Is Hyde park in london a good location for a hotel? Are we close to the major attractions? Will it be eady to take a train from Gatwick to that area? This is our first time and we would appreciate the help!! Thanks

Hyde Park is generally the location term used by operators of hotels in Bayswater, the area north of Hyde Park up to Paddington station. It is the least convenient of the 4 or 5 areas where there is a concentration of budget and mid-priced hotels.

I have stayed there and like it ok. But, for a first time visitor, I would recommend the more cental and convenient locations. Bloomsbuy would be my first choice.

Ron is on point about about the hotels; its not particularly convenient if you are coming from Gatwick. Despite that, being near Hyde Park isn't all that inconvenient to areas that you may want to consider visiting. I'll be in London in April and will be staying at a hotel adjacent to the park; I like the area a lot; good restaurants and its just a short walk to the tube.

We wanted to stay there because we have hotel points saved up and could stay there for free. From Gatwick is there a train that can be taken. I know it is not a cheap taxi ride.

Check out dot2dot.com. They will get you from your hotel, to the train, from the train to Gatwick gate.

Gatwick Express will get you from Gatwick to Paddington Station (just minutes by taxi from Hyde Park).
Very convenient and easy.
google it.

OK - so much bad info above - you need to start over.
djuna has NO idea what s/he is talking about. The Gatwick Express train goes to <b>Victoria</b> station, not Paddington Station, and is not near Hyde Park

As for whether Hyde Park is a good location primarily depends on the actual neighborhood. Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens is a huge park through central London that touches on many different neighborhoods -- Lancaster Gate, Queensway, Paddington, Baywater, Kensington, South Kensington, Kinghtsbridge, Park Lane etc.

All of these abut the parks but are not all equal.

So WHERE is the hotel - the address?

North of Hyde Park (Bayswater, Lancaster Gate, Queensway, etc_ are not convenient to Gatwick. South of the park (South Kens, Knightsbridge, etc) are more convenient to Gatwick. But in general - near Hyde Park will not be as central nor as convenient to Gatwick as other areas such as Victoria, Belgravia, parts of Chelsea, and Westminster.

Sorry, sorry, yes, - the Gatwick Express goes to Victoria. We just took it from Gatwick (in the middle of the night.. hence the brain cells gone missing) coming from Athens to London, arriving Gatwick and meeting our friend who lives on Hyde Park... we walked from Victoria to her house, just blocks away.
Sorry about that. At any rate yes, you can easily get from Gatwick to Hyde Park. Trains about every 1/2 hour until 1:30 or so in the morning.
Heathrow express goes from Paddington - we did that to get to Heathrow, to catch our flight home to the states.

A good link w/ train info

http://www.londonforfun.com/London-transport.htm

I have stayed in the area north of Hyde Park (Bayswater) and also south (Victoria). Also Kensington. While something in the Victoria area will be more convenient for the Gatwick Express, it was my least favorite area to stay in (Stayed there twice several years apart). I admitt it was a bit more convenient to walk to places like Westminster. But as an area I didn't really like it. I loved the area north of Hyde Park, and have stayed there several times. If the hotel is near a tube station, the central and district lines go through there and they are very good lines for getting to tourist destinations. The fact is you will probably need to tube or bus alot as London is quite spread out, so staying &quot;central&quot; doesn't really work like it does in some cities.

I found the train system in London so great and easy to use that a lenghty discussion dissecting the virtues of Hyde Park versus Victoria area versus Bloomsbury is close to an exercise in futility. If you can stay in Hyde Park for free you should be focusing in getting familiar from transportation venues in/around Hyde Park. Move on.

Also note that when it comes to London, &quot;major attractions&quot; have a variety of meanings. My major attraction in London is the British Museum, so my first time in London I stayed in Bloomsbury. The next time I stayed at the Victoria Inn in the Belgravia neighborhood (mostly residental and parks), a 10 minute walk to Victoria Station, 5 minute walk to Pimlico Station, 1 mile from Buckingham Palace (I walked it on a wonderful Feb morning!). I thought it was a great location as I was staying in a clean, quiet, great neighborhood at $90/double. Again, you have a free hotel in Hyde Park, leave it alone &gt;-

I agree - free is great. Again though - knowing which hotel would help us help you. Plus - depending on which hotel points program you are using, there might be other properties in closer in areas where you could also stay for free.

looking for cheap hotels accommodation near Hyde park
http://www.cheap-online-hotels.co.uk...on-hotels.aspx
Select star rating and Book online and Easy Access.

And why would anyone book w/ a company that is too sleazy to obey even the few rules on this website???

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In the northeast corner of Hyde Park is Marble Arch. Because it is served by no fewer than <u>twenty-one</u> bus lines, it is possible to get to many places in London by bus in less time than it takes on the Tube. Many area hotels are convenient to the bus stops. Here's the schema:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/gettingaro...quad-11502.pdf

janisj - I need your help. I am looking at hotels for next summer (late August). I usually use Priceline with great success. However, this trip I am doing with my girlfriend not my husband so want to be sure we get a twin room so I don't want to take a chance on Priceline just in case. I am open as to the area we stay in (we are flying into Heathrow and I am using a car service) One hotel that looks good is BestWestern Burns Kensington. Can you give me any input on that - it has good reviews and is not too expensive. (Don't want to go over $200 US. Thanks for any advice you can give me.

North of Hyde Park (Lancaster Gate or Paddington) used to be my area of choice to stay when in London on business and is still a favourite area when visiting for pleasure. Lancaster Gate tube station is on the Central line only (although it interesects with many other lines) but it's only a short walk from Paddington which is served by several useful tube limes. It's also a pleasant walk through the park to the South Ken museums. But as others have asked - which hotel / where exactly are you talking about ?

traveller69: I don't know that particular hotel. It is in Barkston Gardens which is off of Earls Court Road and very close to the Exhibition center.

That is not my favorite part of the city - but lots of folks like it just fine. It would be OK for transport since the District and Piccadilly lines go through EC.

The reviews on tripadvisor are quite mixed from really good to awful. I'd read the reviews carefully especially the &quot;awful&quot; ones since sometimes things that tick folks off are not all that important. More reviews are positive - but even reviewers who liked the place mention very small rooms.

(As for twin beds on Priceline - true,about the bed configuration issue. But I've asked hotels for 2-bed rooms after winning bids and never had a problem. But no - there is no guarantee)

One other note - the hotel photos look terrific - but the reviews don't mention mention anything being that posh or that roomy . . . . . .

one more thing --

One of the reviews I thought was telling. It is from someone who says s/he has stayed there several times and will again. Even though they like the place, they warn that the rooms are &quot;small small small!&quot;