London & Paris: Where We Stayed

This is the second of my posts about our trip of a lifetime. You can read the first post here!

Where did we stay? Well, for those that don't know me that well, let me tell you that I am a researcher. (It's the librarian in me. 😏). So, we considered many sources when determining where to stay- advice from family/friends, TripAdvisor ratings, and recommendations from Fodor's & Frommer's travel guides. I may be the only person left that takes hard copy travel guides out of the library & reads them pretty much front to back! 

At one point I sent this photo to my stepson (for the sole purpose of sharing the Two Chicks drink) and his response? "How many travel books did you get?" 😂

London:

• Thistle Trafalgar Square- For the first two nights in London (before we left for Paris), we stayed here. It was very convenient- maybe a three-five-minute walk from the Trafalgar Square Underground station. (I found that most hotels were close to Underground stops- there are so many.) It was on a side street (almost an alley) off of Trafalgar Square itself and because of this, I found it to be quiet. If we headed out of our door and took a right, we'd be headed toward Piccadilly Circus. If we headed out of our door and took a left, we'd be in Trafalgar Square. Another small perk was being directly across from a convenience store where we could grab bottled water and snacks. The hotel and the room itself were not fancy by any means but were clean, in a good location, and the staff was pleasant. If you're looking for a "no frills" place that's reasonable, I'd recommend it!

• Resident Hotel Soho- When we came back to London after Paris, we stayed here. We were slated to spend four nights until we departed, but due to stupid COVID, ended up staying another four nights. This hotel was also centrally located near Soho and Chinatown. It was down a small side street, as well, although I'd call it an alley. The room we had for the first four nights was very spacious with a king bed. The hotel also offered a free glass of wine in the evening to residents (although we didn't end up taking advantage as we were out and about.) I really liked this hotel- I felt like it had a similar vibe to the Thistle but was a step up in terms of frills.

They were also VERY gracious and accommodating when we realized we'd be there for a second stay and need to quarantine. We did have to change rooms, however, and let's just say that this one was a tiny bit (tiny the operative word) smaller.

 

 

Yup- that's the shoebox with the FULL-sized bed that we spent four long nights in. They dropped off towels and sheets outside of our door and would ask how we were doing regularly. 

• Hilton Garden Inn Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3- This was an unexpected stay! We decided that it was going to be a nightmare getting up super early and getting to Heathrow for our plane home considering we still weren't feeling great. John suggested we stay at the airport so we could easily get to our terminal. Luckily, we could walk to our terminal from this hotel. (BEWARE- there is more than one Hilton Garden Inn at Heathrow, however, and we went to the wrong one first...) The hotel was clean, staff was pleasant, and compare to the shoebox above, our room was a palace! If you need to stay at the airport, highly recommend this hotel.

Paris:

• Hotel Bradford Elysees- This was a GEM! This was highly rated on TripAdvisor AND in Fodor's Paris guide, so I felt that this was a good choice and boy was it! It's in the 8th Arrondissement (neighborhood), a quick walk from the Champs d'Elysees (aka the Rodeo Drive of Paris). It had very funky common rooms on the main level - a sitting room, a breakfast room, and a lounge. This is the lounge:

It seems as though Lady Bradford, the hotel's namesake, was a big fan of birds, as you can see the birdcage light covers. There were fake birds/birdcages throughout the hotel. One might think it was tacky, but I felt like it fit right in. We were supposed to have a regular old room but ended up getting upgraded to a room with a terrace. It was really lovely. They even put rose petals on the bed and left us macarons.

Here's a panoramic shot from the terrace. It was such a cute neighborhood.

And then...the piece de la resistance. The hotel clerk took us up to our room (in the elevator from 1800 something, which he assured us was inspected regularly!) and was proud to tell us we'd been upgraded and wasn't this a lovely room? But, wait...there's more. He said, "How do you say in America? The show must go on!" He then proceeded to open the door to the terrace/balcony and proudly pointed out the "view" of the Eiffel Tower. John and I both looked at each other and thought, "Really?" We stepped out onto the terrace and we could see a teeny tiny point far off in the distance. 😆 We both said "merci" multiple times and said how grateful we were for the upgrade and the view. Once the clerk left we both smirked at each other. View of the Eiffel Tower? Sure! (It was SUCH a great view that I took zero pictures of it. John recreated the view:)

Honestly, though, if you're looking for a quaint, boutique-type hotel in a quiet area, I'd recommend it. It wasn't right next door to a Metro station, but a quick walk in multiple directions brought us to one. I didn't want something that screamed "American hotel chain" but rather something that quietly said, "You're in Paris." Hotel Bradford definitely did that.

Next up- what we ate in London & Paris!