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SPACIOUS LIVING ROOM AND DINING
AREA AT THE BREWERY APARTMENTS

THE APARTMENTS: Exemplary representatives of the renaissance of London’s Bermondsey neighbor-hood, The Brewery Apartments are modern lodgings occupying the space of a former  London ale brewery. The conversion maintains the architectural shell of the historic stone brewery, and adds contemporary steel and glass structural elements for the interior.
          Spacious, brightly colored rooms with blond wood floors give the apartments a luxurious, modern atmosphere. Apartments are available in various sizes: studios, one-bedrooms, two-bedrooms (sleep up to 4 persons), and three-bedrooms (sleep up to 6 persons). Importantly, all

bedrooms have queen-sized beds only (no twin beds, single beds, or sofa beds available). Every apartment is unique. Some have balconies; some offer broadband internet connections; some offer telephone direct-dial service (connection fee charged); and DVD machines are available by request. But at the very least, all Brewery apartments have these amenities:

• Kitchens with all the usual appliances (fridge,
   stove, coffeemaker, dishwasher) —  most with
   ovens, but some with microwave ovens instead
   (can be confirmed in advance)
 
• Bathrooms with showers (no bathtubs)
 
• Laundry facilities: washer/dryer
 
• Dining areas or dining rooms with table & chairs
 
• Living rooms with TV (some LCD flat panel TVs)
 
• Telephone & WiFi internet access available
 
• Elevators in the apartment building
 
• Central heating
 
• 24-hour emergency maintenance service
 
• Office staffed from 7AM to midnight daily
 
• Maid Service at the end of each week’s occupancy

 

MODERN, BRIGHT, & COLORFUL LIVING
ROOM, DINING AREA, & KITCHEN
 

SHAD THAMES—A RELIC OF THE DAYS WHEN
WAREHOUSES DOMINATED THE BUTLERS WHARF AREA
OF BERMONDSEY. TODAY THE STREET WAREHOUSES
A PRESTIGIOUS ROW OF RESTAURANTS.

THE SETTING: The Brewery Apartments are just south of London’s landmark Tower Bridge in the Bermondsey section of the London Borough of Southwark. Bermondsey has a long and checkered history, with associations dating back to the time of William the Conqueror, when Cluniac monks established Bermondsey Abbey in 1082 just south of where The Brewery Apartments are located today. King Henry VIII dissolved the abbey in 1537 when he nationalized the Roman Catholic Church, and the abbey then fell into ruin. By the 19^th century Bermondsey had become a London slum so notorious that Charles Dickens set his novel of impoverished orphans, Oliver Twist, here. During World War II, Bermondsey suffered aerial bombing during the Nazi Blitz. Over the last thirty years Bermondsey has progressed through a rehabilitation that has resulted in its

renaissance into a trendy neighborhood with many eclectic restaurants, shops, businesses, and residences. The revitalized neighborhood centers on the old warehouse and tanning district south of the River Thames and astride

the railway tracks emanating from Bermondsey’s own London Bridge Station. Bermondsey also offers some friendly local pubs, an important antique market (Bermondsey Market), a state-of-the-art riverside shopping mall (Hay’s Galleria), and a few special-interest museums (including THE London Dungeon, the warship HMS Belfast, and The Design Museum). The urban renewal of Bermondsey has brought great change to the old neighborhood. Although some buildings, like The Brewery Apartments and the restaurants along Shad Thames, have kept their historic facades, there is significant new public-use open space (including the wonderful riverside Queen’s Walk) and daring architecture (like the leaning bee-hive of the new London City Hall) to convert Bermondsey into a forward-looking, upscale neighborhood attracting new residents and businesses.
          Paralleling the river one block south is the Shad Thames (a corruption of "St. John at Thames"), the last remaining cobbled street lined with old stone warehouse

THE MAGNIFICENT TOWER BRIDGE
FROM SHAD THAMES — 5-MINUTES WALK
FROM THE BREWERY APARTMENTS.

walls and crossed with latticed gantry walkways that once permitted workers to move goods from warehouse to warehouse without descending to street level. Like the riverfront, the Shad Thames is home to several noted restaurants, including Le Pont de la Tour, where former British PRIME MINISTER AND MRS. TONY BLAIR once dined with former U.S. PRESIDENT AND MRS. BILL CLINTON. Fortunately, the area also offers numerous other restaurants to suit most tastes and budgets, as well as coffee shops (yes, there’s a STARBUCKS), grocery stores, traditional pubs, galleries, and dress shops, all within easy walking distance of many visitors’ attractions.

 

London's new City Hall —
the leaning bee-hive — is a landmark
of Bermondsey's renaissance.