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1305 Lonsdale Ave., ,
North Vancouver West Vancouver

986-5855 913-1640

All locations ore registered with the B.C. Travel Register .
Conditions apply, prices per person ex Voncouver lases may oppiy

Park Royal North,

tJ
50% OFF
e
in 1999
Holland America and BCAA
are offering fabulous savings and special
benefits all of which are exclusive to BCAA!
1999 offers a 50% discount on 20 Inside
Passage and 4 Glacier Route sailings from
May to September! We were pleased to host a
number of family reunions this past season,
what great savings and a great way to spend
time with your family.
PLUS PLUS! $75™ USD per person shipboard
credit for Alaska. .

Cruise Sale On Now

“Beok sooner than later and get the dates
you want and not what’s left over!
Holland America prices are in CDN dollars

BCAA Trave!

OCEANS OF EXPERIENCE

Park & Tiferd Park Reyal Merih|

‘est Vancouver
268-5650

B.C. Reg. No, 845-5

North Vancouver
$96.1 526

B.C, Reg. No. 2910-5

north shore news

NAB

a

The London h

LONDON — Many

visitors to London find
themselves at Piccadilly
Circus then take a
stroll along Piccadilly
to Hatchard’s elegant
bookshop, then join
the throng at Fortnum
and Mason, both busi-
nesses dating from the
early 18th century.

If they keep going they
will come to Hyde Park
Corner with Apsley House,
home of the first Duke of
Wellingtoa, on the right, and
an equally impressive building
straight ahead.

Londoners knew this site
for more than 250 years as St
George’s Hospital. The land
has belonged for centuries to
the Dukes of Westminster,
who own big chunks of the
West End.

In 1719 James Lane, sec-
ond Viscount Lanesborough,
built Lanesborougkh House
here, and when he died five
years later a group of doctors
moved in and founded St
Gceorge’s Hospital. in 1825
the building was demolished
and a new hospital erected.

The architect William
Wilkins, who also designed
the National Galley in
Trafalgar Square, incorporated
classical and Greek revival
styles that were features of the
Regency period. This pre-
dated the era when all hospi-
tals interiors were covered in

cen paint.

In 1980 the hospital
moved to a new structure,
presumably with lots of green
paint, and the ald building lay
empty and sad for )} years
unt it reopened as the
Lanesborough, a hotel with
49 rooms and 46 suites.

Needless to say a huge
amount of work had to be
done but much of the original
handsome hospital facade was
retained.

The job was done so clev-
erly, and with such style, that
it teels like it has been there as
long as any grand hotel in

#2 TRAVEL

ROOMS at the Lanesborough are a cut above the ordinary, reports travel writer
David Wishart. The London hotel is located in one of the city’s most coveted areas
and, with rooms starting at $1,500 a night, guests are treated like royalty.

London, and gives no clue to
its American owners,
Rosewoed Hotels and
Resorts. | mean, the doorman
wears a top hat and not a stet-
son.

My butler wore morning
dress and offered to unpack
my bags, press my suit, bring
me tea or coffee and invited
me to make a selection from
his video and CD library.

Well he might, for my suite
rented for $1,500 a night.
And that was a small one. A
large suite is $2750 and if thar
just won't do there’s still a
royal suite at a princely price.

But if London is the
world’s most fashionable city
-right now, the Lanesborough
is one of its most coveted
addresses, and business is
brisk. Guests like the warm
clubby feel of the hotel cou-
pled with useful personal
touches like business cards in
a leather wallet. For a day I
had my very own
Knightsbridge phone number,
171-333-7498, and a fax
number too. The fax machine
was tucked away to the right
of my leather-topped desk

FoR THE Fu

AND THE

with the safe (for the tiara, bur
not mine) on the left.

I might also mention that
the suite had three chande-
liers, four decanters of spirits
and as many light and air-con-
ditioning buttons as a Bocing
747 flight deck.

Unfortunately I didn’t
have time to dine in the
Conservatory, where chef Paul
Gayler, ex-Dorchester and
Inigo Jones, holds court, but
I can give full marks for offer-
ing an excelient curry on the
room service menu.

The good flavour lingered
long after, and I still have
those business cards.

The Novotel Waterloo is
quite different, a no-frills
hotel which provides a very
comfortable room starting at
$320 a night, which is good
value in a desirable part of
London.

My room looked over
Lambeth Palace with the
River Thames and Houses of
Parliament just beyond.
Outside 1 could catch a bus to
Oxford Street or walk over
Lambeth Bridge and take a
stroll along the river past the

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Parliament buildings and
Westminster Abbey. Five min-
utes farther on lies Downing
Street and Trafaigar Square.
Service was warm and
friendly, there’s a cozy bar on
the ground floor while just
down the strect I found a ryp-
ical London cafe (mornin’
Guv!) where breakfast was $5

including a read of some- +

body’s a
Mirror.

Funnily enough there was
a story about a Paris politician
saying French passengers on
the Eurostar cross-channel
train were affronted at the
train arriving at nearby
Waterloo Station. As it hap-
pens the Novotel Waterloo is
part of the French-owned
Accor Group. ,

Air Canada flies daily from
Vancouver to London. If
you're staying at the
Lanesboruugh you may as
well try Air Canada’s
Executive First service and
new arrivals lounge at
Heathrow Airport. Here you
can get a shower, shoeshine,
breakfast and use the business
centre,

andoned Daily

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