illinileo

Our family of 5 (with boys ages 10, 12, and 14) will be traveling to Europe for a month next May/June, including 5 nights in London. I've found a few apartments that look like they'd work for our family. Since we're trying to stretch our budget over a month long trip, we'd like to spend less than $300 US/night, but realize that we may need to spend more for a bit better location. We don't mind sofa beds and smaller spaces, as any of the apartments we're looking at are much larger than a hotel.

Here are a few of the ones we're looking at- any input on the areas, etc would be really helpful!

Crescent Gardens:
http://www.vrbo.com/213898?cid=E_OWN...#-Ownerprofile

Others:
http://www.londonconnection.com/Prop...operty_id=684#

http://www.vrbo.com/369499

http://www.londonguestsuites.com/tem...y.cfm?apt=3080

http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/ren...-zone-1/177517

Thanks!

janisj

• The link to the first one should be http://www.vrbo.com/213898 It is not in Crescent Gardens (a wholly different part of London) it is in Randolph Crescent in Maida Vale. Not very central/convenient but not terrible.

• London Connection's flat in St Martin's Lane is very central

• Vrbo 369499 is also very central close to Covent Garden. (It may just be me-- but this one's listing is fairly off putting. Too gushy prose >><i><blue>This luxury London vacation rental allows you to experience the city with class; absorb all the excitement of the surroundings then seek refuge in the lavish tranquility of this stunning Covent Garden penthouse apartment. Capturing quintessentially chic serenity within its luxurious walls, this stunning London rental, set against the trendy backdrop of London West End is one of London's most fashionable retreats. Style is taken incredibly seriously here,</i></blue> ??? Come ON

• London Guest Suites flat listing doesn't say exactly where it is. But w/ Holborn being the nearest tube station it will be central/convenient

• The main sites near the Holiday Lettings flat are shopping shopping and more shopping

illinileo

any other thoughts (please!)

janisj

I thought I gave quite a few 'thoughts'. What else do you want to know?

zeppole

Well, maybe posters come here looking for more that one person's point of view. All travelers going to London are different and have unique needs, and this forum could be a good way to get a range of opinions about London if some people would just relax.

illineo,

I wouldn't be too concerned about advertising fluff. I'd focus more on whether the apartments will really be comfortable for your entire family for a 5-day stay.

The London Connection flat with its two bathrooms jumps out for me. I also like the fact it appears to have lots of light and elbow room.

Although the London Guest Suites apt sleeps 6, it doesn't look like 5 people could comfortably eat breakfast around that table, and in general the apartment looks underwhelming and bit tight.

Regarding the Holiday Lettings apt, any chance the 2 high-definition TVs, the playstaions, etc. will be too great a draw for your boys?

VRBO place looks dark to me, but the kitchen is a draw and so is the promise of quiet.

I wouldn't want to be in Maida Vale if you have a heavy-duty agenda for sightseeing the iconic sights or going to the theater in the evening. Only if you are die-hard Beatles fans.

walkabout

I like the London Connection flat, and the Covent Garden/Trafalgar Square area is my favorite location. However, unless I'm misreading it, there are only 3 beds, so it sleeps 4, not 5. Will one of your boys sleep on the sofa? (It doesn't say that it's a sofa bed). $400/night is a lot to pay if there aren't 5 beds. Also, the dining room only seats 4,too.

The VRBO covent Garden apartment looks pretty good, and it appears to be roomy.

The Holiday Lettings place has a minimum 7-day limit. Will that be an issue since you are only staying 5 days?

London Guest Suites also has a minimum 7-day stay. The apartment looks sterile and uninviting--there's nothing on the walls. Also, maybe it's the camera angle, but the foot of the twin beds appear to be flush against the wall. The whole apartment looks cramped to me.

Maida Vale is not as central as the other locations. Wouldn't be my first choice.

qwovadis

Dolphin House is a wonderfully quiet spot.The tranquillity is all the more surprising given its close proximity to Victoria, making it convenient for Westminster and ...

http://www.londontown.com/hotels/inf...n_house/154737

my fav...

BigRuss

Don't stop with what you have, check out A Place Like Home and some others - there are tons of london apartment rental sites. You ought to be able to find someplace for $300 or less per night with relative ease - I would not close the deal on that $400 per apartment. Check out areas like Bloomsbury, South Kensington, Southbank (near Waterloo East or London Bridge rail stations) and Regent's Park where you'll still be fairly well located and will pay FAR less than Mayfair or Trafalgar Sq areas.

BigRuss

And with three boys, the Imperial War Museum should be near the top of your must-see list.

janisj

z: I gave information about the locations of each flat. The OP responded to ask for more 'thoughts'. So I asked what else they wanted to know. Seems logical to me. Never suggested that others shouldn't/wouldn't reply. But it is hard to know what advice/info would be useful w/o any feedback . . .

bluestar

To stay within your targeted budget you have to find someplace that is £189/night or less, which is currently about $300. (£1300/week would approx. be your upper end that equates to $300/night) Of course you also have to make sure the place rents for less than 1 week periods; if a place lists only weekly rates, don't rule it our until you contact the owner/agency to ask if they can accept a 5-day stay. I think you can find someplace if you keep looking; maybe it won't be as charming or as centrally located as you had hoped for, but still fully adequate. Make sure the place you choose is well situated for a tube or bus stop. Even though most of the posted apartment reviews on an owner's page seem to accentuate the positive, try to read all reviews you can find about a property to get a better idea of any drawbacks. Seek out information that objectively describes the area/neighborhood where the property is located.

Here is one rental website you could check out. You can filter the search by max. price/location/#bedrooms/#people. (Here I chose London>£1000/week max/4+ persons)

http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/sea.../maxPrice/1000

illinileo

I should have been more specific about what I meant my "any other thoughts"- I was indeed hoping for input from additional folks. Thanks!

The london connection apartment is quoted at $350/night, so it's not quite as bad as the listing page shows. From what I've been able to find out, London Connection seems like an ok company to rent from.

I haven't heard back from the VRBO owner yet, so it might not even be available.

Dolphin house is not available for our stay (and seems a bit out of our budget)

BigRuss- The Imperial War museum is definitely on our agenda!


I'm looking at some of the other suggested sights now. Will be back soon with any new finds.

Thanks!

amamax2

We are renting with A Place Like Home next Spring, and although we haven't rented with them before, they have been great to work with so far.

I'm not sure if they rent for less than a week, but we emailed them our price range, what we were looking for, etc and they got back to us within a few days with a list of available ones.

I know that in their listings, the two bedrooms say four people, but many have couches that look like someone could sleep on them. So try emailing them and seeing what they say.

FYI: We usually would not hear from them over the weekend, so if you emailed today, don;t expect an answer till Mon, but during the week, we'd always hear back the next day.

illinileo

amamax2- thanks for the suggestion. I'll email them to see if they have anything.

amamax2

I just remembered another place that looked really good and came recommended by janisj, but they didn't have availability. They definitely have ones for up to six people with less than one week rentals - VERY reasonable. As janisj told me, she initially wouldn't have chosen this area (felt it was a bit too far out), but then stayed here and now feel sit is a great area. It is over by Tower of London and looks like a beautiful area if you street-view it.

www.hamletuk.com

Keep us posted!

illinileo

Ok, here's what I'm looking at now. I'm leaning towards the london connection apartment, just a little concerned that it might be a bit loud. The bedrooms are on the back of the apartment, so it shouldn't be too bad. Please let me know what you think of the locations especially. Thanks!

http://www.londonguestsuites.com/tem...y.cfm?apt=3080

http://www.londonconnection.com/Prop...ity=1&log_op=1

http://www.vrbo.com/168792?cid=E_OWN...url_text_LPROP

http://www.castletownhouse.co.uk/

bluestar

The 1st one (London Guest Suites) states "Minimum Stay: 7 days".

The 2nd one (London Connection) is over one-third higher in price than the maximum you had hoped to spend per day.

The 3rd one (vrbo) is at or above your price limit. Looks good though and Covent Garden w/ its central location and maze of streets would be a good area to stay. The owner didn't give a map for the listing but indicates the flat is on Shelton Street. Here's a general map of the area: http://www.londontown.com/LondonStre...treet_c79.html

[for all places you are considering, you should "take a stroll" around the location by using StreetView in google maps]

The 4th one (Castletown House) is within your budget and looks like a good value for one of the 2-bedrm apartments (there are 2, I'd go with the Garden one). The location isn't as central but not bad and is close to a tube station. Also in its favor is that there are no 'terrible' or 'poor' rated reviews from the many on tripadvisor, which is rather rare.

Given the choices and your budget, I'd personally pick the vrbo or the Castletown.

Mimar

I like the VRBO and the London Connection ones because both have washer/dryers, highly desireable when traveling with boys. I feel like I'd want more info about the Castletown one, and its location is less desireable. With only 5 nights/4 days and so much to see in London, central is better.

Have you found reviews of the VRBO one? Other than the reviews on the VRBO site? I'm a little sceptical about renting directly from owners.

illinileo

The London guest suites apartment is available for a 5 night stay, and is $300/night for 5 people.

The London Connection apartment is above what I had planned to spend, but is quoted at under $400/night. Itseems like it's in a really central location, which is worth something when trying to drag 3 boys around! I am still leaning towards this one.

The VRBO unit is also also about the same price as the london connection apartment, but again the location looks good, and looks close to a tube stop. I found one good review on Slow Travel, and one unhappy review about a last minute cancellation on another site.

There are lots of great reviews on TripAdvisor for the Castletown apartments. The location is close to a tube stop, but not necessarily where we wanted to be.

I'm open to any other suggestions, otherwise I'll probably choose between the first 3 for location.

BigRuss

Careful, that London Connection one seems small - those rooms look small through a fisheye lens. And anything near 400 per is really overpriced outside of Mayfair.