Hi, we are staying London for the week end 9th to 12th April. We are looking at The City Inn in Westminster (Pimlico?) to stay. I know its not a traditional hotel but our flight arrives at 6am and this hotel does have a guaranteed early check in. It has some good reviews on expedia and I just want to make sure that it is a good central place to stay to explore London on foot.

I am also looking at blackberrycars.com for the transfer from Heathrow to the hotel. Its GBP 30 for the two of us which is dearer than the shuttle bus but I thought at that time of the morning after such a long flight the expense might be worth it just to get to the hotel quickly. Do you agree?

Hi there, we stayed at the City Inn Westminster a few years ago for a weekend. The room was lovely, new and modern and not too cramped as a lot of London hotel rooms can be. The view was of a pebbled courtyard from memory so not as bad as a brick wall but not great. Front desk service was excellent. We didn't have the breakfast there as we felt it was way too expensive.

The major downside for us was there didn't seem to be many cafes or shops or restaurants about. It may have been we missed them somehow. I didn't really like the location but the hotel was new and clean and fine. It had more of a business hotel feel than a tourist hotel feel.

If you wanted to, you can check what restaurants are about, including maps, on www.squaremeal.co.uk
Just select the Westminster area and go from there.

Kay

Thanks Kay, I think breakfast is included so that will save a bit. Can you tell me, did you find it easy to get around London from there? I don't know my way around and am looking for somewhere that makes it easy to get everywhere else, if you know what I mean?

It is a good area -- a short walk from Pimlico tube station on the Victoria line. That does mean line transfers to get most anywhere but that isn't really a problem. It is walking distance from Westminster Abbey/Big Ben and is just out the back entrance of Tate Britain.

There aren't that many places to eat nearby -- there are the cafe and restaurant inside the Tate itself.

But most folks end up eating/drinking where they are out and about -- not necessarily right next to their hotel. If you got a good rate, it would be a decent location.

Hi Tricia,
It doesn't matter where you stay in London, you won't be able to get to all the touristy places on foot, it's too spread out. You'll have to use the tube and buses (get an Oyster card when you first arrive). I think the Bloomsbury area, near Russell Square, is a bit more central but where you are staying is not awful or anything and it does offer you the early check in which sounds good.

The buses run all the time with very frequent service, I guess from your screen name you're Australian, we are too and the public transport in London is fantastic compared to anything in Australia. The good thing about the buses is you get to see where you're going and get a much better idea of where things are. The tube is much quicker, as there's no traffic to deal with underground, but it can be disorienting. The bus is also cheaper.

I remember we walked to Victoria station from that hotel which was a bit of a hike. If you are in London over a weekend, be aware that whole tube lines are often closed for maintenance, you can check in advance on www.tfl.gov.uk
If possible, it's a good idea to stay somewhere within easy reach of more than one tube line in case one line is closed. Pimlico and Victoria are both on the Victoria Line but Victoria is also on the District and Circle lines. And of course, the buses should be fine.

If you want to look at any other hotels, this website www.londontown.com has a handy map section that shows London and the hotels and prices marked on the map.

Hope all that helps a bit. Sing out if we can help further.
Kay

"<i>. . . . we walked to Victoria station from that hotel which was a bit of a hike.</i>"

A better option (usually) would be to just walk 5 mins over to Pimlico station and then ride from there to Victoria.

We'll be there in about 2 weeks. Expect you will have committed by then but I'll report back about where we ate. We chose it because of it's proximity to Tate Britain. We are using Ray Skinner for our Heathrow trips-will look up site and send it separately. He is 44 pounds each way. He was recommended by another Fodorite.

"Try either justairports.com or Ray Skinner at http://www.london-transfers.com/"

Above was the Fodorite recommendation.

I'll put in another thumbs-up for Ray Skinner. We used his service in May/09 from Heathrow to Sloane Square. I have only good things to say, he was waiting for us when we arrived, got us to the hotel promptly, helped us with our luggage and was very pleasant.