I'm a bit of a coffee snob, which hasn't been helped by the influx of coffee shops in London, where I live. Starbucks, Coffee Republic, Costa Coffee and dozens of other smaller chains. When Starbucks first bought Seattle Coffee Company a couple of years back and started changing the decor, I thought they were tacky and very over-priced, particularly based on my experiences of the New York branches. These seemed to me like the McDonald's of coffee, not somewhere I'd think of grabbing a brew and chilling out.
But...my opinions changed. Sure the food is still pretty bad, and extremely over-priced, but the coffee is priced comparably with other shops in London i.e. too high! The thing about Starbuck's that does it for me is the comfy sofas and most importantly the plethora of plug sockets at any of the shops with one of those large basement areas. I learnt the other day that they've actually put these in so people can plug-in their laptops and mobile phones if they're working away with their coffee. As I'm often in town between meetings with an hour to spare, it's not a bad place to plonk yourself down with a Tall Skinny Cap.
I hear some of the basement areas are challenging supermarkets as the new pick-up joints, but I've never witnessed it myself.
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Advantages: Brilliant location, modern rooms, clean and friendly. Disadvantages: None I can really think of, if I had to mention something it'd be the pricey internet.
Aug 4th, 2000
somewhat helpful by (100%):
