Airb&b cancelled 🤷‍♀️ Need Canary Wharf holiday apartments help

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I am really unfamiliar with London and asking for some help organising our stay please.

As it says on the title my friend booked holiday stay ages ago and the owner has just cancelled. I am quite sickened about it.

We need a flat around Canary Wharf area - this area has been selected as we thought it would be safe and convenient and we will be travelling with one 10 child after a friend recommended it.

The notification has just come through that the apartment is cancelled, no explanation, nothing.
Ive spent all day looking for an alternative but o have NO idea, I don’t know London at all.
Could anyone help please?

Dates are 24 July to 31 July. 2 adults one child.
As reasonable as possible, £1300 or under if possible.

An apartment will give us some space and be cheaper to do breakfast/lunches. Maybe two adjoining rooms in a hotel would work??

We just want to do the London touristy things, will be unfamiliar with tubes and so on too.

Any help please.

https://www.airbnb.com/slink/ecl2S6Qo

This in St John’s Wood? Well connected, nice area. You might want to ask about the bedrooms as it says 2 but only one is pictured so not sure if the second is actually the sitting room.

Also agree with pp that Canary Wharf is really well connected but do check that the place is actually in Canary Wharf as when you search a lot of places are miles away.

Thanks everyone.
Getting no where with Airb&b giving any assistance, actually they are saying it’s down to us because we hadn’t updated personal details.
But that’s utter nonsense as my friend uses them all the time and the accommodation that cancelled now can’t be booked at all. It’s all so fishy.
Strangely the more I look at Canary Wharf the more I really want to go - it looks like a lovely area and great places around it.
I’ll spend another night looking 🙄

I suspect Airbnb doesn’t stop hosts pulling out, especially this far out. The flat might have been sold, the owner have family visitors that week, a major refit is happening, the owner lost their overseas job and is returning home, etc. Airbnb is an agent, they don’t own or control the properties.

If you are on the doorstep of the flat and no one is there to let you in and the owner has cancelled very last minute or not even cancelled at all, they probably help for reputation reasons, but I don’t think there is anything they can do at this point.

Yes I think you are absolutely correct. They are so far from interested it’s slightly shocking.

Thud has been a real wake up call because I never dreamt they would/could cancel. I know there’s a cancellation policy but I actually thought if booking Airb&b as secure as booking a hotel. It’s actually nothing like it. We’ve never encountered any issues before but from google searches I see it’s a very common occurrence.
I am looking still, things coming up are either over budget or depressing looking tbh, or not in a safe/convenient part of Csnary Wharf and I’ll be by myself with a child trying to learn to navigate London!
But fingers crossed something will come up very soon.

Not canary wharf—its dead, dead, dead!

What do you mean?

Dead = not much going on. It’s a place you would live if you work in Canary Wharf, long hours and you just want a modern box to rest your head.

This isn’t entirely true - there are some nice restaurants and bars (aimed at the bankers etc who work there). But it isn’t exactly a big going out area. It also feels very different to most of London.

Actually I know quite a few people who live in and around Canary Wharf who don't work there, and are actually raising their families there. Because it's one of the safest places in London and has good family-friendly facilities. There are nurseries, schools, kids activities etc. It's not just bankers. 🙄

It's also a shopping destination for a lot of people at weekends (and even during the week) and has been for a good 10-15 years now.

If the Op wants to go clubbing, then yes it's dead but given she's with her child, I don't think the lack of 1am venues will be an issue. And even then, it's only 15 mins into the West End on the Elizabeth line.

I agree. I don’t think it’s a bad place to stay. Just explaining what the pp meant by dead?

I imagine the families don’t live in Canary Wharf itself but more Mudchute/greater Isle of Dogs?

I know several families living within a few mins walk from the actual Wharf. Their kids go to nurseries in Canada Place.

I also really wouldn’t describe it as dead. It’s actually really busy but in the wrong ways if that makes sense. Stations are really busy morning and evening rush hour. The malls are busy at lunchtime. Thursday/Friday evening especially if the suns out it’s heaving with people drinking outside the bars. It’s more years than I’ll admit since I lived near there (worked there more recently though!) but there was usually a decent number of weekend shoppers too. I just think it’s soulless, it’s all chain shops and you could be anywhere, except for the fact that you know it’s Canary Wharf because there’s nowhere else (except maybe the Chicago Pedway) that’s that confusing to navigate underground. Restaurants are mostly chains too and the few better exceptions are aimed at more of a business crowd so not massively child friendly. Loved working there but unless you were getting a really good deal on accommodation I wouldn’t stay there as I don’t think it has much going for it from a tourist perspective, and it just doesn’t feel like London.

I’m surprised people think it’s safe. It’s fine in the day but at night it’s completely different. My friend has just moved out as she has young children and felt uncomfortable walking home with them in the dark. It’s the only place in London I’ve witness a mugging (again at a night). It’s a very different place when the workers go home. I was there yesterday at lunch and it was absolutely rammed. It’s fine if you like shops and chain restaurants, but it definitely feels more ‘out of town’ shopping centre than being in proper London.

This is concerning 😳
I’m not familiar with London but I always understood it to be a relatively safe place, maybe as you say, when the workers have gone home this isn’t as safe as other more touristy areas.
TBH I’m fed up with it all.
People on here have been great.
It’s making a decision and my friend, whose trip we kindly piggybacking on, wants Canary Wharf.
Air b&b not playing nice though

It’s perfectly safe OP, it has its own private security.

I felt safer there than any of the other areas I lived in London

This looks nice in Canary Wharf for those dates if you can manage with a 1 bed plus sofa bed- will be in budget- wouldn't pick Canary Wharf either as it's dull but it is well connected.

https://www.booking.com/hotel/gb/marlin-apartments-canary-south.en-gb.html?age=7&aid=898224&apphotellid=36441&checkin=2024-07-24&checkout=2024-07-31&fromsn=ios&grouppadults=2&groupchildren=1&label=hotellpictures-WXZAH0%401715942372&norooms=1&reqqadults=2&reqage=7&reqq_children=1&room1=A%2CA%2C7%2C

This also looks good OP

https://www.booking.com/hotel/gb/lanterns-way.en-gb.html?age=7&aid=898224&apphotellid=5572464&checkin=2024-07-24&checkout=2024-07-31&fromsn=ios&grouppadults=2&groupchildren=1&label=hotelldetails-Tld1Wd%401715943030&norooms=1&reqqadults=2&reqage=7&reqq_children=1&room1=A%2CA%2C7%2C

Exactly. The actual Canary Wharf estate is privately owned and has some very serious security measures. Everything is on camera (which are closely monitored), and there are security staff around the estate at all times. They monitor everything, even people taking photos of buildings (in case it's a potential terror threat).

There are some areas on the Isle of Dogs which may feel a little more rough late at night (deserted streets rather than threats) but they're actually completely fine. Just take the usual precautions that you would in any city.

Thanks so much everyone, really appreciate all input

It is safe. But nowhere is immune from crime and I guess if you want a crowd with a lot of nice watches that’s one place you’re guaranteed to find it. I really wouldn’t be concerned about safety! My coming and goings are more normal these days but I used to work a god awful reception job with shifts there as a student and I’d be walking to work in the dark at 6am through empty streets and sometimes home at like midnight post drinks in varying states of sobriety and always absolutely fine. I’ve also never heard of anything dodgy happening to anyone, colleague or friend, that wasn’t self inflicted drunkeness! They have security guards and everything is very closely monitored.

And yeah it’s not my favourite area but if that’s where your mate feels comfortable and it’s what’s needed to make the trip happen then go for it!

Canary Wharf really isn’t a bad choice. It’s not central London it’s true, but tubes are fast and there are lots of nice places to eat and fun things to do in Canary Wharf itself. There is a free music festival - not sure of the dates but worth looking on the Canary Wharf website.
Always reminds us of our time in east Asia, so it doesn’t feel that London-y, but it’s nice in itself definitely.
good things for kids there too like the par cour centre, trampolining and indoor assault courses.
also pretty easy to get to the O2 and North Greenwich which had the cable car etc - also lots to do here and quieter than town.
you talk about safety a lot. London isn’t a dangerous city IME - it’s not Joburg or Cairo. I don’t think you need to worry too much about this.

be aware though that most of the tube is not air conditioned in summer and it’s extremely uncomfortable when it’s more than 25 degrees outside.

Thanks so much for your message. I got sorted with a booking this evening and am content with it.
It cost a bit more than the other but we needed to shit or get off the pot - book something and stop bemoaning that the other place had cancelled or just not go. So I booked and it’s great.
This post has really made me think - okay now on with the planning!!!
So thanks for that. My boy would love par cour, trampoline, indoor assault ranges - we live very rurally and do it’s a huge adventure that we’re lucky to be going on!!
I’ll start to look to see what’s about where we are and in London, it’ll be great. This thread has really been a great support, that you all 💗