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The Holiday Inn Express breakfast I had near Glasgow Airport was all right, but nothing to write home about. The pastries and breads were not particularly good. It's certainly not what I'd think of as a high-quality British breakfast. I can't say if this is typical for HIEs all over Britain, but I wouldn't expect too much.

What I did when we stayed at the Holiday Inn Bloomsbury was to visit a small Italian deli nearby and get very nice sandwiches and coffee every morning. This worked out to about 10 pounds for two.

Interesting to see the HI Regents Park been upgraded to 3.5* by Hotwire. When I stayed there last year (May 2008) booked via Hotwire, it listed only as a 3* then.

While I didn't enjoy my stay there (false fire alarm at 7:30am followed by the lack of hot water), it's location is quite good, with 2 tube stations nearby and plenty of bus lines that go almost every direction.

The Hotwire people told me the HI had been re-evaluated and so upgraded. I'd hope that means they repaired water heater.

Stokebailey, the trick is to pull up your thread and then click on the title. That'll give you the correct url to copy and paste. Can't tell you how many times I did it wrong before I finally got the hang of it!

Once again, I appreciate all of the help. After reading all of the advice here, talking to family and friends, etc., we've decided to go with the Earls Court one. Wish me luck as I go off to try my first Hotwire bid!

Have fun! I was hoping we and our offspring could run into each other while complaining about hot water at the front desk.

That would've been fun, stokebailey!

Well, I got it! Did I do the right thing in passing up the insurance they offer?

I'm going to take your advice, yk, to sign up for the Priority Club before contacting the hotel about twin beds.

Besides doing a trip report, I'll make sure to pull this thread back up to let everyone know how this worked out.

Again, I just can't thank all of you enough for your very generous help.

We usually get trip insurance, just because, that covers the entire journey.

Hi CAPH52- Congratulations. It really is a very good deal, too good to pass up when you're watching your budget. Do let us know how the hotel is when you come back from your trip.

But not the one through Hotwire, right, stokebailey?

It <i>is</i> a great deal, yk. With taxes and fees it came out to $236.87 for four nights. That makes me very happy!

We've never had to collect on a claim, so don't know how wonderful they are that way, but have used

InsureMyTrip.com

in the past to insure everything including hotel costs. Many others.

They have threads here occasionally about the subject, controversial of course.

Thanks, stokebailey!

I also booked the same deal for $49 and it was the Holiday Inn Express Earl's Court. There are 4 of us and for the price we couldn't pass it up.

I just got back from London and stayed at the Morgan Hotel. Great location in Bloomsbury (literally around the corner from the British Museum) and only 85 pounds. Very clean - cheap and cheerful.

Hi CAPH52,

That's a great deal, congrats! The HI Expess sounds like a pretty nice place and with breakfast included you can't go wrong at that price. I'm looking forward to hearing about your stay when you get back.

Thanks, Apres! I'll definitely let you know how it works out!

Thank you so much for this thread CAPH52 &amp; others! I booked the same Hotwire deal last night for March 27th - April 1st for $49/nt ($58/nt after taxes) at the Holiday Inn Express at Earls Court. Such a great deal (I don't think I could get that price for a motel in my suburbia home town) and you helped me purchase with confidence! Thank you!!

I'm so glad it helped you, CRIdo! Believe me, I understand. Without the help of the people here, I would never have had the nerve to try Hotwire!

I also understand what you mean about not getting a hotel for that in your home town. The weekend before I booked this, my husband and I had spent Saturday night in Madison, WI visiting our son who goes to UW. We were thrilled to get an EconoLodge in Madison for $50! London for that price is just unbelievable!

While I'm here... Yesterday I took yk's advice and sent the hotel an e-mail very politely requesting a room with two beds. (And kissing up a little bit by saying how much I'm looking forward to staying there after reading the good reviews on TA. Which is the truth!) I added my Priority Club #.

I haven't heard back from them yet.

Oops, forgot one thing. CRIdo, since you'll be there before we are, would you mind posting back to let us know how it goes? Thanks!

CAPH52 - I definitely plan to post my experiences - I will be back in late April. London is our first stop, followed by 7nts in Edinburgh for a conference (which initiated the trip), 4nts in Amsterdam and 7nts in Paris, and one final night in London - it will be my husband's first time to Europe and only my second & it's been over a decade.

I must admit/warn I never finished my last trip report on Costa Rica from 2007(I should do that! the people on the Latin America forum were amazingly helpful for that trip) - but I almost always post a review on tripadvisor for hotels, so I'll make sure to at least do a copy & paste here.

Great recommendation to contact the hotel beforehand, especially with the priority club #.

I don't know what I would do without fodors and tripadvisor!