here4now

The Citadines in Trafalgar Square definetly has potential. No housekeeping but we could live with that. Any thoughts on the Park Plaza Westminster? We could stay in a King suite there with kitchenette and living room for less than Sanctuary House. Seems to be easy fairly access to all. 20 min walk or less to most things that are in our top ten things to do.

Also came across advertisements for September Thames River Festival (we return home 9/2) and Notting Hill Carnval Festival which sound fun. The Sky Garden also looks awesome. Not sure if any of those would affect where we should stay.

janisj

The Park Plaza Westminster is sort in the middle of a roundabout - not actually a roundabout but it is circled by roads. But it is VERY close to Waterloo station and the Eye and a short walk across the river to Big Ben Westminster Abbey. Not a 'restful' location but close to everything on the Southbank.

jamikins

You can get anywhere in London via the tube or buses. No one site should dictate where you stay. No hotel is going to be convenient to all or even most of what you want to see. Www.tfl.gov.uk is the public transit site to use to get familiar with public transit.

janisj

As jamikins says -- no site should determine where you stay. For every 'must' site -- there are 15 others in another part of town.

>>Notting Hill Carnval Festival which sound fun<<

Not unless you want to be in this sort of zoo: http://static.designmynight.com/uplo...arnival-22.jpg

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/...32_634x364.jpg

Tulips

Notting Hill Carnival is VERY loud - I just walked around last year to see the parade and regretted not having earplugs. The shops and restaurants are boarded up during that weekend. I would avoid the whole area, If I were you.

Go to Portobello Road on another Saturday - but be there before 10 am. It gets very busy later in the day.

Most flats don't have AC, it is rarely necessary. Depends on the flat too. A top floor flat will get hotter than a ground floor one.

This one has AC; http://www.onefinestay.com/homes/lon...lliers-street/

But if the price of Citadines Trafalgar is good, I'd go for that. It's a great location.

Tulips

Oh wait, I see that Onefinestay flat has only one king bed. A 2 bedroom flat will be more expensive.

mjs

The Citadines Trafalgar square is an excellent location and the rooms are good size for London and there is a laundry facility and wifi. AC too if you need it.
Three star quality with IKEA quality furnishing. Have stayed at multiple Citadines from Paris to London to Tokyo and they tend to be reliable but not necessarily cheap but decent.

northie

The sky garden is definitely worth a look- book a Tiime ahead, take id- it's free and offers fantastic views of London

kawh

btw... was checking travelzoo for paris hotel this evening, and they currently have a rate of 214US for a larger room with 2 beds "studio" at the grange city hotel. that might work for you, though it's a different area than usual. dates for this rate are spotty... except in august, when it's every day. seems like a great rate for their larger room.... and looks like a somewhat fancy hotel!

here4now

"Not unless you want to be in this sort of zoo:"

Yikes! I think we now avoid that altogether. Glad I asked!! It's that kind of response that makes this forum so fantastic.

Thank you to everyone for your advice about where to stay. I assure you I am not picking a hotel based on a single attraction, but rather: price point, amenities we want, the ease of getting to multiple attractions (whether by feet or public transport) and a decent neighborhood. From all your posts, I gather there it is really easy to avoid the shoddy hotels/neighborhoods bc there are so many good ones! Transportation seems to be a breeze for the most part. Now we have to decide what matters most, because none have everything we want (but some come really close).

I feel as though I have looked at every hotel in the Westminster, Victoria, St. James Traflager Square and Covent Garden areas at least 10 times. One other hotel (which seems to be the only one a little further away from a tube) is the Double tree Westminister. We can stay in a room with a king bedroom and living room and it has breakfast included and evening snacks. All for a decent rate and good reviews. But construction is mentioned and it seems a bit further removed then the other choices.

janisj

That Doubletree is a nice property but a bit of a hike to Pimlico station and a longer walk to Westminster station. However the #88 bus (probably others as well but the 88 is the only one I know) runs along John Islip Street and past the hotel - connecting Pimlico station, Tate Britain, Westminster Abbey/tube station and Trafalgar Square. So you can use this pretty frequent bus to get either to a tube station or farther towards Piccadilly Circus etc.

So if the prices is right and the room large it wouldn't be a bad location.

Tulips

Book the Citadines Trafalgar Square - by far the best location of the ones you looked at.
Doubletree Westminster is a much longer walk to nearest tube station.

sassy27

I've recently stayed at Park Plaza Westimister and just last month around Victoria train station. It really depends on what you want to experience on your first trip. I thought Park Plaza was going to be nice for my group as it was my mom's first time to London. While it was ok, we choose not to stay there again and we did have a suite with a balcony. My mom didn't like the location and the view was of the back of the hotel. More money to be in the front.

She much rather liked staying close to Victoria but I have noticed, this is just what our preference is. We had a 4 day tour leaving near the station so that's why I picked that location. We used the tube for 2 days and mostly walked but had seen the major sights already so it was fine for us. If you choose a hotel close to the tube, you shouldn't have any issues getting around.

mirandaverandah

If you choose the Citadines, be sure to join their online club. It makes you eligible for extra discounted room rates. I got 9 nights in September for £97 per night in a twin room at the Barbican location. This year I got the Holborn location for £118 per night for a double/twin room.

You might pay slightly more in August but you could stop get a good deal.

mirandaverandah

Just to add, those rates are pre-paid and non-refundable.

here4now

Ok . One more hotel that might work as well or better tan the Citadines--The Trafalgar London Hilton. Price wise it works, bed wise it's good, room size is about 100 square feet bigger then most (including the Citadines studio). No kitchen, but breakfast included in rate. 3 restaurants and a rooftop bar. Room servic, AC, housekeeping.

janisj

If breakfast is included in what is a doable room rate -- take it. That is a VERY central location (it couldn't be more central really) and the breakfasts usually cost £15+

It is walking distance to most of the centrally located sites (Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, the Eye, National/National Portrait galleries, Covent Garden, MANY theatres, Regent Sreet, Green Park, St James's Park, Cabinet War Rooms - and more.

here4now

I can either book without breakfast using a AAA and get a really good rate or with breakfast for about $50 US more a night (which seems high, but still within our budget! So I think we have a winner. Thank you so much for all your guidance (especially janisj ...you have been like my personal on site travel agent!).

janisj

Only a <i>small</i> fee

yep, $50 = approx £35. I think I'd consider booking w/o the breakfast. You might want to eat a full breakfast every morning but probably not. Some mornings you might just go to Starbucks or Costa Coffee or Pret and save a bundle.

Or have a late breakfast in some of the museum/gallery cafes.

janisj

oops -- hit submit too soon. It really depends on whether you are full-multi-course-cooked-breakfast-every-morning types or not.