Looking for budget rooms close to tourist places. Considering areas- Soho, Convent Garden, Mayfair, Knightsbridge, Belgravia and Strand. <BR> <BR>Budget means less than $ 100 but in a safe neighbourhood. The rooms may not be fancy but they should at least be somewhat comparable to our budget hotels here- Comfort Inn, Best Western, Howard Johnson and others in that league.

You're joking right? <BR> <BR>There is one chain -- Travel Inn? Someone else can post details. <BR> <BR>My recommendation is St. Margarets Hotel. Doubles with bath down the hall is about $90. US right now. [There is a sink in the room]. It is SPOTLESS -- with a very friendly and helpful staff. [It has been run for the Duke of Bedford by the same Italian family for 45 years.] But the rooms have rather badly matched and threadbare accessories. It is just south of Russell Square on Bedford Place.

Travel Inns are your best bet if you want modern rooms like the chains you mentioned. The best one - County Hall - is about $95 per night for a basic room w/ bath but w/o breakfast. There are 3 or 4 other travel Inns in central London - but the only other one I'd consider is Tower Bridge.

Do you mean London county hall travel inn capital ?

I don't know when you're going, but I found rates for a double room for under $100 at the Park International in Kensington in August. www.parkinternational.com

My family of 4 stayed at the Travel Inn London County Hall in June. Nothing fancy (comparable maybe to a Motel 6), but quite clean. The location was quite convenient. The cost is 75 pounds per night.

Two years ago, we stayed at the Confort Inn in the Convent Garden area, north of Hyde Park. It was very clean, safe neighborhood, and the staff was very helpful and friendly. Breakfast was included as well. Make sure you eat at Wagamamma, it's cheap and really good! Good Luck! K

We've stayed at the Ridgemount a couple of times. It is £45 for a double with a private bathroom, including breakfast. It is about 2 blocks from Goodge Street tube, within walking distance (about 15 minutes) to Leicester square. It is a small family-run hotel, clean with helpful staff. The room is quite basic: very small (but there is a small wardrobe for clothes), a small full-size bed, no telephone in the room (but there is a tv), and no elevator. But the bathroom is clean and bright and the prive is right! They have only a few rooms with private bath, so be sure to specify when booking.

Sorry, I just realized that on our last stay the price had gone up to £55. Still a bargain...

I'll offer two hotels by the Strand, and copoues of notes that peopole on this forum have made this month about cheap hotels in Belgravia. <BR> <BR>Please write if I can help further. Welcome to London <BR> <BR>Ben Haines <BR> <BR>http://london.hotelguide.net/data/h100241.htm <BR>Strand Palace Hotel. £159 to 199 <BR>Also at discount £57 any date in August <BR>and £66 Fridays to Sundays all year <BR>on http://www.hotelsengland.com./ <BR>Discounts also on http://www.travelnow.com/hotels/ <BR>and on http://www.180096HOTEL.com <BR>Many rooms are small, but not all, so it is good to ask <BR>the room size before you book. <BR> <BR> <BR>Notes taken from messages to Fodors Forum for Europe in July 2001. <BR> <BR>Introductory. Be sure if you pick something from the web to make sure you can see pictures of the rooms - I was burned badly at a dud hotel, and don't want it to <BR>happen to you. In London especially you get what you pay for - so don't try to skimp too much. Be careful, for some of the small hotels in this location look a little seedy. But if you are saving, Ebury Street is quiet but right near Victoria Station and is a great place to start. You can walk to the street with your luggage on wheels. It's one B&B after the other. There's a good bar on Ebury Street (had dinner there the first night; I'd describe it as "world cuisine".. eclectic, some Thai touches, some French, some Italian) and there were several boutiques on Ebury Street that I didn't get to explore but looked promising. The street is near Buckingham Palace and a good walk to the West End. Tube stop nearby. <BR> <BR>Arden Hotel. http://www.ardenhotel.com/. Basic, but clean, about 10mins walk to Victoria on a quiet street. <BR> <BR>Arden Hotel. I was there a month ago, clean and convenient. The rooms at the back "benefit" from the noise of the trains entering and leaving Victoria station. It's not a strong noise since the trains go slowly at this stage, but people with a light sleep should ask a room looking on the street. <BR>12 St Georges Drive, SW1, phone 7834 2988 <BR> <BR>Astors Hotel. I cannot necessarily recommend the hotel (it was pretty worn, but the price was right), but the area was great. 110 Ebury Street, SW1, phone 7730 3811. <BR> <BR>Cardiff House. I stayed there last time I was in London. Bernadette is the manager. After getting back to the states I found out my mother and her friends have stayed there several times. It's clean but not fancy. I shared the bath down the hall. I believe it was $35/USD in February. So the price would be higher in Aug/Sept. Not in the London phone book. <BR> <BR>Cartref Hotel or James House. I stay there as often as I can as long as they have a vacancy. Both B&B's are owned by the same family and they are located directly across the street from one another. The facility is spotless and the staff are so friendly. Coming down for breakfast every morning was a delight! Good luck! Cartref Hotel, 129 Ebury Street, SW1, phone 7730 6176 and 7730 7637. James House Hotel, 108 Ebury Street, phone 7730 2511 and 7730 7338. Double 68 pounds a night bed and breakfast. http://www.jamesandcartref.co.uk/htm/about.html/. <BR> <BR>Chesham House Hotel. We paid 55 pounds for a double room without bathroom per night which included a full English breakfast. They also have rooms with bathroom. We found it to be quite adequate for our needs. Our room was not large or luxurious but we didn't go to London to stay in our room. 64 Ebury Street, phone 7730 8513, fax 7730 1845. <BR> <BR>Collin House. We had a family room the summer of 1997 for about $125. We recommend it. 104 Ebury Street, phone 7730 8031. http://www.milford.co.uk/go/collinhouse.html/. <BR>Double with breakfast, with en-suite 82 pounds or 115 dollars, without en-suite 68 pounds or 96 dollars <BR> <BR>(To be continued) <BR> <BR>

Ebury Court Hotel. My favourite. Not all rooms have private baths. Room #1 is particularly pleasant. Like staying at Grandma's house. No children under 6 allowed in dining rooms. 28 Ebury Street, phone 7730 8147. <BR> <BR>Ebury House Hotel. In the late 1980's we stayed at this delightful small hotel. It was made up of a couple of Georgian houses and we had a room with a canopy bed and a fireplace. It was moderate price then and only a few blocks from the station. It had a full English breakfast which was served in the basement of the old house. We found this hotel in guide books but it is probably on the internet. <BR>102 Ebury Street, phone 7730 1350. Double or Twin Bed and Breakfast from 55 to 75 pounds, 77 to 105 dollars. http://www.smoothhound.co.uk/a44192.html/. <BR> <BR>Elizabeth Hotel was perfectly awful...We could not get into another hotel without paying over 200$ a night...we were there for 6 night, much too long!!!! The Rubens looked lovely and I wish we would have stayed there,,,,oh well, you live and learn!!!!! 37 Ecclestone Square, phone 7828 6812. <BR> <BR>Grosvenor Thistle, the Victorian hotel right at Victoria station. I stayed there years ago several times. There is an entrance right in the hotel to the station which was convenient . The rooms were clean, the help, friendly, helpful shops and cocktail lounges. <BR> <BR>Grosvenor Thistle, right there at Victoria, indeed over it and surrounding it, cannot be beat for location, location, location. It is huge, and it does lack the charm that smaller places can deliver. However, being right there at your train station and/or tube stop has huge advantages. Our room there was spacious, clean, and comfortable. Buckingham Palace Road , SW1W 0SJ, phone 7834 9494 and 0870 333 9120, fax 0870 333 9220. 148 pounds or 208 dollars a night for a double. http://www.thistlehotels.com/hotel_d....jhtml?id=4684 <BR> <BR>Harcourt House Hotel. Do not stay there. I stayed there a couple of years ago and it was awful. (5 nights there - I still can't believe we didn't just leave and go someplace else). 50 Ebury Street, phone 7730 2722, fax 7730 3998. http://www.harcourthousehotel.co.uk/...N/Catalog/3069 <BR> <BR>Holly House Hotel. reasonably priced and the rooms are okay. Nothing fancy but we only wanted a place to lay our weary heads at the end of the day. We got a 5-person ensuite family room for only 90 pounds, including a continental breakfast. reasonable. 20 Hugh Street, SW1 WOLU, phone 7834 5671, fax 7233 5154. 0870 333 9120. http://www.hollyhousehotel1.fsnet.co.uk/. Twin or Double Room: Basic 40 pounds, en-suite 50 pounds. <BR> <BR>

Here are more details on the hotel recommended by the post: <BR>SAINT MARGARET: 26 Bedford Place. Tel: 020-76364277. Fax: 020-73233066. (60 rms., 9 w/toilet & bath or shower.) £100 double; £115 triple; £145 quad. Full English breakfast (7-10am, includes porridge) is included in the rates & served in a wonderful breakfast rm. Visa, MC. Wonderful simple four bldgs.-in-one Georgian terraced smoke-free townhouse hotel w/simple old-fashioned furnished & individually decorated nice-size to large rms., cable TV w/CNN, phones, #53 is a ground-flr. huge rm. w/queen-size bed, 1 twin bed, marble nonworking fireplace w/massive glamorous antiqued mirror, corner bathroom w/bathtub, small private glassed-in conservatory w/great view of the Duke of Bedford’s private garden; #11 has a double bed, twin bed, high ceiling, marble nonworking fireplace w/massive glamorous antiqued mirror, compact shower w/toilet & great view of the back Duke of Bedford’s private garden; #28 is a large rm. w/double bed, twin bed, high ceiling, shower w/toilet & faces garden; #52 (ground-flr. rm. w/double bed, twin bed, freestanding prefabricated shower in the middle of the room & faces street) & 51 (ground-flr. rm. w/2 twin beds) share a bathroom outside the rms.; #59 is a lower-level huge rm. w/double bed, 2 twin beds, huge TV & compact shower w/toilet; #60 is a lower-level rm. w/double bed, 2 twin beds, shower w/toilet & small window that faces garden; #45 is a huge rm. w/double bed, 2 twin beds, decorative high ceiling, marble nonworking fireplace w/massive glamorous antiqued mirror, no bathroom & 1 large long balcony that faces the street; lots of character & ambience, many rms. w/original nonworking fireplaces & high ceilings, some rms. w/great views of the back of Duke of Bedford’s private garden, old carpeted flrs., two lounges, garden, no elevator, 4 flrs. Owned & managed by the very accommodating & charming Mrs. Rosanna Marazzi. The same family has owned this hotel for more than 50 yrs. Tube: Russell Square. <BR>

A web site that my friends from London recommended and that I'm starting to hear more good things about might be worth looking at is: www.smoothhound.co.uk. You can search by locations, they have pictures (for most of them) and they seem to have a good price range.