Arrived in London, Finally, but not quite.....

So after a 4 hour layover we arrived in London at Stansted.  Never, ever, ever travel via Stansted.

Customs control was good, we were through the disabled line in minutes, then the fun started.  Emirates separate their luggage carousels with 1st and Business Classes having their own carousel, Economy or cattle class scum like us have the same size carousel, but four flights get lumped into it.  We waited close on 60 minutes for our luggage to arrive, so despite being 20 minutes early landing, we did not get out of customs until an hour and 35 minutes following landing.

We waited as directed for our driver at the prescribed place, and waited, and waited.  Then decided after a 20 minute wait and search to call the company, only to get recorded services and systems.  At $2 per minute I was not going to wait on hold for who knows how long.  So I went for another wander and found the driver looking for us.  He was waiting outside, nowhere near the prescribed meeting point, only came in because he phoned the office and they said to go inside.

After getting in the car and a quick chat we were told it would be a near 2 hour drive to the hotel, 50 mile drive in peak hour which starts at 2pm and goes through to 8pm apparently.


So we get to "a" Kensington Court Hotel at 5pm, the driver leaves, we drag the suitcases into the foyer and learn it is not "our" Kensington Court Hotel.  I knew there were two, but we specifically told the driver the address, he just dropped us at the KCH he thought was the one.  So a £20 cab ride eventually has us at the right Kensington Court Hotel.  The one at Prince's Square, the one not in a dumpy neighborhood, the one in Notting Hill that is charming.

The staff are awesome, tea and pastries on arrival in the foyer while we check in, we had a choice of rooms, we chose the ground floor without looking at the 1st floor to avoid the stairs.  Its clean, tidy and the wifi is quick and easy to use.

They made a recommendation for a pub across the road which was awesome, great food, great service and then we went for a post dinner walk before coming back to the room to shower and take a well needed rest after around 36 hours of traveling.  It has been a very very long day.

Of course here are the obligatory photos:

2019-09-06 - Notting Hill