A more central location than Covent Garden for a night’s stay in the capital city and you’d most probably have to be in the Tower of London!

In fact this is exactly where we were headed when we motored down to London to soak up the atmosphere in Drury Lane, slap bang in the middle of London’s theatre land.

It’s a given. Parking is a nightmare in London but happily not on this occasion as a pre-booked space at the Covent Garden Travelodge eased that headache.

The Travelodge in Covent Garden is on two sites on either side of the road. We checked in at the one location then walked across to the other part, where there is also a 24-hour check in desk, to take the lift to our room on the top floor.

Settled in we gazed at the awesome London skyline view from our ninth floor room, picking out St Paul's, The Gherkin, The Cheese Grater and The Shard, then down to street level for some serious window shopping, before enjoying a snack and drink in the hotel’s spacious and comfortable bar and restaurant. It wasn’t long before we were in among a throng of returning theatre goers, who use the central hotel as a base, blethering about the shows that they had seen while clutching their programmes.

Fully bolstered (we were in fact fit to burst) after despatching our eat-as-much-as-you like breakfast, starting with fruit juice and cereal and ending with toast, with eggs, bacon, sausages, tomato, beans and tea in between, it was off to the Tower of London for us and joined along the way by thousands of others.

The ceramic poppy display in the grounds of the Tower - each flower representing a dead WWI soldier - is simply stunning. The respectful mass of people who converged on the site from all directions – we swarmed with one group across Tower Bridge - filed quietly and respectfully around chatting and clicking and looking.

A bit more shopping and off to the Vaux Wall bouldering centre in Vauxhall to see middle son compete for his university, UCL, in a climbing competition then to Camden for some alternative shopping before a meal and home.

Now, yes, you can go up and down to London in a day but why bother when you have the quite excellent, extremely comfortable and cost effective accommodation that Travelodge has on offer in one of the, if not the, best place for a festive break in the world.

JB