European Escapade - Hotel Novotel London Paddington **

So here we are on the fourth day of my London trip with B and me finally arriving at Novotel Hotel. We paid the Limo Cab driver his fare and it was getting noticeably colder even though sunshine was peeping through the gloomy clouds of London. The plan was to meet up with B's colleagues who had just arrived from KL before deciding on our next course of action.

Welcome to Novotel Paddington

First things first and after exchanging hellos we checked in to the hotel and were given a key to a Double Room on the fourth floor.

Novotel London Paddington is gorgeous both inside and outside. A 4- New Generation hotel furnished with modern interior, the hotel is located in the newer business district of Paddington Central so everything surrounding the area is spanking clean and fresh.

From the outside...

Looking in...Novotel

I was pretty excited to see the inside of our room and my anticipation was rewarded with a beautiful large room! After staying in a tiny room at Cromwell for the last 3 days, it was nice to come to a spacious room with a double bed and a sofa bed as well, which we used to hold all our shopping bags over the next few days!

Spacious Luxury

Right by the door was a closet equipped with ironing board and iron. I had no use for the iron but it was nice to know one was available should I need to do some ironing.

Novotel Paddington was the only hotel (out of the three we stayed in UK) that had a minibar or cooler. That was a relief because finally I could buy all the drinks and desserts I wanted and had a place to store them. Otherwise, I'd be further deprived of my something cold when inside the hotel. Despite the chilly weather, I still needed my iced coffee and cold strawberry mousse every once in a while so this was a great addition to the hotel room.

Finally a minibar

TV is important simply because when staying in a foreign hotel, I am always curious to see what the country has to offer in terms of entertainment. Internet was not FREE however so we paid for the 24-HR service. So far, the Internet speed and connection in London had been quite sluggish but sufficient to let me check my emails, reply important messages and of course tweet my friends back home.

When we switched on the TV, there was a message for B on the screen, which I thought was pretty cool. While he went to the Lobby to settle work matters, I changed into my casual denim jacket and got ready to head out again; no time to rest and enjoy the room just yet!

You have a message

Okay another reason that put Novotel Paddington at the top of my list is the lovely bathroom we enjoyed in our double room. It had a bathtub, a separate shower for B and it was comfortably spacious. Finally, I could enjoy a long leisurely soak on my vacation. And throughout our 3 nights here; I made full use of the bath tub, soaking away my fatigue after a long day of sightseeing and shopping.

And here is also where I enjoyed my Lush buys. Lush items are really heavy so I had no choice but to use them up as soon as I bought them in order to avoid additional weight to my already bulky luggage. When we first arrived, we had two full suitcases and 2 empty ones but by Day 4, all four bags were filled with stuff!

Bathtub soak for me

Shower for B

Decorations are minimal but enough to give the room a clean, modern look. This is the view outside our window - an office building, which I can clearly see inside and laugh at the hardworking workers slaving away at work while I was happily enjoying my vacation!

My only complaint about the hotel is that the Tube and Train Station is quite a distance from the hotel. Other than that, the hotel was divine! Anyway half an hour after checking in, we were back downstairs waiting for B's colleagues.

Waiting for the guys

Cold day in Paddington

B and I took some pictures while waiting for his friends and finally the whole group was complete including the two Soccer Kids winners, who were the main reason we were all on this trip. The boys were really shy so no pictures of them just yet.

B and gang

Chatting with Nathan

The agenda that evening - Trafalgar Square!

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