TravellingCindy

My husband and I are moving back to the US and are staying in London for one night. We'd like to see the Lion King and stay in a ritzy hotel. Our budget is 300 pounds for both. Do you know a good web site to find theatre breaks in London with nice hotels?

doug_stallings

Do you mean that you want to get both tickets for the Lion King and a "ritzy" hotel room in London for 300 pounds? If that's what you mean, I think you've drastically underbudgeted for this trip. Expect a "ritzy" hotel in London to cost 300 pounds alone.

British Airways used to package theather tickets with hotel rooms in London, so you might look there. I'm not sure what other companies do this right now.

TravellingCindy

Maybe we have two different definitions for the word "ritzy." I found a package at The Landmark (waiting for updated info) for 299. I think the Landmark looks pretty ritzy.

JAGIRL

I think I'm confused...

walkinaround

why the confusion? she wants both for £300. i assume the landmark package she mentions is a theatre package. you should be able to get a 4* hotel + basic lion king seats for about £300 for the package if booked together.

sara_qc

Check out www.superbreak.com. You'll first choose your plau, then the date, then the hotel.
Good luck.

janisj

The Landmark's website says &quot;from&quot; &pound;299 (plus VAT). Those pesky <i>&quot;from's&quot;</i> make a big difference. Do they have that rate for your night? If so, I'd take it. Other 5 star properties are charging from around &pound;200 and up per person.

Neopolitan

Yes, that Landmark thing sounds like a good deal -- if it's for real. Usually those things are listed &quot;per person&quot; but it clearly says room for two and two tickets.

JAGIRL

oohhhhh...now I get it. I thought she said the hotel room <i>alone</i> was &pound;299. Now I see.quot;&gt;

Sounds like she got her answer

Dukey

I wish I could FIND a &quot;ritzy&quot; hotel for 299 a night in London!

venturegirl

You have a shot at making this happen: use priceline.com and bid on a 5 star hotel. I've had good luck with using priceline for London hotels. For London hotels,priceline lets you narrow the area that you want to stay in so that gives you some control and strategy in making your bid. Use www.biddingfortravel.com to guage your bid offers and what you might get for that bid. Theater tickets in London are relatively affordable, so if you get a good deal on priceline hotel, it won't matter if you pay full price for theater. The more in advance you plan, they more time you'll have to make your bid and counter-bids on priceline. Good luck!

Neopolitan

venturegirl, when was the last time you bought theatre tickets in London? They are rapidly approaching the New York prices. Lion King tickets in London run 47.50 each, that's a little over $90 US each. So the $180 for a pair will take a pretty big chunk of the budget.

walkinaround

neo...i'm not sure why you convert this to USD as the OP has &pound;300 to spend. but if you must, that would leave her nearly US$400 to spend on a hotel from priceline. i don't know anything about priceline except what i hear here but it seems that people regularly get london hotels for far less than $200...certainly much less than $400.

not saying this is the best way to go as i assume priceline prices greatly depend on hotel supply when you want to go but on the surface it seems worth a thought especially since the OP has clarified her expectations for &quot;ritzy&quot;

Neopolitan

The only reason I converted to US dollars was because of the comment that London theatre prices are &quot;relatively affordable&quot; would somehow indicate they are a lot less than Broadway for example. So I said what they are in US dollars to make the comparison easier -- they are nearly the same.

venturegirl

Thanks, Neopolitan - I don't need the comparison -- I understand the conversion rate. :+) I personally don't think that the theater prices are unreasonable or outrageous (I have London theater tickets in 2 weeks, actually, to answer your question, so I know what theater tickets cost)- and my point was that even at first run ticket prices, I believe there is enough budget left and potential to get a nice hotel room, if one is creative.

I think that the approx. 90 pounds for theater tickets out of a 300 pound budget -- leaving around 200 pounds - or $400 for a nice hotel room is possible. I have used priceline to obtain a very nice 4-star hotel room in London for both $95 and $75 per night. Based on what I've seen others get for 5 star hotel rooms - as listed on bidding for travel.com - I think w/ the remaining $400 (200 pounds) left in the stated budget, and depending on the bidding strategy used, that Cindy may very well have luck in achieving her objective.

I hope that clarifies my suggestion and that Cindy is able to make this happen.

Neopolitan

OK, it's just that most people complain about theatre tickets being nearly $100 each or not being able to get half price tickets to make them &quot;affordable&quot; for the average traveler. You're the first I've heard from who considers that &quot;relatively affordable&quot;, but that's fine.

TravellingCindy

I ended up booking the Marriott Regent's Park, which looks nice, and the theater tickets for 325 pounds. Not too shabby.

Neopolitan

Since the tickets are worth 90 pounds for the pair, I guess that means the hotel is costing you 235 pounds. I don't know when you're going, but when I bring up the Marriott Regents Park for all kinds of random dates in the next couple of months I find the range of rate from 149 pounds to around 200 pounds for their superior rooms. I hope you're getting a suite or something very special since it's a package price for more than a regular room and the tickets would normally be, especially since the hotel is so out of the way for the theatre.

If you are happy, that's what is important, but I'll repeat my often given statement that most of these package deals are not really much of a deal pricewise.

janisj

Ditto to what neopolitan said. Just like most fly/drive packages aren't a bargain - most hotel/theatre packages are maybe not a rip off, but definitely not money savesr. And hotel/dinner/theatre packages are the worst of all. You end up w/ vouchers for restaurants you wouldn't normally give a second look.

TravelingCindy -- i-that really is a <u>lot</u> for the Marriott Regent's Park. Are you getting any other benefits (dinner, spa, limo, or ??? )