LAST ROOM AT THE END OF THE LINE

The last room of a six stop roadie through England is the most expensive per square foot.

It’s an impressive number due to the square feet.

The smallest of the six, it’s on Bayswater, a half a block from the Notting Hill Gate into Hyde Park.

Queen-sized bed in a queen-size bed slot tight enough for the sideways walk between it and the wall.

In other words, it’s the right room in the right place.

The whole thing started three weeks ago in a normal hotel room near the airport to sleep off the weird time change from Portland to London

Room #1

Their system was down so check-in took an hour, but dinner from the India-themed menu was a big win.

#2

The room after the Renaissance was similar to this London room.

It too was on a hardcore urban street in the time-worn town of Bath.

Downtown room with a downtown price and a nice walk to places worth walking to?

I’m in, but it didn’t looked like its website depiction. Color me shocked.

#3

The Sun Inn looks like a resort online; in real life it’s more of a community gathering place where local families come for food and drink and a place for their kids to burn off their endless kid energy.

In other words a great place to feel the English Day.

It reminded me of places I’d seen and wondered, ‘Who would stay there?’

Now I had my answer. Me.

#4

Thurnham Hall looks like a resort online and in person.

It had the grounds, the fields, and the church steps in the corner of the bar.

We had a small room-studio apartment big enough to hold both the London room and Bath room, along with a full kitchen.

It cost less than any of them, which seemed odd, except it was out of the way.

Lancaster is near, Blackpool is near, York is two and half hour out.

The Lake District with its slew of towns and villages is a drive to take.

If you have nerves of steel.

#5

The whole meaning of this trip began to take shape in The Brewers Inn.

Why? Because it was half a block from Aunt Diana and near the cousins I’d first met twenty years ago and last seen five years ago.

But I’d heard about them for at least forty years. To me they are the England I feel best about.

They are my wife’s England and they mean everything to her.

#6

Some rooms looked like the last stand at needle park with stained carpet and swervy toilet seats, rooms where an ambulance out front would be no surprise.

However, no ambulances.

Other rooms looked move-in ready and I wondered why I’d want to leave.

This room in London is proof of one thing: the city is the main attraction, not the room.

How’s that going to work out?

Stay tuned to this blog network for more.