Period ''urbanite'' living?

[robgil]

We just got back from London, we stayed in a 'Z' Hotel just off CharingCross road beside the Palace Theater. Anyhow , me , Mrs Robgil and out daughter got to the hotel and were amazed to see how small they could actually make a hotel room, one small double bed and a toilet and shower with room for one person only to walk between them, it was tiny , teeeny tiny, it was completely ridiculous just how teeny tiny it actually was, It had an air exchange system in it that constantly sucked air from the room and the temperamental aircon was supposed to replace it with fresh air. I was a dry as a prune after our four day stay.
The cleaner came to clean the room and she couldn't clean it because three people could not fit in it. It was a closet. We asked for another room and they told us this was the biggest they had. :shock: And they were not joking as we soon found out when they showed us other available rooms.
Is this teeeny tiny thing just a passing fad brought over from Japan or is it the norm in central London?
There were two sets of front doors to the hotel kind of like an air lock type thing, the only flaw was the 16 inches or so between the two sets of doors, it was really laughable. Do they design these hotels for little teeny tiny people?
Apparently you were not supposed to take any luggage up to your room as there is no where to put it , no storage at all , no wardrobe or bed side cabinets, and parking ones breakfast with nothing more than a sheet of glass between ones self and the rest of the family was an experience both my family and me do not wish to share ever again.
Rant over.
I feel much better now.

 

[DJH]

Should have stayed at Claridges Robgil! Could have seen you on the tele..... :lol:

 

[Feltwell]

Bit late now, but for a basic London hotel this one was good - literally about 200 feet from the tube station, plenty of local places to eat. Small rooms but not stupidly so, I had one with 2 double beds for me & 2 of my kids to stay in, it was clean and quite quiet even though we were on the front of the hotel. Bargain rates to be had via lastminute.com, and unusually for a London hotel the staff all spoke English and were all friendly!

http://www.amsterdam-hotel.com/

I have stayed in some truly shocking London hotels in the past though - especially when I worked for one firm where you had a flat rate allowance for hotel stays, which at the time gave you a nice room in most parts of the UK but only afforded the very cheapest in London.

 

[Moo]

I've just had a look at their website, and see what you mean!
But to be fair, they do emphasise that the rooms are just for sleeping in after enjoying the sights and sounds of the West End. In fact, their description of one room actually says that there's not room to swing a pet animal, so you can't exactly accuse them of failing to observe the trades description rules.

 

[robgil]

Unfortunately we didn't book the room, Ms Robgil was on business and her client booked it, they were aware though that there would be a young child when the room was booked.
The major problem was 7 O'clock bed time for my daughter meant our sight seeing would end at around 5.30/6.00 so we could get settled down for the night, although all the noise outside meant sleeping was a mission in itself.
I'm not really a fan of London anyway which made it seem worse I suppose.

Edit - winter wonderland was good, a tad overpriced but good for the kids.

 

[Flyfisher]

Sounds like some hotels I've used in Paris. That's city centre pricing for you.

Still, the Japanese have got 'capsule hotels' for those who like things really compact!
http://capsuleinn.com/en/

 

[robgil]

I have stayed in Formula One Hotels in an emergency when tiredness got the better of me and I could no longer drive, that was an experience. The self cleaning bathrooms are quite frightening as if you are not out quick enough they will self clean with you still in them.

 

[Sonyaclegg]

I was in London last Nov and checked in and out of the Park Lane hotel in the space of ten mins. I went to Twitter and was advised to go next door to the Anthenum. It was expensive but it was my annual trip away sans family so I justified it, just!

 

[tobydog]

Rob - these swanky places are called boutique hotels. Nice on paper but that's it. Stayed in one in San Francisco once and you could get from one side of the room and into the shower on the other side without touching the floor. It literally was the old janitors room because it was next to the lifts (really annoying) before you went through the doors (really really annoying) to the corridors. Only good news was that I wasn't paying.

You didn't say how much you paid. That could say it all!!!

 

[robgil]

It was free Toby so I shouldn't complain really, but it was very annoying spending 4 days with a bored two year old in a shoe box. The only place she really had to play was on the bed however the bed was up against a low level window and as it was on the fourth floor I had quite a few ''dont jump on the bed'' moments as she jumped in the general direction of the window.
The view of the Palace Theater was nice though.