There’s always a first for everything. This time it’s an accommodation review.
With no big signs plastered anywhere you never would have guessed Fox & Anchor had six luxurious bedrooms to sleep in. The approachable yet rather laid back staff were efficient and quickly sorted out my room. Making my way up the stairs it immediately became apparent that the high, narrow and windy stairs were not suitable for the morbidly obese and disabled.
After a big climb we finally reached the top floor. The view from the Smithfield is grand, looking at down at the little people walking in the streets. There was another advantage to living as high up in the building as possible. Friday nights, and probably Saturdays too, are very noisy with thumping noisy vibrating from below, which some would find hard to fall asleep to.
With a bath situated in the bedroom the Smithfield is ideal for uninhibited couples – soak together, take two steps and have hot and horny sex on the bed. There is plenty of space in the shower too. Another big plus point is knowing the room you stay in is utterly unique and you’re not surrounded by clones next door, above or below you.
The mini bar proved to be disappointing, boasting nothing more than mineral water. For the sake of symmetry and in the name of fairness it would have been nice if both bedsides had lamps. The flat screen TV was in working condition and some Michael Bublé was listened to on the provided CD player while packing all my thingamajigs in my overnight bag.
Fox & Anchor’s breakfast menu is limited but all the old favourites are on there. Dish components can be chopped and changed and I ended up with Egg Benedict on top of two mountains of smoked salmon and some potato hash browns on the side. Other than the hash browns being of the frozen kind and the hollandaise sauce a tad under salted, my plate was perfect.
Overall Fox & Anchor exudes a lot of quaint charm and would be a sure hit with foreigners looking for the authentic English “experience”.
P.S. I was a guest of Fox & Anchor.
Fox & Anchor
115 Charterhouse Street
Smithfield
London
EC1M 6AA
Website
Not sure I fancy a bath in the bedroom with me. I’d rather have champagne in the mini bar!
We started off in this room for our review visit… should mention that there is also a large shower in the en suite bathroom… but we ended up switching to a different room. We liked the design and some quirky touches but found a number of smaller issues that added up to not quite good enough, for us.
We had same thoughts as you on access – it’s not disability friendly, with no lifts, and the stairs are narrow and without handrails in some parts. I found those stairs really difficult.
Ja, not at all sure about the bath at the foot of the bed. Clearly I’m not as uninhibited as I’d like to think ;o) The eggs Benedict look superb…