I went to London with the Girlfriend last week end. Arrived Friday night and went home on Sunday. It was nice. We did things like visiting the huge bookshop Watersone’s at Picadilly, the Biritish Library, Lonely Planet, and going down Oxford Street at night. Not to mention pubs, and the lovely cupcake heaven Peggy Porschen Cakes. I never get enough time in London!

I was very happy that the Girlfriend wanted to go to the British Library. There’s currently an exhibition on children’s books illustrations there, which I loved. That, along with the original Alice in Wonderland and Jane Austen manuscripts were my personal favourites. The Girlfriend’s were “the old books” (her words).

The only letdown was the hotel. We had booked a room at the Holly House Hotel in Victoria. The booking page said the following about it:

In central London, Holly House Hotel is only 5 minutes’ walk from Victoria’s rail, tube and coach stations. There is good access to the Gatwick Express airport service.

Each room at Holly House has free Wi-Fi, tea/coffee facilities, a TV and a small fridge. Most rooms have en suite facilities, while others have shared bathrooms.

Each morning, a continental breakfast is served in the spacious dining room. The property has a 24-hour reception and check-in is available from 14.00 onwards.

When we arrived, we got our keys, and it turned out it was a “two in one” hotel: There were actually two hotels, with two doors, sharing owners, reception and “dining room”. Our room was at the part called Ivy House Hotel, but it didn’t really matter. The room faced the railway, meaning the noise from the trains bothered us though out the night, so we didn’t sleep very well. The so called en suit bathroom was really tiny, and not very nice, so we couldn’t bear the thought of showering there. The room was also very small, so moving around was hard, and even after we turned the heat off, it was sticking hot. I could kick myself for not checking TripAdvisor before we booked. The only good thing I can say about the hotel is that it was very cheap, approx. GBP 110 for two nights.

I have a review coming up for the hotel, indeed. A good thing we only stayed for two nights, and that we hardly spent time at the hotel.

Here are some photos from the trip: