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For those lucky enough to be staying in London anytime soon,
The Tavistock Hotel presents quite reasonable rates for Bloomsbury. They have no Internet there (unless you have an ISP in England that you can connect to; I could pick up tmobile and two others in my room but had no password), but their sister hotel on the same block has Free! Wireless! Internet! in the lobby, and the Tavistock just sends me over here. It's cool; obviously I'm online right now (though it's a bit slow: size of pipe versus number of users problem, I suspect).
The Tavistock has a bar on the ground floor and a bowling alley in the basement. One previous night, the rock music from the bowling alley was disturbing, but I was exhausted, so I simply fell asleep. My friends in the room next door have been terribly bothered by traffic noise, and we're on the third floor (that's the fourth, for Americans!).
Last night was dreadful. I called at 11:50 to ask if the music would end soon or
FRACK! SOMEBODY JUST STEPPED ON MY PLUG AND BROKE IT! I HAVE NO POWER CORD!
[/panic]
British outlets: I forgot they're safety-protected. The switch got tripped and power to the outlet went off. I have a working power cord still/again (I love my Mac). I figured I'd leave that in as another note to the hazards of lobby Internet. I just moved the couch a meter closer to the plug and put my backpack to block people getting through.
Anyway, at 11:50 they told me the music would be over in 10-15 minutes. By 12:30 it was louder and I was tearing my hair out. I called. A porter called me back five minutes later: there were a lot of people there, and they couldn't tell me when the band would leave. It might be a while. Would I like to change rooms?
I thought of the mess of stuff all over the room. They told me I didn't have to move it all; I could just sleep upstairs. Like I'd leave my computer and passport in a different room while I slept, and go up there in my pjs. But I said yes and threw the essentials into my computer bag and dressed quickly. They moved me to the eighth floor, and eventually I slept.
I made the change permanent this morning, and they're not charging me more for the different room type.
So the Tavistock's a bit shabby, but the upper floors are better; and the lower floors are loud, but they do try to accommodate people who actually want to, like, sleep. Those looking for a hotel in Bloomsbury could do better, but they could surely do worse.
The Tavistock Hotel presents quite reasonable rates for Bloomsbury. They have no Internet there (unless you have an ISP in England that you can connect to; I could pick up tmobile and two others in my room but had no password), but their sister hotel on the same block has Free! Wireless! Internet! in the lobby, and the Tavistock just sends me over here. It's cool; obviously I'm online right now (though it's a bit slow: size of pipe versus number of users problem, I suspect).
The Tavistock has a bar on the ground floor and a bowling alley in the basement. One previous night, the rock music from the bowling alley was disturbing, but I was exhausted, so I simply fell asleep. My friends in the room next door have been terribly bothered by traffic noise, and we're on the third floor (that's the fourth, for Americans!).
Last night was dreadful. I called at 11:50 to ask if the music would end soon or
FRACK! SOMEBODY JUST STEPPED ON MY PLUG AND BROKE IT! I HAVE NO POWER CORD!
[/panic]
British outlets: I forgot they're safety-protected. The switch got tripped and power to the outlet went off. I have a working power cord still/again (I love my Mac). I figured I'd leave that in as another note to the hazards of lobby Internet. I just moved the couch a meter closer to the plug and put my backpack to block people getting through.
Anyway, at 11:50 they told me the music would be over in 10-15 minutes. By 12:30 it was louder and I was tearing my hair out. I called. A porter called me back five minutes later: there were a lot of people there, and they couldn't tell me when the band would leave. It might be a while. Would I like to change rooms?
I thought of the mess of stuff all over the room. They told me I didn't have to move it all; I could just sleep upstairs. Like I'd leave my computer and passport in a different room while I slept, and go up there in my pjs. But I said yes and threw the essentials into my computer bag and dressed quickly. They moved me to the eighth floor, and eventually I slept.
I made the change permanent this morning, and they're not charging me more for the different room type.
So the Tavistock's a bit shabby, but the upper floors are better; and the lower floors are loud, but they do try to accommodate people who actually want to, like, sleep. Those looking for a hotel in Bloomsbury could do better, but they could surely do worse.