courtneyclv

Hi,
I will be in London for a few days next month. My husband and I will be coming from Heathrom Airport and then will be taking the train to Paris. We want to stay somewhere around $100 a night in a hotel, and in an area that is close to transportation/sites. We will not have a car. I read somewhere that Paddington or Notting Hill is a good place to stay.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Courtney

WillTravel

I would use Priceline, as that is likely to give you a 4* hotel in a nice area. My preferred area, particularly as you want to take the train to Paris, would be Bloomsbury.

See www.betterbidding.com for more info on bidding on Priceline.

courtneyclv

I just read that Picadilly is also a great place..haven't looked into prices yet...

courtneyclv

Hi Will Travel,
I guess I should say some things about my husband and I. We like to explore but do not like tourist traps but love to explore sites on our own. We like to go off the beaten path and go where the locals go, to shop, to drink, and eat. We don't want to spend all day in a museum or a tour..

What is a good neighborhood with these things for people in their 30's?


Courtney

courtneyclv

This looks good!

"One of London’s most cosmopolitan areas, Bayswater is ideally positioned for visitors to enjoy the delights of London. After a hard days sightseeing, enjoy a stroll around the Serpentine boating lake in Kensington Gardens, or wander through Hyde Park. Nearby Westbourne Grove has earned a reputation as a great shopping location and if you’re into food, fashion and film, Whiteleys Shopping Centre on Queensway is a must"

LakesideChick

I have stayed in Bayswater and that was a lovely area. Last year we stayed in Sloane Square and really liked that location. If you want a cool tour, we did a cycling tour around London... awesome... mostly off road and so much fun. http://www.fattirebiketourslondon.com

flanneruk

"if you’re into food, fashion and film, Whiteleys Shopping Centre on Queensway is a must""

Is a perfect example of the rubbish PR handouts travel writers get paid to reprint. And of life's great mystery: why DO people repost such utter balls?

Whiteleys is a just adequate urban shopping mall, totally undistinguished from a thousand others. The standard chains you find on every British High St, one multiplex cinema showing the same junk films you'll see for free on an airline next month and a handful of barely passable mall restaurants.

Nothing particularly wrong with the place. But in a city with the world's widest range of good eating, thousands of interesting and original shops and a reasonable number of cinemas showing films that weren't written by a Los Angeles computer - and a significant proportion of all those things within a 15 minute walk of Bayswater tube - the kind of place that really has to be a must to steer clear of for most visitors.

courtneyclv

Hi Flanneruck..
so you are saying to stay away from Bayswater? Im sorry..I am confused. We want to stay in a neighborhood that is young and fun, but close to the tube so that we can see the sites.

courtneyclv

So if Baywater is a place to steer clear of, because those places are 15 minutes away..then what neighborhood?

marg

We stayed in Bayswater on our last two visits to London and found it very convenient. Two tube stations (on different lines), plenty of eating places and shops, and walking distance to Hyde Park. Get an oyster card to make using public transport so much easier.

travelgourmet

At $100, I think Priceline is your best option. Start with Bloomsbury/Marble Arch at $90, and see what you get. If you don't get anything, try adding Mayfair/Soho and bumping up to $100. If you still don't get anything, you can either add Westminster and bump it up to $110, followed by Notting Hill and going to $120, or:

Log in with someone else's info and start over at $90 with the Kensington Zone selected, and add the above in the same order, increasing your bid by $10.

I suggest this route, since some of the Kensington hotels have lesser locations, but they are not horrible by any means.

Cholmondley_Warner

Firstly there’s bugger all wrong with Bayswater. No it’s not exactly a tourist Mecca (there’s nothing really there) but it’s easy to get to and from (and Whiteleys does have a couple of outstanding Chinese restaurants and a pile of boring shops).

Re: Kensington. Unscrupulous hoteliers have realised that yanks will rent anything if they think it’s in Kensington. So the borders of “Kensington” are very elastic and can include some hovels like west Kensington and Kensington Olympia. Caveat emptor innit.

zeppole

Courtney,

This might do you

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...n_England.html

You might also try posting on Frommer's for more suggestions.

zeppole

And this might be even better, at the London School of Economics:

http://www.lsevacations.co.uk/

Nikki

I don't think Flanner was saying to stay away from Bayswater, just to stay away from the Whiteleys Shopping Center, since there are more interesting shops and restaurants within a fifteen minute walk than there are in the shopping center.

I stayed in Bayswater for a couple of days with my daughter when she was in college. There are indeed some very good Chinese restaurants on Queensway. But I'm not sure I would characterize the neighborhood as particularly "young and fun". It is a non-touristy neighborhood with good public transportation, somewhat removed from the center of things but not so much as to make it inconvenient.

It is more central and convenient than either Paddington or Notting Hill.

janisj

For $100 or thereabouts you won't get anything super nice just about anywhere. And in places like Paddington/Bayswater/Piccadilly - a $100 hotel could be a true hovel.

That is why Priceline has been suggested at least twice. W/ PL you CAN get a very nice hotel for around $100+/- plus tax. You won't be able to pick a specific hotel, but any 4 star PL hotel will be nicer than what you can get for $100/£60 booking directly

courtneyclv

Thank you for the advice everyone. I will check out all of the links..you have all been so helpful! Yes my husband and I want to see the major sites of London, but do not like tours..we like to go off the beaten path. Of course, he isn't into shopping, but rather, drinking...so we are looking for a hotel that is at a good price, near the tube, and not too far away from things in case we stumble in the middle of the night.

I will look at the sites and let u know what I find for future reference.

Courtney

awong

When I go to London, I use LondonTown for just about everything - hotels, tickets, tours, etc. We got half price Billy Elliot tickets last May that were excellent. http://www.londontown.com/hotels/

Bloomsbury is young and vibrant because of the university. There are many hotels on Gower Road. We stayed at Hotel Cavendish http://www.hotelcavendish.com/tariffs.htm and it was an easy walk to the West End and under $100 a night. Ask for a room on an upper floor and at the back.

Kensington, by the park is a quiet area and a 20 minute walk to Nottinghill. We have stayed at the Vicarage http://londonvicaragehotel.com/welcome but the prices there have steadily increased and I see it is now just under 100 pounds a night.

Our last stay was right by Trafalgar Sq at the Grand http://www.thegrandattrafalgarsquare.com/ We got an excellent deal through LondonTown. This hotel is cheaper on weekdays.

London is one of my favourite spots.

janisj

awong: Do you have a link to get the Cavendish for $100? I just plugged in various dates next month and the best I could get was £95-£125 per night -- nearly twice the OPs budget.

awong

I don't know your exact dates but the tariff page is showing an online rate of 50-65 pounds for a single room, which is actually a room with a double bed. I have used 20 April as an example and I see what you mean about the price.

A google search of hotels on Gower Road, London gave the following suggestions:
Arran House Hotel http://www.arranhotel-london.com/
Garth Hotel http://www.garthhotel-london.com/
Regency House Hotel http://www.regencyhouse-hotel.com/
Arosfa Hotel http://www.arosfalondon.com/
Staunton Hotel http://www.stauntonhotel.com/
Langland Hotel http://www.langlandhotel.com/
Gower House Hotel http://www.gowerhousehotel.co.uk/
more...

They are all Georgian houses converted to hotels and from the outside appear similar to the Cavendish. I didn't check any rates.

Try KLM.com and view their hotel suggestions. It is not necessary to book a KLM flight to use their hotel service http://www.klm.com/travel/nl_en/index.htm:
The Lonsdale Hotel, 9-10 Bedford Place, which is described as a Budget B&B, close to the British Museum in Bloomsbury, shows a 2 person room for 4 nights (20 - 24 April), for e252.

Hope that helps.