As you may remember I spent quite a bit of time in London last year, it was awful! Most of it isn't the 'pretty' place you see if you're a tourist, I stayed in one hotel in Newham, what a dump, there was no restaurant and the only things to eat nearby were things like Pot Noodles and cold sandwiches from a local shop. As I approached the entrance there were two people standing by the door, one on either side, both offering their services, one was a drug dealer, the other a prostitute!, I checked in, had a shower, got changed and at the end of a 15 hour day that began with a 300 mile drive, I checked out again, after another 300 mile drive I was back home, there was no way I was staying there, simple as. I rang work the following day and told them in no uncertain terms that if they wanted me back down there they'd have to sort the digs out. A few days later I drove down again, the second hotel was only about a mile and a half up the road from the first, but it was better, they didn't serve evening meals but they did a decent breakfast, and there was a pub just down the road that served food, problem solved, or so I thought. Looking out of my window that night I couldn't believe how many dodgy looking characters were on the streets, I went to the pub, had a meal and came back, the following evening I got home, had a shower and got changed, making my way to the pub I realised there'd been an armed robbery at the bookmakers just down the street. Later on when I got back I happened to mention this to the night porter, "ah, that's nothing mate, you know the street behind this place, well a bloke got stabbed to death there a fortnight back" he replied casually. I couldn't believe it, I began to wish I'd worn body armour, put it this way, whenever I went out after that I always carried a screwdriver in my pocket, talk about a rough area!
Oh, that is London for you. I can't say I have ever stayed in a dodgy hotel. Thanks for sharing on this old thread. x
All large towns and cities have their 'rough' areas, and being a native, I would have thought you would have known that Newham is regarded and known fairly commonly as being 'rough'.
I dont like London Either ,when I worked there we stayed at the "Starlight Hotel " or summat like that in Windsor £90 a night for a hotel you could get in Blackpool for a tenner (and you would think you were robbed ) a Dump .
For information: Windsor is NOT London, and if you choose to reside in the same place as Mrs Windsor then you should have known it would be more expensive than a 'dump' in Blackpool.
I had to duckduck search Newham. When I lived in London in the eary 1980s, I once got lost in south London. I thought I would not miss this place.According to Wikipedia Newham has the lowest life expetantcy and shared with Tower Hamlets has the highest rate of heart diseaese of any borough in London.
You miss my point altogether it was Worse than a £10 a night Dump in Blackpool ! and as far as "Choose" goes I would never choose to reside in that Shit hole ! No not London But near enough I guess
Which was exactly why I lost my job! at the start of the covid outbreak Newham was one, if not the worst place for catching it, the job we were on wasn't essential yet my employer wanted me to go and live there for 3 months while we did the job, naturally I refused, so they sacked me! I had the last laugh though, they rang me about 3 weeks later, begging me to work for them again, I told them to get stuffed!
I spent the 80s working as a motorcycle courier in London. Mostly the West End and the City. I now avoid it as much as possible, but it's nice to spend a day there every now and then, just to see what's changed and what hasn't.