After our night at the Youth hostel, we decided to try the famous Bed and Breakfast! At first the B&B were families welcoming tourists in their home to make ends meet. Elizabeth House is said to be a B&B, even though it doesn’t quite look like a family run place, it’s more like a small hotel, with a 24/7 reception.
Depending how many people are travelling with you, it’s not necessarily more expensive than some youth hostels (like the official ones for instance). And if you are a group travelling together, you should know that most hotels have rooms for up to 6 people. It’s a bit like hostels dorms, but private! If you manage it well, you will not pay a lot more (little tip: look on the website, from time to time, B&Bs have special internet rates). We chose Elizabeth House, next to the Tube and train station Victoria and a block down from the bus station.
The neighbourhood (Pimlico) is quite fancy. Mostly residential, lots of small B&Bs in the same old Victorian houses like our hotel can be found. Most of them don’t a vacant rooms, it seems that London is full of tourists in this season.
So the neighbourhood is residential, and there aren’t many restaurants in the area. So if you stay in Pimlico, think about going further for your meals.
We were welcomed by a nice but very strange receptionist, after complaining about being exhausted (we thought he was just about to cry!!), he told about how French girls are so charming! We just wanted to drop our backpacks before resuming our visit. He finally gave us the keys.
The room is fine, simple but clean, and we even have our own bathroom. Cool! The only strange thing is the sink is in the room and the bathtub and the toilets are across corridor… Not very convenient, but it’s still nice!
On the other hand, the beds in the hostel Museum Inn were nicer! Here we only have a sheet and a tiny blanket not even big enough to cover the whole bed. So we went back to our favourite weird receptionist to ask him an additional blanket. He gave us 2 pretty red plaids, while telling us we won’t use them because they put the heat on in the evening, and we’ll be warm enough!
Next morning: thankfully we had the plaids, because the heat promised was never turned on!
After the Bed, the breakfast (included in the price)! We haven’t had the chance to try the famous English breakfast. As in the hostel, they serve tea, coffee, orange juice, buttered toasts, jam and cereals. Nothing exceptional; sadly it seems the traditional breakfast is no longer served in hotels… well at least in affordable ones. But some restaurants are bragging about their all day English breakfast service… Any fans of the bacon, omelette, and white beans?
