In my visits spanning Ipswich (UK), Antwerpen (Belgium), London (UK), Interlaken (Swiss) and Leeds (UK) I've lived in a mix of B&Bs, serviced apartments or hotels. The serviced apartments generally do justice and make life easy for a traveller like me who stays for a few months before moving on. If I were to categorize my stay, it would be very good places, good places and bad places.
The bad places are rooms I've found strange and creepy - these are rooms which are generally in the basement without windows! I often wonder why do people build such rooms in the first place! If you haven't had to live in one such room, you are very lucky. I've never stayed too long in such rooms; but the first time I lived in one such room alone, was the time I realized how being alone in such a room can feel. I felt as though I was put into a mini prison, felt suffocated and alone. The room felt dark even though the lights were on. The room felt scary even though the television was on. I vowed to myself I will double check each time that the room allocated to me is not in the basement and is one that has some windows :-) Well, the way to describe what i felt is probably - claustrophobia ! I discovered just while writing this article that that this is exactly what happens to me when I am in a confined and closed room in the basement.
The good places are where you cannot cook your food, but at least you don't feel creepy. The ambience is good enough to prevent eerie thoughts, there is sufficient light coming in from the windows during daytime, the view from the windows is ok at least and the temperature is not too cold, where the space is just enough and not an inch more (perhaps less but not more!) Where you need to find a place where your type of food is served during the first couple of days of stay and where the cost is not very high. To separate the good from the bad places on my scale, double checking the "basement factor" is sufficient :-)
The very good places are where you can cook and live and where you tend to get attached to the place and start feeling like it is your own. Where the loneliness of a new place and people does not trouble you - instead you are at ease with it, because the comfort that the place where you live temporarily during your stay makes you feel at home. Serviced apartments are really the best place to stay for short term travels. Yes, you need to spend some time in the housekeeping and management, but it is well worth the effort ! :-) One can automatically tell these places are very good from the first interaction with the land owner because the owners of such places are usually diligent and kind in their communication when you are finalizing your stay there.
When I travel, I don't have the luxury of visiting the place before finalizing to stay in there. The travels are usually sudden and you often need to just go in there at short notice and figure it out. I follow couple of golden rules, when I travel in order to feel and do my best at work while travelling
a) check the safety of the location b) double check the basement and windows aspect c) check the microwave and cooking aspect. d) check the distance from the place of work
What prompted me to write this article has been some of the best and worst places I have lived in my travels so far. I would like to dedicate this article to 2 homes away from home I have discovered during my travels - 1 in Ipswich and 1 in Leeds. These 2 apartments made me really feel comfortable with their ambience and they are the most recommended by me to everyone around me.
1) Villa Melagrano, 338 Felixstowe Road, Ipswich
2) Vista Serviced Apartments, Leeds
I will keep updating this list as I bump into nice staying places like these :-)
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