Help with trip to London
 

Hi
I was able to get two roundtrips to London with our air miles. So excited until I started pricing hotels. Wow Expensive. I have a booking at Marriott Maida Vale for 99 Pounds including breakfast which I thought was good but now I am being told it is not near sight seeing stuff so we will have to add time to get to the stuff. I really like Marriott or Hilton hotesls because I can get points with them.But it looks like they are out my price range.
Price range $150to $200.I would like breakfast with my hotel as I have heard eatiing out is expensive also. If anyone has a suggestion I would appreciate it. My dates are 3-25 thru 3-31.

Has anyone done the Ceremony of the Keys. I sent in for tickets and am hoping to recieve them,

I want to see Mouse trap do you think I need to buy tickets ahead of time???
Also I have heard that the tubes do not run later at nite so will I have trouble returning to my hotel after the play
Any thoughts would be appreciated

We are frequent travellers to London and offer a few thoughts to your questions. First, your friends are correct that Maida Vale is not in Central London, and staying there will add travel time to your sightseeing activities. A few excellent locations convenient to the key sights in London are Soho/West End (if you like the theatre and near Buckingham Palace and the National Gallery), Bloomsbury (a skip from the must-visit British Museum and also close to the West End theatres), and Knightsbridge (close to Harrods, Victoria and Albert and Natural History Museums). Of the three areas, Bloomsbury is considered the lowest cost so you might want to focus your search there. Assuming this will be your first visit to London, I think you need to consider upping your hotel budget a bit and try to find a hotel in one of these locations. Try using the website: www.hotelscombined.com, which conveniently searches many, many discount sites and gives you a whole range of available rates. The Ceremony of the Keys is quite atmospheric, but do keep in mind that you have to travel from Central London to the Tower of London in the evening for a short (about 15-minute) event. As for Mousetrap, we can't imagine that you will need to book tickets ahead of time. (After all, it's been playing almost as long as QEII's reign!) In fact, it is highly likely that you will be able to score some discounted tickets at the Official Discount Ticket Booth at Leicester Square on the day of performance. Please, please be aware that the only official ticket booth is in a small building in the Square itself. There are lots and lots of "official" theatre ticketing agencies around the Square. Avoid them . . . most of them are dodgy operations. Enjoy your trip to London!!!

Try Londontown.com

http://www.londontown.com/hotels/ind...=list&x=45&y=8

There is even a studio apt. for under 100 GBP a night in a good location

The Regency that is listed on Londontown has an excellent location, near 2 tub stations and lots of bus routes. I don't think it includes breakfast but there are numerous cafes nearby where you can get a continental or even a full English for a few pounds

A lot of people here seems to use Priceline to get quite good hotels. Another option might be B&Bs. I've stayed at a few and they can work out to be cheaper than a hotel. I'll also recommend the Bloomsbury area, I've stayed there a few times.

Tube timetable:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/gettingaround/1129.aspx
Last trasin ~midnite. I went to a couple of plays last trip (Old Vic), went to pub afterwards, and had no issues getting home.

Thanks you guys are awesome. I now have on hold Park Plaza County Hall 125 pounds including breakfast. Another question is the tube the way to get to the Park Plaza from the airport. or should we cab it with all our luggage and stuff.
I really appreciate the feedback. It makes the planning of this trip a little less overwhelming. :)

Do NOT cab; I don't have time to look at a map but unless your hotel is near a tube stop on the Picadilly Line, then the best thing to do is get a car service to pick you up. We used justairports highly recommended. Google them and get a quote. Assuming you are arriving LHR.

You can take tube, it would take one change at Picadilly Circus to the Bakerloo line to Waterloo station. If you prefer door to door especially after an overnight flight I have often recommended and others have too www.justairports.com. You can book on line. You get a nice private sedan car. Pay cash for best rate. To that area about 30 pounds each way (that's for the whole car). Much cheaper and more comfortable than a regular taxi.

And check out another thread here with comments about the area of that hotel. http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ring-break.cfm

The Marriott, Maida Vale that you mentioned is 3-4 minutes walk to Kilburn Park Underground Station which is on the Bakerloo line. From there it's only 20 minutes or so direct to (for example) Oxford Circus, Piccadilly Circus or Waterloo. However the Park Plaza is an excellent location.

I would definitely recommend booking for The Mousetrap. I went for the first time a couple of years ago (I've lived here 30 years) and it was pretty much sold out, even after running nearly 60 years.

The Underground runs until midnight-30 - 1am so you'll always be able to get home on public transport after theatre, dinner etc.(bus sevices run all night.)

If you plan to use public transport, you should get an Oyster card. You can pre-order at http://visitorshop.tfl.gov.uk/. This will allow you to use Underground, Overground, Buses, Dockland Light Rail and even the Thames Clipper boat service. Don't forget though that London is a great walking city. I always advise visitors to walk as much as possible.

First, I stand corrected and will defer to SimonX's Mousetrap ticket recommendation. My travelling companion, who has accompanied me on our 30+ trips to London, states emphatically that he has never seen Mousetrap tickets for sale at the Leicester Square discounted ticket booth. Second, we second (no pun intended) the justairports recommendation, if you are not inclined to use the Piccadilly line to travel from Heathrow to Central London. Using the subway can be a bother if you have a lot of luggage because you have to negotiate stairs at most stations. You did not specify your arrival airport, but all have assumed that you are landing at Heathrow. By the way, justairports does charge a bit more (5 GBP, I believe) for trips from the airport because the driver has to pay parking fees. Lastly, the Park Plaza County Hall is not in a bad "south of the Thames" location, but do note that most of London's must-sees are on the other side of the river. We love to walk so we prefer to walk during our sightseeing activities, rather than relying on the Tube. Even though an earlier poster made the excellent suggestion of using the Oyster card, fares still do add up if you use the Tube frequently. PS. If you do stay "south of the river," a great activity to pursue on Saturday is to go to Borough Market, a haven for foodies. The market is a longish, but thoroughly enjoyable, walk from the Park Plaza along the Thames. Have a great trip!