By now, many of you who read my blog about Paddington, London are aware of my affinity for this special place because of the unique qualities it offers tourists visiting London, but in this article I’d like to address a special situation that in this day and age doesn’t happen very often.

It starts with The Stylotel Hotel, which over the past three or so years has become my home away from home (see my review of this hotel here). One of the things I’ve observed over time is how special the staff are and, equally special, the staff’s relationship with its owner Paul Charalambous. They are fiercely loyal to him, and he to them, by being a true humanitarian when it comes to their personal needs by going above and beyond where your average employer goes in making sure his employees are taken care of both at work and in their personal lives. I believe that this is what makes them a truly exceptional hotel staff which is a major factor as to why this hotel is a such great place to stay.

With all of this in mind, I’d like to share a personal experience which occurred during a recent stay there. I was standing in the lobby having a conversation with hotel manager Andreas Iona, when one of the cleaning staff approached him, offering what appeared to be a folded piece of paper. She opened it up, and tucked inside was an American $100 bill which she said she found on the floor of the last room she cleaned: room 205. My room. Indeed, I had placed some $100 bills into the safe earlier in the day, and this one apparently fell to the floor and under the bed without my seeing it. I was astonished. Admittedly, as of late, I have become very cynical of today’s society, but this was truly a ‘maybe there’s hope for humanity after all’ moment. I thanked her profusely for her honesty and immediately offered her a few British pounds which she politely refused, but I insisted she take it.

Let’s face it, most of us are wary of people coming into our hotel rooms while we’re out during the day, and many of us (myself included) go to great lengths to make sure we leave nothing to chance, but as of now, I leave my room comfortable in the knowledge that I’m leaving my belongings in good hands. Thanks to the wonderful staff that work for this hotel.

Paddington has a very local feel. You will truly feel welcome and at home here.

As you may have seen in my bio, I have visited London 49 times. While most of time I’ve stayed in Paddington, I’ve also on occasion stayed in other areas, particularly during my earlier visits. None of those areas ever gave me that “Experience” that Paddington has, and during my last stay elsewhere (somewhere near South Kensington), I actually cut my stay short, and transferred myself back to Paddington. I just knew I belonged there. From that point on, I never again considered staying in another area of London .

 

So what is this “feel” you may be asking? I’ve never been clever at describing an intangible, but here goes: Paddington has loads of hotels so, logically it’s safe to assume that there are that lots of tourists there. So just how does an area with tourists swarming the sidewalks (pavements if you’re British) with their rolling suitcases, waiting for their tour groups to organize in front of their hotel stoops, or queuing for an open top tour bus on busy London Street (London Street is actually the name of a street in Paddington), make for an area with a feel unlike other areas of London. I’ve contemplated this often over the years, and what it always comes down to for me is, that it’s the people who run the pubs and shops, as well as the residents there. They are almost always enthusiastically willing to help you, and if you visit a Paddington pub after a busy day of sightseeing and find yourself talking to some of the locals there, you’ll find they have a plethora of interesting information, and you’ll learn a lot about the every day life of a Londoner.

 

 

Allow me to share with you my very first Paddington Pub experience on my first visit to London in 2002. I left my hotel on the first evening to explore the area (ok yes, I was also looking to have a pint or two). Within a time span of about four minutes I happened upon a pub called “The Pride of Paddington”. Interesting name I mentally noted, and thought, I guess I need to see what makes this pub Paddington’s pride. I mean, how many pubs do you come across making such a grand statement about themselves? Right?

 

So in I go to this proud drinking establishment, and in it I find a crowd of people watching a soccer match (or football as it’s called in the UK). Without knowing its significance, I stationed myself at the corner of the bar which is the spot where the locals hang out, and I was happily sipping my pint when I noticed a referee for the match holding a yellow card above his head. Knowing nothing about soccer, I asked the guy next to me what this meant. Within about 10 seconds six locals surrounded me, all anxious to make sure this typical American who knows nothing about the “beautiful game” leaves this pub knowing full well what a yellow card was all about. I’m going to end this paragraph by saying that, to this day I am still friends with a few of these chaps, one of whom is someone I consider a best friend, and who is my co-writer for articles on this website. I’m quite sure that this experience is all I need to tell you about that Paddington feel.

Like me, you’re probably going to want return there. Trust me on that.

My daughter put it best to me a few years ago when she said to me, “Staying in Paddington is the true London experience.” I don’t think I can close this article any better than that.

 

 

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Paddington’s many shops have all the essentials tourists might need!

 

 

If you’ve forgotten something from home no worries. We’ve got you covered on that and much more.

 

If you’ve read my 10 reasons why Paddington is the best place to stay in London, along with some of my other articles, you know that Paddington isn’t just an area for tourists to stay, but very much a residential community. In addition to enriching your London experience by mixing in with local Londoners, Paddington offers a wide variety of small shops which consist of clothing, fast food, pharmacies, small grocery shops, hair salons and even a barber shop in order to support its many permanent residents. Paddington has everything you need to make your stay here more comfortable, all just steps from your hotel or rental property. This is especially helpful to those renting Air B&B’s in Paddington where shopping for groceries may be necessary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Visiting London with kids? The Paddington Bear Shop is a must see!

What kid wouldn’t want to see The Paddington Bear Shop? In addition to the shop, kids will love having their picture taken on the Paddington Bear bench located just steps away on Platform 1. The shop is located in the retail area of Paddington Station.

 

 

 

 

Paddington Waterside and Little Venice

 

 

Paddington Waterside is a branch of the Grand Union Canal which is 137 miles long and stretches from London to Birmingham. The Paddington branch connects to the canal through an area known as Maida Vale, where it forms a short branch at a triangular shaped junction and flows a short distance towards Paddington Station. This junction is what is known as Little Venice.

To access the Paddington Waterside, follow the signs within Paddington Station directing you to the Hammersmith and City lines. Once you reach them, continue on for a few more yards and out the back of Paddington Station which will lead you right on to the canal.

Along the canal nearest to Paddington Station you’ll find a bustling area with coffee shops, restaurants, waterside cafe bars and pubs.

 

 

To the East (or by turning right as you exit Paddington Station), the canal continues on a few hundred yards to Merchant Square. In this area you’ll find the famous rolling and fan bridges along with a floating park.

To the West (or by turning left as you exit the station), it is a five-minute walk along the canal to Little Venice. This tranquil and picturesque area is a wonderful place to relax for lunch, a cup of tea, or even a boat trip! London Waterbus operates an hourly service of canal boat trips from Little Venice to Camden Town and back again.

Along the way to Little Venice, you’ll pass the office buildings at Sheldon Square where you can have lunch at the square’s amphitheater and mix with some of London’s office workers. You’re also going to notice a number of canal boats moored along both sides of the canal. Many of these are floating homes temporarily at the canal side for a limited period. Many of them, (like the one included in the photo slide show at the top of this article) are cleverly decorated and fun to see. Children will find these to be most entertaining.

 

 

The Paddington Waterside is an ideal place to take a stroll or a jog and escape from some of the hustle and bustle around the central part of Paddington. Round out your London vacation with a visit to the Paddington Waterside!

 

 

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One of the world’s most famous and beautiful parks at your hotel’s doorstep!

 

 

Head towards Bayswater Road from your hotel and in less than 10 minutes cross over to one of the world’s most famous and parks. Rent a bike and take a ride through the park, or go for a jog. This is a great place to recreate or just plain relax with a book!

Hyde Park is the largest Royal Park in Central London. It was established in 1536 by King Henry VIII after taking the land from Westminster Abbey to use as a royal hunting ground. There are loads of things to do in this beautiful setting. The summer months bring pop music concerts while the winter months bring The Hyde Park Winter Wonderland.

There are 3 well known attractions associated with the park which you can walk to from your hotel in Paddington. Kensington Palace is located on the western edge of the park just off of the Broad Walk, a very wide path way that traverses the park from North to South. On the park’s southern border you’ll find the Prince Albert Memorial, and to the east is Speaker’s Corner. All 3 of these attractions are can be reached by walking paths that crisscross the park.

Other items of interest are the Italian Gardens, The Peter Pan Statue, and a section of the park nearby to the statue where you can feed parakeets, which are not shy around humans. If you’re bringing children to London this is really a must see place. To see the faces of children experiencing these parakeets landing on their arms and shoulders is priceless.

Unlike other areas of London, you can travel to all of London’s Major Tourist Attractions from Paddington.

I always recommend to my clients to utilize the London Underground (aka The Tube) to see the tourist attractions in London. It’s the quickest way to the attractions and, you will get a real feel of London that you simply can’t get by using other forms of transportation. Most of the major attractions are 20 minutes minutes or less from Paddington Station, the furthest of which would be Tower Hill and will take approximately 30 minutes.

Below is a London Underground map indicating the major tourist attractions in relation to Paddington. The colored lines represent the Underground Lines. Thanks to the wisdom of the creators of this map, the London Underground is incredibly easy to navigate. All you need to find out is which Underground station is nearest to the tourist attraction you want to see, then find that station on this map and trace your way to it from Paddington Station. For example, let’s say you want to go to Big Ben and The Houses of Parliament, which are accessed by Westminster Station. On the map you can see that from Paddington Station that the direct route there is along the Circle Line which is represented by the yellow line, and is 9 stops away. Below I have listed all of the major attractions and their corresponding Tube Stations.

Of note: You might be wondering why I chose the Circle Line, as opposed to the District Line, which is the green line, and also appears to go to Westminster Station. It does. But as you can see, the District Line eventually breaks off into different directions further on, which means you need to make sure that you’re on a District Line train which terminates after Westminster. My advice to clients is always to take the Circle Line to any destinations situated on it to avoid getting on the wrong District Line train as you’re guaranteed to get there on the Circle Line.

Please feel free to use this article to help you navigate to these destinations.

Large Print Colour Tube Map Dec 2020(e)

 

The Tube Stations and their corresponding Major Tourist Attractions:

 

Circle Line:    ________________________
(yellow)

Notting Hill Gate Underground Station

( Portobello Market)

Westminster Underground Station

( Big Ben, London Eye, Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Churchill War Rooms)

Tower Bridge Underground Station

(Tower Bridge, Tower of London)

 

Bakerloo Line: ________________________
(brown)

Baker Street Underground Station

(Madame Tussauds, Sherlock Holmes Museum)

Piccadilly Underground Station

(West End Theatre District, Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square and Chinatown)

Oxford Circus Underground Station

(London’s major shopping district: Oxford Street, Regent Street, Bond Street)

Charing Cross Station (Trafalgar Square, Whitehall, Horse Guards Parade, 10 Downing Street)

 

Central Line: ________________________
(red)

Saint Paul’s Underground Station

(Saint Paul’s Cathedral)

Please note: The Central Line is only accessible from Lancaster Gate Station just 5 minutes walk from Paddington Station.

 

You’ll have no problems finding a restaurant to your liking in Paddington

To say that Paddington has many restaurants is actually an understatement….So many in fact, that doing an online review of all of Paddington’s restaurants could actually be a website unto itself. Suffice to say, there’s no shortage, and what’s more, there’s a huge diversity of restaurants as well. I would however, like to point out some of the ones I like to frequent and why.

 

Let’s talk about pub food first. Maybe it’s because I’m not really a formal kind of guy, but I love eating in pubs. I’ve enjoyed meals in many of Paddington’s pubs, and I can tell you that I’ve never had a bad experience. In particular, I like the food at the Pride of Paddington Pub, just outside Paddington Station.

 

The servings could be described as American in terms of their size (pretty gigantic), but the food at this pub is really good…a bit on the pricey side, but what would you expect from a pub located just outside a major railway station which funnels tourists in from Heathrow Airport.

 

There are quite a few Chinese restaurants as well. My favorite is Wox Noodle Bar, a tiny Chinese takeaway (you can eat in but the seating area is limited and exposed to the outside as they keep the storefront open all year round) on Spring Street where for around £6 you get enough food for either 2 people or 2 servings for yourself. It offers a large container of your choice of rice and 2 toppings. I recommend the salt and pepper chicken as well as the garlic chicken which are almost always my choices.

 

If you’re a fan of Italian food then you’ll love Bizarro Ristorante on Craven Road, just down from Paddington Station. The spaghetti bolognese is outstanding, and I never leave Paddington to come home without having it at least once.

 

Paddington also has its share of small and cozy cafes such as Mimo’s Cafe which is located on London Street just across from Norfolk Square. If you’ve arrived in London early in the morning and have to wait for your hotel room to be ready, drop your bags at the hotel and head out to one of these cafes. Sit outside and watch all of the busy Londoners hurry up and down the street.

 

Of course no visit to London would be complete without having Fish and Chips and there are plenty of places to get them, but I always advise my clients to go to a Chip Shop (as they are referred to in the UK) as opposed to a pub or other type of eating establishment. There are 2 Chip Shops in Paddington. The Sussex Fish Bar on London Street and the well renowned Mickey’s Fish and Chips on Norfolk Place (no pun intended). Personally I feel that Mickey’s definitely has the edge over The Sussex in terms of taste, but the Sussex is next door to The Sussex Arms Pub, which allows you to bring in your take away from the chip shop as long as you order drinks. Mickey’s too is next to a pub called The Fountains Abbey (and a very nice one at that) but since they serve food taking in food is a no no. For me, either experience is enjoyable and unique in both cases.

No matter what the case, Paddington is a real winner when it comes to restaurants. I can assure you that, no matter what your tastes, you’ll find a restaurant (or 2 or 3) that are to your taste.

 

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Paddington has a hotel for everyone

 

Whether you’re looking for a budget, boutique, or large chain hotel, Paddington has a reasonably priced hotel for you, most of them elegant modernised Victorian buildings in the Georgian and Regency style.

 

There are dozens of hotels around the Paddington area, all of which are situated near Paddington Station, so if you plan on using the London Underground (otherwise known as “The Tube”) to get around to the tourist attractions (which I highly recommend), you’ll never be more than a 5 or 6 minute walk from the station.

The Paddington Hilton (shown below) is located literally above Paddington Station, so you can literally step off your train from Heathrow and take an escalator to the hotel.

 

In addition on emphasizing the wide variety of hotels in this article, I think it’s important to discuss 3 areas of Paddington you can choose to stay in, all areas which I can recommend for different reasons.

 

Southwest of Paddington Station – Quintessential London

If you want a hotel in a quieter area, not around the busy station area, you don’t have to go far to find one. Look to the area southwest of the station in the direction of Hyde Park and Bayswater, where there are hotels located in along Craven Road and Chilworth Streets. This is a wonderful area to take a stroll in the evening. There are a handful of shops and restaurants in the area and a fantastic pub called The Mitre. Many film scenes have been filmed here. Pictured below is The Brunel Hotel, which was the hotel I stayed at during my first visit to London. The picture below nicely shows this area in relation to Paddington Station which can be seen to the right near to the red buses.

 

 

 

Norfolk Square – A Most Exquisite Setting

Located just 2 minutes walk from Paddington Station, Norfolk Square is a lovely little park lined on 2 sides with around a dozen or so hotels. It offers not only a quiet setting, but a beautiful one as well while still being close to the station and many wonderful restaurants and pubs. For me, this is the ideal place to stay. There are many hotels located along the square, 2 of which I not only highly recommend, but also where I stay. Learn more about them by clicking HERE.

 

 

 

 

Sussex Gardens – Paddington’s Gateway To Hyde Park

Sussex Gardens is a main thoroughfare which defines the southeast border of Paddington with dozens of not-too-expensive hotels on both sides. This street has its own off-street sidewalk and is attractively tree-lined especially in the springtime when it’s a riot of colour from the beautiful blossom. At the bottom of the street you’re a stone’s throw from Hyde Park – Henry the Eighth’s former private hunting ground. Stay along Sussex Gardens and you’re close to Paddington’s many restaurants and shops.

 

 

 

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