FAQ
Please note that the Q&As below are not in order of frequency or importance
How far is Aster House from the nearest underground station?
Where is South Kensington?
Are Harrods and Brompton Cross within walking distance?
What is a "bed and breakfast"?
Can we have a “no-smoking" room?
Do you have a restaurant or provide room service?
What time is breakfast served?
Can we have a price-break if we were to miss breakfast?
Can you arrange excursion tours for us?
Is there a hairdryer in your guestrooms?
What are the amenities in your guestrooms?
What about iron and ironing board?
Do you supply power point converter and voltage converter?
What credit cards do you accept?
Can we settle our room bills other than using a credit card?
Can we use our calling or phone cards to make calls from your
guest rooms?
Do you have triple rooms?
Do you have family rooms that can accommodate four people?
Do you have connecting rooms?
Can we get back the VAT levied on our accommodation bills?
Do you have parking facilities?
Are there any animals in Aster House?
Is there daylight or windows in the rooms on the lower ground
floor?
May we have a very quiet room?
Are your rooms air-conditioned?
Is there an ice-machine?
What time can we have our reserved room?
What is the check-out time?
What are the sizes of your rooms
What if we prefer a larger room or a room on the lower / higher
floor?
Can we have a room with a king size bed?
Is it true that your bathrooms are small?
Can you arrange an airport pickup?
Is there an elevator in Aster House?
Q. How far is Aster House from the
nearest underground station?
A. We are about 3 minutes walk
away from the South Kensington Underground Station. The station is served by
Piccadilly Line, Circle Line and District Line. You can reach majority of
Q. Where is
A. South Kensington is located in
the south-western part of central
1.
It is one of the best residential districts in
2. It is commonly known as
"Museum-Land". The
3. It is also fondly known as
"Froggy-Land". Here you find a large French community, the French
Institute and the
4. The Royal Albert Hall, the
Albert Memorial, the Royal College of Music, the Royal College of Art and the
Imperial College of Science, Technology & Medicine are all "just up
the road".
Q. Are Harrods and Brompton Cross
within walking distance?
A. Harrods, fashion houses and
shops in Knightsbridge, the Conran Shop, famous restaurants and designers'
boutiques in Brompton Cross are all about 10 minutes walk away.
Q. What is a "bed and
breakfast"?
A. Bed and Breakfast
("B&B") is a hotel of sort! It is also commonly known as
"guesthouse" - mostly family run that provide reasonably priced
accommodation with breakfast included in the room rate. In general, B&Bs
have less ancillary facilities than a purposed built hotel, e.g. coffee shop,
restaurant and fitness centre. According to London Tourist Board - "
Aster House is a luxurious property on a small scale and was awarded a
prestigious rating of FIVE DIAMOND with a Silver Award by the English Tourism
Council ("ETC") under their Quality Assurance Scheme in January 2001.
The Award was reaffirmed in June 2002, October 2003 and February 2005 following
the annual inspection by ETC inspector.
Q. Can we have a
"no-smoking" room?
A. We are an entirely
"NO-SMOKING" establishment and smoking is strictly not permitted in
the House. Guests are advised of our policy at the time of booking.
Q. Do you have a restaurant or
provide room service?
A. We do not have a restaurant or
provide food and drink related room service. Old
Q. What time is
breakfast served?
A. Buffet AsterHouse Breakfast is
complimentary to in-house guests and is served only between 08:00 am to 09:30
am every morning in L'Orangerie, our conservatory.
Q. Can we have a price-break if we
were to miss breakfast?
A. Breakfast is complimentary and
therefore no price-break will be allowed.
Q. Can you arrange excursion tours
for us?
A. We will be pleased to arrange
excursion tours for you with Golden Tours.
Q. Is there a hairdryer in your
guestrooms?
A. There is a hairdryer in every
guestroom.
Q. What are the amenities in your
guestrooms?
A. Amenities in every of our
guestroom includes an en-suite bathroom (wc and shower or shower &
bathtub), a hairdryer, a remote-controlled colour TV (programmes include BBC1,
BBC2, ITV1, C4, C5, Euro-sport and CNN International), room safe, direct-dial
telephone, phone point for laptop computers, tea & coffee making facilities
and independently controlled air-conditioning.
Q. What about iron and ironing
board?
A. They are available on request.
Q. Do you supply power point
converter and voltage converter?
A. We will be pleased to loan you
a power point converter on request. However, we are not permitted to provide voltage
converters to our guests under our insurance policy. Please also be advised
that NOT all voltage converters work!!! If you intend to buy a voltage
converter for your hair-curler (most likely reason), it may be worth
considering buying a curler that has dual voltage (110v ~ 220v).
Q. What credit cards do you
accept?
A. Presently, we accept VISA and
MasterCard only.
Q. Can we settle our room bills
other than using a credit card?
A. We will be delighted to accept
cash or travellers cheques in any major currencies.
Q. Can we use our calling or phone
cards to make calls from your guestrooms?
A. Please feel free to make calls
from your room with your calling or phone cards, there is no charge for the
call provide the access number is toll-free (UK0800, not 1 800). Full
instructions can be found in the Directory in our guestrooms.
A. We do not have triple room.
However, we will be pleased to assist with a rollaway for child travelling with
two other persons in Room No. 1 and the Poster Suite.
Q. Do you have family room that
can accommodate four people?
A. We do not have quad or family
room. Three persons is the maximum number we can accommodate in Room No. 1 and the
Poster Suite.
Q. Do you have connecting rooms?
A. We do not have connecting rooms.
Where possible, we always allocate rooms that are next to or opposite one
another.
Q. Can we get back the VAT levied
on our accommodation bills?
A. VAT paid for services
"consumed" in the
Q. Do you have parking facilities?
A. We do not have parking
facilities at Aster House. There are several underground garages that are about
10 minutes walk away. The cost is GBP30.00 per day! Car parking is an extremely
expensive affair in central
Q. Are there any animals in Aster
House?
A. There are no cats, dogs,
rabbits and etc. with the exception of human, the two legged kind! We do,
however, have a small collection of ducks in our back garden.
Q. Is there daylight or windows in
the rooms on the lower ground floor?
A. There is daylight in all our
guestrooms. There are two superior rooms on our lower ground floor:
Poster Suite - A junior suite
with two large windows and a four-poster bed.
Garden Room – The room faces our
back garden and it has a patio door leading to a small patio area.
Q. May we have a very quiet room?
A. Aster House is situated in a
residential street off the
Q. Are your rooms air-conditioned?
A. YES! After two long years of
planning, we have finally completed the installation of a FULLY independently
controlled air-conditioning system at the end of March 2000. You select the
temperature best suits your preference and it can be hot or cold irrespective
of the weather outdoor. We are very proud to have completed this project -
there are not many "B&B" in
Q. Is there an ice-machine?
A. There is an ice-machine on our
2nd floor.
Q. What time can we have our
reserved room?
A. Your reserved room will be available
after 1:00 PM on the day of arrival. However, you are very welcome to arrive at
Aster House as soon as you are in town and leave your luggage with us.
Q. What is the check-out time?
A. Latest checkout time is 11:00
am on the day of departure. We will be pleased to hold your luggage until you
are ready for your onward journey.
Q. What are the sizes of your
rooms?
A. Our guestrooms are located
over five floors in a Victorian building. No one room is similar in size or
shape to another, the largest room has a four-poster bed and fully marble
bathroom with a bathtub.
Q. What if we prefer a larger room
or a room on the lower / higher floor?
A. We will always do our best to
meet your requirements and therefore please kindly inform us of your
requirements at the time when the reservation is made.
Q. Can we have a king size bed?
A. There is no king size bed in
Aster House. If a king size bed is your preference, may we suggest you book a
double/twin room where you will find there are 2 single beds side by side (overall
size = king).
Q. Is it true that your bathrooms
are small?
A. Our bathrooms are generally
smaller when compared to a purposed built hotel. There were no more than three
bathrooms in the building in its original state. When a bathroom is installed
into the guestroom, we have tried to allocate more space to the room itself and
as a result, most of the bathrooms are relatively smaller in size than we would
have liked. However, we believe it is adequate for its intended purposes. If
you prefer a larger bathroom, please ask for a superior room - the en-suite
bathroom also has a bathtub and is completely marble finished!
Q. Can you arrange an airport
pickup?
A. We will be delighted to make
the arrangement on your behalf. The cost of a pick up service from
Q. Is there an
elevator in Aster House?
A. There is NO elevator (known as
lift in
Up-dated on 4th March 2008