I'm guessing we'll stick with the City Inn and cancel the airport hotel.

Another fun place I found tonight is the Hotel Rafayel. I can't remember the exact location, but I recall that it must be a good distance from the center since they offer a complimentary shuttle to a tube station. The rates are unbelievable right now! Probably not worth the hassle of spending so much time trying to commute to where they want to be, though.

Walkabout and Todor, thank you so much for your advice and the museum, theater, and hotel tips. I am so excited they have this opportunity to spend some time together!

Todor, I just looked again at the Bloomsbury Hotel site. Very nice! How are you liking it so far?

The ONLY place to buy reduced price theatre tickets in London is at TKTS in Leicester Sq. Those other jack agencies sell lesser grade tickets at reduced but inflated prices. On the day of performance you can often get reduced price tickets at the theatre box office.

If you can't find a hotel on last minute give www.londontown.com a try

We really enjoyed our stay at the Bloomsbury hotel (we're in Paris now). The hotel owner sold a few of his lesser hotels to renovate the Bloomsbury into a modern chic luxury hotel. They don't have a pool so they'll never be a 5 star, but they do have a brand new work out room. The rooms are superb and the staff really did their best to please us. They were very responsive to fulfill our every request. The room renovations were impressive and thoughtful, a lot of attention to details, eg. american and continental electrical outlets built into our room walls.

I enjoy traveling with my daughter almost as much as with my wife just because it gives me the rare opportunity to communicate in depth and reconnect with my daughter's life in a fun way. I tried to plan for cool hotels, activities and lively places. The gregarious London pub scene is a lot of fun. Most of the pubs carry one non alcoholic beer which is what I tend to order these days.

Re the Hotel Rafayel:

I wouldn't choose this hotel for a first-time visitor to London, particularly since you say your husband and daughter want to be near touristy sights. The hotel is south of the river, in a so-so area. It's not close walking distance to anything of interest, not even a tube station. That's probably why they have such great rates.

My thoughts about hotels are the same as that old adage about real estate in general--location, location, location!

Re transportation:

I don't know how long your family is going to be in London, but if it's at least four days, I suggest they consider getting Oyster cards for use on the tube and buses. There is a 3 pound deposit per card, which is refundable when the card is turned back in.

Type <i>oyster</i> in the search box above, and you will find several threads that discuss Oyster cards. For a basic explanation, see:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/14836.aspx

Oops, sorry! You specifically said your husband and daughter are going to be in London for 4 nights. I should have re-read the thread before responding again. My bad.

I still think the London pay-as-you-go (PAYG) Oysters are a good idea. Also consider the one-day travel cards for the 2-for-1 vouchers. I realize it can be a bit confusing reading through all of the comments about Oyster cards and Travel cards, but if you can muddle through the verbiage, you can save a few dollars.

I see that your son had major surgery today. Hope all went well, and wishing him a speedy recovery.

Thanks Walkabout. The surgery was a success. Now the recovery. Thankfully he is in a fantastic children's hospital and so far the care has been top notch. He is doing well so far.

Thank you also for the info on the oyster cards. I read a little about them on some type of transportation website the other day, got a bit confused, and decided I'd save that for another day. Guess I should look into it more. Would my daughter (19) qualify for a student card, or is that solely for students based in Europe? Maybe you don't know, and that's fine, too.

Todor, I'll look again at the Bloomsbury. I think I saw a good deal on booking.com. Would you say it is an all-around better choice than the City Inn if I could get a good rate?

And Walkabout, I suspected the Hotel Rafayel was not the best given their offer to shuttle their guests to the closest tube station. Cool looking place, though.

Just a few days until they leave. Another hotel in Paris opened up... so i'm wondering if anyone has an opinion: Hotel Beaugency near Rue Cler or Hotel Parc Saint Severin near the Latin Quarter? I really have no clue. The Parc Saint Severin is a much nicer room (larger, terrace) for 100 euro more (about). I'm not sure it's worth it.

Sorry if this is rambling. I am slightly sleep deprived.

Re the Student travel Card: I don't have any first-hand experience with this, but the London Transport website says that the student must be <i>"registered with an education establishment participating in the scheme, or on mandatory placement in London."</i> In the box to apply for a card online, it asks for the student's enrollment ID. Based on this, I would say an American college student doesn't qualify. Perhaps someone else will chime in with more info.

Re the Bloomsbury versus the City Inn: I think it's pretty much a wash. I don't think you will go wrong with either one. The only thing I will add, and you may already know this, is that with boutique hotels, unlike chains, there can be great variation in the quality of the rooms based on their size, configuration, and location. Whichever hotel you choose,if your husband and daughter don't like the room, they should ask to see another because it may be very different from the one they were initially shown.

Sorry if I'm hogging this thread--don't mean to. Just trying to help out! :)

Glad to hear that your son's surgery was a success.

The Bloomsbury Hotel is a much better hotel in several categories than City Inn. It is part of a luxury chain called the Doyle Collection: http://www.doylecollection.com/default.aspx
Their Leisurely London package is a good bargain for July 8-12 ($957)including english breakfasts(normally $33 per person),cocktails and guide book. I actually had a tour of the various hotel rooms to choose the best room for us(front street facing, highest floor for view & light). I have to say that the rooms are pretty much consistent because the structural building used to be the historical WMCA of London. Their superior double room was perfectly fine though not as humongous as their luxury double. We really like the understated luxury feel to the hotel. Location wise it is just north of the entertainment SOHO district, steps away from the Totenhamcourt and Leicester Sq subway stops. A couple of blocks from the Dean Street pubs and restaurants on the west and the traditional leafy Bloomsbury Russel Square as well as the small SOHO park/square which is filled with the local students soaking the rays. Bond Street and Oxford street are also within walking distance from the Bloomsbury in case your daughter wants a shop till you drop experience.

I checked the websites of the Paris hotels you mentioned, I worry how the rooms already look old on the internet. However if I have to choose between the two hotels based on location alone, I would choose the St Severin simply because the St Germain area is livelier especially for older teenagers, lots of students, cafes, shops & places where they hangout. The Beaugency is in the 7th arrondisement which is more residential and rather sterile for teenagers. True it has the Eiffel tower and Napoleon tomb but they are just monuments to visit for a couple of hours, no need to hang out there.

Another idea is to find a hotel with recently renovated rooms where your daughter may feel more comfortable. One reasonable 3 star hotel that I saw on Booking.com is Le Colisee (Best Western) on Rue Colisee one block off Champs Elysees. For room pictures: http://tinyurl.com/22wd2cd
I still prefer booking.com or hrs.com over Travelocity or Expedia for their better cancellation convenience.
Le Colisee seems to be far below the Bloomsbury hotel category, but it's nevertheless renovated. I've never been to this hotel but am familiar with its surrounding area, anyway they have only one available room left for July 5-8. I'm sure there are other similar hotels, the only downside in the 3 star hotels in the area north of Champs elysees is the old tiny elevators and thin walls as compared to the 4/5 star grand hotels. We always used hotel points to access the better hotels in the area, the more east towards the Luxembourg garden/Louvre the more better for us.

We stayed at the Parc St. Severin four years ago and were pleased with it. It is quite close to Notre Dame and the Ile St. Louis, St. Chapelle, the Cluny Museum, and the St. Michel metro stop.

Our room at the hotel overlooked rue de la Parchemenerie, and there was a restaurant just under it where young people gathered until late at night. It was pretty noisy, so another time I would request a room at the back. There was a wonderful gelato shop on the corner, and please tell your daughter not to miss having macarons at Laduree.