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HOME AT FIRST

 

 

 

LODGING OF THE MONTH

 

THE
The SPICES
CITY APARTMENTS

Bermondsey
by the Tower Bridge

LONDON
ENGLAND

Looking northwest from Butler's Wharf on the Thames riverside in Bermondsey to London's landmark Tower Bridge. Photo © Home At First
TOWER BRIDGE FROM BUTLER'S WHARF IN BERMONDSEY
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All Photos © Home At First    

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A spacious open-plan living room & dining area at The Brewery Apartments. Photo © Home At First.
SPACIOUS LIVING ROOM AND DINING
AREA AT THE
BREWERY APARTMENTS

THE APARTMENTS: Exemplary representatives of the renaissance of London’s Bermondsey neighbor-hood, The Brewery Apartments are modern lodgings occupying the space of a former  London ale brewery. The conversion maintains the architectural shell of the historic stone brewery, and adds contemporary steel and glass structural elements for the interior.
          Spacious, brightly colored rooms with blond wood floors give the apartments a luxurious, modern atmosphere. Apartments are available in various sizes: studios, one-bedrooms, two-bedrooms (sleep up to 4 persons), and three-

bedrooms (sleep up to 6 persons). Importantly, all bedrooms have queen-sized beds only (no twin beds, single beds, or sofa beds available). Every apartment is unique. Some have balconies; some offer broadband internet connections; some offer telephone direct-dial service (connection fee charged); and DVD machines are available by request. But all apartments do share certain amenities:

• Kitchens with all the usual appliances (fridge,
   stove, coffeemaker, dishwasher) —  most with
   ovens, but some with microwave ovens instead
   (can be confirmed in advance)
• Bathrooms with showers (no bathtubs)
• Laundry facilities: washer/dryer
• Dining areas or dining rooms with table and chairs
• Living rooms with TV (some with LCD flat panel TVs)
• Telephone & WiFi internet access available
• Elevators in the apartment building
• Central heating
• 24-hour emergency maintenance service
• Office staffed from 7AM to midnight daily
• Maid Service at the end of each week’s occupancy

Modern, bright, and colorful — living room, dining area, and kitchen of a Brewery Apartment. Photo © Home At First.
MODERN, BRIGHT, & COLORFUL LIVING
ROOM, DINING AREA, & KITCHEN

 

Historic Shad Thames is now nearly unique: a relic of the days when the cobbled street divided long rows of warehouses. Crossing above the street are several gantry walkways that once permitted workers to move goods from warehouse to warehouse without descending to street level. Shad Thames street now warehouses one of London's most prestigious rows of restaurants. Photo © Home At First.
SHAD THAMES—A RELIC OF THE DAYS
WHEN WAREHOUSES DOMINATED THE
BUTLERS WHARF AREA OF BERMONDSEY.
TODAY THE STREET WAREHOUSES A PRESTIGIOUS ROW OF RESTAURANTS.

THE SETTING: The Brewery Apartments are just south of London’s landmark Tower Bridge in the Bermondsey section of the London Borough of Southwark. Bermondsey has a long and checkered history, with associations dating back to the time of William the Conqueror, when Cluniac monks established Bermondsey Abbey in 1082 just south of where The Brewery Apartments are located today. King Henry VIII dissolved the abbey in 1537 when he nationalized the Roman Catholic Church, and the abbey then fell into ruin. By the 19th century Bermondsey had become a London slum so notorious that Charles Dickens set his novel of impoverished orphans, Oliver Twist, here. During World War II, Bermondsey suffered aerial bombing during the Nazi Blitz. Over the last thirty years Bermondsey has progressed through a rehabilitation that has resulted in its renaissance into a trendy

neighborhood with many eclectic restaurants, shops, businesses, and residences. The revitalized neighborhood centers on the old warehouse and tanning district south of the  

River Thames and astride the railway tracks emanating from Bermondsey’s own London Bridge Station. Bermondsey also offers some friendly local pubs, an important antique market (Bermondsey Market), a state-of-the-art riverside shopping mall (Hay’s Galleria), and a few special-interest museums (including THE London Dungeon, the warship HMS Belfast, and The Design Museum). The urban renewal of Bermondsey has brought great change to the old neighborhood. Although some buildings, like The Brewery Apartments and the restaurants along Shad Thames, have kept their historic facades, there is significant new public-use open space (including the wonderful riverside Queen’s Walk) and daring architecture (like the leaning bee-hive of the new London City Hall) to convert Bermondsey into a forward-looking, upscale neighborhood attracting new residents and businesses.
          Paralleling the river one block south is the Shad Thames (a corruption of "St. John at Thames"), the last remaining cobbled street lined with old stone warehouse walls

Magnificent Tower Bridge from Shad Thames. Photo © Home At First.
THE MAGNIFICENT TOWER
BRIDGE FROM SHAD THAMES
— 5-MINUTES WALK FROM

THE BREWERY APARTMENTS.

and crossed with latticed gantry walkways that once permitted workers to move goods from warehouse to warehouse without descending to street level. Like the river-front

London's new City Hall — the leaning bee-hive — is a landmark of Bermondsey's renaissance. Photo © Home At First.

the Shad Thames is home to several noted restaurants, including Le Pont de la Tour, where former British PRIME MINISTER AND MRS. TONY BLAIR once dined with former U.S. PRESIDENT AND MRS. BILL CLINTON. Fortunately, the area also offers numerous other restaurants to suit most tastes and budgets, as well as coffee shops (yes, there’s a STARBUCKS), grocery stores, traditional pubs, galleries, and dress shops, all within easy walking distance of many visitors’ attractions.

London's new City Hall —
the leaning bee-hive —
is a landmark of
Bermondsey's renaissance.

   

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Trendy Borough (open-air) Market offers a wide variety of foods 15 minutes west of The Brewery Apartments. Photo © Home At First.
TRENDY BOROUGH MARKET

       LOCAL ATTRACTIONS:
WALKABLE ATTRACTIONS FROM
THE BREWERY APARTMENTS:

 • THE DESIGN MUSEUM
 •
HMS BELFAST NAVAL MUSEUM
 • WINSTON CHURCHILL'S BRITAIN
     AT WAR EXPERIENCE

 • THE LONDON DUNGEON

 • HAY'S GALLERIA MALL

 • THE
CLINK PRISON MUSEUM
 • SOUTHWARK CATHEDRAL
 • BOROUGH OPEN-AIR MARKET
 •
SHAKESPEARE'S GLOBE THEATRE
 • THE TATE MODERN
ART MUSEUM
 • THE TOWER BRIDGE EXPERIENCE
 • LONDON'S NEW CITY HALL
 • THE TOWER OF LONDON
 • THE MILLENNIUM (PEDESTRIAN)
     BRIDGE
 • THE SOUTH BANK ARTS CENTRE
 • THE LONDON EYE

The London Eye, reachable in about 45 minutes of strolling the Queen's Walk from The Brewery Apartments. (Take the bus or Underground back home.) Photo © Home At First.
THE LONDON EYE

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The Tower of London — London's most popular visitor attraction — is 10-minutes walk from The Brewery Apartments. The 1,000-year-old fortress is only half as old as London's Roman walls located at its base. Photo © Home At First.
THE TOWER OF LONDON — LONDON'S MOST POPULAR VISITOR ATTRACTION — IS JUST
10-MIN. WALK FROM THE BREWERY APTS.

THE LOCATION: The best-known local visitor attraction is the TOWER BRIDGE, just 5 minutes walk from The Brewery Apartments. The Tower Bridge isn’t simply another pretty place — it’s the access to attractions on the north side of the river (THE TOWER OF LONDON, ST. KATHARINE'S MARINA, THE CITY), and — very importantly — the nearest Underground Station to The Brewery Apartments: TOWER HILL, requiring a walk of 12-15 minutes (or a bus ride of 2-4 minutes). Tower Hill Station is connected by two Underground lines (Circle and District) to all of Central London in 30 minutes or less.

            LONDON BRIDGE STATION is a second Underground access that is only slightly further (14-17 minutes on foot; 3-5 minutes by bus) from The Brewery Apartments. It 

provides access to the Jubilee Line and the eastern arm of the Northern Line of the London Underground as well as mainline rail service to points throughout southeastern England (including GREENWICH, CANTERBURY, DOVER, WIMBLEDON, and RYE).
         
Thames river cruisers are reached across the Tower Bridge at St. Katharine’s Pier and the Tower Millennium Pier and at London Bridge City Pier just west of Hay’s Galleria in Bermondsey. For trips outside of London, London Bridge is the closest railway station, but all of London’s major rail stations are within 30 minutes of Tower Hill and London Bridge Underground Stations.

Tower Hill Underground Station, about 15 minutes from The Brewery Apartments, offers excellent access to all points in Central London. Photo © Home At First.
TOWER HILL UNDERGROUND
STATION OFFERS EXCELLENT
ACCESS TO CENTRAL LONDON.

 


QUEEN-SIZED BEDS ARE STANDARD
AT THE BREWERY APARTMENTS.

THE OFFER: Looking for a vibrant, central base from which to explore London? From the spacious, modern Brewery Apartments in fashionable Bermondsey, the shopping and dining locally is excellent, and traveling throughout London is easy and convenient. Visit medieval castles and great cathedrals and walk through 2,000 years of history. Discover your own favorite neighborhood pubs. Explore London and take day trips by train to any of hundreds of destinations in England and Wales within day trip reach. Return to your comfortable, modern apartment in trendy

Bermondsey each evening. HOME AT FIRST makes it possible to experience the London of your travel dreams.

AVAILABILITY: For current availability information, call HOME AT FIRST at (800) 523-5842, or contact us by e-mail at: info@homeatfirst.com
 


HISTORIC MARKER
ON SHAD THAMES

Historic marker on Shad Thames. Photo © Home At First.

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