Best part of London to stay if you're in your mid twenties
 

I'll be in London for a week with my three children - all in their mid twenties. There are so many different areas and hotels but would like to be somewhere that they could find some interesting pubs and other people their own age.

"<i>would like to be somewhere that they could find some interesting pubs and other people their own age. </i>"

That would describe most every part of London.

What is your budget - do you want a quad or two doubles or a flat?

For a week's stay w/ 4 adults, I definitely rent a flat.

Meant to add . . . some parts <i>are</i> more 'trendy' than others -- but pubs and young people-- everywhere.

Today's feckless young adults rarely stop whingeing about how unfair the world is.

But of all the pathetic whines they bore you with endlessly, a shortage of people their own age ANYWHERE in London is one I've never, ever, heard. There simply isn't a grown ups' ghetto here. Wherever you go, it'll be infested with 20-30 yos, because they dominate central London life.

There ARE, though, one or two retarded adolescents' ghettos. Hoxton/Shoredeitch is awash with bars and restaurants which boast of "coolness" (that infallible marker of pointless, noisy, discomfort), and there are a couple of equally vile, though mercifully unaffordable, hotels (like the Sanderson and the St Martin's Lane Hotel) nearish Soho.

Don't listen to the siren voices suggesting you let the tail wag the middle-aged dog. Stay in a hotel (or as janisj wisely advises, flat) somewhere ordinary people live and you think you'll all enjoy. There will be no shortage of others their age.

Ditto the above. I'm in the same demographic as your children and enjoy a rather vibrant social life in London so please let me know some of your options and I can recommend specific pubs and bars.

As noted, East London is the current epicenter of hipster cool. Much like parts of Brooklyn, the promise of cheap rents attract all the young folks without much money to spend. There are some decent options out there, including Town Hall Hotel, Shoreditch House, and Hoxton Hotel among the more current hotels. I've also seen decent mention of RE Shoreditch. Have stayed at the Crowne Plaza Shoreditch and, while corporate, is in a good location for going out.

If they don't want to be in hipster central, then pretty much anywhere in central London will be awash in young folks.

<i>the Sanderson and the St Martin's Lane Hotel</i>

These to are quite out of fashion compared to Hoxton and Shoreditch. They are more what 40-year olds would think of as cool.

Didn't quite catch that you are staying with them, too. While I wouldn't advise against Hoxton or Shoreditch (plenty of City types stay out there and seem to survive), you would be fine with any central area.

We will be staying in a hotel and yes I'm staying with them but most likely alone since they'll probably abandon me soon after landing. Thanks for all your replys.

In that case, kerrylou, I should stay wherever YOU want to stay and let them work out for themselves how to get to and from places where they'll meet the people they want to. Anywhere central will do.

These might help you all to find places you'd like:
www.fancyapint.com
www.beerintheevening.com

Shoreditch / Hoxton is a fantastic area for anyone in their 20-40s who is looking for a wide range of bars, pubs, restaurants and late nights. The scene there is quite independent so the area is not full of chain bars like many other parts of London. Plenty of different places to choose from. There are lots of people who work in the City (finance) living around there, and also plenty of 'arty' types so you get a good mix. It's not that far from Liverpool Street station also (which is on the Central Line), and you can get into the main touristy areas of central London in a matter of minutes.

Another area to consider is Notting Hill which may be more to your taste. There are still lots of good pubs, bars and restaurants in the area but it is also definitely more 'upmarket', and perhaps you'll feel more comfortable there. The kids won't mind that area as well.

Patrick's right - stay somewhere convenient to you. Didn't you carry them and birth them and raise them and care for them?

Are they incapable of reading maps or telling a cabbie where they're staying? Can they read directions and instructions? Get them Oyster cards or travelcards and tell them to go take the Tube.

You don't need to stay out in Shoreditch to appease the kids, there are pubs, wine bars, bistros, whatever they want for entertainment in or near all of Central London.

There's a lot of new hotels opening up near the river, back of Waterloo towards London Bridge. But if there's a lot of you, renting apartment might be cheaper, again I think South London tends to be cheaper and more earthy is that respect.

Plus it won't break the bank like being in the West End.

Those are good examples. Although at opposite ends of central London, Notting Hill and Liverpool St are linked by a single tube line (the Central) and a direct 24-hour bus route (23). Likewise, London Bridge and the South Bank are connected to Liverpool St by relatively short bus rides (the 344 and 149, which are 24-hour services). So if it suited you to stay there for your own interests and comfort, they could stay out till all hours and still have a straightforward journey back.

Not, of course, that they have to go to Shoreditch/Hoxton and thereabouts.

And I forgot to say in any of this that Bloomsbury hosts a fair number of colleges and universities and their residences, as well as accommodation for tourists, so that could also be an option. Or will you be here in university vacations? They let out their residences, some of which have rooms grouped around shared kitchens, so almost like apartments - and, by definition, not that far from plenty of places geared to the young adult market, as well as convenient for the usual tourist sights.
http://www.lsevacations.co.uk/

I really wouldn't recommend Shoreditch/Hoxton. During the week it may be full of web designers and architects but at the weekend they abandon the area for deeper Hackney where they actually live and the wannabees from Essex bus in attracted to the bright lights of the awful Aquarium night club. Not a pretty sight.

Shoreditch has had its day anyway, was trendy back in the late 90s/early 2000s but has long been surpassed by Bermondsey Street and Broadway Market.

(I speak as a graphic designer who has worked in Shoreditch and lives in Hackney, hipsters dog my every footstep).

I recommend you stay central, perhaps in the area of covent Garden where your youngsters can strike a path to Soho.