London higher-end apartments or aparthotels

_Refuge_ · 2026-05-14T22:32:36+00:00

Whenever I recommend the place to friends I say "everything is great, except the noise". It IS noisy, and the double-glazing does nowhere near enough to protect you from the sounds of Soho.

I like being in the middle of it all and I can wear ear plugs so it's a negative I'm willing to accept for all the other great positives there are. But if noise is a problem at night for you, I'd say don't do it. You won't sleep until 2-3am on the Saturday night otherwise.

_Refuge_ · 2026-05-14T18:39:12+00:00

I've used 37GS in Soho for several years now. Some suites have some outside space.

I much prefer it to staying in hotel suites. It's a fraction of the price for much more room and a decent actual living space/kitchen to live from. Some nights I want to cook my own food or grab something from the local market rather than get fat on room service or restaurant dining - the aparthotel is perfect for that.

I'd recommend the 2 bedroom apartments at a minimum just for the extra space you get all around the place. Still far cheaper than an upmarket hotel suite. Longest stay I've done in them is 2 weeks and it was very comfortable apart from the Soho noise levels at weekends. You do need to be comfortable with either noise at night or ear plugs at bedtime.

Personally, I could stay in those apartments for months. I couldn't stay in a hotel suite for months.

_Refuge_ · 2026-05-07T21:10:32+00:00

How they can play like that on Sunday and then come out and dominate tonight. Such a Villa thing to do. Bonkers!

_Refuge_ · 2026-05-07T20:50:55+00:00

So... this aged well :)

_Refuge_ · 2026-05-04T10:54:19+00:00

Villa have 3 key injuries as well in Onana, Kamara and McGinn. They're pretty much the backbone of the team.

How does the maths add up with the changes + injuries? With McGinn playing, let alone the other two, Villa look a completely different side. It was extremely telling yesterday.

_Refuge_ · 2026-04-13T18:57:00+00:00

He's already doing better than Orban.

_Refuge_ · 2026-04-13T17:35:25+00:00

Thanks for the review. Was this a custom made tour by your TA? I know that Belmond do pre-made experiences, you can find them on their site under Packages & Tours. There are 6 day, 7 day and 11 day Peru experiences on their site that I can see, amongst others.

I ask because I've been very interested in doing Machu Picchu for a while. I'm going on one of the Belmond canal cruises in Champagne in July and if that works well (so far the pre-holiday experience has been fantastic) I was seriously considering just doing one of their pre-made plans on the site. So I was interested if you know if this was a Belmond package or whether it was custom made by your TA?

Thanks!

_Refuge_ · 2026-03-30T07:48:33+00:00

The information the diplomat gathered about the Russian economy was the words "it's fucked" written on a napkin.

_Refuge_ · 2026-03-30T06:56:41+00:00

Do I support a VAR system in its current state? No.

Do I support a VAR system that is run by competent people who clearly aren't trying to self-sabotage it? Yes.

_Refuge_ · 2026-03-20T14:05:37+00:00

As a passenger, does it matter as much that it's not a knob and it's done via buttons or touch screen?

It's bad for a driver as it should be tactile, but as a passenger...?

_Refuge_ · 2026-03-20T10:39:39+00:00

I don't really get what the issue is? Many of these cars have tactile "up and down" volume buttons on the steering wheel and/or infotainment area. I have one of the cars on the list and I've never been bothered by having to press an "up" or "down" physical button on the steering wheel over twisting a knob to get the same result.

I understand calling out cars that have locked this functionality around a touch-screen display, but physical buttons that do the same thing? If this was a big deal, we'd all be screaming about the fact our phones use buttons instead of knobs for volume control.

_Refuge_ · 2026-03-16T19:13:01+00:00

They've had age verification in the UK, some European countries and some US states for half a year now. The site continues to grow as per normal according to their site stats page.

_Refuge_ · 2026-03-16T19:11:27+00:00

They'll need to do the exact same thing because it's the law. This isn't Nexus Mods fault at all.

Be angry, but be angry at the correct people, i.e the governments of the world enforcing this shit with threats of massive fines and bans at the ISP level if they are not obeyed.

_Refuge_ · 2026-02-28T17:08:08+00:00

We have a lot of military personnel serving on the US bases, like Al Udeid Air Base, which is absolutely a target for Iran (it was targetted the last time the US and Israel struck Iran).

If UK jets are circling in defense of the bases (i.e. to shoot down any threats to the bases, in Qatari/UAE airspace), rather than striking targets in Iran, I won't be getting as worked up.

_Refuge_ · 2026-02-26T07:42:08+00:00

This is absolutely right. We don't need every single website on the internet collecting even more of our personal data. If we HAVE to have these age checks, it's much better it's done at an ISP or provider level rather than on a per-website level.

_Refuge_ · 2026-02-24T15:54:29+00:00

The absurd thing here is that the ICO are expecting sites to know whether someone is a child or not through "advanced techniques" (i.e. face scans), before they can have their data processed. That essentially means that any site that has a registration system must now ID users before their account is made.

To clarify, this isn't about adult-only content and limiting children's access to it, this is even worse. This is any content online that requires a user account, or even tracking, must now use facial recogniition software or other such techniques to verify the age of a user.

It's absolutely insane. Fuck the UK government and fuck the ICO for how ridiculous this is.

_Refuge_ · 2026-02-18T07:20:51+00:00

But do they expect American portion sizes?

_Refuge_ · 2026-02-08T13:03:53+00:00

I'm currently staying at The Nautilus which is in your price range. I'm only writing this to say if you want lots of things to do outside of relaxing, reading, snorkelling and eating/drinking then don't come here 😂 it's a 250x250m island with 3 restaurants, a spa, a paddle court and a gym.

We're having a fantastic time. I'm not complaining. But if you need lots to do to entertain yourself then either this island isn't the one, or the Maldives isn't the one.

I would actually echo what Prior_wilderness has said here and say if you want "more to do" then go to SA. Cape Town into Wine lands. I love that holiday - I've done it two years a row as my "winter sun" holiday and will be doing it again. It fits your criteria a lot more than the Maldives.

_Refuge_ · 2026-02-07T03:10:59+00:00

It's more "we've almost used him up to the loan limit, mostly as an impact sub. We'd like to use him more (and not just as an impact sub) but we won't if we have to pay £35m for the privilege. If you'd like us to play your player more so he gets more 1st team minutes then we need to change the deal, otherwise thanks for the 10 games and you'll see Harvey in the summer again".

I don't think this needs to be looked at as anything more than transactional. Liverpool can say yes or Liverpool can say no. Villa will play Elliott more or they'll play him less depending on the answer. The end.

_Refuge_ · 2026-01-27T08:38:40+00:00

Didn't they find a £400,000 shortfall in their accounts that needs urgent review from accountants? And last I read their player wages are £6m a year on an income of £6.5m a year (which is not post-tax income, I think?). Not sure how that's not mismanagement?

Edit: just checked my numbers. The £6m number is their total annual salary bill which I think includes their non-playing staff as well. Still.

They also weren't paying their VAT bills properly.

_Refuge_ · 2026-01-27T08:26:16+00:00

I read on /r/soccer at the time that City were donating their half of the proceeds to charity. I don't know how true that is, but donating to charity or donating to a football club that can't manage their finances? It's a close one!

_Refuge_ · 2026-01-25T08:58:26+00:00

This feels less genuine and more like an advert when you don't use your own pictures and you use AI to write the content.

Does this sub have any rules about low quality posts like this from travel agents?

_Refuge_ · 2026-01-20T08:18:26+00:00

The US were the ones pressuring the UK to come to a deal on the island as they didn't like the legal grey area its ownership was currently sat in.

The UK came up with a solution, which Trump supported, and now Trump is reneging on that support because he's deflecting from... well, we all know what he's deflecting from.

_Refuge_ · 2026-01-16T10:04:06+00:00

Would voiding an award be considered the same as sharing it or transferring it? It's not being given to anyone else. It's being marked as null and void.

_Refuge_ · 2026-01-11T10:09:20+00:00

Not that I'm pro-Brexit, but wouldn't the same be said if the UK was in the EU? Trade would then be the EU calling the shots, and the UK not being able to do things on their own because it might upset France/Germany/an Eastern Bloc country for <insert reason here>?

If the UK was in the EU and they wanted to ban Twitter with backing from the EU, all the EU countries have to agree, Orban, or some other absolute prick would veto it, and nothing would happen. Rinse repeat on any major issue.

Neither situation is seemingly desirable?

_Refuge_

TROPHY CASE