Overall, Frances's space provide reasonable value for money for a short stay in London with ample space in a convenient location albeit with some compromises.
Frances is an excellent host.
Communication from booking to check-in to check-out was prompt and helpful. Our stay at Frances was complicated by the changes in Covid restrictions and we booked 2 additional nights to the original start date of our stay. Frances was very helpful in organising this extra booking as well as helped us look out for delivery of our Day 2 Covid test kits. We had some delays on arrival due to long Qs a at border control and Frances kept tabs of us through and made check-in a breeze. She was also always available throughout the stay.
Great location.
Calm and quiet right by Little Venice with a short walk to Paddington Central and Station. An 7 to 10 min stroll along the canal takes you to Paddington Central and Station.
Space.
Size wise is great for London. We self isolated for the first 2 days until we got our Day 2 PCR test results and we were glad that we had sufficient space to lay our luggage, move around and "work from home" at.
Facilities.
Room is self contained within a basement flat.
- Shower and toilet. Water pressure could be improved, especially if someone else is showing upstairs, water pressure can become very low. ***There is a small step in toilet and I had accidentally tripped on it when reaching out for extra toilet rolls. Step is quite "sharp" and my toe hurt for 2 days, so do watch out for this step.***
- Bed. Comfy and cosy. Frances provided more than enough towels and pillows etc. Under the covers, it was warm and toasty at night.
- Kitchen. Well equipped. We did not cook but had sufficient cutlery and utensils to have takeaways. There is a dishwasher (which we did not use), a large fridge and freezer (which on our first night randomly started beeping, otherwise, it was fine through out the 5 night stay) and 2 hobs (which we did not use but accidentally knocked and turned it on when cleaning up before our departure and had trouble shutting it down).
- Given the weather and time of the year, it got a little damp and cold during certain times of the day. There is a heated towel rack, which is helpful to dry towels.
- Door and door locks. Entrance to flat can be slightly hard to unlock / lock at times. Entrance to room the same. The door to the room has a gap at the bottom, which means one could hear almost everything outside (and I presume almost everything inside from the outside). Although it is not a bother to us, it would be good for guests to know that the room is not as private as one would expect and we do hear Frances and her family more often during the weekends.
- Wifi. Sufficiently stable to "work from home".
- TV. We enjoyed catching up on Master Chef the Professionals during our spare time :)