Last month I went to Glasgow for the weekend. Poor impulse control following a week in which I was tired and my foot hurt and I went chasing a friendly face.
I went looking for somewhere to stay and as per usual, despite my loathing for them, I went for booking.com and found an apartment for a good price. A really good price. About the same as the room I had the first night in Reykjavik. I don’t think I’ve mentioned that yet. It was the annexe house belonging to a guesthouse/hostel, it was in the attic, accessed via a set of stairs so steep it was virtually a ladder, difficult to get a 13kg duffel bag up & almost impossible to get back down, one window in the ceiling but it was fine because the ceiling was so low that the window was the only place I could stand upright.
And for that price, I could have an entire apartment in Glasgow!
Now. It’s right by the train line which I noticed while luxuriating in the bath but didn’t notice once I’d crawled into bed, thankfully. It’s a little tattered around the edges but it takes a while before you look that closely. And it’s in Pollokshields, not central Glasgow. But it’s amazing!
In real life, I could never afford this place. Why they’re letting it out so short-term is beyond me. Yes, you can charge more for a series of holiday rentals than a longish-term lease but that relies on you keeping it fully booked. And on charging more than I’ve been charged! And two-day rentals are almost more expensive in post-stay cleaning than they’re worth. But none of that was my decision, I just jumped on the opportunity.
First there’s a huge hallway. I think it’s wasted space. I think you can turn this into a two-bed relatively easily. At the very least, I’d line the hall with bookshelves.
Then there’s the living space. Two big leather sofas, one L-shaped at one end, along with big TV, Sky box, wifi and a printer.
Other end is a kitchen, complete with toaster and in the cupboards are all the cooking equipment you could possibly want, all the tea you could possibly want and all the cleaning products you could possibly want. Plus a huge fridge and a dining table with four chairs. The whole thing is that Adrian Mole/bachelor colour scheme of black and chrome with grey walls. I wouldn’t chose it myself because I’m something of a unicorn and would turn it into a riot of colour but I appreciate that it does look good.
The bathroom has an actual bath plus two giant towels plus a cupboard of shampoo and bath stuff. Again with the black & grey colour scheme.
And the bedroom. Double bed, of course, black leather-effect curtains, big built-in wardrobe… and bright red carpet. That’s more my style.
I can picture myself entertaining here. Don’t go drinking in Glasgow, let’s get some beers and go back to my place. Yes, it’s great. No, I could never afford it for real.
As for the weekend… well, I planned to spend it in Glasgow. But I was less than two weeks back from Iceland and still limping and it is nice to spend a weekend chilling in your own big monochrome apartment eating real food.
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