Short Term Lets

Bergin asks:

"My parents are coming to visit in January for a few weeks after our baby is due and I was wondering if you knew of any short term rentals of flats in Greenwich/ Blackheath area? Perhaps someone wants to escape dark england for a few weeks to sunnier places?"

The Phantom replies:

First of all, congratulations on your forthcoming happy days, Bergin...

I'm not fabulous on 'where to stay' - since I live here already, I've never actually vacationed in Greenwich...

I was contacted recently, though, by Dawn Harverson of Greenwich Holiday Lets , a company who specialise in self-catering in the centre of Greenwich. They have several properties, from 2-bed to entire houses. I have no experience at all of them, so I can't personally recommend them, but she tells me they're the first accommodation company to get 5 stars on two of their properties.

My other thought is to try Robert Gray at Number 16 St Alfege's Passage - I don't know if he does slightly longer B&B rates, but you'd be out of season - you never know...

There are the usual hotels, of course - again, you'll be out of season - might be worth a try. Davenport House and the Novotel are unexciting but central. The Mitre and St Christopher's aren't really what I'd send parents to...

Or maybe there's someone who's going on holiday here who fancies doing a short let?

Number 37

37, Burney St, SE10

There's an interesting new guesthouse/B&B in Burney St which looks quite fun. I haven't actually been to stay there yet - I need to find some good excuse - but I thought I'd let you know about it in case you've got friends or relatives coming to stay and St Alfeges is all booked up now they're TV stars...

Run by Julia and Steve, Number 37's only been open a couple of months so it all looks quite new and fresh. The photos on the website look good - but for the moment that is all I can say. I will try to get to stay there when I can , but in the meanwhile, if you or a relative pays a visit, do let me know how you get on...

http://www.burney.org.uk/

St Alfege's Passage (Oooer, Missus...)

A charming little early-Victorian slip-though running down beside St Alfege's church. The house on the end, next to the entrance to the churchyard is by far the prettiest at any time of year as they carefully keep their window boxes full to bursting point. What with the old stone paving, the splendid entrance to St Alfege's churchyard and the lovely lamp posts, this is an enchanting passageway.

At No 16, is St Alfege's Guest House, a dear little B&B - from what I can see on the website. I walked down there the other day to see if I could find it (before I looked it up) and it's so discreet that I couldn't tell which house it was.

Run by Robert & Nicholas (or so I read) it has, it would appear, three exquisite rooms, one of which is a single; another has a four-poster bed. The sitting room looks cosy too. The prices seem pretty damn reasonable for the centre of Greenwich - nay, for London - from £40 for a single room. It's predominantly gay, but claims to give straight people an equally warm welcome. Watch out, Robert and Nicholas. The Phantom or one of the team of spooky spies will be staying with you soon...

www.st-alfeges.co.uk

The Mitre

The Mitre Hotel

We were early for our screening at the Picturehouse on Saturday. The Lord Hood was having its jazz day - it was very full and very smoky and the Picturehouse bar looked busy too so we nipped into the Mitre for a quick pint.

The Mitre has always rather appealed to me from the outside. It's neat and clean - a spruced-up Victorian hotel with beautifully-kept window boxes and spiral-cut conifers in the first floor windows (not dead which is a miracle after several years) It just looks like a nice pub. It's clearly not the first one on the site as The East Greenwich Madrigal Society used to meet there in 1848, and it was used as a County Court around that time too, under the beady eye of Judge David Sealey.

Inside it's also very late-Victorian - and much bigger than it looks from the outside. Squashy leather bench-seats and neat tables on different levels - and plenty of them - did look a bit tired by 6.00pm on a Saturday - but it was still a pleasant enough atmosphere. There's a little paved garden running between the pub and St Alfege's churchyard where they clearly have barbeques - though there wasn't one while we were there - and a nice little beer garden/yard at the back which you get to through a conservatory.

The beer's nothing to write home about - but it's not awful either and my lime & soda (I was saving the real drinking for after the movie) was at the perfect strength - unusual these days where you either get green water or a glass of acid.

Upstairs they have ensuite rooms - I have no idea what they're like but from £75 in London (for a single room) which includes breakfast and a car parking space they would have to be exceptionally awful to represent bad value. All in all I quite like the Mitre. I wouldn't ever go out of my way to visit it, but if I'm in the area (except on a Tuesday when they have an open mic night for amateur performers – bring back the Madrigals, I say) I may well pop in.