London Airbnb Welcome Home

Traveling to London was exhausting! It was definitely one of our tougher travel days. We took an overnight flight from Fort Lauderdale and arrived in London eight hours later at 12:30pm London time. The flight was quiet and smooth but Rob and I didn’t sleep, Mak did get six hours of shut eye. We arrived in sunny London and clamored off the plane filled with excitement. We collected our luggage and stepped outside the airport to grab a train to our London Airbnb rental excitement quickly turned to exhaustion.

Then we got on the wrong train…

I was glad Mak got the most sleep; he was in a good mood and alert. Unfortunately, an alert six year old isn’t as useful as an alert forty year old when trying to navigate the London train system. Being six he was oblivious to mom and dad’s dullness and took being lost in stride, (we get lost with a good night’s sleep to). This time was more challenging because we were lost and hauling our entire assortment of luggage with no sleep.

Thankfully, we did find the right train with only one turn around. Google maps were accurate for the walk after the train as well. We were able to get our bearings and arrive on the front step of our rental before the sun went down. We found our way into the building and Mak and I walked up to the apartment to meet our host David.

The tagline for Airbnb is “Welcome Home” and it really did feel that way after hauling luggage for blocks and the welcome by our host David. With a warm and wide smile, “I knew you would be here any minute, please come and sit down”!

I felt like we had arrived to stay with a friend.

We sat on the sofa and David asked about our trip sharing the craziness of his day as well. He excused himself to wrap up a few things for our stay and I remembered Rob was still standing downstairs with our luggage!

Rob was already on his way up with a load. I proceeded to grab the rest of our bags, anxious to settle in. When I arrived back in the apartment Rob was talking to David about the amenities in the apartment. I kept hearing new, new, new, there is so much in the apartment that was new. The apartment is modern, newly refurbished, and spotless. It has a washer, deep tub, and a Victorian charm that is heavenly! A very comfy bed as well I must add.

The listing had described the flat perfectly and accurately: A quiet, bright, modern one bedroom flat on the second floor of a large Victorian house with panoramic views on to large gardens. There are wooden floors throughout and an en suite bathroom. It is so comfortable and lovely.

David recommended restaurants and places to see in West Hampstead. The area around this London Airbnb flat is lively and family friendly. There are many shops and restaurants close by, easy access to supermarkets, a shopping mall, the bus, and tube and train connections to everywhere. It was perfect for us. You could spend days and days walking and exploring the shops and sampling the great restaurants in the area. It was so much fun wandering the cute streets. We even discovered a huge, very old grave yard hidden between a kids park and a huge football field. It was obscured by thick hedges and towering trees.

We traveled in to London on the tube to see the sights quickly and easily. David’s flat was a great place to come back to after busy days exploring the city.

Definitely, the most luxurious Airbnb we’ve stayed in, I would compare the finishing to four star hotel room. We had an entire flat, mind you, for 40%-60% less than booking a double hotel room and we had more amenities!!  The value for the money was outstanding.

Davids beautiful flat and his warm hospitality made us feel welcome home for sure. If your planning a trip to London we recommend Davids Newly Refurbished Hotel Like Flat. If you haven't tried Airbnb yet it's worth checking it out, save $35 USD on your first booking. For comfort and money saving amenities, staying like a local with Airbnb is always our first choice.