We spent 10 nights here while visiting from the US. There were 2 kids & 2 adults.
Pros:
-very spacious and bright apartment
- Nice kitchen
- bus stops right on the street
- quiet area, complex
- Crystal palace/Gipsy hill have some good restaurants and even delivery
- Caffe Luna down the hill has delicious coffee, nice people (even remembered my order) and great internet.
Cons:
- Awful internet, it wasn't working more than it actually was. This made it extremely difficult to communicate with people back home and get our necessary work done. Let alone trying to see where we need to go/what to do/eat, etc. We would send one text and then it would go out, or be trying to order tickets and it would go out, or be on the phone and it would go out. So frustrating.
- No freezer - not a huge thing but would have come in handy a time or two
- Kitchen has pots/pans/dishes/glasses/etc but nothing else. There wasn't even salt. We would have cooked much more but having to buy all those things would have made it nearly as expensive as going out. So we didn't bother. We were able to have breakfast in and get takeaway which helped a little. A few spices, some oils would help a ton!
- Perhaps it's a US thing but other places we've stayed provide some sort of welcoming basket for guests (water, snacks, maps, things to do, etc) or at least a check-in from the owner. There wasn't any of that, Again, not a huge deal but we traveled a very long way and the little extra touches are always nice. Our final communication before arrival contained a little info but since we didn't know the area at all and could rarely use the internet, it wasn't super helpful. We also got the impression the owners didn't want to be bothered unless there was an emergency. There was a phone number for a manager, but since we couldn't use our phones half the time we couldn't call it.
- Only one towel per a person for 10 nights, yes there was laundry but no soap for it so we had to get that. Also, only bath towels, no hand towels, dish towels, washcloths, nothing. Again, maybe that's a US thing. We just used a lot of paper towels!
- The shower is very finicky, it was either too hot or too cold most of the time and would change frequently throughout the shower. I could never get it just right.
Overall, we had a great visit and it was nice to come back to a comfortable place at the end of everyday. We loved our time in London. Thank you!
