London London, near Westminster abbey, 1bed/1bath

[nola44]

Where: London, near Westminster Abbey
Travelers: Husband and me
When: 5 nights, September 2011
What: 1bed/1bath https://londonconnection.com/property/1-46-parliament-square/

We love staying in apartments whenever possible—you can spread out more, save a little money and feel more "at home" than in a hotel. This apartment is nice if a bit sterile. It has no AC but thankfully the nights were cool. The bed was a "queen" which is more like a double in the US, so a bit small since we're used to a king. It is right alongside another building which happens to be under construction and wrapped in white sheeting. Not pretty.

But: go down two floors, go out the door, turn left and walk a half a block and you see Westminster Abbey! Fabulous! It's also just a couple of blocks from St. James underground and a bus stop. Really amazing location for first timers in London!



This apartment was small but comfortable and perfectly adequate. The location was perfect for us. We would stay there again and recommend it to anyone. We will be staying in a larger londonconnection.com apartment in July 2015.

 

[Pauline]

Many places are small in England, especially in London. We have stayed in some shockingly small cottages in the countryside (including our recent stay in Dorset where I bumped into something every time I went into the bedroom).

The UK bed sizes are different than in the US and they are not consistent in what they call them. For example, there is no "Queen" size here! There is double (similar to a US double) and King (similar to a US Queen) and then Super-King (similar to a US King - and rarely found). Many vacation rentals have doubles (to my dismay). I have a page about this on the website - scroll down for a list of bed sizes in the US, UK and Europe.

 

[nola44]

That's a great article, Pauline! I've started asking for dimensions instead of the name because we really don't sleep well on anything but a US king, which is so hard to find. In the description of the apartment we're renting with Londonconnnection this year (2-23 Palace Street) it says they can put two singles together for a king in the second bedroom. I'm going to ask them to do that because if the "queen" in the master is really a double, we'll take the other room! Nice to have options for a change.

 

[Pauline]

I don't know why they are using Queen to describe a size in the UK - it is not a term used here. It is King, or sometimes called a 5 foot bed. We had a King bed back in the US (such a luxury) but here we have a US Queen/UK King - a 5 foot bed. Some of the houses here would not fit a US King - either the room is too small or it would never make it up the narrow staircase. Our bed barely made it up into the attic bedroom of the first cottage we rented.

I think the two singles made up as one bed is a very good solution. You frequently get rooms with two singles.