1- Do you accept Credit Cards at Charlie's Budget Hotel? No. Sorry we don't. NO, really that means NO to Visa, NO to Mastercard, NO to Bankcard, NO to American Express, NO to all that plastic stuff. You will need to pay cash on arrival: That means - Cash (pounds, of course), or - Traveller cheques in pounds, or - British cheques backed by a guarantee cheque and proper ID. 2- What is GBP? British Pounds, pounds sterling, legal tender, pounds, cash, money, etc, etc. You know, the stuff that makes the world go around. 3- How many rooms? and what type of rooms? 26 rooms, all with a private bathroom and shower. The rooms are triples, doubles, twins and singles. 4- What is the difference between a double room and a twin? Double rooms have a double bed and twin rooms have two single beds (which may have hatched from the one egg, who's to say? Charlie isn't an expert on the embryology of twin beds). 5- What is an en-suite? It's a private shower and toilet and all the rooms have one. 6- How many stars? Zero 7- Any famous people staying there? or have they stayed there? A builder who built a garden on the BBC show called "House Improvements", does this count? Did I mention this was a budget hotel? 8- Is Reception open 24 hours? what happens if I arrive late from a club? The reception opens at 7am and closes at 10pm. Or ask them nicely and sometimes they'll still be there at 11 pm if they agree to wait for you. But Charlie's doesn't need to run a babysitting service - once you check in, you get your own key and you can come and go as you wish. 9- What is the exact address? 63 Anson Road London N7 0AR. Exactly. 10- What is the nearest tube station? on which tube line? Tufnell Park on the Northern line (5 minutes walk). Or you could get there from Holloway Road (10 minutes walk) on the Piccadilly line if you have an irrational dislike for the Northern line. 11- How far from the tube station? and how to get there from the tube station? It's only 5 minutes walk if you get out of Tufnell Park Station (to avoid confusion there's only one exit) and turn left into Brecknock Road. Walk casually along Brecknock Road for 3 or 4 minutes and the 4th street on the left is Anson Road. Too easy - just find 63. That's easy too. 12- How far is Tufnell Park Station from central London? 12 minutes and 42 seconds. 13- How many stations up to central London? Take the Northern Line, South bound towards central London. Get on at Tufnell Park (for Charlie's, Europa and Queens Hotels) Go through Kentish Town (also a British Rail station) Camden Town (stop to go shopping at the Famous Camden Market) Mornington Crescent Euston Road (Victoria Line, change for Victoria station and Gatwick) Warren Street (also Victoria Line so you can still change for Victoria and Gatwick if you sleep through Euston Road) Tottenham Court Road (Central Line, change for Oxford Street for shopping) Leicester Square (Piccadilly Line, change for Heathrow Airport, or stop here to party in central London!!) 14 - How can I get to Charlie's when the tube closes? If you've gone out into the early hours, don't despair. You can get home by Night Buses from central London (Trafalgar Square). You'll need bus Number N29. That's N for Night! 15- Considering it's a budget hotel are the rooms serviced everyday if we stay the whole week? All the rooms are cleaned every single day, no exceptions. Charlie's may be cheap, but it's not filthy. 16- Is it a newly built Hotel? No, Charlie's was built in the thirties (the not-so-good old days) and the Hotel was established here in 1964 (the really good old days if you can remember them). 17- Are there telephones in the rooms? No, but there is a pay phone in the corridor and cheap phone cards are available at the hotel 18- Do you have Sky TV in the rooms? No, but we guarantee Sky outside the windows. 19- What about room service? I am afraid not! 20- Do rooms have tea and coffee facilities in the rooms? No, but there is access to tea and coffee facilities at the reception. The receptionist would be pleased to make you tea or coffee or you can make your own. 21- Are there shops nearby open late, just to buy food? Yes, near Tufnell Park Station and on Holloway Road with a multitude of culinary delights. 22- Is a quiet neighborhood? Yes, its mainly residential with only 5 hotels. 23- The rate includes breakfast - what kind of breakfast? It's an English breakfast which, true to the best British culinary traditions, consists of fried sausages, fried bacon, fried eggs, fried coffee.... oh, no, hang about - the tea and coffee aren't really fried - and lashings (that's lots) of toast. 24 - Do you have a conference room? we are two teachers and 20 students and we need to use a classroom 2 hours a day? No. I believe the words "budget" and "hotel" may have been mentioned in conjunction earlier and I don't want to dwell on the matter. Suffice to say that the chandelier is always being repaired and therefore the conference room is permanently unavailable. 25- Do your staff speak Portuguese? I am afraid its very much of a budget hotel therefore we are unable to afford highly skilled/trained receptionists like the the 5,4 or even 3 star hotels. Our prices are not much different from central London youth hostels and so our range of services are somewhat stunted. 26- Do you have a room with a bath tub, I am travelling with my kid, he is 5 and I need a bath tub to wash him? No, we don't, all rooms have private showers and WC, no baths. However, we do have a separate bathroom with a bath tub for this sort of purpose. 27- How many beds in a family room? Usually one double and two singles, suitable for a couple and two kids (under the age of 10). If the kids are older than that, please check with the booking manager to adjust the price of the family room. 28- I am travelling with my spouse and two kids who are 22 and 25 years old. Are they considered as kids and that way can we qualify for a family room? You may still think of them as kids, but to us, I am afraid they are great, big, hulking adults and so they will be charged as adults. Playing sardines and squashing four adults into a room designed for two adults and a couple of little children is not the go. In this sort of case two doubles would be more appropriate. 29- Is your hotel like a youth hostels? Price wise only, most central London youth hostels charge the same as us. But Charlie's is a hotel, not a hostel - we don't have dormitories and we don't have codes of behavior. 30- Is your hotel managed by the Studios92.com LTD? No. Studios92 make bookings for us and they do check our facilities regularly to ensure our standards of cleanliness etc are maintained so they can continue to recommend us. They also use our facilities when they are over booked, it often happens during the summer. 31- Do you pick us up from the station like Studios92.com LTD do? No, Studios92,com guests stay for at least a week while some of them stay for months, so its worth it for them to have somebody to pick them up. We have people coming and going every day, so it is much harder for us. By the way did you know that if 3 people are travelling together, it's cheaper to take one of those taxis then taking the trains plus the tubes ( from Gatwick airport, Stansted airport, Luton airport & City airport, BUT NOT from Heathrow). Be aware that some other companies advertise plenty of discounts and savings if you choose their taxis, even after all the discounts, the company we recommend is cheaper. Some taxi companies even charge up to 3 times more. We can also give you their number for you to call them directly. Compare for yourself and tell us what you think. 32- Do you have a pick up service from Airports? No we don't have our own company but we can recommend the cheapest taxi company in London. Just go to www.studios92.com, then London Guide, and follow the Taxi pick up link for more details. 33- Is the bill payable on arrival or departure? and can I pay by credit card? Total bill is due on arrival, because we don't have extra costs like, phone calls, mini bar, so we know and you know the exact cost of the total bill... for credit card payment see question one. 34- I don't understand, you don't have credit card facilities, yet you ask for a credit card to secure the booking? what happens if I don't have a credit card? The ways of the world are truly mysterious. Even though we revile those little plastic cards, still we crave the details of them. Actually, Studios92 handle most of our bookings and they can check your credit card details for us. We ask for credit card details as security against late cancellation. Before we did all our bookings without credit cards and five percent of people just didn't turn up and they didn't even call to cancel and we ended up with empty rooms - sometimes even in the high season. We never knew who was really arriving or not. You can imagine we were very saddened and maddened by this. If you don't have a credit card and you don't have an indulgent relative or friend who is willing to authorise the use of their credit card you will have to ask Studios92 if they will make an exception in your case. Whether they will or not will depend on your arrival time (like whether it is peak season), the number of people, the duration of your stay etc. They may ask you to fax a copy of your flight ticket to prove that you are serious about booking. They may say yes, they may say no - but you will get a quick answer if you call. 35- Do you ask for any payment in advance, before arrival? No, we don't, you pay on arrival. 36- Do you have free parking? Yes, free street parking, just next to the Hotel. We don't have private parking if that's what you mean. But it's very easy to find a spot to park. 37- What about discounts? when? how? Charlie's is a very generous sort of place where discounts are often to be found. Applications of discounts will vary depending on the time of year, Bank holidays, Easter, Christmas, the number of people staying, the duration of your stay, group discounts, size of family, number and age of the kids. Mostly our discounts will be advertised on the web page . 38- Do you have a washing machine I can use? how much will it cost? Yes we do, just ask at the reception. 39- Can you say "Charlie's Budget Hotel is very good value for money and its cheap" ? Yes, I can say that "Charlie's Budget Hotel is very good value for money and its cheap". Is there anything else you want me to say, I don't have problems repeating things. 40- Do you have central heating? is it on 24 hours a day? Yes we do have central heating, but no, it's not on all the time, only in the mornings and evenings (like most places). During the day the rooms stay warm enough plus almost everybody is out and we wouldn't need to have it on anyways. 41- Are there any extra costs I should be aware off? I usually don't like surprises. What about surprise birthday party, you don't like them either? Whatever price we give you, it's the final price, all inclusive, tax inclusive, no nasty little extras showing up later. 42- Do you have a computer I can use in your Hotel? can I send an e-mail? Not really, we don't have those facilities. If you need to send an e-mail use an internet cafe. Charlie's tip for the cheapest one is in No 300 Holloway road an internet cafe called Datasync, the cheapest in town, last time we checked it was only 1 pounds for two hours if you go before 11am ,they are open 7 days a week , 43- Can I receive an e-mail from my girl friend while staying in Charlie's Hotel, without having to go to an internet cafe? Yes, your girlfriend or your mum or whoever can e-mail Studios92, and they will fax it to us. Just make sure you let people know that you are staying at Charlie's and that they will need to mention that on the e-mail. Otherwise Studios92 may not be able to find you. 44- Can I receive a fax while staying with you? and how much will it cost? Yes, you can receive a fax and its free of charge. Again just make sure the sender knows to write on the fax Charlie's Hotel and your full name and room number if possible. 45 - What is check in time? I'm arriving in London very early and I'll want my room. Check in time is usually 12 noon but if a room is ready well before that or is empty from the day before you can check in as early as 7am. If you arrive before noon and the room's not ready, sorry, but you'll have to wait. 46 - What is check out time? what if my flight doesn't leave until late - what can I do with my bags? Check out time is 11am. Now you see why check in time is not until noon. We don't want to have to throw people out of their rooms to make way for new guests. It's OK - have a sleep in. If you need somewhere to leave luggage while you wait for a flight/train/bus/friend/whatever you can leave it at the reception desk when you check out and collect it later.