Budget Hotels in London
 

My family of three is looking for budget (under $60) accommodation in London, mid March. Any recommendations? Is anyone familiar with the Glendale Hyde Park hotel, Crownwall or Langland Hotel? Found these on the Smooth Hound hotel website (think that's the name!) Thanks

That will be a really hard budget to meet, even with Priceline or even with hostels. Are you getting that price for those hotels you mention? Are you considering that you will most likely require either a triple room or two rooms?

The three of us would stay in one room. Waiting to hear from these hotels re prices.

That is not typical for London, unlike the US. The hotel might allow it if you specifically clear it ahead of time, but the standard hotel room is for two only and the room will be quite small, particularly at your rates. If your child is very young, your odds of success are higher.

cheeks,

I hope you mean 60 British pounds and NOT $60US.

For under $60US for 3, you will be staying at a hostel at best or a total dump at worst. Trust me and others here when we tell you this.

Even 60BP for 3 is little low but doable, but at todays exchange rate that means around $110-115.

Good luck!

We got into the Victoria Thistle for $71 US per night. Stick with priceline or comparable and hope for the best. With travel down a little you may luck out.

Priceline is a real risk, though, because Priceline only guarantees occupancy for two, and what will happen when they show up with three? As I said, it wouldn't be a problem in many cities in the US, but it's fairly likely in London.

I've mentioned this hotel before.
http://www.comfortinnvx.co.uk

This hotel is over the specified limit, but it is about as cheap as you can do conventionally and it's a pretty good hotel. It also includes a buffet breakfast. It's about 1.5 miles from Victoria Station, and there are buses nearby. There are more central locations, but one would pay probably twice as much for similar quality. If you can get an Internet special, it's a great deal.

The following sites have received good marks from readers for discount lodging in Britain. However, I don't know what their policy is concerning booking for three people.
londontown.com
ebookers.com
opodo.com
laterooms.com
lastminute.com
smoothhound.co.uk

panhandle,

Throughout the first half of this year and last year as well, most of London hotels were hurting just like the rest of the travel industry. It seems to me like they are not any more. In 3 weeks I have to go back for the 4th time this year and trust me, the rates have jumped through the roof.
Last June I was able to get The Hilton Metropole a great business hotel for 99BP. This was mid-June. Now the same place starts at about 175BP in December. I also looked at other Hiltons and it's pretty much the same. While bad for me/us it does look like the hotels are filling up in London and elsewhere and the rates are going up accordingly.
I'm not suggesting that my example of using Hiltons is for everybody, but even the 2* hotels in good tourists spots seem to run around $100US per night, and as WillTravel said, London hotels are more strict to the rule of 2 per room/charge extra for third, than our hotels here in US. Mostly because of the size of the rooms, but also because their rates are based on each person occupying the room in many cases.

I was quoted $60BP at one place - in Paddington and $80 near Hyde Park. We just want clean, private, quiet, safe accommodation - nothing fancy. We would be spending most of our time touring and would rather spend the $ on tours (first time trip overseas). We'd be happy in a college dorm or convent type place, even. There are just so many places to choose from. Really appreciate any and all advice. Totally addicted to this site!

Cheeks

Haven't heard of the places you mention. It is possible that in March you could be able to get a three star at those prices on a discount site, but I've only ever seen double occupancy.

I've stayed at £ 50 (about US80)places in London and they were a tight fit for two, a third party (even a child) simply would not fit. It's not just a matter of asking for a cot or rollaway, there simply isn't the floor space in the typical cheap double room. Ergo, you MUST specify a 'family' or triple room. Also, if anyone in your party is on the large side be warned that these rooms come with 30 square inch prefab showers, or else showers 'down the hall. Don't be surprised if the room is a little shabby (curtains need dry cleaning, chipped paint, mattresses a little worn, etc. etc, although the room should be otherwise clean.)
Breakfast very basic, no lift, etc.

Under $US 60 is less than £ 37, and even this veteran budget traveller wouldn't bother looking at such a room.

So, you do mean BRITISH POUNDS. Right?

If that's the case then you should do pretty well.

Good luck!

There are a number of B & Bs on Cartwright Gardens (near Russell Square tube) that are relatively inexpensive. I know the Jenkins & the Avalon. Not all rooms have private baths but some do. Others have mentioned Harlingford House.

Another option to try is Barkston Gardens in Earls Court.

Look for reviews of your places on tripadvisor.com

Thanks for the info aafrequentflyer. I am about to put together another trip(via BA deal) and was expecting to be able to get another great deal. I guess I will have to pay a little more this time around. AHHH the stresses of travel.HAHA!

Thanks for your input. Will check out the hotels you recommend. Hard to believe the rooms will be that small - as a first time traveller, have no idea - have so much to experience! We've been to NYC - is London that much more expensive? What should we allow for meals? We would enjoy full British breakfast. Pub food is fine for us most of the time - what is it like, price wise and otherwise? How does it compare to NYC prices? We really have to do this on the cheap.

I don't wish to discourage you unduly, it is just that it is better to keep one's expectations low and possibly be pleasantly surprised, than to be taken off guard.

If you don't find the hotel breakfast satisfactory for whatever reason, pubs will often sell you a full breakfast for around £ 4 or £ 5 each. A pub dinner for 2 goes for around £ 17.

The good news is that many museums in London are free.

London is much more expensive than NY. In fact, what I usually find is that something that costs $10 in NY will cost 10 BP there. At the current exchange rate that's about $16 or 60% more. The good news is many of the museums are free.

It's also true that very inexpensive hotels in London offer much less space & general "niceness" than what Americans expect, even from a motel 6 type place. To eat & sleep very cheaply without feeling miserable will take a lot of effort. If you stay in a B & B (which is really a hotel without a restauarnt in most cases),they offer a full English breakfast included (some hotels do but not all). This is eggs, some sort of meat-ham or bacon-and their bacon is more like Canadian bacon. They call American bacon streaky bacon & most places won't have it. Toast, grilled tomato & sometimes potato also.

Pub food is fine-some are better than others. The good news is there are now also several food chains that offer quite good food & value. Pizza Express & Ask are 2 Italian chains with excellent food at good prices. Pret a Manger is a sandwich shop chain.

Your other option to consider is to stay in an apartment with a kitchen so you can have some meals in. The apt would be more than what you've budgeted but food would be less and you wouldn't necessarily need to do a lot of cooking. Marks & Spencer (a dept store) & others sell prepared foods for take away that you just have to heat. For apt websites do a search here for London apartments. This is one.
www.london4rent.com

I suggest you do some text searches here (type London AND inexpensive into the box above). The very best &quot;deal&quot; I ever got was from lastminute.com What you should consider is booking a room somewhere that can be cancelled (my advise is don't prepay anything! At your price point, you want to be able to leave after one night &amp; not loose money if you get there and hate it!) Anyway, book something &amp; then closer to your trip, try lastminute.com and or Laterooms.com. I <b>think</b> these sites allow you to book for 3 in a room. Incidentally, if you book a room through a 3rd party website (ie NOT the hotel itself) make sure to print out the confirmation, take it with you &amp; reconfirm with the hotel directly.

Also, there's a chain called Ibis that is very cheap. I just can't remember where their hotels are located in London. Another budget chain is Jury's Inn.

Your other option is to stay in a location that's not so central but still on the tube line. As with anywhere, the further away from central London you stay, the cheaper the rates. Islington is one area that comes to mind for this. This website will show an underground map so when you look at places you can check the nearest tube stop.

http://www.afn.org/~alplatt/tube.html

Finally, keep in mind that tax-called VAT is 17.5% so make sure as you're looking it either says VAT included or you add it in.

Happy hunting!

I just checked the Park International Hotel for Mid-March and they show 3 rooms for triple occupancy at 60 pounds a night. That does not include tax. www.parkintertnational.com

Keith

Thanks all. Will check out the sites/hotels suggested. Keith, can't access the Park International website just now, but will definately do so later. Do you know anything about it?