does anyone know anything about these London hotels? Country Inn and Suites in Kensington? Copthorne Tara Hotel in Kensington? REgent Palace Hotel near Picadilly? Barkston Garden Hotel in Kensington? Any good hotel finds in the general touristy area so we can walk most places? Trying to keep price at about $100 per night as we need 2 rooms. Thanks!

I have stayed a the Regent Hotel and was very disappointed. The hotel was too large, carpets seemed dirty, and we ended up getting a shared bath, which was actually like a large college dorm where you had to run down the hall to shower or use the restrooms. However if you like the all the action the location was not bad.

We stayed at the Copthorne Tara last year and enjoyed our stay but I've seen other reviews that rip the place apart, almost like they stayed at a different hotel. The room was spacious (by London standards), the bed was comfortable, the shower was fine. The hotel was a few minutes walk from the High St. Kensington tube and a short distance from a Safway grocery store where we picked up breakfast every morning.

We booked from Priceline, got the room for $75 per night plus tax. This year we're trying a different location, got the Mayfair Intercontinental for $65 per night (plus $10 bonus), also from Priceline.

Even if you don't use Priceline, you can take a look at www.biddingfortravel.com and look at the hotel review section for some more opinions.

Of those you list, the Copthorne Tara gets the most (and best) feedback here. Type "copthorne tara AND london" into the text box at the top of this page to pull up many threads mentioning it. You can do the same for the others, changing the hotel name, of course.

Another good source of hotel reviews is tripadvisor.com

I did very well recently in London (May 8-10, and May 12) on Priceline - I got a room at Berners Hotel both times, for $85/night and then for $75/ night. It is rated 4 stars and in the Mayfair-Soho area of Priceline's map. Plus tax.

It was totally satisfactory to me, big enough, nice view, clean, smelled fine, nice bathroom, fine breakfast (not so cheap but ok as room was so cheap). I note however that 4* does not guarantee you air conditioning, so in the summer I might go to Hoteldiscounts.com where you can choose, as I've been in London when I really did need an ac.

Hi boppiess,
I don't know how many days you will be visiting, but have you considered staying in an apartment? We had 5 of us and it was much cheaper (& nicer!) to rent an apartment for 4 nights. Gave us a place to sit around together and have breakfast there (saves $$)

I don't have the name with me but I'll dig it up if you want. It was in Mayfair and other one was by Harrods.

Hope this helps & have fun!

Why not try a vacation rental?

Coach House London Vacation Rentals (www.rentals.chslondon.com) have some great properties

If you look on www.laterooms.com you will find some good rates. There's an appartment building mentioned in Queen's Gate (very close to the Kensington Museums) that always has very competitive rates. Even if you do not want to book last minute, this site will give you some good ideas. I've stayed at Beaufort House near Harrods in really great apartment, but it is expensive.

We are looking for a place to stay in London also (2 adults & 4 children), but are having difficulties. We are only staying 2 nights, and want something fairly central at a reasonable cost. We can get either an apartment or 2 hotel rooms, but want to keep the price around 150 US dollars total per night. Does anyone know of a place that I can contact (website)?

Thanks so much! You are all wonderful!

Try londontown.com --we've booked through them several times. Nice interactive web site, easy to use. From them, we found great deals at Millenium Baileys in Gloucester Road (65# a night). We'd stay there again in a heartbeat.

I have noticed that the closer you book to the date of your stay, the cheaper the rate, surprisingly. so I might make a "safe" booking then check londontown.com regularly for best rates.

I have stayed in Country Inn and Suites at Kensington, booked last summer exactly, through hotels.com. Was very happy and pleased with attentive service, accomodations, cleanliness, convenience, and all. No complaints. Would do it again.