We will be in London for 2 nites June 7 & 8. I have checked with hotels ( 2 Comfort Inns, 1 Best Western and an Express by Holiday Inn) near Victoria and they don't have A/C in the rooms. Am I expecting too much? Last year at that time London had a high of 80F. Do I need to look at more expensive hotels? Help!!

Probably. Many inexensive hotels in europe - especially the more northern parts - don;t have AC - because it's usually not very hot - and most europeans don;t use it at home.

If an inexpensive place is brand new it might have AC - the older/cozier the place the less likely it is to have AC - until you get to the deluxe category.

Also be aware - that even if the hotel has AC its not always turned on - and not always controllable from the room. And when it is available it is frequenty not very cold in comparison to what yu find in the US.

If this is really important to you (can't cope with heat) I would make it your #2 selection priority - right after location.

If you say what you are hoping to pay, others can make suggestions that are close to your preference for price and for a/c.

I had air cond in my room and we stayed in the Holiday Inn right by Victoria Station. I think that my room was just under a hundred pounds, I think.

Thanks for all your input. We would like to stay in the under 120.GBP range. Thanks for all your help.
Mary

Most London hotel rooms under £100 don't have a/c. Do you need it? Well there's an old saying, it's not the heat, it's the humidity. I find that it can get very sticky in London although the temperature rarely goes much above 25....especially at night,. But I have been uncomfortable in my room; especially if the room faces west as the sun does not go down till well after 2100 during the summer.

Of course heat waves do happen and every so often the temperature can rise to close to 30.

Some of it is that many of us from the US have had our bodies become so used to a/c that we notice its absence more than we might if we don't come from places where a/c is so prevelent.

It's highly unlikely that you're going to need A/C that early in June. It's quite rare that it gets that hot here and, to be honest, we all cope absolutely fine without A/C. Mind you, maybe I'm biased since I don't really like it and prefer a fan.

So what I'd suggest is that rather than upgrading to a more expensive hotel on the (unlikely) off-chance that it will be hot (though I live in hope!), wait until you get here and if you think you'll need it, pop across the road from your hotel and buy a standing fan that you can use for a couple of nights.

There is an Argos just across the road from your hotel, I've checked online and you can get a fan on a pedestal there for £17.95 (about $30?), which probably works out a lot cheaper than changing to a hotel that has a facility you are unlikely to require.

To follow on to "it's not the heat, it's the humidity" comment...

In my opinion, it's not the heat, nor the humidity, it's the NOISE.

If the weather is warm (or humid) enough that you need to open your hotel windows, then you are trying to sleep against the background noises of a busy city. Anywhere near a busy road, a pub, a refuse dumpster, a nightclub, or the like, and sleep will be difficult at best.

You may have to pay more, but you don't have to choose a 5 star luxury hotel to get air-conditioning in London--even though A/C is a bit rare there. For example, look at the Sanctuary House Hotel (www.fullershotels.com)--for about £100/night with A/C in a great location. (just an example, not an endorsement).

Dave White
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Thanks to all for the different ideas. I liked the fan idea and if we can open a window that would be great (can't do that in the U.S. because of the A/C) I think earplugs will combat the noise.
Mary

Just booked the Hesperia London Victoria (formerly the Holiday Inn Victoria) on Active Hotels for 109GBP per nite. It only took about 2 hours going thru every discount website. Will post a review of our days in London and the hotel.

Dave is so right (as he so often is) about noise being the real problem. I've spent many a miserable summer's night in a small B&B or hall of residence with the window open for a hint of breeze and the honking and pub-crawling noises drifting in for hour after hour. Enough that I now always try to get a room at the back, facing the garden, if at all possible. And of course I never travel without good earplugs.

That said, I've often bought a fan and found that it helped immensely to make a sticky night more comfortable, and even helped a bit to mask the noise.