Sunny Carnaby Home | Double Bedroom 4pax | Quiet street 20 sec to shops

This brightly lit and stylishly designed cozy apartment is situated in a red brick period development 20 seconds' walk to Carnaby Street, which defines the London Soho scene with its eclectic and entertaining mix of restaurants, boutique shops and street life. This fully equipped modern apartment on a quiet pedestrianized cobbled street represents you living in the best of both worlds. There is a queen sized bed and an inflatable mattress big enough for an adult or two children, measuring 190 long x 125 wide.

Carnaby is also known for a famous public baths set in Marshall Street Baths holding today a 30.5 metre swimming pool. So began the 1846 Baths and Washhouses Act passed by the British Parliament to encourage local authorities to build public bathing areas. The Act came as a response to the growing number of citizens who were in severe need of bathing facilities and a place to launder their clothes. Public funds were used to finance these baths, not so much to offer a luxurious spa experience as for purposes of basic health and hygiene.

The Vestry of St. James took advantage of the Act and began to construct the Marshall Street Baths in 1850. The original proposal requested sixty- four pools and baths, and two large plunge baths (which women were allowed to use once a week, on Wednesdays from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m.). There was an extra charge for hot water.

The land cost £3,500, including a house for the superintendent, and in 1931 the Westminster Public Baths were opened to the public. Great attention was devoted to the main swimming pool, which was lined with white Sicilian marble, and further embellished by Swedish green marble used at either end. In a small niche in the shallow end was a bronze fountain depicting a merchild with two dolphins, designed by Walter Gilbert, a sculptor who also created a coat of arms for the gates of Buckingham Palace.

The baths were closed in 1997 for refurbishment that took over a dozen years. The 2010 reopening returned the baths to their former glory. The stunning pool retained its original design, with marble lining and its barrel-vaulted roof, offering swimmers a tunnel into the past.