Travel - London calling
One of the world’s great capitals is being given a major makeover prior to hosting the 2012 Olympic Games, Winsor Dobbin reports.
Monuments are being cleaned, roads widened and public transport links improved as London prepares to put on the Olympic Games from July 27 to August 12 next year – when it will become the first city to officially host the modern Olympics three times, following on from 1908 and 1948.
The sporting festival has prompted redevelopment of
many of the areas in which the Games will be held,
particularly at Stratford in the East End, where the main
stadium is nearing completion.
It’s an exciting time to be in London, the city is vibrant
and putting on a smiling face for the even greater
number of visitors it expects over the next eight months.
Given the strength of the Aussie dollar, now is a great
time to visit – and you can pay as much, or as little, for
accommodation as your budget allows.
Who would have thought that you could stay in a
centrally located new-build hotel for just £45 per night?
Or that one of London’s most gracious hotels would be
offering accommodation for just £159 a night, with a
lot of extras thrown in?
The two hotels in question are The Tune Hotel
Westminster, just a short walk from Waterloo Station,
and the venerable The Athenaeum on Piccadilly
overlooking Green Park. I stayed in both on a recent
trip – and the contrasts between the two could not be
greater. Here’s the lowdown on what exactly you get for
your money.
The Tune, owned by a Malaysian travel
group, is the ultimate no-frills hotel
– perfect for anyone on a tight budget
who simply wants somewhere clean
and comfortable to sleep – and the beds
really are extremely cosy.
Basically, you get a bed in a compact room with minimal furniture, a bathroom with power, shower and... that’s it. You pay extra for everything else on an item-by-item basis. It’s what the Tune people call a “limited-service hotel.”
There are 79 rooms across six floors,
although I’d probably avoid the 11
without windows. Big Ben, the Houses
of Parliament, the London Eye and
several museums are within walking
distance and the hotel is directly
opposite Lambeth North tube station on
the Bakerloo Line.
There’s a reception desk open 24 hours with helpful
staff but no restaurant or bar, although there is a Costa
Coffee cafe on the ground floor and a vending machine in
the lobby. You’ll pay £2 for luggage storage and £10.50
for a package that includes wireless internet access for
24 hours, use of a television, a hairdryer, in-room safe
and towel rental and toiletries.
All these items are also available individually. Rooms, meanwhile, are serviced
prior to arrival and after
every third night. If you
want daily housekeeping,
add £7.50 per time.
The Athenaeum,
meanwhile, offers
every possible luxury –
particularly if you opt to
stay in one of the recently
refurbished individual
apartments, favoured by
the likes of movie mogul
Steven Spielberg. And
your room is serviced
twice a day.
Double rooms here, in one
of London’s most perfect
locations in Mayfair,
start from just £159 from December 16 to January 29 –
you’d struggle to get a three-star room in Sydney for that
over peak periods.
That rate includes complimentary mulled wine, mince
pies and hot chocolate, access to soft drinks and snacks
from the mini bar and free broadband wi-fi.
The family-owned Athenaeum is a place often used by the rich and famous (Sir Denis and Lady Thatcher once lived here for three months), but it also has a comfortable ambience. The staff don’t look down on ordinary mortals and are polite, helpful and respectful, as you’d expect of a hotel that counts Harrison Ford, Michael Douglas and Sandra Bullock among its regular guests and has been called “Tinseltown on the Thames.”
There’s a uniformed doorman to
help on your arrival and to order
taxis on your departure, and
the hotel is happy to store your
baggage at no extra cost if you’re
heading out of town for a couple
of days, as I was.
There are porters to assist with your suitcases and you are escorted to your room and shown all its features.
My apartment (with kitchen and dining area, separate sitting room and an ultra luxe bed that was hard to leave in the morning) featured a complimentary bowl of fruit. There’s an espresso machine, all soft drinks, waters and snacks are free and there are luxuries like an iPod dock in the lounge room, a safe, slippers, robes and big fluffy towels.
A free newspaper is delivered to rooms each morning (the establishment Daily Telegraph, of course) and there is a full range of satellite TV channels.
Head to the stylish and sophisticated bar for a drink
and you are immediately offered complimentary bowls of
green olives and sliced almonds. The green apple martini
is excellent (as you’d expect for £15).
While the service is polished, it is not without difficulties with one or two of the Eastern European staff (“You please point” is not acceptable at five-star hotel.) That said, there is bar and room service 24 hours a day and a free business centre with fast broadband and printer 24 hours.
Each apartment has an individual entrance so you don’t
have to use the lobby with the hoi polloi who have
mere suites; although, to be serious, there are no bad
rooms – they all have pillow menus, complimentary
magazines and mini bar and Bose speakers.
Afternoon teas are hugely popular, but The Athenaeum
also has a top-grade restaurant and, luxury of luxuries,
a special evening pop-up pudding parlour with cakes,
macarons and sundaes from £10 – a place where sweet
tooths will be in their element. There is also probably
London’s largest selection of whiskies, 270 and counting,
and a dedicated whisky sommelier.
There are free bikes if you’d like to cycle through one of
the many nearby Royal parks, and a luxury on-site spa if
you feel the need for even more pampering.
London facts
● The Athenaeum Hotel and Apartments, 116 Piccadilly, Mayfair, London. Phone: +44 20 7499 3464. www.athenaeumhotel. com. Rooms from £159. Apartment prices vary seasonally.
● Tune Hotel Westminster, 118-120
Westminster Bridge Road, Lambeth
North, London. Phone: +44 20 7633
9317. www.tunehotels.com/ourhotels/westminster-london. Rooms
start from £45 a night.
● Qantas Airways has several flights
each day from Sydney to London
Heathrow. See www.qantas.com.au