erach

My wife and I are planning a trip to London in June. we are an older couple and have found a coiple of apartments where we can have a private room. Since we are going to London for the first time, we want to know from members about the safety of the two areas where these apartments are located.
1. Commercial Street, London, E1
2. Henshaw street, London, SE17

I believe these are both in Zone 1, and are convenient for touristy areas.

Any comments would be appreciated.

janisj

>>Henshaw street, London, SE17<<

No

>>Commercial Street, London, E1

Probably no - what is the full postal code?

Safety isn't your issue - it is convenience (neither location is all that convenient) and surroundings.

What is your actual budget?

PatrickLondon

Henshaw St is in the back end of Elephant and Castle/Walworth. Not unsafe, and in the throes of gentrification. Not bad for public transport connections, but a fairly workaday sort of area at best. More important, it's not too far from a massive old public housing estate which is in the process of being demolished and replaced, so I imagine there will be a fair amount of building traffic in the streets round about, even if not necessarily in this street.

Commercial St, on the other hand, runs past the Spitalfields Market area. At each end of it, it becomes a bit dull and downmarket as it connects with other main roads; again not unsafe, but depending on exactly where the property is, there may be traffic noise and possible disturbance from crowds attending the Sunday markets. The general vibe is very much on the arty/trendy side, though the rest of the gentrification wave is sweeping in as well and it will soon become as bland as that sounds.

However, being that far east, it depends on which "touristy areas" you have in mind. Convenient for the Tower and St Paul's, it'll be a fair old trek to the West End for theatres and shopping and even further to the Kensington museums. In a sense, nowhere is convenient to them all, but this is a bit on the edge. If you can stand commuting half an hour or more, then it wouldn't be a bad place to stay; but it depends what you want to see.

nytraveler

I'm not sure why you would want to rent a room in someone else's apt - you are subjecting yourself to the vagaries and lifestlye of people you know nothing about. Why not just rent a studio apt from a one of the commercial agencies? You will have the benefits of a kitchen without being stuck in a small apartment with total strangers.

And can find one in a much more central location, wasting much less of your vacation on trekking to and fro comparatively remote areas.

PalenQ

I've walked around both those rather gritty looking areas many times and they seem as safe as any place in London - crimes against tourists - pickpockets - IME are less than in most major European tourist cities but if it does happen it will happen in major tourist areas - both are excellent locations in terms of being close to the tourist center - very walkable if you want to many sights.

erach

Food for thought. We also found a place in North London in West Hendon, close to Brent Cross shopping center. It appears to be a good area. Any thoughts on sf?

latedaytraveler

Hi Erach,

I agree with NYtraveler - "I'm not sure why you would want to rent a room in someone else's apt - you are subjecting yourself to the vagaries and lifestlye of people you know nothing about."

Let me be frank - that sounds like a nightmare scenario to me. Given your outlay to travel to London, I would think you would explore a less expensive hotel room in central London where you can have PRIVACY and easily access the major sites. You will receive ton of suggestions on this board on that subject.

Enjoy London...

PalenQ

West Hendon is a long commute from central London - not conducive to going back to during the day - over 20 minutes on the notorious Northern Line - one of London's oldest in the center and prone to disruptions I believe, unless remedied in the past few years..

erach

I agree that a hotel room may be private, but I am having a difficult time finding something reasonable in the center in third week of June. I found one on Erlanger Road near New Cross Gate tube station. It is in zone 2, in southeast part of London.

flanneruk

"It [Brent Cross]appears to be a good area."

Good for what?

For rapidish access to Northern Britain by road, or to Luton Airport, it's fine. For access to the kosher restaurants of Golders Green, perfectly reasonable, if possibly a bit far to walk on Sabbath (though presumably London's heaviest density of formally dressed people on foot in the area most Saturdays means it's handy for lots of local orthodox Jews to get to synagogues). For Hindus, handy to Europe's biggest temple: for expatriate Swedes, handy to Britain's best meatball and pytt i panna cafeteria: for expatriate Japanese, pointless now the Japanese restaurant complex has disappeared.

For lots of people, a reasonable place to commute to work from.

For tourists? A truly surreal choice, frankly, unless you're writing a thesis on London's complex suburban cultures.

What's wrong with staying in proper London?

janisj

Erach: >>We also found a place in North London in West Hendon, close to Brent Cross shopping center. It appears to be a good area. Any thoughts on sf?<<

No, you don't want to stay near Brent Cross. Again - what is your budget? There may be something in the center of things that is w/i your budget. Also - what website(s) are you using? Some are more reliable than others. And - when asking about a specific property, include the full postal code (if you have it). This would be something like SE17 3JE, or E1 6BJ

BigRuss

Good gosh. <b>Will you post your nightly budget already?</b>

Do so and you'll get great suggestions. There are ton(ne)s of people on this board who know London areas and transport and you've heard from some already.

There are numerous options in London that are far superior to the three you've come up with.

PatrickLondon

Nor right out by New Cross Gate. It's not a "bad" area, but again, not very interesting and not offering easy access to anywhere much that you might want to go (apart from Greenwich, and - if you've a spare half hour on a Saturday afternoon - Deptford High St market).

erach

Thanks for all the posts. We are looking at a nightly budget of$130 per night. I was told to look for a place in zone 1.

janisj

zone 1 is the entire center section of Greater London. But simply being (barely) inside zone 1 doesn't mean much one way or the other. Specific location is everything.

$130 = approx £75. That is pretty low for London and the best budget properties do book up far in advance so you may have to hunt. Check out travelodge. Most of their central London properties will be over your budget but several are less and there are often special offers.

Also check out londontown.com

How long are you staying?

evecolorado

Thanks for adding your budget. Now--what are your dates?

Here is a place and if you scroll down, you can see what dates are free in June: http://holidaylondonapartments.com/C...-Bedroom-45536

You'll be much happier staying in this area than the ones you've been looking at.

BigRuss

You're not being helped by the falling dollar. If you can swing 90 quid per (about $150) then you may have even more options.

ElendilPickle

Janisj's Travelodge suggestion is good.

You might want to consider a private room in a YHA hostel. www.yha.org.uk There are several in London which could meet your needs. We've met travelers of all ages in hostels and, almost always, we've been very pleased with our accomodations.

Lee Ann

PalenQ

Also check out university lodgings if students are on break - better than a youth hostel with large groups of adolescents running amok.

http://halls.london.ac.uk/visitor-accommodation

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/residences

http://www.westminster.ac.uk/busines...-accommodation

http://golondon.about.com/od/londonh...lege-Rooms.htm

Well you are probably looking for a proper hotel but these can be a unique and well-located budget place to stay.

janisj

PQ makes good suggestions --- most are slightly above the OPs budget, but unfortunately some are much higher.