2 Kids, 2 Countries (Slight Return)

[Seat0B]

why *are* hotel bathrooms so badly designed?

They really are, aren't they!

Mrsdrron says hotel bathrooms are badly designed because they are designed by men.

I reckon it's because they are designed to look as good as they can, without considering the user experience! Classic form over function. Most of the hotel bathrooms have trouble with something as basic as locating a loo roll where you can reach it without having to perform olympic standard gymnastics!

 

[VPS]

I don't want to take this TR off topic but I'm another one that believes no one that designs hotel bathrooms has a clue. I tend to travel alone so it's not so bad but they don't include enough hooks or shelf space. Rant over

 

[Seat0B]

Maybe we need a new thread - worst bathrooms in hotels?

 

[RB001]

Maybe we need a new thread - worst bathrooms in hotels?

Bathroom oddities featured a bit over here... (Amongst other "joys")

Ways that hotels annoy guests

 

[MattA]

“Can we go on one of those?” asked the 6yo, pointing at an open-top tourist bus, as we crossed Lambeth Bridge on foot.

“Nope” I said. “Those ones are expensive. We can do better than that…”

I’m a firm believer that there’s no better value London tourist attraction than sitting up top of a regular TFL double decker just taking it all in. I lived here for nearly a decade at the turn of the century, but sitting up there, in the front seats if possible, floating around London in a little bubble, never gets old.

The 87, which stops on Millbank right across the river from our temporary home at the Novotel, might be one of the best. Up to parliament, past Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, along Whitehall, past Downing Street, Trafalgar Square and onwards to Charing Cross and the Strand.

Not bad for the price of an Oyster tap on. We got the front seats too.

 

[MattA]

We hopped off the 87 on the Strand and wandered up to Covent Garden. Flowers in bloom…



Lunch from this excellent pulled pork bagel place in Seven Dials market:





I mean I didn’t know they taught a course in this, but hey sign me up!



T-Shirt shop just around the corner:



After that we promised the girls a visit to Hamleys. Came home with a new member of the family…



But we did get to meet lego royalty:



Her Majesty’s a pretty nice girl but she doesn’t have a lot to say…

 

[MattA]

A restorative beverage a few too many shops later at the Lamb & Flag pub in St Christopher’s Place. More flowers in full bloom…





About as touristy as it gets, but beer, sunshine, a pleasant view and a spot from which to plan our next move. What’s not to like.

That next move was—eventually—in the direction of dinner. And took us to what might just be a new favourite in the form of Azmar on the Edgware Rd. About as far removed as we could get from tourist central without leaving Zone 1. Cheap and cheerful, full of locals, friendly service with all sorts of complimentary starters and sides brought to the table as we sat down. I reckon we’ll be back there on a future visit:

 

[MattA]

And home via the Bakerloo Line and a quick stroll along the river from Waterloo. Big day.

 

[I love to travel]

Great tip re 87 bus thanks. If you are coming from Heathrow (staying at an airport hotel) would Nine Elms be a reasonable place to get to the tube to and then 87 bus from there to Aldywch?

 

[MattA]

Great tip re 87 bus thanks. If you are coming from Heathrow (staying at an airport hotel) would Nine Elms be a reasonable place to get to the tube to and then 87 bus from there to Aldywch?

Not sure how easy it’d be to get to Nine Elms from Heathrow. You might be better getting the Elizabeth Line to Bond Street or Tottenham Ct Rd and finding an alternative scenic route from there—there are many to choose from! TFL have some other suggestions here: Bus leisure routes

 

[MattA]

Finally got to tick off something that has been on my list for a while: the mail train at the Postal Museum. This underground train was used up until 2003 to transport mail around the city. Now you can go for a ride on it.





Only about a 10-15 minute loop around, but a lot of fun. It stops at a couple of the “stations” along the way to tell you the story via projections on the walls.





There’s a small museum onsite, and your ticket for the train also gets you into the postal museum over the road.







I was tickled by this in the gift shop. I wonder if it comes with a dodgy computer system and a fraud conviction…

 

[VPS]

I'm another one that loves the London bus especially sitting up the top at the front. I had been telling friends of mine that come over every year that the buses are great and he was no tubes are efficient. I made them come on a bus with me when we caught up last time and now they are converted.

As I came out of the postal museum I said the guide I had much more fun than I should have for an old lady - I loved it.

Cheeky remark about Horizons there

 

[VPS]

Great tip re 87 bus thanks. If you are coming from Heathrow (staying at an airport hotel) would Nine Elms be a reasonable place to get to the tube to and then 87 bus from there to Aldywch?

Sorry to hijack the thread.

If you are coming from Heathrow just stay on the Picadilly line until you get to Covent Garden and then walk back to Aldwych (about 10 minutes to catch the bus)

The number 11 bus is also a good bus to catch. We can start a new thread if you want more info

Another hint for those coming from Heathrow - if you want to change from the Piccadilly to District Line then change at Acton town - it's the only one that you don't have to change platforms for

 

[MattA]

From the postal museum, it was time for some lunch. A little bit of clicking around on Google Maps and a short stroll down the leafy backstreets of Clerkenwell found us at Johnny Schnitzel. A little sandwich shop and deli on a quiet corner.



Absolutely delicious, and huge, schnitzel focaccias made to order. We ate at one of the outside tables as a steady stream of locals stopped by for their lunch.

After that we popped up to Granary Square behind Kings Cross, where the children ran around in the water fountains in the London sunshine.

 

[MattA]

This one belongs in that “what cheeses me off” thread…

The UK’s pretty much contactless payments everywhere these days, so I haven’t needed physical cash at all. But Azmar, our Middle Eastern feast the other day, was “cash only”. So off I went to the M&S bank cashpoint off Oxford Street to get some real money. After safely navigating through the offer of Dynamic Currency Conversion, I hit the final screen, where the machine suddenly announced it was going to charge a fee of £3.95.

No thanks, I thought, and cancelled the transaction. Walked back to Bond Street to a proper bank (Lloyd’s), and used their machine with no fees. Sorted. Or so I thought…

Cut to a few days later checking my account (Macquarie Bank, which has no intl fees on its debit card). Turns out good old M&S bank processed the transaction regardless, then refunded it, costing me the value of the buy/sell spread ($2.92) and then just went ahead and slung me their fee anyway.


I mean we’re talking $11.22 here, but it’s a principle. Why should I be charged for no service, and how was I supposed to know about the fee if you didn’t tell me about it until it was too late to avoid it?

I have submitted a dispute through Macquarie, so we’ll see what happens…