If you like to be entertained, but in a quieter fashion than usual, then why not head down to London in January for the 2012 International Mime Festival. Or even plan your trip for next year’s January 2013 event? The festival is the longest running of its kind in the world having first been established in 1977 and it was founded by esteemed international theatrists Joseph Seelig and Helen Lannaghan. Most people who arrive for the festival really enjoy their stay in London, so why not get down yourself and see what all the fuss is about?

The festival has got rave reviews from critics and is an excellent example of contemporary visual theatre. There are shows to suit all types of audiences; from high-end conceptual drama, to family friendly kids show and everything in between, there is plenty at the Mime Festival to entertain every body. The festival takes places over 6 venues across the city; Barbican Centre, Jacksons Lane, Royal Opera House, Roundhouse, Soho Theatre and the Southbank Centre. These are all located across the centre of London, but with the city’s excellent transport system, including the highly extensive tube network, then you are only a short ride away from any of the locations.

For anyone looking to travel down and get some accommodation in London, then you may be overwhelmed by the number of hotel options to choose from. However a type of accommodation a lot of people may not consider is booking a serviced apartment in London. With serviced apartments you can rent a whole apartment rather than just a hotel room, so you get more space, and also the use of your own kitchen and separate bedrooms. This means you aren’t limited to having to spend lots of money eating out in restaurants or sub-standard hotel food and you can sort yourself out! Whether you want to go all out and cook a full roast dinner, or you patience/skills are limited to whacking a frozen pizza in the oven, a serviced apartment would be great for anyone.

This summer sees the return of the highly successful Wireless Festival to London’s magnificent Hyde Park. The festival is now officially called the Barclaycard Wireless Festival as opposed to previous years when it was the O2 Wireless Festival.  It takes place in July over a whole weekend and you can get tickets for 1 or 2 nights. For the Hyde Park festival there is no camping or overnight accommodation associated with the festival so it’s up to the punters to find their own London accommodation.

The Wireless Festival first started in 2005, and initially also ran a sister festival at Harewood House in Leeds. This stopped after 2007 but the Hyde Park festival has remained and been highly successful. At the 2011 event there were thousands of revellers enjoying the music and no wonder when the line-up was so hot. Last years the headliners were The Black Eyed Peas, The Chemical Brothers, The Streets, Pulp, David Guetta, Bruno Mars, Grace Jones, Plan B, Tinie Tempah and Chase & Status. A wonderful chart-friendly collection or rappers, R&B, Hip Hop and Dance artists that if you attended last year, would have been sure to blow your mind. The line-up for 2012 is already looking quite startling with Rihanna the big headline artist, and Jessie J, Calvin Harris and Labrinth already confirmed as playing.

If you are heading down to London for the 2012 Wireless Festival, then as previously mentioned, you will need to find and book some accommodation close by. 2012 is going to be a difficult year for that because of the Olympic Games taking place in London, however there should still be plenty of options to choose from. One option that many might not consider is booking a London serviced apartment which gives you a lot more space than a similar hotel room. With apartments you get the use a whole apartment with kitchen, bathroom and separate bedrooms (apart from studio apartments.) So if you’re looking to for some Hyde Park serviced apartments and looking for serviced apartments get in touch with Serviced City Pads who have a wide range of London options close to Hyde Park.

If you’re struggling for ideas for what to do for Valentine’s Day 2012, then you would be hard pressed to think of a better plan than booking a serviced apartment in London for a night or two and taking in London’s romantic side for a while. Sometimes (but rarely) described as the ‘City of Lovers’ London has a certain je ne sais pas that many find alluring, tempting and somewhat lustworthy. Why not share this passion with a loved one or liked one and stay in London on Valentine’s Day?

Probably one of the most romantic areas of London for a young (or old) couple to stay would be West London, neighbourhoods such as Notting Hill, Kensington and Bayswater provide suitable urban backgrounds for lovers of any type. Many love-films have been based in the area including the High Grant hit Notting Hill which also starred American actress Julia Roberts. Why not recreate your own version of the film in some sort of role play game in a local book shop and really spice up your trip?

Hyde Park is a popular venue for Cupid-struck love kittens where one can stroll around the park, hand-in-hand with one’s soul mate whilst glancing across the Serpentine (a lake not a snake) and enjoying the green oasis in the centre of the sprawling urban labyrinth that is London. Be prepared to see young children kicking balls, jumpers for goals posts, gay kite flighers happily waltzing around string in hand, brass bands playing jolly tunes and birds singing harmonious tunes as natures orchestra serenades you down the gravel covered paths of Hyde Park.

If you’re looking for some accommodation in the city for Valentine’s Day, then why not try looking at booking some London serviced apartments so you can enjoy your stay whilst enjoying a home-from-home feel. With a fully fitted kitchen and separate bathroom and bedrooms you won’t feel squeezed in to 4 walls like you would in a prison-like hotel room and therefore heated lovers tiffs are more than likely to be less likely.

London is one of the most famous and visited cities on the globe; it is the city most visited by international tourists in the whole world so obviously this means there is a huge amount of choice when it comes to looking at accommodation in London. Despite the large number of accommodation types, from budget hostels, cheap hotels, serviced apartments and luxury hotels, during the peak months of the summer the accommodation sector gets to saturation point and sometimes it is extremely difficult to find availability. So if you are ever looking to stay in London, make sure you give as much time as possible to book in advance!

London is a great destination for family holidays whether travelling from abroad or domestically. There are hundreds of child friendly attractions and sites to see such as the Natural History Museum, the British Museum, Science Museum, Wembley Stadium, Museum of Childhood, Battersea Park Zoo, London Aquarium, Kew Gardens etc. If you’re anywhere near London’s West End you can be sure that there will always be an child-friendly show playing at one of the area’s many theatres. Numbers such as the Lion King, Cirque du Soleil, Cinderella, Nutcracker, Shrek the Musical are just some of the great shows playing in the near future, all sure to be big hits with children!

If you’re planning a trip and looking for some good London family accommodation then why not try booking a London holiday apartment for your stay? With a serviced apartment you get a whole apartment with separate bedrooms and lounge area and also a fully fitted kitchen. So you don’t have to worry about everyone being squeezed in one hotel room and everyone can enjoy a little more privacy. As well as having a kitchen to cater for any of the kids’ special needs. Try getting in touch with Serviced City Pads if you’re looking for some London holiday apartments for 2012.

The dust has settled on another year and another season of The X Factor. However, though the show is now over, the annual X Factor Live tour is set to start soon. The main contestants from X Factor 2011 will be touring the UK giving fans a chance to see them live. The X Factor Live tour will be in London at Wembley Arena for 2 nights on the 3rd and 4th March 2012. If you will be travelling to see the show, London serviced apartments are still available for these dates.

The X Factor is always entertaining and last year was no exception! There was the excitement of the new judges Gary Barlow, Tulisa, and Kelly Rowland (with Louis Walsh the only familiar face). The contest was not without controversy – the Misha B bullying allegations aired on the show by Tulisa and Louis, Frankie Cocozza and his “rock and roll” behaviour – but it ultimately came down to a final between Amelia Lily, Marcus Collins, and Little Mix. The victory of girl group Little Mix was an X Factor landmark as this was the first time that a girl group had won the competition. Now, if you want to see Little Mix and the other contestants such as Janet Devlin, Craig Colton, or Misha B live, you can come to the X Factor Live shows at Wembley Arena.

Serviced apartments in London are available for anyone travelling to see the show and who might require accommodation. Apartments in London can be viewed on the London city page of the Serviced City Pads website. If you would like to find out more about a London serviced apartment or what options are available to you for your London visit, then why not call our reservations team on 0844 335 8866, or send us your enquiry through our website?

For any comedy fans in London it would be silly not to look at booking a serviced apartment if you are down for any shows. There is a large variety of London serviced apartments to choose from across the capital so whether you are going to see comedians you can get some London accommodation nearby.

If you’re looking for a comedy gig in London on 11^th November, then by all means get don your laughing hat and get yourself down to the HMV Apollo for a rib-tickling saga with the North-East’s finest Sarah Millican. With her distinctive Geordie accent and female features, you will know who I mean if you Youtube her. Unless you’re up on your British comedians then you’ll know anyway, I won’t patronise you. Millican first rose to fame in 2008 when she won the if.comedy award for best newcomer at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the breeding ground of British comedians, metaphorically and possibly literally. In 2010 again at the Fringe Festival, she lost out to Russell Kane in the main comedy award which may or may not have been surrounded by controversy.

She’s had a lot of success on the radio too. She seems to suit radio quite well. Her radio series ‘Sarah Millican’s Support Group.’ What happens is studio audience members are encouraged to share problems with Millican’s agony aunt character for her to offer tips and advice. Some of the problems are pre-meditated and scripted, the callers are actually actors, whereas some come from real people in the audience allowing Sarah to improvise.  A second series was commissioned and started in May 2011.

If you need London accommodation while you are heading to the HMV Apollo to see South Shield’s finest in action (that would be Sarah Millican) then why not try serviced apartments as your choice of accommodation in London? By getting a serviced apartment you would leave all of your fellow comedy goers behind and you will be laughing all the way into your open plan living/kitchen area and bedroom. Rather than the 4 walls of a hotel room you get the use of a whole London apartment.

The HMV Apollo, or the Hammersmith Apollo if you’re old school and/or despise corporate sponsorship (e.g Ashburton Grove or Emirates Stadium? Eastlands or Etihad Stadium?) is based in Hammersmith in West London and is easily accessible by bus or tube. The ease of which you can get there means there any London serviced apartments in the centre are just a short commute away so there’s even more reason to book a serviced apartment when looking for your London accommodation.

If you’re travelling to London this winter to see whatever, then when looking for your London accommodation then why not try a serviced apartment? London is a really happening place so there are always things going on, so get down there and see those things.

Winter is a cold time of the year caused by the tilt of the Earth. The further away you get from the Equator the more noticeable the difference is between the seasons. This is because the Earth’s axis does not rotate perfectly perpendicular to the sun so for most of the year the top or bottom half is tilted closer or further away to the sun so drastically changes the climate. At its extreme at the poles, during the peak of Winter they do not get any daylight or sunlight, depending on which pole you are at.

As London is in the Northern Hemisphere, the coming Winter means that the nights are darker and the weather is much cooler so you’d be advised to wrap up warm. On the other hand places in the Southern Hemisphere such as Australia and South Africa, will have their Winter during June/July/August so that’s why on Neighbours you might have got confused when it’s really hot over Christmas. Even though Neighbours is actually a soap and not a documentary (and just so we’re being completely clear, by ‘a soap’ we mean a soap opera in the television meaning of the word, not soap as in baths and Fight Club) the show still accurately portrays the seasons as actually experienced in Australia.

If you are going to be in the capital this year searching for London apartment accommodation, then you will want to wrap up warm. This should definitely involve a coat, most probably a combination of hat/scarf/gloves or maybe all three if it’s really chilly. Also whilst searching for London serviced apartments, Flip-flops are definitely off the cards, as well as similarly airy footwear options such as sandals and those pathetic little plastic jelly things that 4 year old girls wear “jelly shoes.”

For those looking for London serviced apartments this Winter why not try giving Serviced City Pads a ring and see what there is to offer. With plenty of serviced apartment options across London, no matter where you’re looking to stay you can usually always find somewhere to stay near where you need, and if not, the London Tube network is so extensive that you can be several miles away but only several minutes away. London serviced apartments are a great alternative to hotel rooms and you get lots more space than you would in an equivalent hotel.

This Christmas book your London accommodation early to avoid disappointment and make sure you have a serviced apartment to relax in when you’re enjoying Christmas in the capital. The BT Christmas Concert at the Royal Albert Hall has been running for at least 1 year as far as I can tell, so they’re going to know what they’re doing so you probably won’t be disappointed. Like before when you weren’t disappointed about getting the London accommodation.

The BT Christmas Concert at the Royal Albert Hall (don’t worry, Christmas hasn’t changed its name to ‘BT Christmas’ it’s not in the bible as luckily corporate sponsorship didn’t exist in those days. But maybe one day a large company will sponsor Christmas? I don’t think that idea is too farfetched as most things are sponsored now these days, sports teams, stadiums and arenas, television shows, competitions etc. Why not a date? Imagine “Thornton’s Mothers Day” or “The Guiness New Year” or “May Day in association with Natwest.” I think that could well happen soon, but anyway…) will take place on the 14^th December in London.

The show itself is hosted by Natasha Kaplinsky described by the Mail as a ‘former autocutie’ who is a newsreader and television presenter. It features a host of classic music orchestras and performers including Matthew Hargreaves (baritone) Malcom Hicks (organ) City of London Choir (singing) The London Oratory School Schola (probably singing) Royal Air Force Squadranaires (singing pilots?) Anthony Inglis (conductor) London Concert Orchestra (an orchestra.) So sounds good to me, and they will all be doing Christmassy songs or ‘festive delights.’ There will also be indoor fireworks apparently, which to me doesn’t sound too great an idea. I imagine Mario Balotelli will have had something to do with this aspect of the concert, but what the organisers are doing getting a professional footballer to help with the organisation of the event, especially one with such as questionable reputation, is beyond me.

If you are travelling down to London to see the concert, then why not book a serviced apartment to satisfy your lusting London accommodation needs? With a serviced apartment you get the use of a whole apartment as opposed to just the 4 walls of a hotel room (however There would be probably be an en-suite though so there would technically be more than 4 walls as most hotels are no more advanced than having a an open plan toilet and bathroom.) When booking your London accommodation why not try Serviced City Pads who have a wide selection of serviced apartments across the city.

Getting a London serviced apartment is not as easy as you might think, if you are doing all the work yourself anyway. That’s why enlightened individuals will use Serviced City Pads to find the London accommodation, and what more a defining feature of London than the River Thames?

The River Thames is England’s longest river and the second longest in the United Kingdom. For those river enthusiasts out there, you will already know that the Severn is the UK’s longest river, but that flows through Wales so we’re aren’t counting it on this occasion. For non-river enthusiasts, just read the last sentence. On its perilous journey from Thames Head (about a mile north of the village of Kemble) to the Thames estuary it goes through many places such as Newbridge, Swinford, Oxford, Abingdon, Wallingford, Goring, Pangbourne, Reading, Marlow, Maidenhead, Windsor, Staines, Kingston, London, Greenwich before coming out next to Southend. Oh it must see many a sight.

Probably the most famous part of the river is the bit that runs through London. There are lots of good bridges that cross the river, which have proved very useful as people wish to travel from one side to the other. Some good bridges that cross the Thames include Westminster Bridge, Waterloo Bridge, London Bridge, Tower Bridge, Windsor Bridge, Putney Bridge and many more. There also some tunnels including the world’s first underwater tunnel, Marc Brunel’s Thames Tunnel built in 1843.

If you are looking for accommodation in London and you’re thinking of looking at or going on the Thames, then why not try booking a serviced apartment for your stay. Compared to an equivalent London hotel, apartments provide an added bonus due to their self-catering style, so you can cook and eat in the apartment without having to rely on expensive of sub-par hotel or restaurant food. You also get to enjoy more space than an in a hotel as you have use of a whole apartment. With plenty of serviced apartment options across London, Serviced City Pads can provide your London accommodation whilst you stay.

George Michael’s ‘Syphonica’ tour is coming to London soon. By soon, his first date is tonight (25^th October 2012) and he will perform for 4 nights before moving elsewhere round the UK and Europe. If you’re in London to see big George and you don’t have anywhere to stay, why no book a serviced apartment and enjoy the London stay in style. There are plenty of London serviced apartment options to choose from so book the London accommodation quick to avoid disappointment and other bad things!

After years of self-imposed performing exile, Mr. Michael returns playing a series of mega show across the UK in his tour ‘Symphonica.’ He claims the tour is to atone for his ‘sins’ and to say sorry to his many fans for his reckless behaviour in the latter days of his career. For those of you of a more cynical nature, it may strike you that the prices for tickets for these shows are set very high considering that this is for the fans. With cheapest tickets from £69.99 and the most expensive at £2,000, you can be assured that George Michael has no other reason to do a comeback tour than for his fans. If you try to book these online by making up card details, then it won’t work unless  you’re really lucky.

For this tour the goateed popstar will bring along with him a throbbing orchestra delivering a fully erect set of re-imaginings of his own spurtingly vast number of hits, plus a few flaccid covers. It’s with great sadness that we found out the GM split with his partner Kenny Goss after 15 years of being together. They had endured some rough times as well as some difficult times in the media with Michaels activities in public toilets. Also Micheal’s activities with different naughty drugs that he wasn’t supposed to be doing with got him into a spot of bother with the feds. On the other hand, he does do a lot of good stuff for charity which you can read about.

If you’re looking for London accommodation in October in London for to be nearer George Michael, then you should absolutely book a serviced apartment. If you’re already paying so much for the tickets, then just spend more, more, more and book a London serviced apartment. The concerts take place at The Royal Albert Hall so there are some good serviced apartment options nearby.