Flame123

OK I am sure this has been discussed ad naseum but I really need some help here. Planning a short 4-5 day trip to London. Probably 2 couples. Main reason is to see some shows, do some shopping and museums. Not the first time we are in London or UK.

But I had not had good luck last time with finding a hotel so I throw it out to all you good wise people in the know.

I do not need fancy or expensive. I need :
clean
good (and safe-as much as can be these days.....) location for above activitie
nice service
Wifi and breakfast included

Have been looking at Staybridge Suites Vauxhall but thinking it may be too far out of the way?

Appreciate any and all responses.

Thanks !!!

maitaitom

We stayed at The Bailey's Hotel in Kensington right across the street from Gloucester Road tube station. We loved it. Fantastic location...Great staff.

Below is our first day. Scroll down for a few hotel photos. You can sometimes get deals (like we did) on Booking.com or Hotels.com (I saw some deals for $170 a night when I looked recently)

<B>http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/chapter-one-london-calling/</B>

Flame123

Hi. I was just in the middle of reading this exact report of yours that I found now. Thanks a lot.

Did you find it a safe and convenient location?

DebitNM

Hub by Premier Inn.

https://www.hubhotels.co.uk/

KTtravel

I stayed in a hotel right down the street from the Bailey's Hotel. It is a good, safe, location and the convenience to the tube station can't be beat. The hotel is walking distance to the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Natural History Museum.

The hotel where we stayed (not Bailey's) changed owners and wasn't as nice during our second visit as it was the first time so I won't recommend it.

Whathello

Flânner You will end up like me.
Safe.
home - home is always safe for people who ask if a place is safe.

Premier inn should be the solution fir OP.

janisj

>>Staybridge Suites Vauxhall<<

NO -- not a good location at all. (safe, though )

What is your concern about safety? Central London is about as safe a place as one could think of. There may be a nutter on the corner looking a bit scary -- but don't you see that sort of thing at home???

What is your budget? Budget and type of ambience you want (and proximity to a tube station(s) and good bus routes) is more important than 'safety' in any area you are likely to find yourselves.

basingstoke2

We also stayed at Baileys and loved it. The Gloucester station has several train lines so is not a long trip to most places. You can walk to the V&A Museum as well as the Museum of Natural History which are close to each other. We did not find much in the way of dining nearby. I don't believe breakfast was included in our room price, but is served. Our room was fairly large with 2 queen beds.

rs899

We stayed at the Elmwood Hotel a couple of months ago. Two blocks from St Pancras. It was definitely a budget choice, but worked for us.

goddesstogo

Goodness me. I think by 'safe', the OP may mean exactly what I mean when I ask for that in a hotel rec -- basically, if I'm walking back to the hotel on my own late at night, is it a safe neighbourhood. I think that's a reasonable question for any big city.

Anyway, you don't say what your budget is but last summer we stayed at the Melia Whitehouse. It's a very nice hotel, well located at the south end of Regent's Park and and easy and pleasant walk to several tube stations. It's also a short walk to the very charming Marylebone High Street which is full of shops and cafes and a walk down Marylebone from the hotel will take you directly to Oxford Street.

http://www.melia.com/en/hotels/unite...use/index.html

I believe wi-fi is included if you join their free loyalty program (as it is with most hotel chains). Breakfast was not included but there's a very nice coffee shop nearby and a coffee stand at the tube station across from the hotel.

janisj

OK goddesstogo >> basically, if I'm walking back to the hotel on my own late at night, is it a safe neighbourhood. << I think you know London pretty well. Which neighborhoods in central London would you consider 'unsafe'?

What we are trying to say (in different 'tones' ) is that there are pretty much no areas in central London (or at least anywhere a tourist would find themselves) where I would be uncomfortable walking at night.

goddesstogo

I think you're making more of the question than was intended. I'm pretty sure that my normal list of hotel requirements, when I ask for recs here, goes something like 'well-located for stuff to do, moderately priced, clean, safe neighborhood for walking' or something like that and no one's ever taken me to task for it.

I don't know the neighborhoods as well as you might think but surely every neighbourhood in London can't be as perfectly safe as every other or there would be no crime at all.

In fact, when we were looking for a flat and I was asking for neighborhood advice here I was definitely directed towards some areas and away from others. And when we did find a flat, a local friend suggested that one of the nearby high streets was less safe than the other.

I'm not saying that we're talking about getting mugged every time you set your foot out the door but I don't think you can say for a moment that London is crime free, even in tourist areas. What, no pickpockets in Leicester Square?

Flame123

Thanks to all the normal posters for their advice and input. I will check out all your mentions. I have not been on this board for some time and now find it has gotten more verbally violent and "unsafe" (LOL but not really) for the wandering traveler. And by the way yes a safe area would be exactly as goddesstogo had described.
I am retiring from this board (although thank
the moderators for removing that offensive and disgusting rank).

janisj

>> but I don't think you can say for a moment that London is crime free, even in tourist areas<<

Of course not - Is topeka Kansas 'crime free'? I doubt it.

>>What, no pickpockets in Leicester Square?<<

With the police presence and just any normal amount of care Leicester Sq is no more intimidating than anyplace else. I regularly walk all over the city after getting out of the theatre and do not feel intimidated in Knightsbridge, Mayfair, Soho, the Southbank, Sloane Sq, Victoria, South Kens, Kensington, the Tower/St Katharines' Marina, Leicester Sq, Piccadilly (though I hate it because it gets so crowded), Covent Garden -- you name it.

janisj

>>I regularly walk <u>solo</u> all over the city . . .<<

I hope the OP comes back -- and doesn't compare walking around some large American cities to London. (BTW -- I <B>never</B> walk late at night in my own home city except from the arena to my parking space after concerts or NBA games)

goddesstogo

"I regularly walk all over the city after getting out of the theatre and do not feel intimidated in Knightsbridge, Mayfair, Soho, the Southbank, Sloane Sq, Victoria, South Kens, Kensington, the Tower/St Katharines' Marina, Leicester Sq, Piccadilly (though I hate it because it gets so crowded), Covent Garden -- you name it"

And that's all the OP was asking for. That would have been a good answer.

janisj

>>And that's all the OP was asking for. That would have been a good answer.<<

OK gtg - what was <i>wrong</i> w/ my original post ??

<i>What is your concern about safety? Central London is about as safe a place as one could think of. There may be a nutter on the corner looking a bit scary -- but don't you see that sort of thing at home???

What is your budget? Budget and type of ambience you want (and proximity to a tube station(s) and good bus routes) is more important than 'safety' in any area you are likely to find yourselves.</i>

I think that was quite measured . . .

goddesstogo

Nothing, janis. It was flanner's (was it flanner? it's gone now) quite disturbing rant. I think he must have triangled it himself.

nini

We also like Bailey's and another favorite is the Rembrandt.