from Terminal 2 (they were flying on from LHR to Manchester), we took the HEX to Paddington and then the tube to Waterloo. Upon exiting the Waterloo tube, there were a few steps to face with our luggage but it wasn’t bad. We walked to the hotel and arrived around 9AM to find our room wasn’t ready as I expected. It was suggested we return at 3PM. There was a bathroom downstairs from the lobby where we could wash up. Note to self: pack a washcloth in the carry-on next time; drying your face with paper towels isn’t that great. So after we shuffled some things around in our bags, we left them with reception and headed out.
We returned later that day and found the room ready. With floor to ceiling windows on one side overlooking the less busy street, the room was adequate in size, had a deadly high-sided tub to navigate for the shower (there was a plastic mat available and two grab bars placed more for a tub user than a shower user), and was overall a quiet and clean room with a view of the London Eye if you plastered your left cheek against the window and peered sideways.
But it was the breakfast buffet that made that hotel! An omelet station! Churros and thick chocolate sauce! Cut up fresh fruit! Honey dripping into a cup from an actual piece of honeycomb! I get excited by hotel breakfasts! A good breakfast means we can pretty much just have one more meal at 2 or 3PM and that’s it for the night except for a few handfuls of Cadbury buttons for this chocoholic. Meats, cheeses, yogurts, fresh orange juice, breads, stewed tomatoes, sausages, hash browns, and baked beans were offered as well. The breakfast staff was attentive; the front desk staff not as much. There was a lobby but it didn’t feel conducive for chatting with others. A small lobby bar was where you could get a glass of ice cubes to take back to the room. The mini-bar was full of various item leaving no room for your own bottles of water/soda. I would have asked to have it cleared out for our stay, but upon further inspection, the mini-fridge really didn’t keep things cold.
Fourth night: This was the night that we would have been in Manchester so I had to book something fast. We packed rather light thinking we’d wash our clothes at a laundromat that I found near the Stockport train station. I remembered that the Rick Steves book mentioned a laundry near Pimlico/Victoria and so I found the Luna Hotel on Belgravia. It didn’t have Aircon (just a fan above the bed) but it was a rainy night following a rainy day. I booked a twin bed room (rather than a full bed) through booking.com and noted that we had suitcases so if we could have a lower floor please that would be great. We were greeted warmly by the receptionist who told us we were up a floor in an upgraded room (one twin bed, one double bed). He carried the suitcases up the stairs for us and the next day, another fellow carried them down. The room was compact but did not feel claustrophic. The walk-in shower was ideal and the fan circulated the air well with fresh air coming in through an open window facing other buildings. We felt fortunate! Later that night after we had walked to the coin-operated laundry and back, I asked at reception for some ice cubes and the fellow opened up a fridge and handed me a Ziploc baggie full. Sweet! The included breakfast was served the next morning by the two brothers who own the place...a typical English breakfast, of course. The launderette was the Pimlico Launderette and Dry Cleaner at 3 Westmoreland Terrace. The hour or so we spent there went quickly while engaged in conversation with the owner and his sweet daughter.
Nights five and six: I thought it would be interesting to stay in a different area of London…the Tower Hill area near the Tower of London and London Bridge. Hotel Indigo (part of the Holiday Inn) chain would work. We were greeted by sweet Ness (as in “happiness” she said) and Gerardas. We had an executive room at 323 square feet and would welcome the extra room to stretch out. The room was ready and HUGE. There was a whirring sound coming from the closet, and I thought it was maybe a vacuum cleaner on the floor above? But when it didn’t relent, we were able to come back later in the day (Ness called us when the room was ready) for a different room. I have never stayed at an Indigo Hotel before, but it I will again. The room was a mixture of Eastern accents, a little mid-century modern, a little Mardi Gras-ish…colorful with reds, silvers, and blacks. A king size four-poster bed with two chairs in front created a little sitting area where I was able to enjoy the last of the men’s Wimbledon final in real time (no commercials either). There was a massive closet, walk in shower, toiletries storage in a shelving unit near the bathroom door, big towels, two complimentary candy bars and two sodas in the cold mini fridge, and quiet. It was the largest room we have ever stayed in Europe!
Nights seven, eight, and nine: If you read my England trip report from last year, you’d know I said next time I go to London, I wanted to stay at The Montague on the Gardens in the Bloomsbury area. I found a good rate on booking.com for a Classic Double room. As we approached our departure, I read someone’s TripAdvisor review that talked about the bed being a double bed…in other places it said it was a queen bed. I contacted the hotel and they said the bed was indeed a double bed. I knew that would not be roomy enough so a manager offered us a king-bed room with a 10% savings on the king rate. I hesitated and said to Linda, this hotel is not going to be a good value after all. She said, let’s do it anyway. I’m glad we did upgrade because the room was an adequate size. The bathroom had a walk-In shower with plenty of counter space. I was able to fit one of our emptied suitcases in the closet and the other under the desk/table so those pieces didn’t clutter up the area. There were two chairs with a table as well as a desk so we had plenty of places to put stuff. The bed was comfortable and the towels were thick and generous. We were on the top floor overlooking the garden. I really liked that part and thought that was the benefit of the Classic King allocation. Breakfast was not included and was priced at 30 pounds each for hot items. No thanks. Fifteen pounds a night was added to the final bill for tipping the staff although you could opt out. I opted out as I like to tip along the way. Complimentary coffee was in the lobby in the AM and lemonade in the afternoon. A few baked treats were brought up to our room just after our arrival…nice touch.
Hotel Reflections:
· H10 Waterloo…fine if you aren’t looking for British charm, want a great breakfast, and find Waterloo a good link to your adventures. $833.91 for 3 nights
· Luna Simone…didn’t care for the location although well-run and a serviceable room. No aircon if London heats up. $243.77 for one night
· Hotel Indigo Tower Hill…location is off the beaten track a bit with Aldgate and Tower Hill being the nearest tube stops. If a big room is important to you Hotel Indigo is the place for you. $576.63 for two nights
· The Montague on the Gardens…good if you want a place with an attentive staff, British charm, and have a generous budget. $1226.98 for 3 nights Gulp! Definite splurge!
Last year we spent two nights at the Club Quarters Trafalgar Square at 8 Northumberland Avenue for $635.55 which included a buffet breakfast. Now that location felt spot on as it felt like you are staying at London’s ground zero. Easy access to Charing Cross and the Embankment Station. Easy access to Westminster, the museums, the theatre district, and Covent Garden. Unfortunately, there was zero British charm except for the impressive façade and huge foyer. Definitely more of a business class hotel.
Trip Highlights:
We were on a bit of a mission to view Tudor portraits. We love British history especially anything having to do with Elizabeth I. We had just seen an exhibition at our nearby San Francisco museum, The Legion of Honor, entitled: The Tudors: Art and Majesty in Renaissance England featuring Tudor portraits. One of our first stops was the National Portrait Gallery. I had made on-line reservations at different times not knowing which one would work out. I figured we wouldn’t get into our hotel so I made reservations at both the Portrait Gallery and the National Gallery for that arrival morning. The Portrait Gallery had only re-opened a few weeks earlier after an extensive renovation. The Tudor portraits were displayed on the top floor and my, they were gorgeous…the colors were brilliant still. We also had to pay respects to the Bronte portraits on the floor below.
We trained to Hever Castle out of Waterloo. Prior to that first train trip, we brought along our two extra passport pictures and purchased a Two Traveler Together rail card at the ticket office. I could have purchased it on-line from home, but I wanted a physical card not a digital card. You can order your tickets with the rail card discount prior to traveling, but you do need the card by the time of your first journey. The card was thirty pounds and was a great savings for the London-Manchester ticket, although because they were Advances tickets I was not able to get them refunded. The discount applied to the Hever train, as well as later trips to Windsor, Hampton Court, and even the Thames River Sightseeing ferry from Greenwich to Westminster Pier.
The Hever website indicated two stations that served Hever…one that was within walking distance and the other a bit further out that would require a pre=arranged taxi. I thought the 25-minute walk would be fun. I watched a YouTube video of the walk through pastures and country gates. We could do this! I downloaded a map of the walk before we left. We disembarked, met a young woman from Milan who was traveling with her mother, and the four of us walked to the castle. There was signage on the road indicating the direction to Hever Castle. The first gate also had a round Hever Castle sign (the size of a large medallion) with an arrow pointing to the proper direction. The path was single-file in some parts with brambles on one side and a barbed wire fence on the other. It would be miserably muddy on a wet day, but we had a good time trudging through the fields. There was one point where we passed through a gate and there was an open field in front of us. Hmmm… we noticed a gate far down the field to our right and yes, the little round sign to Hever Castle was on the gate. Hever was so worth it. The castle/manor house was purchased by the Astor family in 1903 and they did some beautiful renovations which really enriched the experience. The place felt intimate and cozy, like a family home to the Astors and well as to the Boleyns. I loved the window niches in some of the walls with views to the manicured garden. We listened to the audio guide as we went from to room to room. A plethora of Tudor portraits were there along with the coronation costume worn by actress Kate Blanchett for her QE1 movie role and some costumes from the new-ish drama Becoming Elizabeth. The garden abutted a lake where, if we had more time, would have walked around. One of the roses featured in the garden was the very fragrant Sheila’s Perfume, one of my favorites. We walked back to the train station this time retracing our steps and looking out for the round National Rail signs. While we waited for the train back to Waterloo, we struck up a conversation with another mother/daughter team from Israel. It was delightful getting to know them and hearing about their thoughts on their country’s politics, their lives in Israel. The daughter said she was so taken with Hever, she wants to get married there.
We made a repeat visit to Windsor (first and only rainy day) to pay our respects to QE2. We tubed from Waterloo and then switched to the Windsor train at London Bridge station. On the way we met another mother/daughter team this one hailing from Long Island. We bumped in to them on the way back as well. Touring Windsor went well with the audio guide, a good upgrade from our first visit. The chapel was crowded but not so much that you couldn’t linger at the tombstone for Elizabeth, Philip, and her parents.
On Saturday the day’s highlight was walking around the financial center of London near Hotel Indigo. We walked by some of London’s contemporary architectural wonders as well as older ones including the Walkie Talkie, Leadenhall Market, St. Dunstan’s, the Gherkin, and then on to the Monument of the Great Fire. We went up eighteen floors at the reservation-free The Garden at 120, an alternative to the Sky Garden. There is an open-air terrace where you can walk around and see the London vistas. There we met a high school senior from Germany and then the rest of her family. We skipped the Sky Garden (important to have reservations which I had). It was 35 floors up in a jam-packed elevator. Linda backed out once we were through security and saw the crowded elevator…it took me a few more minutes to do the same. We later walked around the Tower of London (went there on our first visit) and saw and read plaques that we hadn’t seen before.
On Wimbledon’s men’s championship day, we trained to Hampton Court Palace along with excited fans ready to disembark at the Wimbledon stop. I didn’t book our HCP tickets in advance, hoping for a short ticket line as I was using the 2for1 voucher the rail system offered. I had the hotel clerk download the voucher for me as you needed to present a physical voucher. Fortunately, line was short and I was able to buy one ticket and get one free by presenting the voucher and our train tickets. If you do the 2for1 voucher you need to show the station attendant your ticket when you exit the HCP train station so that you can keep the ticket otherwise the exit turnstile will not return it to you. Hampton Court Palace, too, had certainly upgraded the visitor experience with their audio accompaniment and more visuals in the rooms than on our previous visit.
One day we took the Docklands Light Railway/DLR (similar to Chicago’s L) to Greenwich and walked over to the Queen’s House, a former royal residence built between 1616 and 1635. Guidebooks mention this place in passing but we were drawn to the Tudor portraits, particularly the Amada portrait. The Queen’s House wasn’t full of furniture and such…mostly portraits and paintings and elaborate ceilings. There is a beautiful staircase called the “Tulip Staircase” the first centrally unsupported stairs in England. The way the staircase spiraled with its distinctive blue railing looked as graceful as a ballerina in a slow twirl.
We returned to London from Greenwich on a Thames River Sightseeing Ferry. It was about a 45-minute ride without any verbal commentary, an easy and relaxing way to return. Seated in front of us on the ferry were a grandfather and his young grandson, and we listened attentively as the grandfather explained the various sites along the river to the boy. We were about an hour and a half away from the 5PM Evensong at Westminster Abbey when we exited Westminster Pier so after a diet coke and a hard cider at a pub across from the Abbey we lined up at 4PM. We began to file in at 4:30 after going through a bag search. Once inside I asked an attendant if using the restroom was out of the question? He directed me across the church and out the door to the end of the cloister. I rushed out and was back just in time for our line to file into the choir area. Yes! We were fortunate to sit in the back row of the choir in a little compartment of a seat. When the girls choir from the Isle of Jersey entered, they filled the rows to the left of us and kitty corner across from us. It was wonderful to sit so close to the singers, the organ, and the chief officiant.
Our last full day was our shopping day where we checked out some stores in the Regent/Oxford/Picadilly areas. We had already made the pilgrimage to Penhaligan’s, a perfumery I sought out on our last visit. I purchased a sampler set last year and loved the Luna fragrance in particular…orange, jasmine, soft rose, and fir balsam. I ordered a bottle from the US on a 4th of July sale before I left. I wanted to check out their newest fragrance called Highgrove Bouquet…silver lime, mimosa, and cedar…which, according to the saleswoman, had Charles III’s fingerprints all over it from the ink used on the box to the way the fragrance was packaged, and of course, the name. Loved that one, too! Among my favorite stops were John Lewis and the top floor of Liberty that displayed home goods. I appreciated the bright, floral, and pretty dresses in John Lewis and the eclectic mix of goods in Liberty. Our last stop was Fortnum & Mason where we purchased enough bottles and jars of this and that to warrant the 25 pounds to have the items shipped home except for the Lemon Curt jars (most were gifts) because of the dairy content. Sadly the Kath Kidson flagship store near F& M had closed for good the month before.
We had long walks interspersed as well. In addition to London’s Financial/Tower area, we did a Borough Market/Southwark/Queen’s Walk/Shard walk and a Westminster to Covent Garden walk. Though we spent three nights in Bloomsbury, we didn’t have a chance to drill down in that area. We didn’t even make it to the British Museum for a repeat visit, and it was literally right around the corner from the hotel. Next time.
One lowlight as opposed to a highlight happened on our third day when we attended the musical, We Will Rock You, featuring music from Queen. I guess we should have read the fine print, but the musical was based on a silly script, embarrassingly so. The music/singing was fine, but the venue was too small for their powerful voices. We ended up leaving during a song transition. We had seen Six last summer in London (loved!) and Moulin Rouge in NYC last fall (and again in SF this year). We Will Rock You just didn’t measure up.
Favorite Restaurants
Aside from fish and chips and Indian food, we are not that food adventurous in London. I had read about Dishoom in the travel guides, had several people recommend it, and last year’s hotel receptionist lit up and said “Dishoom” when we asked about a restaurant recommendation. It was late afternoon when we left the We Will Rock You show, walked up the street, and stumbled on said restaurant. Great! The time had come! Dishoom is everything people say it is. Our favorite dish, chicken tikka masala, wasn’t on the menu, but they did have a dish called Chicken Ruby. Wow! What a dish(oom)! Similar to a masala in terms of consistency, the flavors were wonderful (described as a makhani sauce). The service was friendly and attentive. We ended up eating at Dishoom three times over our nine days…twice at the Covent Garden location and once at the location near the Liberty department store. We tried different dishes each time but consistently ordered the Chicken Ruby. Best Indian restaurant that we’ve ever experienced!
After our Evensong experience, we trekked up to 50 Kalo di Ciro Salvo Pizzeria, near our last year’s hotel on Northumberland Avenue near Trafalgar Square. We shared a veggie pizza with ham and a green salad. The delicately shaved mounds of ham were tender, moist, and non-grisly. The salad was full of fresh lettuce (not the dreaded rocket) tossed with thin, string beans, sweet cherry tomatoes, and mini kalamata olives. Service was attentive, and the place was packed.
Another stand out was a place in Greenwich called the Cutty Stark Café Restaurant located on 38 Greenwich Church Street (one of the main thoroughfares). A little hole in the wall, they served up a flavorful omelet and the tastiest banger of the trip.
Lastly, one morning when we stayed at Hotel Indigo, we ventured across the street to the Hilton Canopy to see if they had a breakfast buffet as we were quite hungry. They did, and it was pricey at $34 each, but we went for it. The chef did a great job with omelets, and the other buffet offerings were fresh and tasty including grilled portobello mushrooms and freshly squeezed juices.
In closing:
· Wearing an Apple Watch made tagging in and out of the tube effortless so no need for an Oyster card. If your credit card is in your iPhone wallet, that would be another alternative.
· I only spent about 30 pounds cash for tipping and some minor purchases. Contactless payments are standard.
· Instead of using Uber, we downloaded the Bolt app before we left home. Easy to use and more reasonable than Uber fares, we had safe and friendly drivers.
· Worth it to monitor the HEX tickets in advance. I was able to secure tickets at the lowest price of 5.50 pounds each way five months in advance. I learned that the release of the cheapest tickets is done randomly so check back frequently until the discount price pops. What I like about the HEX is that there is room to store your luggage, and it is a non-stop shot from T2 and Paddington and back again.
· There IS a difference between the taste of haddock and cod. I much preferred cod when having fish and chips.
· We both had our iPhones with us. Linda’s phone was activated for international roaming/calling at $10 a day so we used her phone when we were out and about. I used my phone when I had wifi access while keeping airplane mode on. I took screen shots of tickets I had ordered and/or forwarded our reservations to Linda for easy pull-up on her phone.
· Huge Rick Steves fan, TripAdvisor reviews fan, and booking.com fan. I usually check out other guidebooks from the library for additional insights. I create a daily itinerary not set in stone but more so I can group sites/activities that are close together so I don’t forget anything and the dreaded realization “we were just in that neighborhood yesterday.”
· I pack a 9x12 clasp envelope to store my receipts, etc., to keep them in one place.
· I bring my own bar of soap (small Body Shop size) in a baggy. I prefer bar soap for showering than using the bottles of liquid products attached to shower walls. Sometimes the quality isn’t there unless you are staying at The Montague! 😊
· I buy a $10 Walgreens International Phone Card to use from home when calling abroad as I make my travel plans.Sometimes you just need to talk to the hotel directly and not go back and forth with emails.
· Our railcard is valid until 7/10/24. A good reason to go back next year!!
· Did I mention how much we loved Hever?
· Safe travels, Everyone!
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