You know that saying "Where are we going, and why are we in this hand basket?"
Well, all of our plans for renting a holiday flat in London have gone to hell. In a hand basket.
To back this story up a bit, I am going to the UK for my 50th birthday present to myself. Yes, I don't turn 50 until October, but the weather is better in May. My friend, Amy Kerr, is going on this trip with me.
Amy wanted to rent a holiday flat instead of a hotel. I liked the idea, so we began our search in March. We should have started in February since many properties we viewed were already reserved, but there were still a lot of nice ones available. The fact that our search parameters were rather narrow didn't help much. Parameter 1: Two bedrooms, both needing to have at least a double bed - most of the 2BR holiday flats are designed with families with children in mind, and have two twin beds in the second bedroom. Neither of us wants to sleep on a twin bed. Parameter 2: Within a 5-minute walk of a Tube Station. Parameter 3: Not too far away from the center of the city.
After many rounds of "Sorry, the website hasn't been updated, that flat isn't available" or "that one isn't available, but we have this other one if you're willing to spend just a bit more" ("just a bit more" was usually twice the price), or just no response at all, I FINALLY got a positive response at the end of March!
A lovely-sounding woman named Caroline said that her flat near Eccleston Park, which met all of our parameters, was indeed available for our dates, and was just under ₤1000/week, well within our lodging budget. Whew!
I emailed Caroline to say we would like to reserve the flat. I got a couple of emails from her the first day, one of which said she would be very busy over Easter Weekend, and would contact us with the remaining information to reserve the flat early the next week.
I got busy with work, which is pretty typical for me, and didn't realize that I hadn't heard from her. I emailed her again; no answer. I emailed the next week; no answer. Finally, ten days before our scheduled departure I phoned customer service at HomeAway.co.uk (the rental coordination website, similar to VRBO.com) for phone numbers for Caroline. I phoned her landline first: I am sorry, this mailbox is full and cannot accept any more messages. "Well, that's not a good sign," I thought. I next phoned the cell number, and got voicemail. I left a message asking for someone to phone me as soon as possible, regardless of what time of the day it was here in the US. So far, I've received no response.
Okay, so our plans for renting a holiday flat have gone down the toilet. No worries. Sure, there's just over a week left before our departure date, but that isn't an impossible deadline. I went to Australia three years ago, and didn't even look for a hotel until I got there. This time, I'm looking for something over a week before I leave!
I spent several hours the next night writing to more flat owners. It was a repeat of the original adventure: "Sorry, the website hasn't been updated, that flat isn't available" or "that one isn't available, but we have this other one if you're willing to spend just a bit more", or no response at all. There were plenty of flats available, just not in the right area, or not with the right furnishings in the second bedroom. Everything available was at least a 30-minute ride on the underground from the center of London.
The day after sending out the new barrage of enquiries I got a positive response from two owners. The first was for a flat in Shoreditch. Right price, right furnishings. I replied immediately that I wanted to reserve it, since I was afraid someone else would beat me to it. I even asked for someone to phone me as soon as possible, regardless of the time of day. Again, I've received no response. What is it with these people? How do they ever do business if they won't reply to people?
On to the second response. The flats they still have available are amazing, and the perks are fantastic - loan of two cell phones, loan of a laptop, airport pickup, great locations, basically everything we were looking for... except that the price was over twice our lodging budget. I had to decline.
Now, with only a few days to go before we land in London, I am hunting hotels.
Wish me luck.
Sounds about right. Customer service in the UK is quite horrible. You'd think they would want your business. You'd be wrong. I stood at a TJ Maxx equivalent store check-out for about 10 minutes once with two people having a conversation behind the counter ignoring me. I was the only one in 'line'. Good Luck and hope you have fun.
ReplyDeletetimewasting is a professional sport
ReplyDeletei don't know much about exactly what you are looking for but you could try this https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/720350
and if not http://www.stayinspitalfields.com/
or perhaps http://www.onefinestay.com/london/fournier-street/
these are all serious people who won't mess you around
good luck
ah right having read in more detail you may suit the second option best http://www.stayinspitalfields.com/?rent=5a-fournier-street-spitalfields-london-e1-6qe
ReplyDeleteor the third
Have you checked Jury's Inn? We stayed in one in Dublin and found it quite nice. If you are staying 14 days, you might need to up your housing budget. London is an expensive city, you know. You might also rethink having to be in the heart of the city. Staying in Croydon or Chelsea or Islington and riding the tube is not bad. We stayed in East Croydon both times we were in England and riding the tube was no problem.
ReplyDeleteThank you to everyone for the assistance! Much appreciated. Even if it doesn't work out for this trip, I can use the information for next time.
ReplyDelete