Celebrate and stay somewhere special!

Many guests who enjoy a bed and breakfast stay at Number 68 in Milton Keynes have a wonderful surprise when they visit nearby Stony Stratford, a beautiful old market town which is packed full of character & history. The community, with the help of the local business association, work very hard to enjoy celebrating local and national events and, as you can see from the picture below (Daily Mail), they can certainly fly a flag or two.

The Roman Road, Watling Street, runs through the town and, if you believe the locals, "Cock & Bull" tales with gossip and rumour, began from the Cock & Bull Hotels, both former coaching inns on what was once a major route between London and Chester; at one time up to 250 coaches a day stopped off.


Thankfully there is no super injunction to prevent us revealing to you what is described as Britain's best kept secret of World War II - Bletchley Park. Just 50 miles north of London, in the code breaking centre known as "Station X", thousands of people worked tirelessly to decode and analyse German messages. Decoding was carried out with the help of Colossus, the world's first electronic computer processor and visitors to Bletchley Park can today see for themselves a working reconstruction of this processing machine, a forerunner to computers of today.

Visitors to Bletchley Park include international bed & breakfast guests from Number 68 who travel to Milton Keynes for many reasons, sometimes business but often pleasure & leisure purposes including concerts at the Milton Keynes National Bowl, the Stables Theatre Wavendon and motor sport at Silvertstone (F1 & Moto Grand Prix).

Read what a few of our more recent guests have had to say:

"A great stay again. Top hosts and breakfast. Every town & city should have one" P&G, Derbyshire, June 2011.

"Excellent stay, very helpful in finding my way around" MM, Netherlands, May 2011.

"Thank you for a wonderful stay. You both made us feel very welcome" P,J,E&B, Kent, April 2011.

"I've lived 10 months here, you are amazing, nice people, great in many things, gracias!" NF, Spain, March 2011.

Stay in comfort at Number 68 Bed & Breakfast, it looks like you wont be disappointed!

Hot town, summer in the city

Once again April arrives, the sun comes out and it's time for the first barbecue of the year - before Easter! Will it be an early summer once again this year as we enjoy the weather of April and May?

In the garden cherry and plum trees have blossomed with petals long fallen to the ground like confetti after a wedding. Now white pear tree blossom is fluttering down, either in the gentle breeze or when birds perch on a branch to feed. The apple tree has a full covering of blossom and so we are hoping for another year of good crops to produce the homemade organic jams, desserts and fruit dishes on offer to Bed & Breakfast guests at Number 68.

When guests sit down for breakfast, often they watch the squirrel gathering nuts, burying them around the garden to keep the hidden from the foraging birds - blackbirds in particular seem to be looking for them all day long.

Outside the ground-floor Stannard Suite, on the pergola above the patio, the doves are nesting again and, just beyond an apple tree, the blue tits can be observed popping in and out of their nesting box.

All our guests seem to love the peace and quiet when they stay at Number 68 with many of them returning to enjoy the hospitality and delicious food on offer.

This year, when tens of thousands will be descending on Milton Keynes for the Foo Fighters concerts at the National Bowl a stay in MK is now seemingly impossible. The majority of people gain entry to the National Bowl via a pedestrian route next to Milton Keynes Central railway station.

Based on experience of concerts in past years, we would expect trains to be running after the show ends. For those who guests who were hoping to stay at the fully booked Number 68 Bed and Breakfast our advice is to consider looking for somewhere to stay to the north of MK - take the train to Northampton or maybe a taxi to Towcester, about 10-miles (pre-booking is advised).

While visiting Milton Keynes you might be surprised to discover the contrasts between the old and new parts of the area. Travel around on a network of footpaths/cycle routes ("redways"), a "grid-road" network, labelled with H (Horizontal) and V (Vertical) numbers linking all those infamous roundabouts or taking a walk along an older route by the Grand Union Canal and River Ouse which are both within easy walking distance of Number 68 B&B.

To avoid disappointment when you want to use accommodation in Milton Keynes, book early. With the 2012 Olympics on the horizon, accommodation near to London in the UK will be in high demand, especially for places as consistently highly rated as Number 68 - see for yourself and checkout one of the many reviews published online.

At Booking.com, guests rate the B&B as "Exceptional" with a magnificent score of 9.7 out of a possible 10. Nowhere else is rated as highly with the 9.7 score being the highest rating of any Booking.com hotel, guest house or B and B listed in Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire or Hertfordshire.

LateRooms.com customers give a 100% Customer Recommendation as do reviewers on Trip Advisor.com. The local website, MKWeb also shows high approval scores of 4.7 out of 5.

If you are reading this as a past guest of Number 68, we'd welcome your comments too, please tell us what you think about your stay - write a review of Number 68 at Trip Advisor or contact us directly.

Thank you to everyone who has made the effort to express their opinion.

Foo Fighters concert in Milton Keynes

Tickets for the Foo Fighters concerts on July 2 & 3 2011 at Milton Keynes Bowl go on sale this Friday, November 5 at 9am unless you happen to be an O2 customer that is.

Tickets are being made available exclusively for 02 customers 48 hours earlier, from 9am on November 3, that's 2 days before they go on general sale. O2 customers wanting to find out more, should visit the O2 website.

When you have your ticket, that's the time to start thinking about where to stay in Milton Keynes. So many people simply left it too late to book a room for the Prodigy concert earlier this year. Number 68 Bed and Breakfast had telephone enquiries for accommodation while the concert was on and afterwards as people decided to avoid the late night queues for the journey home but rooms at this popular B and B were booked months before, shortly after tickets went on sale.

The MK Bowl, also known as the "National Bowl" has a capacity of 65,000 so it is easy to understand why people were looking for a place to stay as far away as Northampton, Bedford, Luton and Dunstable.

Some of our regular readers might be asking "who are the Foo Fighters?" No, it's not a reference to the strange blobs of light (which today we call UFOs) reported by pilots in WWII!.

You can find out a lot more here but if you have heard of "grunge" band Nirvana or remember this album cover then you are starting to get the picture.

After the death of Nirvana founder, singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain the band's long-lasting drummer Dave Grohl, himself a multi-instrumentalist, went on to record a new album, playing almost all of the instruments on every track himself. The album was called Foo Fighters and the band was formed to promote it.

6 albums later they have 6 Grammy nominations and 3 Grammy awards for Best Rock Album. It might not be your cup of tea but the music they play seems to be somewhat difficult to, categorise as it is described as "modern rock", "alt-rock" and even "post-grunge".

Talking of tea, at Number 68 there is an impressive selection that is hard to beat - white, black, green, fruit and herbal infusions are there for you to choose as part of the extensive breakfast menu, featuring homegrown, local and organic produce (subject to seasonal availability) to help start your day. Guests are very impressed with their breakfast and many aspects of their stay, the comments, from guests around the world, include "brilliant breakfast", "yummy breakfast", "fantastic breakfast" and "Oh my, what a breakfast!!!!".

If you want to find out more why so many people have been impressed, get in touch to arrange a time when you can pop in for a cup of tea and see for yourself where to stay in Milton Keynes.

And the answer is amazing....Milton Keynes

Prepare to be amazed - the answer to any and all the following 10 questions is "Milton Keynes" - a unique place, full of firsts, bulging with the biggest and best.

If you want to find out more about any of the answers, just click on one of the highlighted links to reveal the details.

Where, in 1985, did the first purpose-built multiplex cinema open as part of the Point entertainment complex?

Which town was chosen as the site for first NHS direct service?

59,000 illuminated signs & lights can be found where?

Where is the largest B&Q DIY store in Europe, 188,000 sq ft?

Where is the largest Asda-Walmart store in Europe, 110,000 sq ft?

Where are 250,000,000 daffodil bulbs planted (That's right - Two Hundred & fifty million!

Within which town boundary will you find 3 ancient woodlands, 4,000 acres of parkland, over 20 million trees, 11 miles of canal and 15 lakes?

Where was the UK's first active solar house built?

Where was "Watling Gold" brewed to commemorate the oldest Roman gold coin found in Britain?

Where is the only church in the country with a gunpowder licence?

Where to visit? When searching for a truly amazing destination, Milton Keynes is the answer. The countryside surrounds MK and with parklands, lakes, river and canal flowing through and the town centre offers more than shopping with plenty of arts, entertainment, sport and leisure activities to watch or take part in.

Where to stay? Number 68 Bed and Breakfast is an amazing place to stay according to many satisfied B and B guests. They have tourist information available for guests and can help with travel advice, where to walk and explore plus details about the WWII Engima Codebreakers at Bletchley Park, Silverstone Grand Prix, Towcester racing, Stony Stratford, Stowe, Wolverton, Bradwell Abbey, Woburn & Xscape.

When to go? How about a relaxing breakaway weekend soon? You can check availability online, call direct on +44 (0)1908 221090 or email info@number68mk.co.uk.

Milton Keynes at the crossroads

"Are we there yet?" may have been the chorus as travellers criss-crossed England looking for a staycation location but when you come to Number 68 Bed & Breakfast and Milton Keynes you will have arrived at last!

Travelling to Milton Keynes for business or pleasure should be easy as it is centrally located in the Heart of England, at a crossroads halfway between Birmingham and London (England's two largest cities) and in the middle of the Oxford to Cambridge arc.

• Road - only an hour away from London, Birmingham, Oxford or Cambridge
  
  


• Rail - London 30-45 minutes, Birmingham 51 minutes





• Coach & Bus - National routes link to Milton Keynes Coachway





• Air - London Luton Airport is 30 minutes by car





• Bike - National Cycle Routes 51 (East/West) & 6 (North/South) meet in MK





• Water - Grand Union Canal from London to Birmingham

The M1, the UK's first long distance motorway, runs from London to the North and Junctions 13 and 14 serve MK. Close by to Number 68 is the A5, Roman "Watling Street" which runs from London, via St Albans up to the Welsh port of Holyhead.

Some even say that Milton Keynes is the birthplace of the industrial revolution! In 1792 along the A5, at the Bull Hotel in Stony Stratford High Street, a public meeting was held to launch and promote the plans for the proposed Grand Junction Canal which became the main waterway between London and Birmingham, bringing the goods down south from the industrial midlands and North of England.

The East to West rail link provided easy access to Bletchley for the academics of Oxford and Cambridge and was a primary reason for locating Station X at Bletchley Park during the Second World War. Unfortunately the Beeching cuts in the 1960s put paid to parts of the passenger link but, as is the case in many areas of the country, pressure grows for the line to be re-opened. It only needs funding from the public purse so don't hold you breath anytime soon!

North/South, the West Coast main line from London to Glasgow has many Inter-City services stopping at Central Milton Keynes. Work has commenced on the new Network Rail national centre on the site of the "old" National Hockey Stadium and a former home to MK Dons football club - the plans appear to show an exciting landmark building.

The new Coachway facility continues to light up the sky at night near M1 Junction 14 - if only it were open! Several delays during the construction process have put the opening back until "late Autumn 2010" - oh well, at least the temporary Coachway at Campbell Park is still an improvement on the old Coachway. The signage to show that you've arrived in MK needs to improve though - some guests recently got back on to the coach and continued their journey, ending up in London! Stagecoach, National Express and Virgin run regional and national services in and out Milton Keynes.

Many routes lead to Milton Keynes and, when looking for accommodation or a place to stay, Number 68 Bed and Breakfast is 100% recommended by travellers on Tripadvisor.com. The latest review states "the rooms are very comfortable and modern with all of the amenities that would be expected, delivered in a more homely style than would be the case in a larger Boarding House or Hotel". When looking for the "Best Bed and Breakfast ever" or a b and b in milton keynes, don't take our word for it, take those of our guests - read comments online from visitors from not just the UK but all over the world, as far away as Australia, USA and India to mention just a few countries.

A prodigious time!

It's Prodigy in Milton Keynes day plus one! 65,000, mostly young or young at heart people, have now come and gone from The National Bowl in MK after a memorable, fantastic day of music according to the fans who stayed for B&B at Number 68. Using Government estimated figures, that's a population of around 300,000 for 1 day in Milton Keynes! Truly amazing!!

Was it really only 4 or 5 years ago when Bon Jovi, Robbie Williams, Green Day, Oasis & Take That played here? The days when Bowie, Queen, Jackson, Springsteen, Genesis & Simple Minds played the Bowl are now no more than a distant memory and with no more concerts at the Bowl in the diary, seem unlikely to be repeated

The prodigious amount of telephone calls and emails asking about accommodation continued through the concert and afterwards, into the night! On concert day, 24th July, we had more than 20 enquiries for a room but we were fully booked from virtually the moment when tickets first when on sale last November. Once again showing how important it is to make an early booking when you want to stay in popular Bed and Breakfast accommodation such as Number 68.

Visitors travel to the destination of Milton Keynes from around the world, some on business and others for leisure, either to see family, friends or take in a show. It's almost two years to the day before the 2012 London Olympics open on 27th July 2012 - people living in the south east of England are lucky enough to be able to travel from home but those living outside of the region who might need a place to stay should really be thinking about which guest house or B&B to stay at and maybe even booking now to avoid disappointment!

This month has seen an equally prodigious rise in the number of hits and visitors to the Number 68 Bed & Breakfast website - some days show over 4,000 hits and as many as 120 visits each day! Would you believe that the most popular hour of the day for people to look at our B and B website is between 20:00 and 21:00 hours?

Although the MK International Festival has also drawn to a close this weekend, it's not too late for a "a voyage into a fairytale world on The Magical Menagerie" which is staying around until 8th August. Next to the centre:mk in a car park, near to The Point multiplex cinema, you will discover a huge, square carousel with rider operated mechanical creatures, including gigantic buffalo, exotic fish and brightly coloured insects.

Exceptional - Official!

According to Booking.com, Number 68 Bed & Breakfast is rated as exceptional, with 9.7 out of 10 score awarded on average by their customers. Cheers everyone, thank you!

Across Bucks, Beds, Herts, Oxon & Northants only 3 places to stay have reached this extraordinary level of customer satisfaction, in fact no other establishment in any of the counties mentioned has bettered the score of 9.7!

Your hosts, David & Amanda, are delighted to have received so many generous comments from their B&B guests and look forward to making new friends or renewing old acquaintances when you come to stay!

These last 3 months have been very busy at this particular guest house, particularly with events taking place at Silverstone and the National Bowl, here in Milton Keynes. Sorry to everyone who we have not been able to fit in during this time. If you know your plans in advance, now's the time to start booking for Autumn, special event dates for 2011 are already starting to fill-up although we haven't had any enquiries for the Olympics in 2012 yet!!