Famous Statues in London

Many cities have distinctive landmarks and statues that undeniably recognised by everyone. There is a Little Mermaid in Copenhagen, small Manneken Pis in Brussels and the Great Sphinx near Cairo. The Statue of Liberty became a symbol of New York as well as the gigantic Christ the Redeemer is a significant statue of Rio de Janeiro. Of course, London also boasts with its prominent statues. Everywhere throughout London, you will come across sculptures of famous writers, actors or scientists, not to mention the British kings and queens.

We would like to tell you about the most popular and unique statues that decorate this great city. Let’s start our journey from the Palace of Westminster. Opposite the Parliament Building, you will find a statue of one of the most important personalities in the British history – Winston Churchill. He played a vital role in establishing a world peace during and after the WWII. Not that far away from there, on the Trafalgar Square, you will see probably London’s highest statue – Nelson’s Column. Every Englishmen thinks Admiral Nelson to be a hero as he fought to death at the Battle of Trafalgar for the victory of the Royal Navy. You must definitely go to the Leicester Square and take a picture of the iconic movie star – Charlie Chaplin. The actor left marvellous silent films, which we still admire to watch. No wander his monument is placed in the Square surrounded by the famous cinemas. Here is also a statue of a great master of the English and world literature – William Shakespeare.

The poet created a number of plays, sonnets and poems loved by young and old all around the world. We can read a quote from his comedy: ‘There is no darkness but ignorance.’ Talking about the British literature, we should remark Arthur Conan Doyle’s character Sherlock Holmes. The well-known detective, who could solve every difficult case, is standing right nearby his home on Baker Street. The statue of Sherlock Holmes gives us the visual idea of Holmes smoking a pipe and wearing his typical check hat and coat. The most romantic statue in London is the Eros Statue. This winged nude god Anteros supposed to be a symbol of the West End. Londoners often arrange to meet at the Eros and it is always crowded around the monument at day and night. We named just a few of London’s statues but all of them inspire people and bring happiness every time they pass them.

Whenever you decide to come visit the capital and see those significant statues, contact us to book a holiday rental apartment in London. Our team will happily provide you with detailed information about your short term let flat www.shortlet-london.com

London Shopping Time

Being the world’s metropolis and cosmopolitan city, London is a paradise on earth for shopaholics. Here you can find goods for every taste, style and necessity. Oxford Street is the most central street of London with numerous posh boutiques, designers` stores and famous brands, but you can also find high street shops which can be affordable for any pocket.If you are not after a shopping spree, you can do a window shopping, admire the lighting decorations of the street and masterpiece windows of such grand stores as House of Fraser, John Lewis, Debenhams and of course Selfridges. The only disadvantage is that Oxford Street tends to get very crowded any day of the week.

Shopping can be exhausting process even for the experienced public, therefore Short Let London would recommend going to shopping centres to save time and effort, as you can find all type of department stores under one roof. A recently opened and the biggest so far in London is Westfield, Stratford, featuring hundreds brands, stores, cafes, restaurants and entertainment. It might also get very busy, especially on the weekends, so to avoid the crowd visit Westfield Shepherds Bush or Brent Cross Shopping Centre. For some traditional gifts and buys with the name you should visit London’s oldest iconic places such as the Harrods, Harvey Nichols, the Hamleys, and Fortnum and Mason. Shopping in London might become very pricey, but buying spree can be possible if you save money on your budget accommodation, and choose to rent a cheap flat in London. Contact Short Let London  if you need to rent cheap apartment for short stay in London, we offer budget flats to let.

Renovation of rental apartments

One question that the landlords and letting agencies should seriously think about is whether they are willing to invest in the renovation of the properties and rental flats. It is always worth spending a portion of money on the refurbishment of the apartments at some point of time, and then to generate more profit by accommodating more satisfied returning customers, who may even leave positive reviews and spread the word of mouth about your company. Even for the rental agencies that are offering budget accommodation, it is recommended to invest into refurbishment of the short let apartments and flats. The accommodation might be basic and cheap, but should always be tidy, fresh, in working order and good conditions.

Short Let London always strives to maintain the condition of its properties to the best standards, ensuring that the price is kept on the most affordable level. The agency regularly renovates and refurbishes its short let flats and rental apartments in London, supplies new furniture and facilities for comfortable living. We understand that even for the clients who are travelling on the budget side, it is important to get professional and efficient service when renting the flat for short stay. Short Let London always aims to meet the requirements of the clients, as the rental business in London is very competitive and you need to win customers` trust, favour and loyalty. The main goal and priority of the letting agency is to provide good quality apartments and satisfaction of the tenants` needs, responding to customers` requests and solving any issue that arises immediately.

Tonight is Halloween! One of the funniest holidays in the calendar. Many of us were awaiting for this day to have a chance to put on a scary costume and attend parties or visit mysterious attractions. Children love Halloween most of all as in this day they dress up to go from house to house for trick-or-treating and getting loads of sweets and chocolates. It is also enjoyable to decorate our own house by combining the autumn themes with Halloween attributes, such as very popular carved pumpkins, lighting lanterns, creepy insects, spiders on the nets, skeletons and spooky ghosts.

Nowadays Halloween takes its origins form the Christian holiday called All Hallows’ Eve, the night when all faithful believers, saints are being remembered and honored. And all scary costumes, lightning candles and lanterns are supposed to frighten and keep the evil spirits away this evening.

London can offer you many interesting and spooky events and activities for everyone to every taste. There are variety of terrifying tours to experience hasty moments of your life. Go for Jack the Ripper walking tour in order to track the dark sites of the East End, where the serial killer murdered his victims. Another horrifying Victorian period places to visit are the Dungeon and the Tower Bridge tunnels. The ghost bus may take you for thrilling journey around the evening capital. Also the good idea is to go to the cinema and watch some classic horror film. Londoners usually like to go to the parties and nightclubs wearing their best fancy Halloween outfit and face-paint. Whatever you are doing this hallow night, have a pleasant time! Short Let London is wishing you a Happy Spooky Halloween! 

Sweet and Sinister London, it’s Halloween time!

Halloween is approaching London soon. Many of us want to experience frightening and chilling moments during the All Saints’ night. Previous year we wrote about many interesting things you can do in the capital, starting from visiting theatre and finishing with wandering along creepy Victorian places in Dungeon or the Bridge tunnels. London is constantly growing city and quite often new events and attractions are happening here. So why not to continue the topic of what spooky times one can have during the Halloween celebration.

If you want to be involved in horrific adventure, go for the ghost bus tour. The bus conductor will entertain and frighten you on the way from the Trafalgar Square, through Whitehall and the Tower Bridge, up to Fleet Street. Listening to scary stories as well as watching terrifying things around, makes you to shiver, scream and maybe cry from fear in this ghost bus. Wishing you to survive this extraordinary journey.

Probably everyone heard about Jack the Ripper, a cruel serial murderer. This Halloween you can take a late evening tour around Spitalfields to the ghastly sites where the killer’s victims were found. The walk promises to refresh your memory about poor and terrifying old Victorian period in the East End part of London. Also dreadful feelings you may experience in the Hunterian Museum, where the collection of anatomical, pathological and zoological specimens are exhibited. British surgeon and anatomist John Hunter made a big collection of conserved human and animal organs and skeletons two centuries ago. The old basic surgical instruments give you fearsome imagination of how they were used in practise and how painful it was when that terrible blunt scalper cut the flesh. The stuff displayed there is real and not the Halloween decoration. Brrrr. Have you thought of sending your precious child to the Witch Academy? It must be very interesting for a kid to take an exciting ride on the London Eye capsule with witch Priscilla, especially in Halloween day. She will teach spells, tell horrid stories and mysteries of London. Fun is guaranteed. A quality family time you should have at London Zoo. This time they organize a thrilling event – Boo at the Zoo. Frightful but nice creatures (owls, bats, vultures, meerkats, coatis, etc) would like perform for visitors the Animals in Action Spooktacular. Sounds more fun than scary, right? Another thing to do this Halloween is to go for a traditional trick-or-treat. In best place to do it in London is at St John’s Wood and Maida Vale (North West London). Most of the houses are decorated with carved pumpkins, sticky nets, ghost and skeletons in the front garden. Local schoolchildren dress up, take their special bags for sweets and go trick or treating from one house to another. At the end they have plenty of sweets which may last till Christmas. By the way, Short Let London has a big choice of holiday rental flats nearby this area.

Whatever activity you choose to do this Halloween, come back safely to your London accommodation provided by Short Let London. All our apartments are located close to London landmarks and tourists attractions with good transport connection. If you need a place for a short term stay in London, we will be more than happy to accommodate you in one of our budget holiday rent properties.

London restaurants review

British, Mexican, French, Brazilian, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese – I could probably go on to the end of this article about the various cuisines that can be found in London. Here are the Short Let London staff favourites: 

Little Bay is the best value three course meal in London and costs less than a tenner. Modern European cuisine is the order of the day the chicken pastry and the barberry duck being particular highlights. The specials are also reasonably priced compared to most gastropubs. The original restaurant in Kilburn has a very unique feel however their restaurant in Farringdon has a larger selection and does special offers.

Le mercury in Islington is also a reasonably priced French restaurant which is very popular make sure you call and book a table especially at weekends as even though it`s on three floors it gets very busy. Starters are £3.95 and mains £7.95. Try the mussels in white wine sauce and the lamb shanks, this restaurant is perfect for a romantic meal that you will remember. If you want a taste of America and some homemade BBQ food look no further than Bodeans. With 5 branches in central London, short let London apartments and rental flats are within easy distance of them. A traditional American diner interior and one of the few places that show American sports 24/7 the food here is a must for any carnivore. Slow cooked chicken, ribs that literally fall right off the bone, and the legendary burnt ends that melt in your mouth with the smokiest BBQ taste you dream of. Take the full platter for 2 (or one!) at £24.95 its incredible value for the meat you get.  Short Let London recommends, enjoy your dinner!

London night scene

London’s club scene is arguably one of the finest in the world. Super-clubs, warehouses, swanky bars and much more besides it is a smorgasbord of fun nights that are a joy to behold. Here is the lowdown from Short Let London on some of the places you have to go rather than getting bogged down in the tourist trap that is the west end.

Fabric has been a clubbing institution since 1999 and a great introduction to the London scene. Fabric is a converted meat freezer with the best sound and light production in the world. Always at the forefront of new genres of dance music Fabric has three rooms and for first timers it is very easy to get lost. If bass heavy music and electro is more your thing, then check out Fabric Live on a Friday, however Saturdays is the night for the more discerning dance enthusiast with the best in house, techno and everything in-between.

The Ministry of Sound is still going strong after 20 years. Situated in a converted bus depot in the gritty Elephant & Castle it is one of those clubs you have to do – Fridays is long standing night the Gallery with the best of trance and house. Saturdays varies but expect some of the biggest DJs playing exclusive sets in the Ministry of Sound`s main room the Box. The other great thing is that these two world clubs are within easy access of the rental apartments and holiday flats that Short Let London offers. It is worth considering renting a flat in London, where you can easily get to at any time of the day or night as there are buses running 24/7. Get ready to party and do not waste your time during a short stay in London!