Blandford Hotel in Great Britain

I spent a delightful week at a lovely, small hotel in London, ENGLAND: the Blandford Hotel (80 Chiltern St., London W1U 5AF, U.K.; phone 44-207-486-3103, fax 487-2786 or visit www.blandfordhotel.com). I first stayed there in January ’05 and liked it then, but on my most recent visit in March ’07 I found that the entire hotel has been beautifully renovated from top to bottom.

The rooms are small, as is customary in London hotels, but they are now very nicely furnished and contain many amenities, including central heat and air-conditioning, satellite TV with pay-TV options, tea/coffee maker, ironing board and iron, hair dryer, direct-dial telephone with voice mail, data port, room safe, toiletries and excellent lighting in the room and bath.

The mattress and fluffy pillows were extremely good for my bad back, especially since I often have problems with hotel mattresses and pillows. The 34 rooms each have an en suite bathroom, which has been upgraded very nicely with plenty of counter space and a heated towel bar.

There is a lift. Both the lobby lounge (it has WiFi) and the basement breakfast room have been renovated and enlarged.

The two best things about this hotel are the staff and the extremely convenient location. All of the staff, from maids to manager, are unusually friendly and helpful. Small London hotels often have much more friendly staff than large ones do, but the Blandford staff is exceptionally good.

The location is so convenient because the hotel is only about 1½ blocks south of the entrance to the Baker Street underground station through which many subway lines run (Bakerloo, Jubilee, Metropolitan, Circle and Hammersmith & City).

Chiltern Street, where the hotel is located, runs parallel to Baker Street and one block east of it. Although Chiltern is a very quiet, more residential street, Baker Street has restaurants, shops, grocery stores, a post office, banks, etc., all within a couple of blocks of the hotel. Regent’s Park, Madame Tussaud’s, the London Planetarium and the Sherlock Holmes Museum all are nearby, and Oxford Street is only a short walk away.

Prices are as follows: £95 ($189) single, £125 ($248) double or twin, £140 ($278) executive double or twin, £145 ($289) triple and £165 ($328) family. The price includes VAT and a full and bountiful English breakfast buffet, with eggs, sausage, bacon, beans, mushrooms, cooked tomatoes, fruit, cereals, yogurt and orange juice. Toast and coffee or tea are brought to you at the table.

Credit cards are accepted. After your reservation has been guaranteed, a 48-hour notice of cancellation is required. Checkout time is 11 a.m. and check-in time is noon.

Realize that the photographs on the website may not yet be updated since the renovation was only very recently completed.

If you should have any questions, please feel free to send me an e-mail c/o ITN (put “Blandford Hotel” on the subject line).

SUZAN ALGUL

Sierra Vista, AZ