Sorry pressed enter by mistake:

also www.laterooms.com

Bear in mind that the further out you stay, you'll have extra costs for tube or bus travel into "central" London. I always feel that it's better to stay closer in and spend the tube money on a hotel, especially when you might be using the tube several times a day for two people. It's not cheap these days.

I do find that you can get a good four star close in for around £150 prpn, although breakfast will come extra.

It's a bit far out to stay, but for a place where Londoners live, go to Hammersmith by tube and get a bus from the Hammersmith bus station to Barnes. It has a village pond and common, a Main Street with real shops, some nice restaurants and pubs. There's also a wetland centre and a pleasant wooded walk by the river.

Hi, larrya.

Don't know if anyone's mentioned the Strand Palace Hotel...? I think this was a recco by Latedaytraveler, and I plan to stay here in future. Location seems wonderful, though you may need to edge up your budget a bit, as it sounds like you're already planning to do.

Have fun planning!

http://www.strandpalacehotel.co.uk

If your budget is 100-125 quid, go rent a flat. Hotel rooms in London are small. More room for the money in a flat.

Also, larrya. If you can plan your trip to coincide with the "Open House London" weekend, there are some nice opportunities to explore historical buildings that aren't often open to the public.

I don't believe the website has posted the dates for 2015 yet, but seems always to be in September.
http://www.londonopenhouse.org

Also, if you're a fan of history, I always enjoy taking the tour of the Chelsea Physic Garden, and visiting Kew. There are lectures at The Royal Institution and Linnean Society and Royal Geographic Society, and many other venerable society offices that may be of interest to you. And a London Walk is fun, too, if their is a topic that interests you. I did the Oscar Wilde walk and learned a little about criminal justice and Victorian-era shopping and conveyance. The guide was fantastic.

It is now a year ago that I was planning my first ever trip to London. I received the most generous support from Fodorites. Although your interests and needs may be totally different from mine, you may enjoy this thread:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-in-london.cfm

and here is the TR I wrote while there:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-in-london.cfm

Happy planning!

historytraveler: >>There is a Kensington House Hotel <<

I know about that hotel, but PQ seemed to be talking about a 'site' . . . with peacocks no less

Circa £100 per night shoul get you a room at Tune hotel (owned by Air Asia) 5 mis walk from Kings Cross/ St Pancras Tube or any Travelodge (Covent Garden is a great location). Basic hotels but great value.

>>Kensington House in Holland Park makes a neat off-the-radar of most tourists - <<

Care to clarify? Do you mean Kensington Palace which is not in Holland Park and isn't 'off the radar' of most anyone? Or possibly Leighton House -- which IS in Holland Park, but isn't ancient, and IS off many people's radar.>

Clarify my mistake - Holland House is in Holland Park - a stately ex-royal house - I mixed up Kensington, the area with the park - and it is called Holland House - don't know about any Leighton House and yes janis for the first-time tourist Holland Park is way off the radar

See pictures of Holland House, which is in Holland Park - a youth hostel is in an appendage of the old Holland House.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Holl...=1600&bih=1075

I'm surprised that you also made a mistake in saying Leighton House IS in Holland Park - it ain't but is near Holland Park - we all make mistakes - care to clarify you statement that Leighton House IS in Holland Park itself?

I've always thought of Leighton House as being in Kensington, a short walk from the shopping district on High St. and right between the 2 Kensington tube stations. Possibly my favorite place to visit in London for sheer atmosphere.

Kensington High Street is as MmePerdu says a great ambient scene full of shops, supermarkets, London's Whole Foods flag-ship emporium - grad some picnic stuff and head to Holland Park - sit on a bench, watch the peacocks flitting about and people watch as all types of ethnic groups on a nice day will also be sitting in the park - with lots of kids playing, etc. All lovingly back dropped on the north side by ancient Holland House.

Part of the reason that Holland Park is off the radar of many casual tourist who may be in London their first-time is that even from Kensington High Street you can't really notice it - a small path leads off it north to the park - a newish part of the park or newly redeveloped has lots of nice flowers and art work

and if you know any youthful hostellers - London's flagship YHA hostel is right next to Holland House - a neat hostel I long ago stayed at many times and the reason I knew Holland Park so well.

Kensington High Street + Holland Park -the type of place the OP was asking about -"mpm-touristy things to do" - whilst some may say a picnic in the park is tourism you will find relatively few tourists in Holland Park IME - the house itself has been under rehab for a long time - it may be open now if so another stately house to tour.

PalenQ, I was actually referring to Leighton House as atmospheric, Kensinton High St. by way of location. But what you say is true and both together would make a very nice morning or afternoon.

Leighton House is way off my radar even though I've been in the area many times - thanks for describing it and will look it over next time.

https://www.google.com/search?q=leig...w=1455&bih=977

For others who were as clueless about Leighton House as moi!

My last post started me thinking about what the OP described as "less touristy". While that description will mean different things to each of us, my tastes always run to National Trust properties. And while there may be numbers of people at their sites in the countryside, interestingly I've found the properties in London seem to be mostly much less crowded, so presumably "less touristy".

Here's a list of National Trust locations in and around London. The first page will be most useful, I think:
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visi...ndPlace=London

We are not in London nor are most of the readers - to most IN - in caps to emphasize IN means in - write for a largely American audience and forget the British jargon and parsing its meaning.

Are you sure you did not mix up Leighton House with Holland House? Seems so.

And this is the Leighton House website, highly recommended:

http://www.rbkc.gov.uk/subsites/muse...semuseum1.aspx

In general I find sites of any kind, houses, gardens, any products of artistic endeavor, are most interesting to me when they're the product of a single person's vision. And why I think Leighton House, among others, is particularly beautiful, assuming one's tastes run in that direction. I have no doubt '575 Wandsworth Road', a relatively new NT property, will be another of these when I manage to get there. '2 Willow Roas' in Hampstead is another, but entirely different.

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/575-wandsworth-road/
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/2-willow-road/

we really like the celtic which is in russell square. family run. nice breakfast. old but clean. quiet street for london-- and especially quiet with room on the back garden. in your budget. we have stayed there twice.

best of all, it's just 1 minute walk from the tube and from a nice little park.

they book well in advance.

http://www.stmargaretshotel.co.uk/W_e_l_c_o_m_e.html
web site goes by their old name (before they moved).. but that's the celtic site. LOVE london!!

Think about pushing your trip a bit further back into the fall. I was in London last October and stayed at a perfectly nice family-owned hotel that I paid about 95 pounds a night for. Double bed, small bathroom, between London & Kings Cross. It was called the Crescent Hotel. Nothing fancy, but it was easy to get to transport everywhere, and the surrounding neighborhood was lovely.

I've stayed in a couple of places on Cartwright Gardens, the address of the Crescent Hotel in Charlotte's post. The neighborhood is very good, I think, especially for those traveling out of King's Cross/St. Pancras or Euston Stations who want to still be walking distance to activities in Bloomsbury (British Museum, etc.). The Jenkins was awful but I think the Harlingford may be a bit nicer than the Crescent appears to be on the website, no shared facilities in any rooms at the Harlingford and about the same price for an ensuite double, now £125 for the Crescent, £124 at the Harlingford.

http://www.harlingfordhotel.com/index.html
http://www.crescenthoteloflondon.com/index.asp