Thanks, yk. You're amazing!

And thank you, kybourbon. I'd been planning to go to those sites myself. But it makes a lot more sense to have him do it. He might actually understand what he's reading!

Okay, we've finally locked down our dates. That 2 1/2 star is still showing for $49 a night. I've looked at the web site for the Holiday Inn Express and it looks more than fine to me for the price. And the pictures show a room with two beds.

My sports freak son loves the fact that it mentions being close to Chelsea Stadium. He'd like to take a tour and figures there's a better chance we'll fit it in if we're staying nearby!

I'm set to go for it. But I want to be sure none of the experts here can tell me a good reason why I shouldn't. Is it really far from a tube stop (it mentions being on the Kensington line) or very inconvenient in another way? I'm willing to put up with some amount of inconvenience for that price. It looks to me to be $30 cheaper than anything else in the area. (Although I think there was something in Marble Arch for $59.) Over four nights, that's $120. For which I figure we can find other uses! But, of course, I don't want to spend it all on transportation because we're farther out!

Again, thank you so much for your patience with me!

I emailed a London hotel we got through Priceline, asking for twin beds, and they replied that I had to discuss the matter with the agency I'd used to book it.

For the Express by Holiday Inn at Earls Court, I took a look at the Journey Planner at www.thetube.com .
I tried a couple of prospective sites you might visit - Piccadilly Circus and the Tower of London.

For Piccadilly Circus, it recommends walking 21 minutes to the Earls Court tube station and then taking the Piccadilly Line.

For the Tower of London, it suggests walking 13 minutes to the West Kensington tube station and taking the District Line.

So I think you are not close to a tube station, and in neither case did the transit planner suggest taking a bus instead, although there are alternate, longer routes to these places that involve the tube and the bus. You are 3 minutes from the #430 bus stop, but it looks like you'll still do better walking a relatively long distance to the tube stops.

There's a review which says there are two tube stations next to the hotel, and that really puzzles me. Can anyone confirm exactly where the Holiday Inn Express Earls Court is in proximity to tube stations?

It looks like the West Brompton station, on the District line, is about a 9-minute walk from HIE Earls Court. I personally would find this location too far out for my interests. For example, it takes 50 minutes to get to the British Museum. The Victoria & Albert Museum in South Kensington is about 26 minutes away, by bus and walking, which is not too bad, but there's not too much that is closer. So you're definitely not in the center of things at HIE Earls Court.

Thank you for going to all that trouble, WillTravel!

As long as it really is 13 minutes and 21 minutes, that wouldn't really bother us. DS is used to walking on a large campus and I walk to work and back every day (twice a day). But, of course, a tube station next to the hotel would be better!

Oh, and thanks for that heads up, Stokebailey!

Hi CAPH52 & WillTravel-

The HI Express Earls Court is at 295 North End Road. The closest tube station is WEST BROMPTON (0.2 miles), which is on one branch of the District Line. My guess is that trains DO NOT run as frequently via that branch, compared to the main branch.

The second closest tube station is WEST KENSINGTON (0.4 miles), and it is along the main branch of the District Line.

Earls Court tube station is farther away, about 0.8 miles.

That is why I don't think the HI Express is as convenient, between the walk to the tube station(s) and the sole reliance of one tube line. However, a $120 savings is substantial, IMO, plus the free breakfast.

CAPH52- if you decide to book the HI Express, I'd go ahead and sign up for the Priority Club membership (if you don't have one already). It is free and once you get the membership #, go ahead and email your priority club # to the hotel PLUS a nice request for twin beds for your stay. They may or may not honor your request, but I often find that if you belong to their hotel loyalty club, they try a little harder to accommodate their guests.

Looks like we were posting at the same time, WillTravel. Thank you again! It doesn't seem to be a very convenient location, does it?

I'm going to have to give this some thought. On the one hand, when my husband and I were there all those years ago, we were out a ways and I don't remember minding that at all. Besides the good price, I really like having the continental breakfast. I figure it saves us both time and money in the morning.

OTOH, we're really only going to be there for three full days and part of another. So being in a more convenient location would make a lot of sense.

yk, yet again, thank you so much! Both for your thoughts on the inconvenience versus the cost and for that tip on the Priority Club. I will definitely do that!

yk, I agree that the tubes from West Brompton are likely relatively infrequent, as the West Brompton tube station was not showing up much in the search results. So the search results were saying it was faster to walk to farther tube stations rather than take the West Brompton one.

CAPH52, it's partly a matter of what sights you plan to see. If you make a list, you can figure out the transport time. I wouldn't find the walk a problem in itself, except that I would prefer to be spending that time walking around the sights and neighborhoods that I wanted to see, rather than to/from the hotel.

CAPH52 - regardint the location, I guess it all depends on whether you and your son will want to return to the hotel during the day for a break, or will you just stay out all day?

If you are just going to be out all day until after dinner and/or shows, then staying at the HI Express is not a big deal, as you'd spend about 1.25hrs each day traveling (10-min walk to tube station plus 20-30 min ride on the tube).

But if you want to return to the hotel in the afternoon to rest, to freshen up, before going out again for dinner/show, then the location is not convenient, as you don't want to spend >2hrs each day just getting back and forth.

Thanks again to you both!

yk, I think that's a very good point. Dinner and a show is really not the type of trip we're planning! It'll be more like a meal in a pub and maybe an evening walk with London Walks! So, odds are, once we leave the hotel in the morning, we won't be back until we're done for the day.

Is it worth trying to figure out where/what the 3 1/2 star in Bloomsbury/Marble Arch is? It's only $10 more but doesn't offer breakfast, which to me makes it less of a value. But if it's much more convenient...?

I don't want to be so focused on the Earls Court one that I pass up a better value. Neither do I want to waste a lot of time on the other one if it's not likely to be any better.

I don't want anyone to feel I'm being rude in not responding so thought I should let you know we're getting ready to go out for the afternoon.

The Bloomsbury/Marble Arch area is much closer and much more convenient (in terms of number of buses and tube lines, plus more walkable sights nearby). But of course, the question is whether you'd be able to ID the hotel or not. If you aren't able to figure out what hotel it is, are you willing to take the risk?

Breakfast in London costs about a few pounds if you visit a small shop/greasy spoon type place.

A few reasons why one may want to return to the hotel during the day:
1) drop off any (heavy) purchases, eg, souvenir books
2) drop off heavy guidebooks
3) put on something dressier for dinner or put on a sweater/light jacket at night when it cools off.

Hi, Caph,

My own 19 yo and I had a similar struggle with the breakfasts issue: we love 'em. I like staying close to the action and being able to walk, so we will be at the Regency Park Holiday Inn, listed on Hotwire as 3.5 star in Marble Arch/Bloomsbury area, at a nice rate. I assume it's a decent place.

I asked about breakfast a few weeks ago, and got some helpful answers on this Fodor's thread:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/akzbpo

Once, pre-Internet, I found a lovely B&B in Hampstead for my mother and myself. Having to take the Tube every time we went into town became an annoyance for my mother, who often mentioned wistfully how nice it would be to stay in the Marble Arch area.

oops
or maybe this:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35178590

Sorry. I seem to be incapable of performing this simple task. Search 'London breakfast' and that should bring home the kippers.