Description: Keeping in mind that London hotels will cost you your shirt, the relatively low-priced Cavendish is an appealing option to some travelers. It does have a lovely backyard, a generous breakfast spread, and the closest access to the British Museum. An older couple owns it, and when we finally met the motherly Mrs. Edwards on our last day, we liked her quite a bit. Unfortunately, we had already gotten a surly welcome from someone we presume to be her son on our first day.
It is located near the university, and the rooms do feel a bit like dormitories. We ended up in the attic up several sets of stairs and across a long hallway. There was a single bathroom located on a lower landing and a shower on our floor. The one other room on our floor was housing eight German students. This, I believe, was to our detriment. In the morning, they lined up for their showers and took 2 hours – 15 minutes exactly per German. This problem, as well as the grimy quality of the bathroom, including some hairs that were never cleaned from the shower throughout our stay, was the big negative of our visit. It was our first real experiment with shared facilities, and we will most likely pay for en-suite bathrooms from here on out.
The hotel is an easy walk to the British Museum, 10 minutes to the nearest Tube stop, and about 20 minutes from the 7 Dials. It was very convenient for catching the tube back to Gatwick airport.
Overall, I cannot pan the Cavendish. We did not thoroughly enjoy our stay, but that is entirely due to our own preferences and perhaps even our room. I trust the reviewers at Eurocheapo.com, and they led us to wonderful hotels on the rest of our European trip. I was very surprised to be disappointed by Hotel Cavendish. We have generally stuck to a standard of having our own bathroom, and the choice to go without was a big mistake for us. Perhaps for other people this would not be an issue.
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