A Bookend Trip, We started our marriage 60 years ago in London

United Kingdom | Jun 13 - Jun 27, 2024

The building ranges from ancient to old to I have no idea. We stayed in the merely old - about 200 years old- section so the lack of a lift was to be expected. Our suite was large with plenty of storage. All the other aspects were up to date. Merely find ones way around was fun as we never knew what room we might find ourselves in, there was always staff to direct to where we needed to go. Step out of the front door onto the green with shops, restaurants and activities during the day. Dine in comfort in the main dining room or other spaces and enjoy breakfast in the dining room as well. We first visited 60 years ago and it took us a while to find our way back.

Situated on Henrietta Street not more than 5 minutes walk from the Pultney Bridge most of Bath seem easily reachable on foot from this delightful hotel. There is a fine park just across the street as well. Do be prepared to face hills in this part of England. Our room was spacious and everything worked as expected. We both slept well in the comfortable bed. If I were to return to Bath I would not hesitate to stay here. Do be aware that there are steps and no lift. There was always someone to help us with the luggage.

This tiny hotel tucked into a corner is almost invisible from the street. Our room was just past the door from the reception which concerned us at first, but we never heard anything from that area. Everything about the hotel is small and especially the storage in our room was very limited and we travel light. We got to know the staff during our four night stay and they were most helpful with any request we made and often had suggestions before we asked. We had breakfast at the Buttery, which is part of the hotel, but not included in the rate. We slept well and were very comfortable.

This is another "hidden" hotel. The entrance is set back from the street in a courtyard and cars must stop on the street to off load luggage and passengers. The ground floor included reception, an open courtyard, an enclosed lounge and a lovely restaurant. The lift brought us to our room on 3 (one of two rooms on 3) and there was plenty of storage and space. Between the room and the bathroom there was a room that might have been a sitting room but contained a lovely old Claw foot tub. My wife is vertically challenged and was unable to access the tub. I'm not sure I could have myself. The shower was the most spacious shower I can remember. There were plenty of electrical connections including USB to let us charge all our devices - having two hearing aid chargers ups the challenge in finding connections.

Its a fine overview of London, I would not say it is a must see.

The "tour" is mostly of the front of the house with an excellent presenter giving the History of the original theater and its any successors. We got to see back stage briefly since the house is not accessible and the only way to get to the upper balcony with a wheelchair was to use a property lift backstage.

We were taken backstage, literally on the stage behind the performance stage and toured all the means for staging two different shows in a day. We saw props and costumes and wigs shops and so much more. We were taken to a dance studio where the dancers were taking their regular classes as well as warming up for their performances. Then we went out into the house and were able to see the stage and the building from the audience perspective from an upper balcony. This was a very exciting tour for us.

Murat was our driver with a stop in Stonehenge on the way to Bath. He is not a guide

Saw the last performance of Hamilton in the Victoria Palace after a 7 year run. Cannot repeat that!

Daniel met us at the hotel and provided more driving than walking since he appropriately judged that my wife would not do well with lots of walking on the hills. We learned a lot about Bath and the surrounding area and saw glorious views from highpoints and also got to see many places when we were walking in the town. We also learned of a connection between Bath and our hometown Rochester NY which has an adjacent suburb Henrietta which dates to 1808 and is named for Henrietta Pultney. Daniel noted that connection the moment I said we were from Rochester.

The Roman baths are ruins under the Victorian era baths. To us it seemed less exciting than some other aspects of Bath. It was surprising to learn that this is the only hot springs in England.

On time at both ends in comfortable car.

Longest darn walk from parking to check in ever. Security was PITA worse than most common.

Wildly funny performance of this Shakespeare comedy. Modern dress did not take anything away from the script.

Beatrix Potter was amazing. Her home is interesting, the gardens are glorious. I was less interested in this visit than in others since it is primarily a tourist sight with a lot of tourists. Others, I am sure, would feel very differently.

A pretty boat ride on a pretty lake. Great scenery. The narration was fine if difficult to hear.

Wonderful scenery and the history is very interesting. Nicky, our driver guide, gave us a lot of detail for the construction and the history of the wall. The drive along the wall area was very beautiful and I would recommend anyone to take the time. Nicky found and interesting pub where we had a light pub lunch along the way.

Not rated - we overslept and did not even try to get up the hill.