Europe 2011: Part 12, Harington's Hotel, Review

I've stayed a good many places in Bath, England as I have the tendency not to plan my trips ahead of time. I often book the rooms the same day because I haven't made up my mind if I want to go visit another part of the country or stay in place. As a result, I usually end up paying more than the rooms should cost, but not hugely (I've usually gotten rooms for £70-140/night in doing this). I also find that I end up being unable to book more than 2-3 nights in one place, which means during a week I have managed to stay in as many as 3-4 different hotels and guest homes.

Thanks to this experience, I feel I can somewhat authoritatively discuss the pros and cons of different establishments. Over the next few years I will attempt to review all of the places I have stayed, in order for you to get a better picture of what is available in the city.

Entrance to Harrington's Hotel, as seen on Google's street-view.

Harrington's Hotel is a really cute place which stands out because of its good service, chic decor, and good location. Depending on the price in a given week, I would say that you will be getting a very well rewarded experience from the very friendly concierge, included amenities, and walkable nature of its location in central Bath. On average, however, I expect this place to run more expensive than some less-featured establishments, but they do run sales and promotions through the VisitBath website, which is how I booked it for two nights.

This hotel is conveniently located near:

• Vintage shop (scarletvintage, across the street as of 2011)
• Dry Cleaners/Laundry
• Jane Austen Centre (3 minute walk)
• Bookshop (Paragon Books)
• Food (5 minute walk to Sainsbury and restaurants in every direction)
• Bath Spa Railway Station (10 minute walk... unfortunately it is uphill, like everything else in the city from the railway station)
• Circus and Royal Crescent
• Theatre Royal (2 minute walk)
• Shopping (literally a block away from Milsom Street!)
• Pump Room and Roman Baths (3 minute walk)

Click to see enlarged map of location

Sitting at a small table in the bar area enjoying some quiet in the afternoon.

The hotel also offers wifi, which as you can see is extremely convenient!

The bar area has a very elegant, modern, and cozy feel to it. I have not sampled the drinks, but the convenience of an on-premise bar is something that not all places share in Bath. Should you wish to go out, there are plenty of walkable options nearby!

View from the bar looking into a lounge room that opens into the reception and concierge area.

Dining Room

Breakfast is served in the dining room which has vibrantly colored walls and modern leather seating. My recollection is that the food was quite enjoyable and the menu had most of the traditional breakfast items on it, British and otherwise. If you sit in the front room, you will find yourself looking at a cute vintage shop across the street (As of September 2011). Unfortunately, I did not have time to visit Scarlet Vintage during their store hours, but the display was certainly quite enticing!

scarletvintage shop in Bath, England

I believe my original room was upgraded when I arrived, because the room I received was much larger than I had expected. However, I anticipate that all the rooms are of similar elegance and refinement.

Bed with seat in front of it. Highly convenient setup.

More accessories, including chairs, dresser, and vanity.

This window opens out to the following view, which is a fairly quiet street removed from traffic:

Bathroom includes a heated towel rack radiator.

Also included,  bathtub with separate shower head on detachable hose.

In conclusions, I have no real complaints as I do not happen to be a demanding hotel guest and the hotel more than satisfied my needs when I was in residence. Neither the price nor the experience is exactly cheap, but I feel you will not be disappointed.

Spin Dryer / Essoreuse / Laundry Centrifuge

 Dear readers, I recently ordered a spin dryer, alternatively known in France as an Essoreuse, or in English as a Laundry Centrifuge. What is a spin dryer? Simply put it is a centrifuge that spins at around 3,000 rpm (3.000 trs/mn) and which due to the forces created, naturally causes water to be expelled from the clothing, without the use of heat. What does it not do? It does not completely dry the clothing, it only gets most clothing partially dry. 

 If the spin  dryer doesn't actually fully dry the laundry, why bother? There are a couple reasons. First it is incredibly energy-efficient. By using the spin dryer for a couple minutes with a load of cottons, I cut my tumble drying time in half (after spin drying, it took under 35 minutes in the tumble dryer, as opposed to 50-65). Clearly, you can see there are green environmental reasons for the use of this dryer in addition to electric bill savings. By using less resources, we conserve energy and money. Additionally, less heat means that the clothing may last longer; also, when the water is expressed it takes some remaining detergent with it. This means the clothes are healthier, as the residue isn't baked into the clothing, but rather removed.

 Once the spin dryer has run for 2-4 minutes, it is then possible to load the laundry into a tumble dyer or hang it up to air dry. Either way, it makes the process faster. The catch is that loading the spin dryer does take a few minutes, because it is essential to balance it properly. Make sure heavy/large items are at the bottom, and you will want to wrap the items around the sides. I did it wrong the first time and it really didn't go terribly fast. I'm looking to use the spin dryer to allow me to do more line drying and cut on my tumble dryer costs by doing more than one load within a timed dry at my apartment.

 One last note: for those of you who think this is a new invention, it's not. My French grandmother has had one for at least 20 years, if I'm not mistaken. It's just harder to find them in North America than anywhere else. In Europe there are numerous competing brands. You can even get them from La Redoute, lol! I got mine from The Laundry Alternative, you can find the product page, here! There are a couple of competitors here in North America, but they charge 2-4x as much.

Here are my unboxing and initial testing pictures, enjoy! 

For size reference, the unit reaches slightly above my knee when unboxed and standing on the floor.

Opening the box at home

It tomes with a sheet describing the unboxing procedure

Took the machine out of the box, it's shrinkwrapped

Once I got it unwrapped, I had to remove the Styrofoam and instructions/cardboard in the drum

Inside of drum without debris, you can see Styrofoam I broke off the base on the floor. I also had to clean the inside, because there was some manufacturing ickyness left, including some sort of grease potentially.

To protect the motor, they attached it to a piece of wood, here I am unscrewing it

And it's ready!

Here is what the machine looks like, filled with laundry and the clothes protector sheet placed on top

To start the machine, close the lid, and pull the sliding lock switch over it

And we're off! :)

You will want to place a bowl under the spout, as the water literally just runs out

This is a bit of an exaggeration, as I placed laundry I wet in the sink and barely wrung out for a first test. It does do this for laundry coming out of a top loader, but only briefly... it's mostly a long trickle

Spin in progress!

Travel Steamer

I recently ordered the Jiffy E-Steamer from Amazon, and have been using it on various items around the house and elsewhere. I'm really pleased with the contraption, as it should fit in my suitcase for travel and is built decently well. (Made in USA!)

Using steamer on my blazer

A couple of things to know about it: appears to work best on wool or thinner cotton fabrics. If you try it on heavier items, I would not be surprised if your results were less than favorable. Because it's steam, it is much more gentle on items than a hot iron and can be used on a good deal of different fabrics. It's for this reason that dry cleaners use steam as part of getting clothes pressed nicely.

Using the steamer to unwrinkle friend's wall decor... photo curtesy of my friend Annie :)

 The only complaint I have, is that the steamer is a single voltage and requires their voltage converter (the unit is 600watts) to operate abroad. I think it would have been nice if they came packaged together or already built in with a small voltage switch, like some travel hair dryers. That said, the cord is decently long, but not so much as to be inconvenient when trying to pack for a trip. (I'll know better after I actually travel with the unit, obviously)

Here's an example of what the steamer can do:

Before steaming (wool gabardine trousers

After steaming (wool gabardine trousers)

Disclaimer: Clicking on link will send me a small commission if you purchase this item. 

Velvet Slippers vs Patent Court Shoes

Del Toro size test slippers, 9 and 9.5

I recently ordered Del Toro's 'size test', wherein you pay a comparatively small sum of money to try on two sizes of slippers and then return them. What I discovered about the sizing... is that their website happens to be conservative about how small the sizes are... based on my experience, you may wish to consider starting with a whole size up, not just a half size.

The packaging is amazing... beautiful cardboard and it even has a magnetic closure!

The slippers are gorgeous, made in Spain, and actually rather comfortable. I tried walking a short distance in them and I'm fairly pleased with the results. The 9.5 was a bit tight on one toe, but I'm told the shoes will expand as they are worn. Additionally, as you can tell in the pictures, they may be monogramed. The monogram on this pair is not mine, but probably a surplus item. That said, it was well executed.

The shoe looks regal. Seriously.

Now, after reading the title of my post... you must be curious as to whether or not they really are that similar. The construction of the shoes is very much alike... the differences are obviously there; however, considering the velvet slipper (aka Prince Albert Slippers) was invented around the Victorian era, which was not terribly long after the Regency where we saw Brummell placing bows on shoes to create modern court shoes or dress pumps, they are to the casual observer, minimal.

While the Del Toro shoes are not lined, they were very comfortable... it's definitely a soft interior. 

And of course, you all are dying to see what they look like when I'm wearing the different shoes:

You can tell I've worn the court shoes a bit, because they're worn somewhat... 

Another thing about trying shoes out, is that you always want to do it on carpet, so that the soles do not get scratched. Many people are used to rubber soles on shoes, which do not really show wear in the same manner as leather soles. Leather soles are preferable in all situations that require a truly dressy shoe, excepting when it is raining. The advantages of leather are many... but I'll mention in passing, that dancing works better, as does the elegance of the shape of the sole as it wears. Rubber soles wear uneavenly, creating a 'hull-like' shape to the bottom of your shoes. Leather, on the other hand, is thinner to start with and wears in a relatively flat manner (in the sense that a common observer doesn't observe the shape of your sole completely mutate.) The downside is that it does wear through faster than the rubber equivalent.

You'll notice the pumps don't really have a tongue... whereas, the slippers do... the difference is noted here by how much is visible of the shoes/socks based on the trousers resting normally.