budget accomodations in london
 

hi everybody,

this is my first post!! i'm feeling a bit confused so sorry if this is a little long but i've seen a lot of fairly short posts looking for help & it seems like most of the time people reply back that they need more information in order to really be able to help the poster so i figured i'd try & be as thorough as possible now.

my husband & i are finally taking our first trip to europe this september!!. our flight to london leaves the afternoon of 9/19 & we'll be staying 4 nights, all in london, returning on the afternoon of 9/24. pretty much all of the attractions we'll be visiting are in the city of london, although we're planning on probably going to windsor castle & maybe greenwich.

i'm trying to find the best hotel/b&b in london to suit our budget which is about $100-$150 USD per night. i'd like to stay somewhere in central london so we don't have to spend a lot of time commuting in & out of the city. i realize that's on the low end of the price spectrum for london & therefore we won't exactly be staying at the ritz, but that's fine by me since we usually stay at a days inn or comparable chain in the usa - you know, usually cookie cutter but affordable & dependable. we considered hostels which is fine by my husband & although i'm semi-open to the idea, i'd really prefer something more private & don't want to feel out of place since we're in our 30s & i know the overwhelming majority of the hostel crowd is usually in their teens & early 20s. as long as it's clean, safe, has a double bed with an en-suite bathroom & is fairly central to the various neightborhoods in the city then it's fine by me. i'd really prefer someplace where at least a continental breakfast included in the room price but if not that's ok. also, i'd like to have some sort of park or decent city view that's not in a real noisy area but i realize that might not be determined until we actually check in. i don't mean to sound demanding or picky - like i said earlier though, i'm trying to be as thorough as possible right off the bat.

i've been reading the boards here & on rick steves, as well as searching several sites such as tripadvisor, travelocity & the internet in general trying to find the best option. however, it seems like every time i find a hotel that's a pretty good deal - i read reviews of it that say it's awful & to stay away mixed with ones that say it's a good deal & a nice place to stay. also, i've read several posts that so you can get pretty good deals by bidding on priceline.com & i looked around on their site but since i've never used them before i didn't want to try to much exploring around for fear i might end up actually making some sort of deal i don't actually want & end up being stuck. so i figured i'd try & get some advice more specific to my needs from all of you who've already been through this & lived to tell your tales.

thanks in advance for any help anyone can offer =)

Priceline is almost certainly the best deal in your case at your price range.

You will just have to read very carefully at BiddingforTravel.com and BetterBidding.com to know what to do and how to do it.

In short, don't bid for any hotel in any zone if you are not 100% sure you would want to stay there, and that you will not be cancelling. If you don't click Buy, you won't get charged, so be very careful before you click that button.

If you post at either site, although I recommend Betterbidding.com , you can get help with you bidding efforts.

welcome to Fodors. You certainly did better w/ your first post than "what is a cheap hotel in London?" :)

As you probably know by now your budget is quite low for LOndon - even a Days Inn type place will cost at least $150 and probably more.

Priceline really would be your best option. Don't worry about bidding by mistake and getting stuck before you know what happened. PL clearly keeps you informed of where you are in the process.

Before you start w/ Priceline study biddingfortravel.com It has a list of probable hotels, and a bulletin board where people post what they are bidding and what hotels they got. You can get a very nice hotel in the $80-$150 range depending on the zone.

was posting the same time as WillTravel - yes betterbidding.com is also good (and much friendlier) but has less activity than biddingfortravel . . .

Other folks here will tell you more about Priceline - it's supposed to be great for London.

The Travelodge chain - http://www.travelodge.co.uk - has good deals for London.

Many of the YHA hostels - http://www.yha.org.uk - have private ensuite rooms, or they would have a bathroom just down the hall. We're in our 40s, and most of the people we met at UK hostels in May were older than us. :-)

My trip report is in progress - click on my name and you'll find it.

Lee Ann

If you can do without AC you could look at student residences, which will still be available for your dates. A twin en-suite, depending on how the dollar does, should be just within your budget. See http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/vac...ommodation.htm High Holborn is a very convenient location.

I would have suggested the Travel Inn at County Hall, but I see they have put their prices up to 99 GBP a night. You could look at their other properties, and also the Travel Lodge chain.

thanks for all the info so far everyone, i'll check the sites listed & see what i can find out. does anyone have any specific hotels in this price range that they'd recommend? thanks =)

I was scared to try Priceline, too, but it worked out great. I got a fantastic hotel for $80 a night. Everything else I saw in my price range on TripAdvisor, Expedia, etc. were all dumps at a higher price! If you are careful to read the strategies on biddingfortravel.com, you can do it, too. Stick to 4-star hotels in only the districts that you would want to stay in. Keep with it, bidding gradually up to your max each time (you do this by adding districts and/or slowly upping your offer.) Priceline may make you a counteroffer, but usually you can do better. When Priceline rejects your final bid, you can bid again 24 hours later. After the 24 hours, you can try the bidding process all over. It took me a week of daily bidding. Finally, I expanded my search to include the Regents Park district and got Hilton Metropole, which often comes up. Felt like I had won the lottery. Great hotel, great location. But even if the location had not been that great, at that price one can put up with a little inconvenience. Kensington and Regents Park are areas that will probably have affordable 4-star hotels, with no real turkey hotels that you'd hate to get. If you go down to 3-star, you may encounter some less-good hotels. 5-star hotels are probably going to be more than your price range.

You've gotten great advice from the others, and theirs is probably more firsthand than mine. However, just in case: a friend of mine stayed at the Luna & Simone (I think) last fall and liked it. Their web site shows the minimum for a double ensuite is just within your range. If that won't work, the road (Belgrave, between Victoria and Pimlico stations) has several smaller hotels/b&bs that might be worth looking into. We stayed at a hostel just down the street - the location isn't as close to as many things as somewhere in Bloomsbury, Covent Garden, etc would be, but is certainly convenient via Tube and is a longish walk to the Westminster area. I wouldn't hesitate to stay there again.

Have a great trip! London is one of my very favorite places. You'll love it.

jent103's suggestion re Luna & Simone is a good one. If you want a specific place and don't want to risk PL - then Luna & Simone or several other budget B&B hotels on the same road would be good. Victoria is a very conveninet area for transport and is close to the River and Buckingham Palace.

But to give you an idea - at L&S you will pay in the range of $140-$180 for a double. It is a clean, serviceable place. But on PL you can get a full service 4 star hotel for about $75 - $100 plus tax, so $88-$118-ish.

Just depends on getting comfortable w/ priceline.

If you're reluctant to try Priceline (I am, it makes me nervous!), read reviews of the hotels recommended in the book "Great Sleeps in London". You might combine that with the reviews on TripAdvisor. Remember, this is London, so anything budget-priced will be quite modest. If you're near a tube stop (and you will be), you'll be able to find your way around London.

This is one of the hotels recommended by Fodor's.
http://www.alhambrahotel.com/
Double with shower and wc gbp70. Includes the usual heart attack breakfast.