|
Hotels in London (ourtrageously expensive)
I have been searching on all possible sites for a relatively nice, clean hotel in London and have no luck...US 175 is about as low as I've found for a "decent" hotel. Otherwise the recommendations in travel books, sites etc that offer cheap rooms are usually given hideously bad reviews by people who have stayed in them. HELP. Looking for Aug 1 - 4th. Thanks
I loved the K & K George Earls Court, stayed there 1 1/2 yrs ago for $125, but they're now asking over $200/night!! |
Try www.allhotels.com
We stayed in Harrington Hall which wasnt too expensive , but had clean spacious rooms and a classy feel to it. Good breakfast too. |
<u>priceline</u>! You can get wondeful (or at least very good) 4 star places for less than $100 - maybe a bit more in August since that is very highh season.
check out biddingfortravel.com first though . . . . . |
Ditto to janis. Last April I stayed at a 4* hotel in London for $72/night, which I booked on Priceline. During the high season you will pay more, but you can still get a good deal. Be sure to check out www.biddingfortravel.com before making any bids. The most important thing to know is that anything booked on Priceline is non-changeable and non-refundable. Also you will not know which hotel you are getting until after it's booked and paid, but if you requested a 4* in Bloomsbury, for example, you will get exaclty that and not a 2* in the boondocks. Many posters on this board have found great deals in London, I'm sure you can do the same.
|
Have a look at B&Bs. Much better value for money.
As an example... http://www.frommers.com/destinations/london/H31148.html You get a place with character, a big breakfast, and you're two blocks fomr the Tube in Bloomsbury. |
londontown.com is a good resource, too, for budget hotels and B&Bs. Good luck.
|
Inflation. Low dollar versus the pound. Lots of older, bad hotels in London.
Suggest either Priceline or increase your budget. (You would have a lot of trouble finding something in New York for that price either.) |
You could also look at
www.lastminute.com I've had some nice 4* hotels through them, for around 80 GBP a night including breakfast. |
Priceline can be fine if you are OK with paying everything ahead of time. As long as you are aware of that aspect of it and it does not make you nervous about non-refundable then I'd say try it. Personally, it is not my thing but each to their own.
I might add, whatever you decide to do be sure if VAT is included or not - that can add a hefty amount to what looks like a "bargain". |
4* Renaissance Chancery on Marriott.com is $99 per night, $115 incuding breakfast fo a Quality/ Standard room.
|
Priceline does scare me a bit as i like to know beforehand where exactly I'm staying (ie street - for instance don't like Cromwell Rd and a lot of deals are on that street). Apprehensive about not knowing. Do they tend to use the same hotels and if so does anyone know the typical hotels they use in the kensington area?
Dock, I checked out the marriot site and Chancery came up as over $200/night during 1-4 Aug. Did you get $99 for different dates. i could go up in my price but I'm trying to save as much as possible for the Scandanavian portion of my journey. |
For those that have used bidding on Priceline. The total price plus service and taxes (for Priceline), does not include the VAT - correct?
|
pixie: If you don't like the Cromwell Rd - you bid in a different zone.
As we mentioned - you need to study biddingfortravel.com. It explains the zones, which hotels are being "won" at what rates, and gives you bidding strategy. |
If bidding is too complex for you (and it is for me! :) ), try Sandra Gustafson's "Great Sleeps in London". You might find it at your library.
|
bidding is not too complex. Even a sluggish dolt can do it. I've proved that sad fact on several occasions.
|
Pixie:
A great budget hotel in London (Bloomsbury) is the Morgan Hotel. Their website is: http://www.morganhotel.co.uk/ We stayed there a few years ago and loved it. It's around the corner from the British Museum and I believe the doubles are L95. However, you'll have to email them for the exact price. Also, they get very high ratings on tripadvisor. Good luck! Carol P.S. Also check out the Strand Palace. We stayed there last year and paid less than $200 for a room - it's in a great location - near Covent Garden and Trafalgar Square. We booked the room through Expedia. |
In June 2005 we stayed for 2 nights at the Gresham Hotel, 116 Sussex Gardens - more of a B & B - which has tiny, but clean rooms, shower, TV, but no a/c. It is charging 59 pounds/night for a double. OK if you need it mainly for sleeping.
|
A friend of mine stayed at the Morgan 2 years ago and liked it. But the web site is confusing - a single seems to be 95 pounds - but the web site date is 2005. So I think you would need to contact them to see what they're charging now.
|
Try laterooms.com
We were in your situation last month...frustrated with the high cost. We reserved our first two nights so we'd have a place to recover from jet lag. We then used the above site and got great rooms for about 1/3 of the cost (54 pounds a night with breakfast delivery in South Kensington). Honestly, I was nervous going without having everything booked in advance but am so glad we did it the way we did...gave us a chance to determine where we wanted to be, saved several hundred dollars and stayed in 3 and 4 star hotels for insanely cheaper than the places (negative 3 and 4!!) that we could barely afford in advance GOOD LUCK! |
We stayed at the Crowne Plaza St. James for about $110 per night through priceline; Holiday Inn Kensington Forum for about $80.
can't beat priceline for value |
Wow, this is great - thanks for all the terrific tips, I'm obsessed now!!
Bidding website has some note from the administrator regarding hotels - they are no longer allowed to direct you to the link that priceline uses. I didn't know what it meant but it seems priceline uses a weblink for their resources and bidding was also using it...confusing to say the least for a newby. I'll check out all above suggestions. Cheers to all for your generous tips. |
The Morgan was £95 for a double last October. That included VAT and full breakfast.
|
Hi
What about the Blue Bells Hotel - http://www.bluebellshotel.com or Admiral Hotel - http://www.admiral-hotel.com or the funky B&B Belgravia - http://www.bb-belgravia.com. |
Try this site for rooms 66 pounds and up.Kings Cross was 66 but I didn't check any others. They're pretty basic rooms but clean.www.travelodge.co.uk
|
worldinabag--Can you tell me more about the "funky" B&B Belgravia? Is it stylish or tasteless--or perhaps comfortably strange? I like the location and website, but your brief review now makes me wonder.
|
Hi Jeff
No, unfortunately I haven't stayed there. The website does boast that it won a Gold Award for being the best B&B in London. Going by their website I think it's stylish and different compared to other places in this price category. Mind you my taste may be different to others - I don't wear Armani but then again I don't wear white joggers either! 8-) |
hi
try this link: http://destinia.com/hotels/hotels--i...urope/22187/en they have alot so you'll probably find something. |
JEFF,
Our family of 4 stayed in 2 rooms at the B&B Belgravia in December. Here is an excerpt from my trip report: Hotel We stayed at the B&B Belgravia on Ebury St. near Victoria Station (not to be confused with the Belgravia Hotel on the same street). The décor is modern and fairly basic, but the service was fantastic and the breakfast was awesome for a hotel of this class. This was not a 4 or 5 star place, but was clean, comfortable and offered free internet access from a computer in the lobby as well as full breakfast and 24 hour coffee/cappuccino/tea/hot chocolate machine. We had the only 2 rooms on the top floor (4 flights of steps) so it was very private and quiet. There are several rooms with less walking, but they may be noisier. If stairs are an issue, you may need to discuss that ahead of time. The beds were firm which was good for me, and the towels were large and fairly substantial. The only other caveat I would share is that I’m not sure if they have AC – certainly not an issue for us in December, but could be in the middle of summer. Hotel rooms at B&B Belgravia were #16 and #17 on top floor. Total price for 2 rooms – one double and one twin – was £1351 for 7 nights including a full breakfast. You can also check out trip advisor for more reviews. Please feel free to ask any other questions. :-) |
B&B Belgravia sounds like a good option in Belgravia/Victoria. But Fun4all4's post does illustrate why so many of us recommend flats for a family trip.
for £1351 - or more likely for £300 or £400 less - one could get a nice two bedroomed, 1.5 or 2 bath, apartment - w/ a lift. There would be a full kitchen, washer, dryer, living room and space to stretch out. Of course breakfast would not be included which is definitely a consideration. But if fixing your own b'fast is OK you'd save close to $700 over a week's stay. And if you wanted to eat breakfast out - £400 will buy a LOT of bacon, sausage and eggs . . . . . |
BTW - you can safely ignore travelaxe. He's posted 16 times -- and every single one is to advertise his lame website . . . . . .
|
fun4all4--thanks for the great description.
|
I agree with janisj that many families should consider a flat/apt. We sometimes go that route, however, I have personally found that I really love having the service of a small hotel or B&B. I like having bathrooms and beds cleaned daily, I appreciate the assistance with dinner reservations, I like the internet access, and I don't love having to deal with even simple meals or a kitchen while on vacation (well, most of the time).
It really is key to know yourself and what type of vacation you are planning and then choose accordingly. Like I said, sometimes we prefer to rent a house/condo/apt/flat and sometimes I'd rather pay a bit more for the service of a small hotel. Happy travels everyone! |
OR - the features of both w/ an apartment hotel. The space and savings of a flat, the services of a hotel. . . .
|
Hello everyone - I've just booked a reservation at Base2Stay in Earl's Court. Good reviews from Trip Advisor and very new/clean. 80 pounds/night VAT included. A good deal considering all the others I've looked into had scary reviews and looked dingy. Any Fodorites have experience with this hotel?
I think Earl's Court is a good location, great tube station |
Pixie, I'm not sure that Earl's Court is where you really want to stay. I checked londontown.com for mid-range hotels during your dates and found these hotels which I think are a much better choice:
Copthorn Tara - from 69 GBP (a Millennium Hotel near Royal Albert Hall) Millennium Baily's - a 4* hotel from 81 GBP The Rubens at the Palace - a 4* hotel from 84 GBP. This is a great deal. We have stayed here twice and love it. All of these hotels would definitely be better located than the one you have chosen and are of a higher standard. The above prices do not including taxes or breakfast so you would have to factor those in. Good luck. |
from the original post it looks like pixie has already stayed in Earl's Court and therefore knows just where it is. but--can't help putting my oar in---I hate to see you spending almost $160 per night for a "clean" B&B when you could stay at the Crowne Plaze St. James in Kensington for that. :(
When using Priceline I do not ever insure the trip with them, as it adds dollars per night. Instead, I insure the entire trip--which I would do anyway-- and that way any prepaid lodgings, airfare, event or concert tickets, etc., are covered in case I can't go. Look at it this way--when you prepay you are also locking in the exchange rate, which lately has only gone in one direction. |
Earl's Court isn't scary - But it is just OK and is FULL of very cheap B&Bs/hotels. £80 a night is more than I'd pay to stay in that part of town - buy at least £25.
You can do better in a closer in part of town - the places bettyk mentions are three REALLY nice properties in much nicer neighborhoods than Earl's Court. |
I did not mean to imply that EC was unsafe, just a known quantity for the op. I think I wouldn't go higher than 60 GBP and it would kill me to do that when priceline . . . well, never mind!:)
|
I've stayed at the Millenium Bailey's and have enjoyed it. It is right across from a very convenient tube station in S. Kensington. It is also walking distance to Knightsbridge etc.
The rooms are small but adequate. The hotel is a bit smaller, but still has an elevator and other hotel amenities. My husband stays there frequently for business as well. Its little bit of an older hotel and feels like a really large B&B with a large spiral staircase, so it has retained some of its original charm. |
eek...not liking what I'm hearing about Earls Court! I've reserved 2 rooms at the London Lodge Hotel for 200 pounds a night with full english breakfast...thought that was a good deal but with 3 kids in tow don't want a seedy area...are the hotels you mentioned (Millenium, Tara (my name by the way :), and the other one) fairly clean? We really need smoke free and have tried begging several establishments for better rates since we're staying 5 nights and over weekend...but not much biting...I'll check all these websites...
Tara |
| All times are GMT -8. The time now is 12:56 PM. |