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                                                                                                           photos © Home At First

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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.
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Stay at the Anne of Cleves Apartment for 3 nights or longer any time from January 10 to February 21, 2009 starting at US$87.00 per person/night (depending on number of persons occupancy. This value price makes visiting London  a very affordable Christmas gift for travel-lovers!

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.
 

CANOPY BED AT ANNE OF CLEVES APT.

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. No longer queen, Anne became designated as "The King’s Sister". Anne died a natural death in 1557 and outlived her erstwhile husband by ten years and was buried in Westminster Cathedral. Not so 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, the poor little Dutch girl. Henry divorced Anne and sent her away, but he imprisoned Cromwell at the Tower of London and arranged to have him 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.

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THE APARTMENT: The apartment’s upper floor has two double bedrooms (one with twin beds, one with a king-sized 4-poster canopy 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. 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

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

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 it

WARM, COMFORTABLE LIVING
ROOM WITH ADJOINING PATIO AT
THE ANNE OF CLEVES APARTMENT

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.

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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
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