London Day 1

We made it to London Heathrow on time. Managed to get a couple of hours of sleep on the flight.

My bags were tagged "Priority" in DC which made me feel special. Except someone forgot to tell my bags they were priority since they took their sweet time coming off the conveyor belt in Heathrow.

Trip from the airport to the hotel was uneventful. The Heathrow Express was very efficient in getting me to central London.

Weather is very pleasant compared to the high 90's I left in Virginia. I think it's in the low 70's and mostly sunny.

Now about the hotel... Kensington Rooms. What a dump! I requested a room there since that's where the meeting I'm attending is being held. As soon as I walked in to check in, I didn't get a good vibe.

I got to my room and here's what I noted:

1. It had 3 twin beds in the room even though I requested a King size bed
2. The bathroom sink was so small, I couldn't wash my face without spilling water all over the floor.
3. The blinds were covered with grime and when I opened it see what view I had, I was facing a concrete wall
4. They advertised high-speed internet but you have to go down to the lobby to use it.
5. The in-room safe was broken and they had no maintenance staff to fix it.
6. Communal ironing board hung on the hallway (with a huge brown stain on the board)
7. While I was trying to rest, a staff person actually unlocked my door and was about to walk into my room unannounced.
   
8. It was hot and stuffy in the room and there was no A/C or any kind of ventilation.

Even though they were going to charge me a full day rate for my 3 hour stay there, I asked our EA to please get me out of there immediately. She was able to get me a room at The Royal Garden so I packed, checked out and showed up at the hotel even before the reservation was in their system. But what a difference!!! While the front desk person worked on getting my reservation into the system, she walked me to the restaurant to enjoy a refreshment on the house. Once she was done, she had my bags taken to my room so I could enjoy my coffee. And I actually have a view of the City! And my internet and safe work!

Enough about my minor ordeal.

London is a pretty cool city. Sort of like New York but with more class and history. My third time here. Did a bit of walking around today. Bought a pre-paid SIM card to try out the local Mobile service. My Blackberry on Cingular worked right away which was fantastic. Had lunch at a local bakery which was pleasant other than the room temperature soda. But it was fine.

I'm going to go out and seek a dinner place that the bellboy recommended. I hate eating alone but pretty starving.

My friend Steve is coming in tomorrow so that should be fun. He and I are great traveling mates. We had a great time and when he and I were in Korea together.

Cheerio!

Update: Just got back from having dinner at Maggie Jones's. A traditional British cuisine. Ordered up Wild Boar Sausage and Mash with a side order of Cauliflower with cheese. It was fantastic. The cauliflower dish was amazing.

On the way back, stepped into a mini-mart, put down 20 pounds to reload the SIM card. Just like that! Way too cool.