Hotels in Bath - Help please!
 

We have decided to start our London short family vacation this February with a quick stop over in Bath. We are going to Bath directly from Heathrow (early on a Sunday morning), napping on the way, and plan on staying one night and heading to London on Monday. Any hotel recommendations would be helpful. We won't have a car so we want to stay in a central location. Also, we are a family of 4 (2 adults and 2 teens) so we need two rooms and I would like keep the price down. The most I want to pay is 100 pounds per night per room(less would be wonderful!). Suggestions please!

I think the Abbey Hotel might fit your requirements. It's a reasonable walk (or a very short taxi ride) from the train station, and in the best part of the city. Good luck.

Thanks Wayne, but have you been to this hotel recently? I just checked it out on the tripadvisor web site and there are some very ugly reviews! I know that these reviews are just people's opinions, but a review from this summer makes it sound like a real dump.

We have a good friend who lives in the center of Bath and she booked us at the Parade Park last spring. It is well within your price range, and the location is excellent, right across the street from the Pulteney Weir and a block from the Abbey and the main shopping street. The hotel is nothing fancy, but it's adequate, and I think it's about the best you can do in the city center. You might check on their suites for a family.

Parade Park Hotel
8-10 North Parade
Bath BA2 4AL
Tel: 011-44-1225 463 384
email: [email protected]
website: http://www.geocities.com/paradepark/index.htm

Not in the center of town, but walking distance and right across the street from a n arboretum/botanical garden/park is a guesthouse called Marlborough House. The rooms are prettily decorated and the food is organic and vegetarian. It's where I've stayed on my two visits to Bath, but I must admit it's my sister's place! She gives excellent tourist info, too.

http://www.s-h-systems.co.uk/hotels/marlbor1.html

We just returned from Bath a few weeks ago and stayed at Prior House B&B. LOVED it. Rates are 50% lower than what you are willing to pay and Lynn and Keith will make it feel like home. 10-15 min walk to the Abbey. Highly recomended.

sorry .. forgot to post the link to them...

http://www.s-h-systems.co.uk/hotels/priorhouse.html

Frankly, in February I would prefer not to be a 10-15 min walk to the city center. Bath can be very chilly and windy. We froze our you-know-what's off in May!

Thank you for the suggestions. I think I agree with Marilyn, I would love to be closer to the sights. Has anyone heard of the Carfax Hotel or Tasburgh? I found them on tripadvisor.com. Susan

Hi Susan -- I think the Carfax looks very good. The location is very central and the Superior Double rooms look a lot nicer than the Parade Park (but then it is some L25 more).

The Tasburgh would be lovely in nice weather, but the location is going to be another walk into the city center.

If you do stay at the Carfax, would you either post on this thread after you return and let us know how it was, or email me directly? I would be interested for our next visit there.

I am still checking out hotels. Has anyone ever heard of Apsley House? It sounds very nice and the prices are low. I am not very good at judging the locations. The website is www.apsley-house.co.uk. Any comments on this choice? I like Carfax but they require a non refundable deposit of 30 pounds per person.

Susan, according to their website, Apsley House is a mile west of the city center. From the map I can tell you it's going to be a long walk to the Abbey, which is what I consider the city center.

Basically, Bath has a lot of B&B's like Apsley House and Tasburgh, but they are all a bit outside of the center. If there is a spacious garden shown in the web photo(and they all appear to have been shot on a sunny summer day!), you can bet it's not in the city center. Even if you wanted to spend $300 a night to stay on the Royal Crescent, it would be quite a walk to the "city center."

For just one night, I really think you are best off at either the Parade Park or the Carfax. Both of them are also very close to the train station, assuming that is how you will be traveling into London.

Hey Susan, there's another thread on this subject and a hotel called Harrington's that sounds pretty good and centrally located. Check it out.

Hi Susan,

When I stayed in Bath this past summer, I bid on a hotel at priceline.com and got a great deal - 55USD for a double at the Francis (a MacDonald Hotel). It was very nice and about a five minute or so cab ride from the train station.
I've used priceline for a total of 40 nights in my travels and have never had a negative experience, so you might want to try it just to keep your costs down. If you want any more info on this let me know!

Hi Julie,
I have often considered priceline, but I have never used it. I have a couple of concerns with it. First, I always want the option to change my mind and find a different hotel at the last minute - or even move around our itinerary, and second, I do not want to end up at a hotel that I don't want! So, I will stick with booking the old fashioned way! But thanks for the advice, I know that it can work out fine; I am just wary of it.