Review of The Landmark London 5*

Stayed in a suite here (not on my own dime, mind you, since I'm not sure I even had a dime at the time) the first time I went to London. I wasn't into the idea of navigating London by car the first time I landed there (or ever, frankly), so Marylebone station being right outside the "back door" couldn't have been more convenient. Did you know that Marylebone is where the opening scene of A Hard Day's Night was filmed? You probably did, since you're an Internet nerd reading hotel reviews on Google. I imagine a lot of things happened on that street that are less famous and just as interesting. The Landmark was The Hotel Grand Central when it was built in the 1890s by some railroad tycoon. Those were the days, weren't they, when we had railroad tycoons and steel magnates and robber barons under every rock, amassing ridiculous personal wealth on top of mountains of dead serfs. Ah, nostalgia! As for hotel specifics, I hardly remember anything, other than very grand staircases and the strange sensation that I was missing something every time I came back to the room in the evening after housekeeping had been to visit. Reminded me of staying in the Hotel St. Paul in the 70s when it was little more than a flophouse and having the maid, such as she was, pilfer my bottle of whiskey from the dresser drawer. I was just a teenager, so when I went to the front desk to complain, the guy squinted at me for a few seconds, told me to "fuck off, " and went back to watching a football game on a tiny black and white TV. But I showed him. I went back up to my room, removed the screens from all of the windows and tossed them down into the overgrown "courtyard" below. Like I said, I was a teenager. But it was much more enjoyable in the room with proper ventilation, that's a fact. The mosquitoes were worse, but you'd expect that. Ah, London, right. Nice hotel. Though I spent most of my time at Pinewood Studios or wandering the city trying to get lost. An activity I heartily recommend any time you find yourself in a new place. Just go out and start walking, or get on a train going in some random direction. That's the best way to see what's really going on wherever you are. Most of the time you can eventually make it back to your bed. When you can't, well, that's where you get stories to tell, isn't it.