30 Sept 2012

Base 2 Stay

So I'm in the process of going through the hundreds of photos taken during our trip and culling the one's I want to develop and also upload onto FB. 

Yes people, develop your photos or at least upload them somewhere for people to view. Why take photos and not share them with people? Prints cost 9c everyday at Kmart. You can upload your images online from the comfort of your home, pay online or upon pick up and most stores close at 12pm on weekdays - there are no more excuses for not printing photos. I enjoy the experience of going through a photo album with someone as they explain stories behind a photo they are sharing.

In the mean time (more like while the little man is asleep and I have some time to blog) I want to share our experience and provide a review of the accommodation we stayed at in London. 

We stayed at Base2Stay Kensington, however it's more like Earl's Court. It opened its doors in 2006 so it's a relatively new hotel therefore its interior and rooms have modern fixtures. We booked our room directly through the hotel however, there are other online vendors you can book through. At the time it worked out cheaper to booked through them directly than go with these third party websites.

Cost of the room was ... slightly above our budget in terms of how much we wanted to spend, but the para-Olympics, which started on the same day we arrived, played a factor on the price. Base2Stay is a well priced hotel and rates are usually cheaper than the period of time we were there. Actually because of the para-Olympics we couldn't afford to stay closer to the heart of London.

A summary of my review of our room, 205 at Base2Stay:

  • Room was clean and cozy, beds warm and comfy.
  • Room was basic but contained a cupboard, small kitchenette, safe, flat screen tv and modern bathroom.
  • Kitchenette contained basic kitchen utensils, a small sink, coffee facilities, microwave and a fridge.
  • Rooms were quiet, never heard other guests around us although I knew there were people staying next door and across from us.
  • Accommodation included free wifi for guests. Rooms even contained a keyboard to allow you to connect online and use the flat screen tv as a monitor.
  • Five minutes walk to Earls Court train station therefore can access either the Piccadilly or District tube lines. 
  • Because hotel was on the Piccadilly line we could catch a train directly from the airport without forking out extra for the Heathrow Express train. 
  • There are many grocery stores, fast food outlets, restaurants, pubs, banks and convenience stores within walking distance to accommodation.
  • When we booked accommodation we mentioned it was our wedding anniversary and they sent us a bottle of champagne as a gift.
  • Staff were very friendly and helpful. We need to print some documents that needed to be scanned and emailed. Staff was able to assist us with this process by printing email, rescanning document and emailing back to me.
  • Rooms serviced daily.
  • Hotel monitors feedback from visitors like a hawk via TA and take all feedback seriously so they can improve on their service. They pride in the constant positive feedback.
Faults I would raise:

  • There is a building next door currently being renovated / built so could hear the construction noises in the morning and thorough out the day.
  • No exhausted in the bathroom so would fog up after a hot shower.
  • Using the shower faucet was a bit confusing at the start. Some information provided in rooms would have been helpful however we soon figured it out. There is no cold water, the cold water tap controls the hotness of the hot water.
  • Water pressure was not that great, don’t know if it’s the hotel or London as a whole and do not have strong shower water pressure.
  • No iron facilities.
  • Air conditioner was very noisy when on. It would actually wake me up in the middle of the night. 
Overall Base2Stay was a pleasant stay for us. It was well priced, clean, modern and meet all our creature comfort needs. 

Would I stay here next time I come to London .... if our dollar is stronger against the pound and there isn't a global event factoring prices I would probably like to stay a little closer to the shopping districts of town.   

Comfy beds to crash on after a long day of sight seeing and shopping

The small kitchenette area. The microwave is on the shelf above and fridge is hidden in the cupboard  below. 

I'll upload the pictures taken from Ian's camera ... when I get to them.

28 Sept 2012

We're Back

I'm back from our big European adventure ... booo *sad face*

But yay back with our little man whom we totally missed while we were away. There wasn't a day that I didn't say out loud "I miss Eli!!" or watched one of his videos to get me through the day. He's ... changed so much ... but more on that later.

I want to put some time into writing about my holiday so that in I in a few years time I can recall the moments and experiences with all its detail. So give me a few days or weeks (depending on how lazy I get recounting my adventure) to write in thorough detail about the experiences of our long awaited holiday across Europe.

Our itinerary included:

London (view of the London Eye, Big Ben and Houses of Parliament)

Paris (Eiffel Tower)

 Florence (The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore)

Rome (The Colosseum) 

Crete (beach from Candia Maris Resort & Spa) and

Santorini (view from our suite at Aliko Suites)


All images taken by me with my iPhone.


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