[Aug. 2024] We went to London to celebrate our friend’s end of her battle with illness.
It had been decades since we’d stayed in a hotel in London, where we’d lived for many years.
This time, we used up almost all of our British Airways points, which we probably won’t use much from now on, and bought a flight and hotel package.
The hotel was the Heeton Concept Hotel, located very close to the Hammersmith office where we used to go.
It was a bit of a strange place.
We were happy when the reception told us that we’d been upgraded, but the room was so small that I wondered how small it would have been if we hadn’t been upgraded.
As is the case in Paris, France, affordable hotels in big cities often have small rooms.
When you enter our room, the first thing you see is a long desk, which is integrated with the bedhead, and the bed is on the other side.
On the left side as you enter is the bathroom, which is divided into three sections.
The toilet, sink and shower were all lined up next to the bed.
We stayed for five nights, but it was hard to get used to it.
And opposite the shower was a wardrobe.
Well, everything we needed was there so it wasn’t a problem, but my husband didn’t like the smell in the room and looked grumpy.
To me it smelled like detergent.
The strangest thing about this hotel was that if you said you didn’t want your room cleaned (put down your sign), you were given one drink a day.
This included not only soft drinks, but also beer and wine.
On the first night, not understanding what was going on, we went downstairs to get a free drink, and they said, “Today the room has been cleaned, so you have to pay for drinks.”
But they did give us one free drink.
They were flexible about that.
One afternoon, when we returned to our room after going out, it hadn’t been cleaned yet, so we complained.
We were told, “Please wait while you have a drink.”
It seems that the way things are done here is to get rid of all kinds of problems with a drink.
There is no restaurant, but we heard that there were discounts at some affiliated shops, but we didn’t use them.
In the morning, we went to the familiar Pret a Manger and a French creperie that we used to go to often.
I thought I would feel nostalgic during this holiday, but I didn’t feel that way.
Rather, I felt like I was still living in London as before.
It had only been five months since we moved.
