The Easter Bunny delivered the goods this year, kind of

Finding a cheap hotel in London for Saturday night over Easter. Hard work.

Door knocking time.

We decided to spend an extra night in London before making the journey to Ireland. Our accommodation at the Victoria Hotel had finished and was going to cost us £50-60 each to book another night over the Easter weekend. I could buy two pairs of Zara jeans for that.

Having blown our budgets on Oxford Street we decided to find alternate accommodation. Liking the Russel Square area so much, this led us to walk the streets door knocking, asking for availability and prices.

We finally found one location with a vacancy for three on a Saturday night, and it was only going to cost us £80 between us. Hallelujah.

I was very sceptical at first. The man wanted us to pay upfront a few days before checking in. I said hell no buddy we’ll pay a deposit and pay the rest later, thanks. We also asked to have a look at the quality of the rooms before making a reservation.

Ashii in our tiny room. My bed covered the fireplace, sorry Santa

When we did check in, however, the staff kindly held our luggage in a storage room while we did our laundry, and when our room was ready they had transferred our backpacks to our sleeping quarter.

The room had three single beds. Good start.

It had a small fridge, and a tiny television.

The bathroom was a whole other story. It was as if a port-a-loo had been dropped into the hotel, and walls built around it to make it look a part of the room. You aint fooling no one buddy.

All squished into the fake bathroom. We couldn't even shut the door

The main thing we noticed was the smell. It reeked distinctly of curry, and we would later fondly refer to the hotel as ‘The Curry House’.

Watching Jessie J and Tom Jones on Britan’s version of The Voice, we tried to get dressed and ready to go out in the room. This involved straightening and curling hair without a mirror, squeezing into the port-a-loo to slap on some makeup, and washing out glasses from the bathroom to drink our wine. We are fast becoming pros at this.

Happy Easter vino and chocolate

When our pre-drinking got a little loud, the staff asked if we were having a fight. This was our cue to leave.

We ended up sleeping in the hotel for only three hours, up with an early start. It was one of the worst sleeps I’ve ever had.

It was 200 degrees Celsius in the room, and it smelled like curry.

Upon checkout we cleared up the noise complaint with the staff and we were on our way.

Having said it was a terrible sleep, I would probably stay there again. The rooms were clean and secure, and the port-a-loo wasn’t so bad.

When finding a place to stay, knocking on doors and asking for availability and prices isn’t a bad idea, especially if you have limited access to wifi.

Make sure you are specific about what you want (we wanted cleanliness, security and three beds), don’t pay the full amount upfront, and ask to check out the room before you agree to book the accommodation.

In hindsight I wished we’d asked to pay £75 – easier to split three ways but still a decent price for the hotel – something I will think more about in the future.

It was a good experience and quite funny when we reflect on the night. It really wasn’t so terrible, and the £30 we each saved went a lot further on tequila shots.

Port-a-Nikki