pixie

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!!

carylspall

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.

janisj

<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 . . . . .

P_M

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.

Michel_Paris

Have a look at B&amp;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.

MaureenB

londontown.com is a good resource, too, for budget hotels and B&amp;Bs. Good luck.

nytraveler

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.)

julia_t

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.

Lori

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 &quot;bargain&quot;.

DOCK

4* Renaissance Chancery on Marriott.com is $99 per night, $115 incuding breakfast fo a Quality/ Standard room.

pixie

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.

pixie

For those that have used bidding on Priceline. The total price plus service and taxes (for Priceline), does not include the VAT - correct?

janisj

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 &quot;won&quot; at what rates, and gives you bidding strategy.

Merseyheart

If bidding is too complex for you (and it is for me! ), try Sandra Gustafson's &quot;Great Sleeps in London&quot;. You might find it at your library.

degas

bidding is not too complex. Even a sluggish dolt can do it. I've proved that sad fact on several occasions.

clehrman

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.

sara_qc

In June 2005 we stayed for 2 nights at the Gresham Hotel, 116 Sussex Gardens - more of a B &amp; 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.

nytraveler

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.

mcjilly

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!

kswl

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