London Stay at the Park International
Oct 28th, 2007, 02:38 PM
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London Stay at the Park International
I had asked a question about this hotel on someone else�s thread, and then a couple of people indicated an interest in it, too, so I thought I would tell you about staying there on our recent trip to London.
The hotel is on Cromwell Road, a block up from the Holiday Inn Kensington Forum and maybe three blocks from the Gloucester Road tube stop. It is a 3* located in some old townhouses. The public areas are pretty, and breakfast was included even though it was a Priceline bid. I left things a little late, I guess, or maybe it is just the current rates, but the cost was $139 a night for a double through Priceline. Our room faced Cromwell Road so there was traffic noise when the windows were open, but the nights were cool enough that we needed the windows closed which made it plenty quiet. Breakfast was boiled eggs, almost uncooked bacon, beans, mushrooms, three kinds of cold cereal, two kinds of yogurt, croissants, Danish, toast, coffee, and tea.
Our room was pretty small but adequate. My daughter accompanied me�our habit of a fall trip to London has become a family joke�and we had a double bed, one nightstand although there was room for two, a nice dresser with drawer space and a good mirror, plenty of closet space, a luggage spot, a TV, and coffee and tea making equipment. The bathroom was not the smallest we�ve had. It had a tub with a shower and a pedestal sink with a back broad enough for some of our stuff. There was room enough to have put up a glass shelf or two that would have been great since there was nowhere in the bathroom to spread out our make up.
Another plus is the hotel is only a block from Sainsbury�s that is a must for us to stock up on Cadbury bars and other goodies.
On our arrival day, we ate lunch as ASK in the shopping center adjacent to the tube stop, got our 7-day Oyster cards, and went to Holland Park and walked a long time in cool, pleasant weather, ending up on Kensington High Street and getting Cornish pasties at the tube stop to take back to the room for supper and then early to bed. My new best friend is Lunesta. My doctor likes to travel, too, and gave me a few freebie samples to help me sleep on the plane. I have found that I can get maybe four hours� sleep on the plane and then take another one when I go to bed the first night, thus avoiding jet lag almost completely.
I believe we walked more than we ever had on a trip. We saw two old churches, St. Bartholomew the Great, and St. Etheldreda�s, Britain�s oldest Catholic Church, and then continued walking to see the Bank of England Museum (missable but interesting to try to pick up a gold bar weighing 23 pounds through a hole in a glass wall, and DD bought a little bag of shredded notes for my grandson who wants to visit a U.S. mint to see shredded money). Then we walked to Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese for a late lunch. I had good roast beef and Yorkshire Pudding with horseradish and enjoyed seeing Samuel Johnson�s chair, which is up on display, but we were just too tired to go on to see his house which is quite nearby.
Another day we stood in line for an hour and 45 minutes to get tickets to see the Chinese terracotta soldiers, getting to the British Museum about 9:15 a.m. and getting tickets for the 1:10 p.m. showing. We were a little disappointed in the display, mostly because there was another line to stand in to be admitted in spite of the timed tickets and then they let too many people in at a time. It was so crowded that it was very hard to see things. The little half-size chariot was beautiful, and the soldiers themselves are amazing.
We saw Fiddler on the Roof, the first time I had seen it as a play although I�ve seen the movie more than once. Everyone could sing really well, but Tevye, played by Henry Goodman, was terrific. His conversations with God, looking up at a corner of the ceiling, and his tenderness toward his daughters were delightful. The theater was full, and all the audience seemed to enjoy the play as much as we did.
We went to St. Paul�s for Sunday morning worship and then met David at the St. Paul�s tube stop for the Shakespeare & Dickens� London Walk. David is a literature major and gave a lot of insight into the plays and novels of those writers, as well as history lessons, as he took us along streets that they would still recognize today.
Our daytrip this year was to Cambridge where we walked the mile and a quarter from the train station to town, did a walking tour of five colleges through the Tourist Information Center, and then walked back to the station. We went into the chapel of Pembroke College, which was the first by Christopher Wren, and the King�s College Chapel, which is breathtaking. My nicest photo of the trip is a shot of the Cam River with punts tied up along the bank. It was another tiring day, but well worth it.
We also went to the V&A to finally see the furniture and furnishings of Britain from the 1500s to the 1900s, including the Great Bed of Ware. We got some macarons from Paul�s to bring home (well, we ate some, too), paid a visit to Charbonnel et Walker candy shop, and cruised the bookstores, buying a couple of books that are not out yet in the U.S.
We are not big foodies and mostly picked up stuff wherever we happened to be, but we did have our usual tea at Richoux and steak, mushroom and Guinness pie at Brown�s Restaurant. We ate supper a couple of nights on Cromwell across from the hotel. One meal was at an Italian restaurant, Pergola, which was pretty forgettable; but the other was at the Delhi Brasserie, Indian, of course, and it was really good. I had Chicken Tikka Masala and DD had Lamb Paka, along with papadom with four dipping sauces and naam.
This has become much longer than I meant it to be, but I do love London so. I like reading all of your all�s trip reports and hope this adds to someone else�s enjoyment.
The hotel is on Cromwell Road, a block up from the Holiday Inn Kensington Forum and maybe three blocks from the Gloucester Road tube stop. It is a 3* located in some old townhouses. The public areas are pretty, and breakfast was included even though it was a Priceline bid. I left things a little late, I guess, or maybe it is just the current rates, but the cost was $139 a night for a double through Priceline. Our room faced Cromwell Road so there was traffic noise when the windows were open, but the nights were cool enough that we needed the windows closed which made it plenty quiet. Breakfast was boiled eggs, almost uncooked bacon, beans, mushrooms, three kinds of cold cereal, two kinds of yogurt, croissants, Danish, toast, coffee, and tea.
Our room was pretty small but adequate. My daughter accompanied me�our habit of a fall trip to London has become a family joke�and we had a double bed, one nightstand although there was room for two, a nice dresser with drawer space and a good mirror, plenty of closet space, a luggage spot, a TV, and coffee and tea making equipment. The bathroom was not the smallest we�ve had. It had a tub with a shower and a pedestal sink with a back broad enough for some of our stuff. There was room enough to have put up a glass shelf or two that would have been great since there was nowhere in the bathroom to spread out our make up.
Another plus is the hotel is only a block from Sainsbury�s that is a must for us to stock up on Cadbury bars and other goodies.
On our arrival day, we ate lunch as ASK in the shopping center adjacent to the tube stop, got our 7-day Oyster cards, and went to Holland Park and walked a long time in cool, pleasant weather, ending up on Kensington High Street and getting Cornish pasties at the tube stop to take back to the room for supper and then early to bed. My new best friend is Lunesta. My doctor likes to travel, too, and gave me a few freebie samples to help me sleep on the plane. I have found that I can get maybe four hours� sleep on the plane and then take another one when I go to bed the first night, thus avoiding jet lag almost completely.
I believe we walked more than we ever had on a trip. We saw two old churches, St. Bartholomew the Great, and St. Etheldreda�s, Britain�s oldest Catholic Church, and then continued walking to see the Bank of England Museum (missable but interesting to try to pick up a gold bar weighing 23 pounds through a hole in a glass wall, and DD bought a little bag of shredded notes for my grandson who wants to visit a U.S. mint to see shredded money). Then we walked to Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese for a late lunch. I had good roast beef and Yorkshire Pudding with horseradish and enjoyed seeing Samuel Johnson�s chair, which is up on display, but we were just too tired to go on to see his house which is quite nearby.
Another day we stood in line for an hour and 45 minutes to get tickets to see the Chinese terracotta soldiers, getting to the British Museum about 9:15 a.m. and getting tickets for the 1:10 p.m. showing. We were a little disappointed in the display, mostly because there was another line to stand in to be admitted in spite of the timed tickets and then they let too many people in at a time. It was so crowded that it was very hard to see things. The little half-size chariot was beautiful, and the soldiers themselves are amazing.
We saw Fiddler on the Roof, the first time I had seen it as a play although I�ve seen the movie more than once. Everyone could sing really well, but Tevye, played by Henry Goodman, was terrific. His conversations with God, looking up at a corner of the ceiling, and his tenderness toward his daughters were delightful. The theater was full, and all the audience seemed to enjoy the play as much as we did.
We went to St. Paul�s for Sunday morning worship and then met David at the St. Paul�s tube stop for the Shakespeare & Dickens� London Walk. David is a literature major and gave a lot of insight into the plays and novels of those writers, as well as history lessons, as he took us along streets that they would still recognize today.
Our daytrip this year was to Cambridge where we walked the mile and a quarter from the train station to town, did a walking tour of five colleges through the Tourist Information Center, and then walked back to the station. We went into the chapel of Pembroke College, which was the first by Christopher Wren, and the King�s College Chapel, which is breathtaking. My nicest photo of the trip is a shot of the Cam River with punts tied up along the bank. It was another tiring day, but well worth it.
We also went to the V&A to finally see the furniture and furnishings of Britain from the 1500s to the 1900s, including the Great Bed of Ware. We got some macarons from Paul�s to bring home (well, we ate some, too), paid a visit to Charbonnel et Walker candy shop, and cruised the bookstores, buying a couple of books that are not out yet in the U.S.
We are not big foodies and mostly picked up stuff wherever we happened to be, but we did have our usual tea at Richoux and steak, mushroom and Guinness pie at Brown�s Restaurant. We ate supper a couple of nights on Cromwell across from the hotel. One meal was at an Italian restaurant, Pergola, which was pretty forgettable; but the other was at the Delhi Brasserie, Indian, of course, and it was really good. I had Chicken Tikka Masala and DD had Lamb Paka, along with papadom with four dipping sauces and naam.
This has become much longer than I meant it to be, but I do love London so. I like reading all of your all�s trip reports and hope this adds to someone else�s enjoyment.
Oct 28th, 2007, 02:46 PM
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We stayed at the Park International also, but a few years ago. We were on the backside, so had no noise. We had two beds, can't remember if they were full or queen size. The room was fine, nothing fancy but well kept and clean. The location was great, as you say. We were there with our children and it worked great for us. Thanks for sharing about your trip. It sounds like fun!
Oct 30th, 2007, 06:33 AM
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Carrybean, we were in London for a week. Those two churches were mentioned on someone else's thread maybe a year ago, and the churches are something we enjoy seeing. Last year we went to Southwark Cathedral, but there was a meeting going on so we only peeked in.
The literature on St. Bartholomew the Great says it is the oldest church in the City, but it has been built over and around during the centuries. It has lots of very old tombs (effigies?) and was quite interesting. St. E. is fairly close to it--at least we walked from one to the other and then to the Bank of England Museum on one of our LONG walking mornings.
The literature on St. Bartholomew the Great says it is the oldest church in the City, but it has been built over and around during the centuries. It has lots of very old tombs (effigies?) and was quite interesting. St. E. is fairly close to it--at least we walked from one to the other and then to the Bank of England Museum on one of our LONG walking mornings.
Oct 30th, 2007, 03:54 PM
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What a nice trip report. I could totally get used to a yearly London trip! I've been 3 times in a 12 month period, and might go again in 2008.
We've been to St. Etheldreda's twice (maybe you read of it in one of those trip reports?) Anyway, here's the church's website:
http://www.stetheldreda.com/home.html
The church is in Holborn, and was the chapel of a now-demolished medieval London residence of the Bishop of Ely. It is a jewel of a church, and one of the very few medieval churches in England that are now Catholic (although it wasn't always).
Here's what I wrote about St. Etheldreda's in my first London trip report:
<i>"We went first to St. Etheldreda’s Church in Holborn. I had read that it was hard to find, and followed directions that took us down a small alley and past a little pub and through a tiny passageway. It was all terribly quaint. We ended up on the street where the church is, which is happens to be plainly marked on my map and would have been plenty easy to find. But I was glad to have seen the cute pub and small passageway. Kind of gave a feel of how it might have been in medieval times. The church itself is a 13th century double decker church. There weren’t many lights on, so it probably looked the way it would have when it was built. Parts of the lower church are thought to date from pre-medieval times."</i>
On our next London visit, we attended a sung Latin Mass at 11:00 on Sunday (thanks to a tip from flanneruk) and saw it with the lights on!
We've been to St. Etheldreda's twice (maybe you read of it in one of those trip reports?) Anyway, here's the church's website:
http://www.stetheldreda.com/home.html
The church is in Holborn, and was the chapel of a now-demolished medieval London residence of the Bishop of Ely. It is a jewel of a church, and one of the very few medieval churches in England that are now Catholic (although it wasn't always).
Here's what I wrote about St. Etheldreda's in my first London trip report:
<i>"We went first to St. Etheldreda’s Church in Holborn. I had read that it was hard to find, and followed directions that took us down a small alley and past a little pub and through a tiny passageway. It was all terribly quaint. We ended up on the street where the church is, which is happens to be plainly marked on my map and would have been plenty easy to find. But I was glad to have seen the cute pub and small passageway. Kind of gave a feel of how it might have been in medieval times. The church itself is a 13th century double decker church. There weren’t many lights on, so it probably looked the way it would have when it was built. Parts of the lower church are thought to date from pre-medieval times."</i>
On our next London visit, we attended a sung Latin Mass at 11:00 on Sunday (thanks to a tip from flanneruk) and saw it with the lights on!
Oct 30th, 2007, 05:03 PM
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Anywhere in Britain that suffers from being called "the oldest x" is going to have a few rivals for the title.
Especially if it's in London, where there are, by English standards, surprisingly few really old buildings.
So St Ethelreda's claim isn't universally accepted. By the standards of English medieval churches, it's a real parvenu: thousands of Anglican churches outside London predate its building around 1250. It stopped being a church in the mid-16th century, and was heavily "restored" (ie practically rebuilt) in the 1870s, when it became a church again.
Other contenders for the title include Stonor Park in Oxfordshire, which was built about the same time as St E's (on the site of a pagan stone circle, so it has real form as a place of worship), but has been in more or less continuous use as a catholic church ever since. Minster Abbey in Kent is seriously old: first built - as an abbey - around 900, and allegedly continuously inhabited ever since, it reverted to being a permanent catholic church in the 1930s, (though there are 19th century diaries referring to it as 'Britain's oldest catholic church'), after a couple of centuries of other uses.
The argument is becoming increasingly academic, though, since the collapse of Christian congregations. together with the Catholic colonisation of the English countryside, mean there's a growing number of proper English country churches that a youngish Catholic congregation share with an ageing Anglican one. The Anglicans, of course, have the best tunes. And the prettiest vicars.
Especially if it's in London, where there are, by English standards, surprisingly few really old buildings.
So St Ethelreda's claim isn't universally accepted. By the standards of English medieval churches, it's a real parvenu: thousands of Anglican churches outside London predate its building around 1250. It stopped being a church in the mid-16th century, and was heavily "restored" (ie practically rebuilt) in the 1870s, when it became a church again.
Other contenders for the title include Stonor Park in Oxfordshire, which was built about the same time as St E's (on the site of a pagan stone circle, so it has real form as a place of worship), but has been in more or less continuous use as a catholic church ever since. Minster Abbey in Kent is seriously old: first built - as an abbey - around 900, and allegedly continuously inhabited ever since, it reverted to being a permanent catholic church in the 1930s, (though there are 19th century diaries referring to it as 'Britain's oldest catholic church'), after a couple of centuries of other uses.
The argument is becoming increasingly academic, though, since the collapse of Christian congregations. together with the Catholic colonisation of the English countryside, mean there's a growing number of proper English country churches that a youngish Catholic congregation share with an ageing Anglican one. The Anglicans, of course, have the best tunes. And the prettiest vicars.
Oct 31st, 2007, 11:24 AM
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Noe, yes, yours was the report I read about the church, and I'm grateful to you for sharing.
Even if "the oldest x" isn't exactly true, to us poor newbie USA folks, they are OLD.
Even if "the oldest x" isn't exactly true, to us poor newbie USA folks, they are OLD.
Oct 14th, 2008, 01:31 PM
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carolyn - thank you for posting the link to this trip report on the other thread. I missed this last year... and I don't think this even came up when I was doing a search.
This is a very helpful trip report for me, as I'll be staying at the Holiday Inn Kensington Forum later this month. I'll look for Delhi Brasserie - I assume it's not an expensive place?
I also plan to visit the V&A, and another day have lunch at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese. Is there more than 1 level of dining at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese?
I'll also try to look for St. Etheldreda while I'm in that area.
This is a very helpful trip report for me, as I'll be staying at the Holiday Inn Kensington Forum later this month. I'll look for Delhi Brasserie - I assume it's not an expensive place?
I also plan to visit the V&A, and another day have lunch at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese. Is there more than 1 level of dining at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese?
I'll also try to look for St. Etheldreda while I'm in that area.
Oct 15th, 2008, 11:52 AM
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yk, the Dehli Brasserie is pretty inexpensive. It is almost directly across the street from the Park Int'l. One year we ate at the Noor Jahan in the same area, and I liked the Dehli equally well (but I am not experienced in Indian food).
I recently read that the lower level of the Cheshire Cheese is the most fun, but we were seated on the ground floor in the room that has Samuel Johnson's chair suspended from the ceiling. The SJ house is near, but we didn't visit it.
Your trip sounds like you have planned really well. I hope you have good weather and a lot of fun.
I recently read that the lower level of the Cheshire Cheese is the most fun, but we were seated on the ground floor in the room that has Samuel Johnson's chair suspended from the ceiling. The SJ house is near, but we didn't visit it.
Your trip sounds like you have planned really well. I hope you have good weather and a lot of fun.
Oct 15th, 2008, 01:20 PM
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I remember one trip to London about 10 years ago when my sister and I kept seeing David McCallum leaving the Park every single morning as we left our hotel and walked by.
Dehli Brassarie was very good back then.
Dehli Brassarie was very good back then.
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