LNWC

Good Morning,

I'm starting to look at hotels for a London/Paris trip and there seems to be a great deal of discussion about hotwire/priceline bidding. This seems like it could work really well for us in theory - but I'm also really worried that we'd end up somewhere that's not near a metro station or in some industrial area with no character. If location is super important to me am I just better off skipping these sites?

My husband and I are really trying to spend around $100-120 (about 70-85 Euros, 60-75 GBP) a night in two very expensive cities so I'm begining to wonder if it's worth the risk? We're not really looking for any bells and whistles - we'd like something clean, walkable, and with a bathroom. This is the first time we've been to either city so it would be nice to be central to a few of the main sights - but I realize our budget probably puts that further out of reach.

It is ENTIRELY possible that I'm overthinking this, or that my expectations are out of order. Any advice you can give would be much appreciated.

janisj

"<i>If location is super important to me am I just better off skipping these sites? </i>"

It depends on if you really mean 'super important'.If you must be in specific areas --Priceline isn't such a good idea. I've used it several times in London. But I know London very well and am comfortable in most any central neighborhood. Hotwire might be better for you since you get more description of the property and w/ research can often figure out which hotel it is before booking.

I would NOT use priceline in Paris. The zones are just badly drawn. Plus --for the same quality, hotels in Paris will be less expensive than in London. So maybe use PL or Hotwire for London and book directly for Paris.

But honestly - your budget is even a bit low for PL/London. There are rooms to be had for around $100-$125, but by the time you add taxes+fees, that will be $125-$150-ish.

There are perfectly OK 2-star-ish B&B hotels in London for £60-£75 a night, but they won't be anything to write home about. Small room, maybe an elevator, breakfast room in the basement.

Being near transit won't be a problem though -both cities have terrific public transit and most any central area will have easy access..

(You couldn't find a decent room in San Francisco or New York for $100, and it is the same in London)

LNWC

Thank you for your detailed response! Your suggestions are very helpful.

I suppose by location is important I mean, I would be disappointed if it wasn't near transit/walkable. We enjoy being near the center of things, so to speak.

I haven't looked into B&Bs at all, that's certainly something I will explore! Small room and few amenities doesn't bother me at all - if we wanted to spend the day in a luxury hotel we'd just stay in DC

scotlib

Would one of the YHA London hostels work? http://www.yha.org.uk/find-accommodation/london/

Hostels aren't discussed too much here, but occasionally, and several of the London ones look very central on the map. I tried several sample searches. Discovered doubles in £45-£65 range ($73-$105 at today's rates), but had to go out to October/November dates to see them as available.

janisj

Hostels are a good option but the good ones will be nearly as expensive as a 4star hotel using PL. Before booking a hostel, check here or maybe on the Lonely Planet thorntree site. There are some great hostels in London -- and some truly Gawd Awful ones.

True 'Bed & Breakfasts' are relatively rare in London (there are some --but not like you'd find in the countryside). In London, most places that call themselves B&Bs are actually B&B hotels as I described above. Real London B&Bs are out there but harder to find and can be pricey.

Christina

there are not a lot of hotels in central Paris for 70-80 euro for a double, that is a very low budget for that area. Maybe your expectations are out of order if you want a hotel in central Paris near a metro station for that budget. But it does depend what you really want for that price. There are a few hotels if you don't expect a lot. This is the cheapest hotel I know in the Latin Quarter, a location like you want.
http://www.commerceparishotel.com/

If that suits you, book it as there are not many hotels that cheap around there, most would be farther out.

Michel_Paris

I checked 3 B&Bs I know of in Bloomsbury and they average around 115 GBP.

LNWC

So much fantastic information! Thank you everyone!

We can certainly adjust budget wise a bit if it looks like it REALLY isn't going to happen and take money from something else. But I think I'll check out all of these options before arriving at that conclusion.

I didn't mention that we're going in late november - will that make a difference?

JoeCal

For that kind of money expect (tired) Holiday Inns, Hiltons and so on in London. I have used Priceline 3 times for London and have been happy every time. The hotels however are tired. By that I mean the lobby and public rooms are nice enough, but the rooms have older furnishings, bathrooms not as modern and glistening but all the places I stayed were clean and acceptable. You won't get a room you want to hang out in, but for sleeping, my experience was that they were fine. (The 3rd one I got was the Copthorne Tara but that is now considered a 3 star - and I would not bid on anything below 4 star for Priceline).

All hotels will be close enought to transporation in London. I also agree - don't use it for Paris.

lennyba

Will make a difference certainly if you bid on PL as rates tend to be much lower off-season. I have used PL for London 6 or 7 times and have never been unhappy with the result. As an example, I got the Marriott in South Kensington for late October this year for $88 a night - with taxes and fees it was under $110. Last year in March I got a four star off Kensington High Street for $65/night. Both of these are in the PL Kensington/Earl's Court zone and I think pretty convenient for most everything.

If you do decide to use Priceline, make sure you review www.betterbidding.com and www.biddingfortravel.com and make sure you're familiar with the process and with the hotels that are likely to pop up in the different zones.

LNWC

JoeCal/lennyba,

I'm so glad to hear that you've both had positive experiences! Your examples are very helpful - it gives me an idea of what to expect.

I think my best bet is probably to see what kind of rate I can get on priceline, and then book Paris with what's left over, so to speak.

janisj

Something I posted on a thread last week re PL London bidding zones:

>><i>Some PL zones are a pain -- but several are very good and no specific 'win' in them would be a problem. Zones 5, 8, and 11 are generally best. #13 (Westminster) used to be very best but PL re-drew the zone to pick up Vauxhall so you are almost guaranteed to get south of the river if you bid 4 star. #1 (Bloomsbury/Marble Arch) would be fine, the worst you'd get is Kings Cross which is very good for transport etc. But just not my favorite area.</i><<

I wouldn't bid in any zones other than 5, 8 and 11 -- or 1 if the others didn't work out.

I personally wouldn't bid 13 because I just wouldn't like Vauxhall, but it really isn't a terrible location

LNWC

janisj,

I'm going to try to find that thread! The few searches I've done of the forums have had some good info, but can be pretty out of date.

Your answer is wonderful, concise advice - I really appreciate that you took the time to copy it!

janisj

Sorry -- I should have posted a link to the actual thread, save you the search.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...nliverpool.cfm

yk

I've used PL & HW for London numerous times, and have used HW for Paris. You *have* to do your homework in order NOT to end up in a hotel you do not want.

Have you looked at Travelodge for London? I was checking its website last month, and if you book far in advance, you can get rooms for as low as 50 pounds. However, Travelodge is very, very basic. I haven't stayed there but there's a recent thread on Travelodge.

Ibis hotel chains sometimes have good deals for their hotels in Paris.

Christina

I wondered on the time frame because for Paris (don't know London well), there are more discounts at the end of July and August. The rest of the year rates are about the same, with above-normal rates sometimes around CHristmas/NY and sometimes in Sept-October trade show period. I have seen some hotels offering discounts in November, but it will be like a needle in a haystack to find those, and they won't be the cheapest.

Many hotels in Paris now have various discounts on their websites -- for advanced payment, 3 day minimum, internet rate, etc. Didn't used to be that way.

However, the issue for all those discount types are that the hotels that are the cheapest in the city are not going to have special discounts ever. They are already the cheapest, they can't afford to cut rates. And the ones that do have discounts for those things are not getting down to below 100 euro, at least not in the center of Paris. To find the rock bottom rates in Paris, you just have to find the cheapest hotels, special discounts or rate periods or being November won't help. Not that many hotels even cut rates in November.

YOu can try Ibis, they do sometimes have good discounts, but it's not on the hotels in the center.

lennyba

We stayed at this hotel in the 5th arr. a few years ago (since then we've stayed in apts) and thought it was a good value. It's nice for the price range: http://www.hoteldelesperance.fr/en. Looks like they're at 85 euros for a double with shower. We're big walkers so we didn't mind that it's a bit farther south of the river than some people like.