Help! I'm a travel idiot.
 

Hey Everyone,
I was looking into purchasing a vacation package to London through EuropeASAP. They are offering a discounted winter trip that includes r/t airfare, hotel, and breakfast daily. The package that I was interested in is for two people (9 days, 7 nights) in either the Westbury Hotel (on Collingham Place) or the Adare Hotel (on Sussex Gardens) for $833 per person (including all taxes/fees). We'll be flying from San Diego, CA. Does this sound like a good deal? Can this business be trusted? We were planning to go in January (before college starts back up). Will January be a horrible time to go? Are those two hotels in a good location? Am I insane to even consider all of this? The website for the winter package deal is https://www.europeasap.com.
I'd greatly appreciate any advice you could give me! Thanks!

I would check out the hotels on www.tripadvisor.com to see if there are any reviews on them.

www.go-today.com also offers bargain trips to London. Sometimes it doesn't hurt to pay a bit more for the hotel. Budget hotels in London can be a little scary. :)

Many of the airlines (American, British Airways) also offer travel packages that are pretty good bargains.

jppoet, when you look at these packages, be sure to do so with a London street map in your hands. Sometimes the less expensive hotels are a bit out of the way; you might want to pay a little more for an "upgrade". And no, you are not insane! There are some nice packages for London from places like go-today.com and Virgin-Atlantic Vacations, I don't know anything about EuropeASAP, but hopefully someone else can share some information.

Hi Jppoet

I haven't heard of EuropeAsap, and I do suggest you get some information on them, or a recommendation from others who have traveled with them.

The advice to check the hotels on tripadvisor.com is good. I can tell you that both the addresses are decent for touring London, and there are many tourist hotels in both areas. I have stayed in the Collingham Place area, and I liked it.

You might want to check out some airline based packages, and go-today.com as others have suggested.

January isn't the perfect time to go, but there are so many great indoor things to do in London that you will have a good time no matter what the weather. Parks and boat rides on the Thames may be out, but theaters and museums, and the Underground for transportation will keep you warm and dry enough.

Do go, and have a wonderful time. Oh, and the price is good, if the hotels are bearable. Don't expect much for your money. I've been in awful budget places in London and my friend and his son had a room with a GIANT hole in the wall! Hence, the necessity of tripadvisor.com.

I would advise you to read those so-called "unbiased" reviews on TripAdvisor VERY carefully..pay attention to all the words. Some people simply have an axe to grind. If reviews seem generally good or not so good throughout then I would give them more credence.

Hi jp,

I suggest that you do some more research.

In 3 min I found RT airfare from San Diego and a week in a London hotel for $1800 for two.

With some looking you should be able to get a hotel of your choice and decent plane connections for the same or less than the package.

Collingham Place and Sussex Gardens are on the border between Kensington-Chelsea and Earl's Court. The area is convenient to tube stops, shopping, and not terribly expensive restaurants. V&A, Albert Hall, Natural History Museum, Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens are all within walking distance if you are reasonably fit.
We've stayed in this neighborhood for years and find it safe and convenient.
Don't know anything about the specific hotels you mention.

I've had good luck with Priceline for London hotels. We're booked at the Holiday Inn *Forum* in Kensington (not to be mistaken for the *regular* Holiday Inn Kensington) for $90 per night inclusive, and at the Crowne Plaza St. James for another trip at $127 inclusive, both trips in November 2004.

For flying from the west coast I think the price is terrific!!! My brother and I want to go next year and I have just sort of been poking around different sites and getting a feel for what's out there. That price is great...but, having said that, I don't know anything about the locations and quality of the hotels. You have been given good advice to checking the hotel and maybe they even have their own web site....might try googling. Also, read their policy...most of these have NO refunds under any circumstances and I would suggest trip insurance...oh yea...IF the hotels have a web site they might also have a map to show where they are...if you don't know London at ALL...get a city map because a lot of the map sites with the hotels show a small area or you have to click to move the whole page and it's hard to see how it all connects...say for example you want to see how close to Oxford Street you are, or the palace or whatever. As far as I'm concerned, there could be NO time that is not good to go to London...just give me the chance!!!!! LOL Hope it works out for you.

OK, so there are plenty of indoor things to do in London, but the fact remains that January is about the worst month of the year weatherwise, short days,long dark nights, and probably cold wet and windy. Dress up warm and bring your brolly !

I hope you are not prone to bronchitis!!

"Cold" is relative, of course. I thought London was warm (rarely below 0 Celsius) in the winter I livered there, but it's usually -5C to -15C where I usually live. London is a lot warmer than other parts of the country because the city and its buildings and systems generate a lot of heat. I never wore a winter coat - just a leather jacket, woolly scarf, gloves (and shirts and sweaters underneath of course). The temperatures in different environments in the city are quite variable - the Tube and Theatres can be humid and stuffy, while expanses of exposed parkland will be cold (of course), and your hotel room will either be stuffy or freezing.

As for EuropeASAP, I don't buy packages, but if I were you, I would check them out to see if they belong to an association that provides quality assurance/back-up in case of insolvency of the agent, etc. Also, make sure that you purchase the package with a credit card (so that you can cancel payment if the services aren't delivered) and buy appropriate travel insurance.

Allow me to offer a dissenting opinion re: the price/location tradeoff. If possible, I always go for the accommodation that's a little off the beaten track, because that's where the real bargains are. They're also away from the frenetic pace of some of the most popular tourist areas, being in "neighborhoods" rather than close to attractions. But with the Tube, everything in London is within a 10-15 minute ride, so where you sleep has little to do with your access to sights.

January in the UK is grim. But if you're adaptable, I'd say go for it. As my Scottish host once said, "Och, if we did nothin' in Scotland when it rained - we'd do nothin' at all!"

Hi
If you're going to compare packages, also look for package deals at the british air and virgin air websites.
They have some great winter air fares.