a
CONTACT

 
-
COMMENTARY
& OPINION—
REAL LIFE
INTENSELY
COMPRESSED
select
———
-
2010
TRAVEL
PACKAGES
& PRICES:

BRITAIN & IRELAND:
select
• SCOTLAND    
• 2010 PRICES
UP TO 19% BELOW 2009 LEVELS!
•
•
• IRELAND       
• 2010 PRICES
UP TO 12% BELOW 2009 LEVELS!
-  
•
• LONDON        
• 2010 PRICES
UP TO 19% BELOW 2009 LEVELS!
-
-
• ENGLAND       
 • 2010 PRICES 
UP TO 19% BELOW 2009 LEVELS!
••
• WALES        
• 2010 PRICES
UP TO 29% BELOW 2009 LEVELS!
select
Booking Your Trip to
BRITAIN/IRELAND
select

-
•
select
SCANDINAVIA:
select
• DENMARK 
ct• NORWAY .   
ct• SWEDEN     
ct
• 2010 PRICES     
UP TO 23% BELOW 2009 LEVELS!
select
Booking Your Trip
to SCANDINAVIA
select
•
select
NEW ZEALAND:
sa
• NORTH ISLAND
• SOUTH ISLAND.
• 2010 PRICES     
UP TO 33% BELOW 2009 LEVELS!
select
Booking Your Trip
to NEW ZEALAND
a
———
a
Got Yours Yet?
ORDER A FREE
'VACATIONS'
CATALOG!
select

select
——
select
DEALS AND
SPECIAL OFFERS
select
——
select
GET A FREE
TRIP PROPOSAL!
select
——
select
SUBSCRIBE TO:
HomEzine
our
FREE
TRAVEL
NEWSLETTER
sent by e-mail!
Each issue includes
the latest Deals,
News and Features!
See the
CURRENT ISSUE.
select
———
select
CURRENT
FEATURES:
select
ADVENTURE
select
GOLF
select
LODGING
select
PEOPLE
select
———
select
CONTACT:
HOME AT FIRST
(800) 523-5842
info@homeatfirst.com
a
HOME AT FIRST

-
-
 
   

     
                                                                                                           photos © Home At First

-
VIEW FROM THE BUILDING LOCATION OF THE ANNE OF CLEVES APARTMENT OF THE
EAST DOCK OF ST. KATHARINE'S MARINA AT THE TOWER BRIDGE AND THE TOWER OF LONDON.
-

THE
         CITY APARTMENT is a two-bedroom, 1½-bathroom, two-story London maisonette apartment, a comfortable lodging for four to six persons. The apartment is on the second and third floors of a building bordering exclusive ST. KATHARINE'S MARINA by the Tower of London. The marina’s enclosed riverside location provides a quiet pedestrian refuge with a yachting atmosphere while allowing easy access to all of Central London.

DOUBLE BEDROOM AT
ANNE OF CLEVES APARTMENT.

HISTORY: During the Middle Ages, King Henry VIII and his six wives were royal patrons of the St. Katharine’s hospice that occupied the site of today's St. Katharine's Marina serving as both a hospital and a lodging for travelers and pilgrims. The king and his wives were often in residence at the neighboring TOWER OF LONDON, then a royal palace as well as a fortress. ANNE OF CLEVES was wife #4 (reigning 1540, following #3 JANE SEYMOUR and ahead—no pun intended—of #5 KATHRYN HOWARD). Anne, Henry's “Flanders Mare”, knew the Tower least of all of Henry’s wives, for her marriage lasted only 6 months before ending in annulment: Henry divorced Anne and sent her away officially because she had been promised to another man prior to her marriage to Henry. The reality was probably that Henry had no interest in Anne, but found a younger, prettier woman, Kathryn Howard among the queen’s courtiers who interested him plenty.
          No longer queen, Anne became designated as “The King’s Sister”, living out her days in the opulent Hever Castle, ancestral home of the Boleyn family. Anne outlived her erstwhile husband by ten years before herself dying a natural death in 1557 and being buried in Westminster Cathedral. No such peaceful end for the man who brought Anne and Henry together. THOMAS CROMWELL, Henry VIII’s chief minister-advisor, having fallen out of favor with the king for, among other things, arranging Henry's marriage to Anne, was imprisoned at the Tower of London. There he was executed there by an inexperienced lad who required three chops before separating Thomas from Cromwell. Such were the neighbors at the Tower of London in July, 1540.

-

THE APARTMENT: The apartment’s upper floor has two double bedrooms (both with twin beds; one set of twin beds may be made up as a double bed), a full bathroom (with tub-shower), and powder room (toilet & sink). Downstairs is a comfortable living room (with double fold-out couch bed, and cable color TV), a well-equipped kitchen (microwave, coffee maker, and clothes washer-dryer), and dining area. The living room has recently been upgraded with leather upholstered sofa and chairs and a free cable internet connection. 

SPACIOUS, WELL-APPOINTED KITCHEN
AT THE ANNE OF CLEVES APARTMENT

          Two small furnished patios open off the living room. Because they are on the second floor, these patios lack views of the marina. However, the marina is visible from the upstairs bedrooms. A hair dryer is provided, as is a table-top pay phone (accepts incoming calls; takes coins for outgoing calls). The two-story apartment is spacious, well-equipped, comfortable, and well-kept. Its optimal occupancy is four persons, but

Spacious, comfortable living
room with French doors leading
to private patio at Home At
First's Anne of Cleves Apartment.

it can accept a family of five or six using the fold-out sofa bed in the living room.Entrance to the apartment is on the lower (second) floor.
          While the entrance and hallways of the apartment building are undecorated and lack a concierge or doorman, the complex is safe (with a coded entry system), well-managed, and clean. The building has stainless steel lifts (elevators) that are spotless and well-maintained.
         Guests are met upon arrival by the friendly apartment manager who lives elsewhere in the complex. He opens the apartment, explains its workings and is available throughout your stay to answer any questions you might have.

-
FLOOR PLAN OF HOME AT FIRST'S ANNE OF CLEVES MAISONETTE APARTMENT 

THE SETTING: ST. KATHARINE'S MARINA is located on the north bank of the RIVER THAMES about a five-minute walk from the famous TOWER OF LONDON and the TOWER BRIDGE. The apartment is a seven-to-ten-minute, traffic-free walk from the TOWER HILL UNDERGROUND STATION (subway trains) and TOWER GATEWAY (for the Dockland Light Railway), and a three-minute walk to a bus stop for London’s well known red double-decker buses.
         The Marina is a traffic-restricted pedestrian zone, which does not permit cars

TOWER BRIDGE FROM THE RIVER
ENTRANCE TO ST. KATHARINE'S MARINA
-