It’s tough to come up with a reliable metric for the effects of good, friendly management on a budget property, but the fact of the matter is that a well-run hotel with low nightly rates and decent, friendly owners is a gold mine for budget travelers.
The 35-room Celtic Hotel is one such star of a hotel, the likes of which are all too rare in London. It’s in a good location in Bloomsbury not far from Russell Square and the British Museum. Previously, the Marazzis, the delightfully friendly family behind Celtic Hotel, ran St. Margaret’s Hotel, a former favorite of ours located just a few blocks away. When they moved operations, virtually their entire staff wanted to move with them. How’s that for a good sign?
Celtic Hotel has undergone a remarkably quick rejig. Newly renovated rooms are almost delicate in their floral reincarnations. They’re light and airy, with motif-driven drapes and bedspreads and bedside lamps with smart lampshades. Big paper globe lampshades add to the funky impression. The remaining pre-renovation rooms follow a more antiquey design, with lots of floral patterns and a mix of unmatched furniture. All rooms, renovated or not, are sparklingly clean.
Celtic Hotel goes way beyond standard duty for a hotel in its price category. Even the breakfasts, cooked to order, are top-notch. Plus, there’s a hotel cat named “Dog” occasionally prowling the ground floor’s two cavernous lounges. These delightful rooms are expansive, rambling, and very atmospheric, and are a great place to curl up with a book or have a conversation.
» Alex Robertson Textor
Note: This hotel was visited by a EuroCheapo editor and is recommended based on cleanliness, location, price and overall quality. EuroCheapo did not charge this hotel to be listed.
About the Celtic Hotel neighborhood
Situated north of Piccadilly Circus and the West End, leafy Bloomsbury is famous as the former headquarters of the bohemian writing clique known as the Bloomsbury Group. The charming neighborhood is centered around Russell Square and boasts the British Museum, University of London, and Georgian townhouse-lined streets. Budget-friendly B&Bs line Gower Street, just west of the University, easily accessible to the rest of the central city. This is London at its most charming and, arguably, most literary.
more about Bloomsbury