Question for the British folk

[woodman19_99]

Well, I won a trip to London at a silent auction fundraiser last night, which includes air, hotel, and show tickets.

The hotel we are staying at is the Renaissance Chancery Hotel, London. I did a little looking, and from what I gathered it is pretty good. I know this is a weird question (thank god for Central Lounge) but I was wondering if anyone has ever seen it in person or has stayed there at all. I was just looking for some first hand opinions of the place.

Thanks
Adam

[CenturionStrategy]

I think that's supposed to be a fantastic hotel mate - it's great that you won the stay, it'd be ridiculously pricey otherwise! I've walked past it a couple of times before, but would never be able to afford to stay there!

The hotel is in a pretty perfect location too - nice and central. Have you been to London before?

Nick

[woodman19_99]

Yeah, I went with my dad when he was there on business. I was only 10 though so I really didn't get into doing much on my own. I am looking forward to doing some serious comparisons between American "Beer" and the real thing...Any suggestions what I should try?

I am looking forward to hending back there though with my girl. She lived there for a summer abroad in college, so she kinda knows her way around. It'll be nice to have a tour guide this time!
If you have any suggestions on what I should do, then by all means offer them up. I am not necessarily intent on doing all the big touristy things either. Also, any restaraunt suggestion would be much obliged.

Yeah, I always enjoy winning things rather than paying full price for them. The money I did spend goes to charity anyway, so it was a worthy cause.


I am very glad to hear that it is as nice a hotel as some of the pictures show.

[RecklessLeper]

Well, for a nice (relatively) cheap night out, stick to Carling, Heineken, and Carlsberg lagers. However, I can particularly recommend several pints of either Directors', Spitfire, or Landlord - all ales.

As I live in Manchester, and don't really get down South that often (other than when in Watford visiting Nick), I'm not too familiar with places to go. You'll enjoy it though for sure

PS: The Tube isn't *that* bad, although that's coming from a visitor, and not a resident, of London

[jimbo1763]

I certainly cannot come close to being as knowledgeable as those who live there. But I have been to London several times-my now ex was a classic theater stage actress-so we saw a lot of the West End as well as the Royal National Theatre on the south side of the Thames.

Suggest that you get a Michelin green guide to London before you go-it is about $20, and it rates things on a star system-very easy to figure out, and I have found the narratives to be very accurate and matter-of-fact. It helps you decide what to spend the time seeing and what to save for the "next" trip. There is a lot to see and do.

As to theater, there is an on-line London theater guide which will tell you what is showing. The link is here-

http://www.londontheatre.co.uk/

Wish I were going. It has been six years now since my last trip. The Wheel on the Thames wasn't there when I last went. Would like to see that and make the boat trip down the Thames from Westminster Bridge to Greenwich-the clipper ship Cutty Sark and the little Gypsy Moth (Sir Francis Chichester sailed it solo around the world) are there, side by side.

Can't help you with restaurant suggestions much. When we went, we were usually in a hurry to make curtain, and we would grab whatever we could near the theater before we went in.

[woodman19_99]

Thanks for those beer suggestions Reckless. I will definitely have to give those last 3 a try. I am always up for new beers! I am sure the tube isn't to bad, especially because my girlfriend knows her way around pretty well, so I will just let her lead the way!


I'll definitely take a look at that guide you suggested jimbo. I am always looking for an alternative to Fodor's. That link should prove useful as well and that trip down the Thames sounds like a fun thing to do during the day.


Thanks for all the suggestions. Now I just need to find out when to go!

[ris]

in london the local beers you might find are the london pride, fullers and youngs. they're not my taste but some are partial to them. spitfire is a very nice pint, as is landlord. directors is rough as old a.rse

in terms of stuff worth seeing in the city, i suppose that the options are nearly endless. greenwich is quite nice, the london ee is reasonable fun. a bit further down the river from the eye is the tate modern which is worth going into, and then cross the river on the 'wobbly' bridge to st pauls cathedral.

other than that there's the british museum (new roof, quite nice), tate britain (older paintings - turner etc), oxford st (shopping), national gallery (older paintings - constable, gainsborough).

obviously some curry and chips would be worth a go

[RecklessLeper]

Originally posted by ris
directors is rough as old a.rse

You'd know, eh?

Been a long time, Nick, how's it going?

[woodman19_99]

Thanks for all those suggestions ris. I will definitely have a look at some of those sites.


One question though, what is "curry and chips"? I mean I know chips are somewhat like French Fries, but where does the curry fit in? (and yeah, I know what curry is too!)

[CenturionStrategy]

Originally posted by woodman19_99
Thanks for all those suggestions ris. I will definitely have a look at some of those sites.


One question though, what is "curry and chips"? I mean I know chips are somewhat like French Fries, but where does the curry fit in? (and yeah, I know what curry is too!)

Yup, it is what you think it is - Just curry sauce and chips. Not to my taste tbh, but well worth trying curry and rice while you're out here.

As for the beers - just try as many real ales as you can. Most pubs will have a different selection, and you'll soon find the ones you like. If you happen to pass a 'Belgo' beer bar, pop into that - they have a huge selection of European beers - worth a visit.

Nick

[Martin_89]

Yup its just chips (French fries ) with curry sauce poured over them, it’s AMAZING, I used to get it every Saturday when I went to the football (soccer )

[DanceMan]

rough as old a.rse

Obviously hasn't tried it.

[ris]

Originally posted by RecklessLeper
You'd know, eh?

Been a long time, Nick, how's it going?

at the moment it's a load of old a.rse. i'm about 4 weeks from finishing my professional qualification course and the extra workload is killing me. although it isn't helped by my office, who have me working on a massive pfi school which is also killing me.

put it this way - today is my second day off in a row and i am using the time off in lieu from monday and tuesday to cover it.

roll on june...

[Justintime]

Stella Artois.. you gotta have that.

[ris]

stale tortoise! quality brew for the friday-night-fight