To the delight of the frugal traveler, a new no-frills bus service has been introduced in England. Megabus.com charges the lowest bus fares in the country -- only £1 ($1.65) for a single journey on any route. From London, popular stops include Oxford, Brighton, and the old port of Plymouth. The network uses double decker buses that once rolled through the streets of Hong Kong. Reserve at www.megabus.com, which levies a booking charge of less that a U.S. dollar.
London
The London Information Centre at Leicester Square, W. 1, has a new telephone number and new opening times. It is now open seven days a week from 8am to 11pm. For information, call 020/729-22-333. You can also call toll free on 0800 LONDON for city information and to book discounted rates for London hotels, theaters, sightseeing, and airport transfers. Advisers are standing by daily from 8am to midnight.
The Soho Hotel, 4 Richmond Mews, W1 (tel. 020/7559-3000), near leafy Soho Square, is London's newest hotel lying as it does between Wardour and Dean Streets, an incredible location for theater-goers. There are 85 individually designed bathrooms and suites. Bathrooms are luxuriously designed in granite and oak with walk-in showers. There are four fifth-floor penthouses with tree-lined terraces and views across London. In the fashionable South Kensington area, within walking distance of Knightsbridge, The Derby Hotel, 155-157 Cromwell Rd., S.W.5 (tel. 020/7465-5150) is one of the most undiscovered and charming hotels in the area. All of its 25 rooms are brand new, including junior suites and regular suites. Most of the bedrooms, each beautifully furnished, open onto well-landscaped gardens. This hotel, we predict, will become far better known when its discovered by visitors to London looking "for that small hotel."
Also opening in South Kensington is The Bentley Hotel, at Harrington Gardens, S.W. 7 (tel. 020/7370-6486). Following an eight-year renovation, this hotel is charm itself, with its 64 rooms decorated in a chic, rather lavish style. The Bentley is for those who prefer opulence to minimalism. Six-hundred tons of marble imported from Turkey, Africa, and Italy to adorn the place, along with gold-plated bathroom fixtures, deep-pile carpets, and Louis XIV accessories, along with gorgeous silk fabrics. The Imperial Suite even boasts a grand piano.
The elegant late Victorian terracotta brick pile, The Cadogan, 75 Sloan St. S.W. 1 (tel. 020/7235-7141), was growing a bit stale in the Knightsbridge area. It has its legends, including Oscar Wilde who was arrested there for so-called indecent acts. In the 1890s, the halls rang with the laughter of Lillie Langtry, mistress of Edward VII. Suddenly transformed, the Cadogan is chic once again, especially after the arrival of the design doyenne, Grace Leo-Andrieu. And, as a touch of Oscar Wilde, ostrich feathers are strewn across the pillows in the very room (no. 118) where Wilde met his doom. The hotel lies within easy distance of Harrods, Hyde Park, and the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Another boutique hotel, The Zetter, 86-88 Clerkenwell Rd. (tel. 020/7324-44444), lies in a converted Victorian warehouse between the financial district and the West End. The 59-room hotel features seven rooftop studios with patios and panoramic sweeps of the London skyline. A skylit atrium floods the core of The Zetter with natural light. The vending machines on each floor even dispense champagne.
In February of 2005, the first major museum devoted to the life and times of Sir Winston Churchill will open in the Imperial War Museum's Cabinet War Rooms on Charles Street (tel. 020/7930-6961). The opening marks the 40th anniversary of the death of the wartime prime minister. Revealed are "the room where I directed the war," along with Mrs. Churchill's bedroom and the famous couple's dining room. With the launch of this new museum, all the Cabinet War Rooms, once top secret, will now be open to the public. Hailed by The Times of London, as the "best place to see contemporary art in north London," the Camden Arts Centre, Arkwright Rd., N.W. 3 (tel. 020/7472-5500), has reopened after a major refurbishment that cost about 8 million dollars. Today it invites you with its café, bookstore, studios, and exhibition galleries. It features a frequently changing program of exhibitions.
A Memorial to Princess Diana was unveiled in the summer of 2004 in Hyde Park, a 260 foot-by-160-foot ring of granite filled with water that flows and rushes. Designed as a living memorial to the Princess, it was created by Neil Porter and Kathryn Gustafson. The fountain lies to the immediate south of Serpentine Lake at the western edge of the park. Financed by public funds, the work cost just under 7 million dollars. Queen Elizabeth dedicated the monument on July 6. The most critical members of the British press have called it "a drainage ditch" and a "waterslide."
Open for tours for the first time, the restored 1871 Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Gore, S.W.7 (tel. 020/7838-3105), has completed an eight-year restoration. Seating 5,000, the hall is famed for staging the BBC Promenade Concerts from mid-July to mid-September. Starting at 10am daily, the 45-minute tours run throughout the day until 3:30pm. Tours, which cost $11.50 and are limited to only 15 participants, take in such sights as the Queen's Box and the Royal Retiring Room used by the royals during intermissions. Those on tour are also shown the newly restored Robert Albert Hall organ with its 9,999 pipes.
Some of London's most fashionable and trend-setting shoppers are trekking over to the famous old Brick Lane in the East End of the city. Brick Lane is the main drag along "Banglatown" and has long been known for its low-cost curry eating houses and sari stores, catering to London's burgeoning population from India. Almost overnight funky little boutiques and home-furnishing stores started moving in, no doubt attracted by the low rents. Today you can seek out such shopping delights as Beyond Retro, 110 Brick Lane (tel. 020/7613-3636), where the managers keep the displays interesting by adding 300 new vintage pieces daily; Mar Mar Co., 16 Brick Lane (tel. 020/7729-1494), where you'll find Scandinavian ceramics and china boxes glazed with retro wallpaper designs, along with dozens of other delights, and Work Gallery, 156 Brick Lane (tel. 020/7377-0597), with its collection of quirky jewelry. There are dozens of other shops awaiting your own discovery.
The home of the English National Opera, London Coliseum, St. Martin's Lane, W.C.2 (tel. 020/7632-8300) has reopened following its first major refurbishment in a century. The Coliseum has survived, more or less intact, even when a Nazi bomb in 1941 fell through the roof onto the stage but did not explode. Originally designed to evoke the Colosseum in Rome, the new London structure has a revolving ornamental globe crowning its tower. All of the seats in the 2,364 patron auditorium have been replaced, and the original color scheme of cream, red, purple, and gold restored. Tickets cost from $10 to $165.
Frank Matcham was the designer of the Coliseum, and he also designed Hackney Empire, Mare St., E.8 (tel. 020/985-2424), an Italian style rococo opera house that opened in 1901. At a cost of $30 million, it too has been restored. Today its cultural offerings range from opera to the Bard, with tickets costing $20 to $50.
In another development, The Savoy Opera, a new London-based company, will present classic opera such as The Barber of Seville and The Marriage of Figaro at the Savoy Theatre, the Strand, W.C.2 (tel. 020/7166-7372). This was the famous opera theater built in 1880 by Richard D'Oyly Carte that specialized in Gilbert & Sullivan musicals. Today, the 1,100-seat theater has been completely refurbished. It is one of the few West End theaters with an orchestra pit, and this one will hold the recently formed Royal Philharmonic Opera Orchestra.
An intimate candlelit bar, Claridge's Mecanudo Fumoir, has opened at London's poshest address, Claridge's Hotel, Brook Street, W.1 (tel. 020/7629-8860). Both sumptuous and moody, this eggplant-colored leather clad bar seats only 17 and is one of the most stylish and luxurious venues in town. It features the largest selection of Macanudo cigars in the country, plus more than 20 different Cuban cigars. Along with cigars, you can enjoy London's most special selection of cognacs, armagnacs, tequilas, ports, and other drinks of choice.
Bristol
Since its opening, the British Empire & Commonwealth Museum, Clock Tower Yard, Temple Meads (tel. 0117/925-4980), has received many museum awards, including Somerset Family Attraction of the Year for 2004. Twenty themed galleries cover not only maritime, military, and technological triumphs but also racism, cultural imperialism, and slavery. Exhibits include the likes of pirates, Pocahontas, and a brave new world, documenting Britain's first empire in the Americas. Stark facts and figures are revealed, including life expectancy in the 17th century, travel time between England and America, and ship's rations. The exhibits are dramatically presented, at this first-rate new attraction.
Devon
Michael Caines, acclaimed head chef at one of England's great country hotels (Gidleigh Park), and Andrew Browsword, owner of Bath's prestigious Priory Hotel, have joined forces to create a dynamic new partnership. They have jointly acquired Exeter's leading hotel: Royal Clarence, Cathedral Yard (tel. 01392/319955). Expect major improvements here in this tired, old work-horse which was growing weary until the takeover. Today, Caine's signature restaurant, Michael Caines at the Royal Clarence, is among the finest dining rooms in all of Devon. In 2004 the hotel has been undergoing a major refurbishment.
The Lake District
Head for the charming village of Newbiggin near Lake Ullswater, made famous by Wordsworth in his I Wander Lonely as a Cloud. At The Old School, Newbiggin, west of Penrith and 3/4 of a mile off the A66 and 3/4 miles from Junction 40 on the M6, John and Pauline Lake welcome you to a Victorian school they have refurbished as a B&B. Bedrooms are traditionally and comfortably furnished, and there is also a beautiful garden with old trees and blossoming flowerbeds. You can take breakfast outside on a fair day, enjoying the homemade bread and the seasonal homegrown tomatoes.
Herefordshire
Ford Abbey, Pudleston, near Leominster (tel. 01568/760700), a former Benedictine abbey, some 8 centuries old, has been restored and opened as a posh guest house with some holiday homes. The beautiful bedrooms are in the main abbey house, complete with wooden beams, galleries, and four-poster beds. In the medieval barn is a series of four self-catering lodges. Guests can enjoy a superb dinner at the on-site restaurant.
Hertfordshire
In the rolling hills of England, the massive 18th-century former home of the Earls of Clarendon has recently been restored and opened as a hotel called The Grove, Chandler's Cross, Rickmansworth (tel. 1923/807-807). Just listen to these statistics: 300 acres, 227 bedrooms, 7,170 yards of golf, 350 staff members, 45,000 trees, six World War II air-raid shelters, three restaurants, two lakes, one heliport, even 10 honeybee hives and a donkey. Guest rooms range from the luxurious to the truly palatial.
Staffordshire
In the old city of Stafford, in the heart of England, The Swan Hotel, 46 Greengate St. (tel. 01785/258142), has been newly reopened and totally refurbished. The 27-bedroom hotel used to be two houses constructed on the site of an old monastic college. As early as the 18th century, it became an inn. When author Charles Dickens visited, he called it "The dodo in the High Street with nothing in the larder." But this ugly duckling is now a beautiful and even luxurious swan.
Whitshire
A beautifully restored Cotswold manor house, Whatley Manor, Easton Grey, Malmesbury (tel. 1666/822-888), has opened as a luxurious hotel. Style and warmth are combined along with contemporary, tasteful furnishings, as well as antiques, fabrics and wallpaper -- more like a beautiful private home than a formal hotel. On site is one of the most sophisticated spas in this part of England. It comes complete with a "wave dream sensory room." Two restaurants specialize in a classic French cuisine, and there is also a cinema with leather seats.