The grand-ish Strand

Advantages: location, location, location!
Disadvantages: Work in progress

...When Lee Mead won BBC's 'Any Dream Will Do' my mum was ecstatic. She had probably spent half her wages voting for him, so tickets to see him play Joseph were an obvious choice for her birthday in November last year. Thinking it was a brilliant idea, she then invited my nan and aunt, and just for good measure, I decided to drag my husband along as I'd never experienced a show in Londons famous theatre land. We soon realised it was a fair way to travel and we had might as well make the most of our adventure and booked a show and stay theatre trip. After reading up on the choice of hotels, we opted for the 3 star Strand Palace as it a) looked pretty swanky from the photo, b) was only 5 minutes from the Adelphi where Joseph was playing c) was cheaper than some of the others AND included breakfast! Bargain. Our cab driver was...

watkins11 02.05.2008 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of The Strand Palace Hotel, London

My Strand Experience

Advantages: Fantastic Location, A Breakfast to Set you Up for the Day, Very Reasonable Rates
Disadvantages: Small Room in Need of a Refurb (but don't let that put you off!)

...I was only staying overnight in London for one night in early June, as I was attending a wedding being held in the vaults of the Royal Society of Arts, which is also just off Strand. The Strand Palace Hotel is about 3 minutes stroll from the RSA so it was an absolutely perfect location for me. I booked via Hotel Pronto (via QuidCo!) way back in March so getting a single room was fine and the room rate of £79 included breakfast, which, if you pay for it separately is £14...so you could say the room only cost £65 if you want to break it down. Upon arrival at the hotel, which is just minutes walking from Charring Cross tube station, I was quite impressed with the entrance but not agog or feeling out of my league in casual KIT trousers and a summer top! It's a spacious entrance with gleaming lift frontage, a concierge desk...

RSH123 12.06.2007 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of The Strand Palace Hotel, London

Stranded in London!

Advantages: Excellent central location; good bars and restaurants
Disadvantages: Rooms a bit old fashioned; a little pricey

...Two nights at the Strand Palace and a visit to see the new Dirty Dancing stage show - bought for my wife's birthday. I even paid the extra £20 pppn for a superior "club" room. We were really looking forward to it. Total price was around £240 for the two of us for two nights (no breakfast). We arrived at Covent Garden tube station (the nearest one to the hotel), and after a little finger-in-the-air direction finding, got to the hotel on foot in under 10 minutes at a leisurely pace. Check-in was a little busy when we got there at 2:30 - we waited in the queue for around 20 minutes, but it was fairly quick when we were seen to. We were checked-in to a room on the 7th floor (there are 9 in the hotel), but we were *so* disappointed when we walked in. The room was tiny - smaller than our bedroom at home. It also overlooked the "well...

tall_andy 12.11.2006 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of The Strand Palace Hotel, London

Mattygroves and Her Unexpectedly Good Earphones

Advantages: Superb sound, comfortable fit, volume control on the cord
Disadvantages: Some earbuds were missing, slighly pricy for in-ear earphones

...I am coming to realise that iPod/MP3 player earphones take quite a beating indeed. I have owned a number of pairs of said earphones over the past two or three years, and inevitably, eventually they break down (normally the wires get frayed or something, and so you receive audio out of only one ear). The durability of the earphones is compromised also by my habit of wrapping the cord around the iPod itself (apparently a no-no, but I've never found a sufficient convenient alternative). I use in the ear soft earphones. I have small ear canals, and so find rigid earpieces uncomfortable. I'd be tempted by over the ear headphones, but they are inconvenient to transport. Now, you can buy earphones for as little as a fiver, or you can spend a small fortune, necessitating a re-mortgage. I have tried the cheaper, and the mid-cheap (say £15 - £20...

mattygroves 10.07.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Sennheiser CX 500 Headphones

ipod earphones

Advantages: The come packaged when you buy an ipod.
Disadvantages: Poor Sound Quality, Uncomfortable.

...The apple ipod earphones come as standard with all apple ipod products but you can also purchase them from official apple dealers and outlets for around £15-£20. I used my ipod earphones for a few weeks after I got my ipod but as soon as I found a suitable replacement, I got rid of them. The sound quality is very poor, I had to turn my ipod up to full volume (even with the volume limiter off) before I could hear the music properly. The bass sounds I got from these earphones was also very poor, a problem which was not helped by the volume required as it distorted the sound quite a lot. Considering the price you pay for these, they are not even comfortable, I felt them slipping out of my ear one more than one occasion and a few times, after using them for about an hour, I had a severe pain in my ear. The connector of these earphones is...

dandadda 19.02.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Apple iPod Earphones

5/5 Earphones

Advantages: Stylish design; 10/10 Sound Quality; Stylish earphones pouch;
Disadvantages: Discomfort initially; Expensive; Covers come off too easily

...Got these earphones for my birthday, so it's been about 6 months, and I have nothing but praise for them. Most importantly, the sound quality is perfect 10/10. My girlfriend who borrowed it once was left awestruck by the quality, likening it to being in a top-notch cinema with high-quality surround sound system. The sound quality makes average songs sound like hits. Next, the design. While it may be a little awkward to put it on and some may have difficulty fitting the earphones to the shape of their ears, I'm personally a very big fan of the design. I like the look of it and love the feel of it. You will most probably experience some discomfort when you first put it on, but it'll soon pass, well at least that's always been the case for me. Along with the earphones, there's a stylish black pouch that can be used for storage...

aznben1 25.08.2008 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Bang & Olufsen Headphones

The Strand Palace Hotel

Advantages: Central location, clean
Disadvantages: Food, rooms

......

kate44 03.05.2007 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of The Strand Palace Hotel, London

"Help! l'm Stranded!" ~ Actually l'm resting!

Advantages: I'm planning to be stranded, so l WILL be prepared!
Disadvantages: You cannot plan for every eventuality, and you can only have 5 items.

...~©~ ~©~ ~©~ ~©~ ~©~ There is something rather odd about this subject, "If you were stranded on a desert island, what 5 items would you take?" After all, once you are stranded, it is too late. Perhaps the question ought rather to be asking what 5 items would you hope to have with you if you became stranded through some quirk of circumstance? People don't choose to be stranded, do they? And if it was NOT by choice, what hope would ANY of us have, to actually HAPPEN to have had stranded with us, the 5 items we would CHOOSE? All would also prefer an island with some vegetation and pure water supply rather than an arid desert as well, I expect. Do desert islands have caves? Those caveats aside, let us consider what I would hope to have with me . . . I think I would have to plan my "Stranding" carefully in advance...

jesi 29.10.2007 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of If you were stranded on a desert island, what 5 items would you take?

Apple iPod Earphones

Advantages: Free with an iPod
Disadvantages: Cost £20 for a new pair, poor sound quality.

...When I got these earphones with my iPod I didn't think the sound quality was awful but it certainly wasn't great either. The bass is pretty shoddy in my opinion. Just how shoddy wasn't something I realised until I bought some Sennheiser and subsequently ended up using some Altec Lansings. The reason I bought other earphones was because my iPod earphones broke. The plug in jack came off from the iPod, stuck in my laptop. Managed to remove it without any damage to my laptop luckily. Considering these earphones cost around £10-20 I fail to see why anyone would buy these. Even if you're a poser and you want to advertise the fact that you have an iPod to everyone else, buy white Sennheiser CX 300 for around £17. The sound quality of the CX 300 is far superior (the bass is much better though that's not the only improvement) and no one...

CloudRuler 21.09.2008 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Apple iPod Earphones

iPod Headphones - Value for money

Advantages: Sleek design
Disadvantages: Average sound quality

...These Apple headphones make the perfect pair with your Apple iPod and they come free with the purchase of any Apple iPod or iTouch. They are very sleek and match the design of the iPod perfectly. These headphones are by no means the best quality out there and if you want the perfect sound from your portable device then a bit more money will have to be spent. However, for those just listening to their iPod on the move, on the way home from work etc. they are the perfect companion. The headphones provide a decent volume although they do not completely block out other sounds which can become frustrating when in a loud environment. At high volumes the sound is also clearly audible for those outside of your head and this can obviously be annoying for those around you on a bus or train. Another problem with these is that the design has...

Olly0390 14.05.2008 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Apple iPod Earphones