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Nic was one of our very first Nonrev Correspondents. He has spent untolled hours in our forum unselfishly giving travel advice to countless nonrevs about travel to London and beyond. We do not have words to adequately express our gratitude for his contribution. Unfortunately, other obligations will no longer permit him to act as a Correspondent, however, he will continue to participate as a regular member as time permits.
Nic, Thanks for all of your help!
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Hallo everyone,
I have been working at British Airways since 1995, based in our head offices at Waterside just off Heathrow Airport, London. My work at BA involves reporting and analysing route, network, and corporate profitability. When I have got through that, there is nothing quite like leaving work on a Friday evening in time for the flight to JFK, and getting to Manhattan in time for a late night beer! As well as the more obvious places to visit some of the best trips over the last few years have been weekends in Bratislava, Bucharest, Riga and Amman, and various points in- between and further afield. As well as providing info on London, I can give advice on other cities around Europe and elsewhere, from how to buy a carpet in Madrid, to how to handle being held up at gunpoint in Romania! if you have any questions, just let me know.
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[This message was edited by Chris on July 04, 2003 at 07:43 AM.]
[This message was edited by Chris on July 04, 2003 at 07:47 AM.]
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Do you have any info on Thistle Victoria?
Thanx, Chet
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The Thistle Hotels are a UK national chain - mainly 4/5 star hotels. The Thistle Victoria is actually part of Victoria station - location is great for access to LGW (train) and west to LHR and central for the West End/ Buck House etc.
I am pretty sure the place has been refurbished, and am confident to a high quality - and and will have all the restaurants and cafes you need. It is also a historic building/piece of architecture in its own right and certainly better looking from the outside than most of the large hotels in central London....
Not sure that it is up in the luxury bracket - but I think 4 star at least - all of which makes me wonder what your price range is or maybe wonder whether you have a good deal worked out?!
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Thanx for update. We've stayed in several seedy b&b's on Belgrave, thought we may try Thistle Victoria next trip..
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Hi Chet
We stayed at the Holiday Inn- Victoria on our London escapade. It's in the same area as the Thistle Victoria but not as expensive. As Nic mentioned the area around Victoria station is a great home base, as we were able to walk (slosh [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] ) to many of London's major attractions plus the nearby railway and bus stations made longer trips very easy. In addition inside Victoria station along with the shops etc, is a tourism office. There is also a money exchange office, however we found the American Express office across the street offered a better deal. Have fun.
Keep'em Flying
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Hey I will most likely be traveling to London next month and have never stayed there. I am not sure what part of London I will need to be in, but when I find out, I would appreciate help in locating a great place to stay.. I would also like to be near some touristy type things so I can take advantage of my time there. I will let you know,
Thanks,
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No problem - let us know when you have firmed up your plans,
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I just found out that it is in an area called, Ealing London.. I guess it is a bit north of LGW. I hope there are some good things to see there..
Let me know,
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Ealing - Where do I start?! A lot of LHR/airline staff live here as it is in west London, midway between the airport and the centre, and has good rail/tube/motorway links into the centre of town and also out to the west.
Ealing has a suburban character - historically the home of Ealing Studios - the now-closed film-makers who made some of the most well-known films of the 40s and 50s (the Ealing Comedies). There is also Ealing Common nearby and plenty of open space.
The main centre is around Ealing Broadway, including indoor shopping centre, reataurants of all nationalities, in particular a couple of good Indians and an Italian, there are loads of pubs and couple of nightclubs. (If you need more info, let me know)
The area is very safe, including at night, although suggest you avoid the Common at night where there were a couple of unpleasant (but apparently isolated) incidents recently.
Have you arranged your hotel? Have been hunting down some personally researched and verified info on value-for-money hotels, but the website seems to have been taken down.... however let me know and I will see what I can do.
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that sounds like there is a lot to see and do in that area.. Maybe we can get together and take in a night on the town some night as well. As far as hotel info, I havent found anything yet because I dont know for sure when I will be coming. I am thinking that it will be late Aug. but not sure.
I will let you know.
Thanks for the help,
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As of now, there are two directories I would recommend when looking for hotels in London.
<a href="http://www.ukhotelnet.com/london/centralhotels.htm" target="_blank">http://www.ukhotelnet.com/london/centralhotels.htm</A>
The UK Hotel Network requires you to specify a segment of London (eg Central London), then provides you with a short description of the local districts, their amenities and accommodation profile. Clicking on a district gives you hotel address, picture, description (bear in mind these were probably written by the hotels themselves!), and price range. Most have online availability and booking. The site covers all parts of the UK (and, apparently, Paris), so if planning to stay outside London, go to the home page -
<a href="http://www.ukhotelnet.com/" target="_blank">http://www.ukhotelnet.com/</A>
<a href="http://www.in-london.co.uk/index.htm" target="_blank">http://www.in-london.co.uk/index.htm</A>
In-London works differently, in that you select your price range first, then select the district in which you wish to stay. There are also options to search hotels near a specified loaction, attraction, rail station or airport. As with ukhotelnet there is a map option - this one enables you to see the proximity of the districts to each other, plus the location of the main sites. As with ukhotelnet, you get to see pictures, descriptions and can usually book online.
As you would expect, there are quite a few hotel directories of this kind - here are some of the others:
<a href="http://www.hotel-london.co.uk/" target="_blank">http://www.hotel-london.co.uk/</A>
<a href="http://www.londonhotels-discount.com/" target="_blank">http://www.londonhotels-discount.com/</A>
<a href="http://www.1st-london-hotels.com/" target="_blank">http://www.1st-london-hotels.com/</A>
<a href="http://www.hotels-london-hotel.com/" target="_blank">http://www.hotels-london-hotel.com/</A>
<a href="http://www.london-uk-hotels.net/" target="_blank">http://www.london-uk-hotels.net/</A>
<a href="http://www.hotels-london.org/" target="_blank">http://www.hotels-london.org/</A>
Do be aware that these people are trying to sell to you, and that:
# Rooms in UK city hotels/B&Bs tend to be smaller than their US counterparts
# Most will have TV but you need to check as not all do
# Likewise not all will have ensuite bathroom - unless specified you may have to share
# If you have hired a car, there may not be dedicated parking at the smaller hotels in the centre of built up areas (NB - you do not need one to get round central London anyway - you are better off using the tube and bus)
# We tend to have a more tolerant approach to smoking than some parts of the US, so if you have a problem with renting a room in which someone has smoked you need to check if dedicated non-smoking rooms are available.
If you think you have found what you are looking for but want to check on whether it is the right location for you, let me know and I will try to give you some comment on the feel of the area you have picked.
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WOW.. that is a lot of info, this will be very helpful. I will have to find out more info and then let you know when I will be coming over.
Thanks for all your help.
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Nic,
My Father wishes to go to Scotland the first part of 2003.
When does it stop snowing up there? I know it still can be quite cold even in August, but when does tourist season start?
Thanks!
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Christmas in London is not what you might call, ummm "relaxing" but it is an experience... the main shopping streets such as Oxford Steet and Regent street are lit, and most of the big stores have window displays - Selfridges, Hamleys, Harrods to name just three.
It does get busy and hectic - so if you actually want to buy something then its best to get it out of the way on a weekday and in the morning. December 24th is the special day given over to those who have still not decided what they need to buy, let alone made the search for it (you can tell who we are because we are all male with a haunted, harrassed and fearful look on our faces...!).
Obviously at this time of year the days are quite short and the streets are quite wet, but if you are visiting rather than hurriedly shopping then you can slow down and watch the world on their way with a bag of hot chestnuts from one of the numerous street sellers. The pubs and clubs are also welcoming and busy (full of people celebrating while putting off their Xmas shopping!) This is also pantomime season with numerous traditional/family shows, often featuring actors and actresses well-known on film and UK TV, and carol services both in churches and outdoors.
I may be biased, but I think we probably do Christmas better than our continental neighbours - or if not better then at least we do it in a more traditional kind of way. There is some industrial unrest here - firefighters and tube workers striking periodically (Hey! I said it was traditional, right?!), and we face the same risks as all the other big cities in the western world...
Here's some pics and links....
<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/yourlondon/christmas_2002.shtml" target="_blank">http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/yourlondon/christmas_2002.shtml</A>
<a href="http://www.londontown.com/London/Christmas_In_London/" target="_blank">http://www.londontown.com/London/Christmas_In_London/</A>
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are you familiar with any of the hostels in london.
I am nonreving iceland air into heathrow..
is the tube (subway) difficult to use?
travel
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Nic, Well here it is, I am on my way to London in about an hour. I will be flying into LGW and traveling the tube to ealing. I am staying in a hotel there called the Fox and Goose hotel. I dont know what it is like but I will see when I get there.
If you get a chance, call the hotel in the evening and we can chat.
I will be there from Sunday 23rd of feb to the first of Mar.
Thanks,
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Hi - sorry for not getting in touch - I was in the States for that week (New York/New Jersey) - hope you made the most of your trip and had a great time
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Hi,
We are cruising the Baltic sea roundtrip from Dover on June 7th 2003. We are planning to arrive in Dover 2 days prior the cruise and stay in a B&B called the Westbank Guesthouse on Folkestone road, near the Priory train station. So far, we have looked for a transfer by limousine directly from the airport to Dover but found it too expensive; we also looked for the bus ride with a bus change in Pencester road bus station or the train ride from Charing Cross. To get to Charing Cross means taking the tube from the airport or from Paddington station if we elect to take the Heatrow Express. Because of the luggages we bring with us, which option would you recommend or would you have any other suggestions.
We want to visit the Dover castle; any comments on the tour?
Thanks in advance for your info!
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Have you thought about getting a car, either for one day just to get to Dover or for both days so you can get around without relying on tours? The trip from LHR to Dover is motorway all the way ( even if it does include the infamous M25 car park ).
PJ
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Thanks for the tip;in fact we never considered this option. I guess we were affraid to try driving in the other seat in the car( http://www.nonrev.net/infopop/emotic...on_biggrin.gif ) and all the media about London traffic. We'll look into it. By the way, what is the M25?
Thanks again.
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The M25 is the Outer London Orbital Motorway ( Freeway ) but owing to the amount of traffic during the rush hours it is mockingly called a car park given the speed of progress. Its not really a problem unless you are on time critical travel. You shouldn't have too much problem with the driving here once you've learnt about roundabouts ( traffic circles ) and how to use them!!
PJ
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Nic,
My Father cashed in a ton of Marriott points to fulfill his dream of a Concorde flight. Though the flight is the main reason he will be in London he still will have 4 days over Easter to enjoy whatever events are on the calendar. If you know of any festivals, Easter parades or other events going on in the London area, please post them so that I may forward the info to my Father.
Thanks!
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Thanks!
I forwarded him the info. He has let me know the only firm thing on his schedule is to visit the Rolls Royce factory in Goodwood. I you see any events for the area around Goodwood let me know.
Do you know if senior citizen discounts are available at most attractions and museums? What about the train?
Thanks again!
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Coyne,
www.laterlife.co.uk has some info on London discounts for seniors.
PJ
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M25 is the ring road surrounding London. It has been dubbed "The World's largest Car Park" as traffic can be dismal around rush-hour times... On the other hand it is a great way to skirt London and if the truth be told, there are few places you will drive where the M25 does not prove to be part of the route.
I use it every day and have to say I have never had too much bother with it at all...
Mark (LHR)
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