Visiting London has too many good things to list but one of the great experiences when planning a trip to London is to stay in a normal London hotel. This is a unique way of getting a real feel for this great city and also for the Londoners, who rate as some of the friendliest people you would ever anticipate to meet. The large, global hotel chains may offer all the usual promises of comfort and service but why stay in a hotel which looks exactly the same be it in London, New york or Abu Dhabi when there are literally hundreds of tradition type London hotels, which can give equal comfort but generally at a dramatically reduced price, thus offering great affordable and an opportunity to enjoy a local experience at the same time?
London’s history extends back over a thousand years and many of its buildings have likewise made it through the test of time, especially remembering more recent times during the Second World War when the city was constantly inundated for many years. The buildings throughout London is spectacular and many older buildings date back to the Georgian london coach charter era of the 1700s and the more recent Victorian era of the 1800s. Many of these properties were owned by rich aristocratic families, who lived in the second parts and housed their servants, cooks and butlers in the lower floors of the buildings. Over the years such houses became very expensive to own and run and as such, many next to buildings have been became hotels, providing historical, unique accommodation for visitors to London. A number of these properties used to be been to by celebrities and a blue plaque always adorns to the outside of such a building advising us who lived there and when (such as Tophams Hotel in Ebury Street, Belgravia where the James Bond creator Ian Fleming used to live). No two rooms are the same in many of these hotels increasing the quirky nature of the building. There is much history hidden behind the walls of many of these hotels and the owners and management of some such properties proudly display this in pictures put on the vestibule walls.
Some traditional hotels in London are small yet deluxe offering that extra bit of discreteness for the rich and famous desperate to avoid the sometimes faceless, open nature of large global archipelago properties found not just in London but in all the main cities through Europe, the us and further afield. Many traditional type properties can also be budget hotels which are owner managed offering simple service for young visitors and/or those desperate to save on more expensive hotels. In all cases, the traditional London hotel offers a fantastic, friendly service you would be hard pushed to find in a property perhaps belonging to a more substantial archipelago of (inter)national hotels. Accommodation is always clean and you’ll always get the chance to engage a member of staff at the reception desk, perhaps to get a tip for a good local restaurant, how to get a bus from a to B or quite simply to know what a local person has to quickly go over the great history of London and all its stories.
Even beyond the main city hub there are many traditional London hotels located close to tube areas and bus stops making your journey from the major airfields of Heathrow, Stansted and Gatwick or from the mainline train areas very sel-explanatory and easy. Most of these hotels offer full breakfasts, which are generally built to order so a big mug of tea and a nice hot full English breakfast is a great way to start the day, giving you all the energy you need for your day ahead in London!