fgh

Sorry for the repost! I didn't specify the right topic initially, and I don't know how to alter the topic of a previous post. Is that possible?

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Hello! This is my first post here, though I've been browsing for a bit -- amazingly helpful people here.

Well, after years and years of building them up, we burnt up almost all my frequent flyer miles for our first trip to the UK -- three whole weeks in August!

My wife's in charge of the itinerary, but I've been helping with lodging choices and bookings. So far, I've been using various guidebooks, this forum, and TripAdvisor for lodging advice.

But most of the lodging choices are based on TripAdvisor reviews, which I don't entirely trust -- especially after the recent NY Times article. So I'd be happy with any feedback you can give on our plans so far. (One note: the itinerary may be idiosyncratic to our interests.)

Budget-wise, we'd like to get reasonable value for a family of four (kids 7 and 16). After an initial shock, I think I've adjusted to lodging prices. (Or maybe it's just numbness...) We don't have to go super cheap, but we can't afford to spend $800/night for two rooms at four- or five-star hotels for the entire trip either. So far, we've been trying to keep at $200 or below most nights, except in London and Edinburgh.

Nights 1-5: London, staying at a flat near the V&A in South Kensington/Knightbridge/Brompton/Chelsea. (I'm not entirely sure how the neighborhoods divide -- the flat is at Egerton Gardens.) Booked through London Connection.

Days 6-8: Bath (day trips to Stonehenge and Avebury), staying at Three Abbey Green B&B. I chose Three Abbey Green mainly because of TripAdvisor reviews and because we can get a family suite that can fit all of us.

However, I'm wondering a bit about Three Abbey Green because it's the #1 Bath B&B at TripAdvisor but I've never seen that B&B mentioned anywhere else (such as here). The proprietor certainly is aware of TripAdvisor -- there's a link straight from the web page! I've looked through the reviews, and at least some of them sound like real people (complaining about needing earplugs, but otherwise giving high marks). Does anyone here have any experience with Three Abbey Green?

Nights 9-11: Glastonbury, no lodging yet. My wife wants to stay in Glastonbury itself, close to the Tor. Any suggestions? I've checked Number Three Hotel, but their family room will only lodge three people -- so we'd need two rooms there at 195 pounds/night. That's a bit more than I'd like to spend, unfortunately. Any other suggestions? Just based on location, we're interested in the Parsnips and Apple Tree House B&B's but don't know much about them. There are a couple of TripAdvisor reviews, but I'm not sure whether they're real.

Night 12: Chipping Campden, staying in a family room (double plus bunks) at Eight Bells Inn. Once again, this was mainly based on TripAdvisor reviews -- especially one from a family that stayed in the family room. But I haven't seen any reviews of the rooms (as opposed to the pub) anywhere other than TripAdvisor. Does anyone here have any experience with Eight Bells Inn?

Night 13: York. Haven't picked lodging yet -- any suggestions? I was considering Dean Court, for convenience (and because it seems friendly to families).

Nights 14-16: Edinburgh. Staying at the Royal Garden Apartments, again based on TripAdvisor reviews. They're already booked out of one-bedroom apartments for our nights, so we had to go up to the two-bedroom! That's six months out! (Must be the festival.) Is Royal Garden a reasonable choice?

Nights 17-19: Travelling up through the Trossachs, Loch Lomond, and Loch Ness. Not sure where to stay or go.

Nights 20-21: Inverness. No lodging yet.

Night 22: London Heathrow, at the Sheraton Skyline. Last night before heading back!

By the way, I'm also shocked (in a good way) with the price of airplane tickets from Inverness to Heathrow on BMI. A "tiny" fare is 2 pounds, and economy is 7 pounds! How is that possible? (I do understand that nearer-term tickets cost more.)

Any thoughts? Thanks!

janisj

Your other thread has the responses so far.

By &quot;topic&quot; do you mean United Kingdom? If so -- there is no UK forum. Just a &quot;Europe&quot; board, so both of your threads are on the general Europe board. Clicking on a country simply allows folks to search for <u>some</u> threads about that country.

bigtyke

you are spending a whole week in the Bath area. If you are there Sat-Sat, then I would look at getting a self catering place. Lots cheaper than B&amp;B/hotel rooms

Marsha

Have you tried www.smoothhound.com.uk ? I found very reasonable small hotel and B &amp; B places. I booked three places and all turned out to be excellent! (I also was looking for family friendly places.)

Marsha

Oops - that should be www.smoothhound.co.uk

mohun

If you've not already booked for York, I can suggest The Four Seasons. Don't let the name throw you. It's a bed and breakfast, not remotely related to the hotel chain. The location is convenient and the owners, Bernice and Steve, are incredibily friendly and helpful (they completely detroy any stereotypes of English remoteness).

I'm not sure how many larger rooms (all are en suite) there are, but we did see at least a couple of families eating breakfast in the common breakfast room.

As to the London Connection, we had a very good experience with the Mayfair flat we rented through them. They did everything promised on the web site, and were handy to deal with with their 800 number and Utah location. By the way, Kensington/Knightsbridge is quite a good neighborhood for a flat (although you may or may not be close to a grocery store): their are many attractions there, notably the Natural History Museum and the Food Court at Harrod's.

Also by the way, there is an excellent pizza/Italian restaurant in Knightsbridge. If you're interested, email me.

Have a safe and enjoyable trip.



Jim Mohundro

Have a safe and enjoyable trip.

Carrybean

Egerton Gardens is a wonderful location in London. I've stayed on that street a few times through London Guest Suites. A little trivia, the last woman executed in the UK lived at 44 (I think) Egerton Gardens &amp; left there to shoot her lover.

I'll second another poster who recommended Patisserie Valerie which is just a block away on Brompton Road. For Chinese food, The Good Earth is good, also on Brompton. There is a mini mart called Lord's nearby &amp; nearer to Harrod's there's a Marks &amp; Spencer express market as well as another express market across Brompton Road.

The news agent near the Good Earth gives the same exchange rate as Marks &amp; Spencer with no commission if you need to exchange any money.

Barbara_in_CT

fgh,

You can 'sniff' out the trip advisor reviews. They are usually written with more emotion than detail. In addition, I generally discount the best and the worst.

We stayed in Chipping Camden in 2000 around the corner from the Eight Bells. The pub was good. It is a smaller, upscale community. I have the feeling it will be fine for you. Sorry I don't have more specific experience.

In York, we stayed at the Sycamore, a few blocks outside Bootham Gate by the Minster. It is old fashioned and typically British. It doesn't appear that they have a Quad room but it is the kind of place I wouldn't worry about having my kids in another room. Explain your situation and needs and they may be able to accomodate you. There are a number of other B&amp;B's in this area too. It is convenient. Park the car and walk. We took the Ghost Walk that started in front of the Minster. There were a number of kids who all had a great time.

We didn't stay in Inverness and it didn't meet my expectations. It's simply another good size city. You should probably stop at one of the &quot;Official Loch Ness Monster&quot; places because you'll spend less time there than explaining why you didn't once you get home.

Be sure to include a couple of castles. I liked Stirling and Eilean Donan.

Make sure your 7 year old is involved in the planning and travels with their own camera. It may look like an entirely different trip from the one you saw.

fgh

Thanks for all the suggestions. Based on feedback on another thread, we've had second thoughts about driving to Edinburgh. So we'll probably fly from Cardiff to Edinburgh and bypass York -- perhaps another trip.

It's good to hear that London Connection worked out for someone else. It seems to be an established outfit, but I still had images of getting to London and finding out that the flat was nothing like the web site description. (Although in this case, my expectation indeed is that the flat doesn't look at all like the web site photos -- London Connection already told me that they redid all the furnishings and decor within the last few weeks.)

Jim -- I'd love to hear about the pizza/Italian restaurant in Knightsbridge. But I can't figure out how to send you email on this site. What's the secret?

Marsha -- thanks for the suggestion about smoothhound -- I'll give it a try.

Carrybean -- interesting anecdote about Egerton Gardens. How did *that* come up in conversation? Thanks for the restaurant and market recommendations -- I'm looking forward to trying them out!

Barbara in CT -- thanks for all the information and suggestions. We're not really interested in Inverness per se but wanted to spend some time up in that area. Perhaps we might stay somewhere else -- perhaps Elgin? Thanks for the suggestion about our daughter and a camera. She doesn't have a camera now, but it sounds like a very good idea.

Thanks again for all the help.

mohun

The pizza/Italian food restaurant in Knightsbridge, and which is down a side street perpendicular to, and a couple of blocks away to the west, of the main street on which Harrods is located, is, believe it or not, called “Pizza Express”.

This name, in the US, is usually synonymous with mass-produced, cheap but often not very good pizza (a la Dominos, etc). The Knightsbridge Pizza Express is part of a growing chain in the UK, but the food is much better than its name. In addition to the pizzas, there are pasta meals and salads. As aficionados of salads (we were, and occasionally are, on the Atkins diet), I can vouch for the Salad Nicois, which is absolutely the best I’ve ever had, and one for which I’ve gone back three or four times on two trips to the UK.

Of course, if you’re not salad buffs…

My email address is [email protected]


Jim Mohundro

noe847

For Loch Ness and the whole 'Nessie' thing, we stopped at one of the tourist establishments, but did not pay the admission. We took pictures of the bronze Nessie sculpture and bought Nessie postcards and socks (!) in the gift shop. That was enough for my then 11 and 13 year olds, and we avoided the admission price, the time, and having to actually see the hokey exhibit.

caroline_edinburgh

I've not heard any reports of what the Royal Garden Apartments are like, but the location is very good &amp; the building looks nice from the outside.

BTW it is not 'the festival' but 'the festivals' - there are lots of them ! See www.edinburghfestivals.co.uk.