Last minute London hotel recommendation needed
 

Found out we are going to be in London an extra day (2 extra nights) before we catch a flight to Dublin. I had arranged for a hotel by Heathrow for the night before our flight, but now I need one for 2 more nights. Our original intent had been to take the train in to London to visit a few tourist spots. Now that we are going to have an extra day, do you have a recommendation for an area and/or hotel to stay the other 2 nights that would be more efficient for touring the extra day? Will be with kids (8,11) and parents, so just looking for somewhere nicely located that would also give a good flavor of the local culture.

Budget?

When?

If truly last minute -- try laterooms.com

Otherwise londontown.com and booking,com both are legit sites where you plug in your dates and find what's available.

And place in central London will be convenient to LHR but areas along the Piccadilly or Circle/District lines are the easiest.

oops - that should say >>Anyplace in central London . . .<<

Budget? Personally, I prefer Soho and the immediate area, but many of those hotels tend to be quite pricey.

One other thought, BTW, would be to stay near Paddington since it will give you easy access to Heathrow for your flight out. It isn't as convenient as Soho, but the transit links are very good and there are some more affordable options. South Kensington is another possibility.

. . . Paddington will give easy <u>expensive</u> access to LHR, and is not convenient for sightseeing.

got a comma in where a period should be . . . booking.com

My preference is a 3-4 star hotel around $200 per night. Mainly want something clean, in a safe area, with easy access to LHR as well as the major tourist attractions in London. A plus would be to have something in a cool/trendy area (don't know if that is even possible at the price point we prefer...) We will be arriving Friday night, July 3rd for 2 nights. The 3rd night we have a hotel already booked at the Marriott at LHR prior to our flight to Dublin early Monday, July 6th.

There are obviously so many hotels! Not knowing my way around the city at all, I just don't have a feel for what/where would fit our preferences above.

Thanks for your help!

Stars don't mean the same thing in Europe they might in the States . Mostly explains the amenities, not the quality.

But in any case, you won't get anywhere near a '4 star' for $200/£125. Even most 3star will be over that. Actually some of the cool/trendy areas can be cheaper because there are some funky/non-mainstream accommodations. But also most trendy/arts oriented neighborhoods are not very convenient to LHR.

I'd plug your dates in to booking.com or londontown.com . . the most LHR-convenient areas (that would have places in your budget) to check would be South Kensington (not Kensington), Russell Square/Bloomsbury, Victoria Covent Garden (but in your price range in CG you'd likely have to take Travelodge or Premier Inn - and Premier Inns might be too much)

If you are willing to pre-pay, non-refundable you can get some deals at higher quality properties.

oops - to clarify there should be a comma between Victoria and Covent Garden - they are two different areas.

<i>Mainly want something clean, in a safe area, with easy access to LHR as well as the major tourist attractions in London. A plus would be to have something in a cool/trendy area (don't know if that is even possible at the price point we prefer...)</i>

I would focus on the easy access to the tourist attractions. The trip to Heathrow is a one-time thing and saving 20 minutes doesn't seem worth the bother.

For trendy, I'd say Shoreditch, but it isn't that great for sightseeing. But, the Re Hotel meets your price point.

Looking at other hotels...

The Park Plaza Riverbank hits your price point. It isn't that great of a location, but it isn't that bad and I am seeing rates at $160 per night. You can take a taxi at those rates. The hotel definitely meets your quality range.

The Hotel Russell will be at the upper end of your price range, but is a great location. The Holiday Inn Kings Cross also seems like it would work.

Sorry, but the Park Plaza has deals for a reason - its location. The taxis will add a LOT to your costs (Bidding "Westminster' zone on Priceline will will almost always 'win' you the Park Plaza - Just like the Kensington zone will usually get you the Olympia Hilton . . . both are in inconvenient places)

The Hotel Russell (if you can get it for your budget) would be great.

<i>Sorry, but the Park Plaza has deals for a reason - its location.</i>

It isn't that bad. And it is a LOT cheaper than comparable places elsewhere. $160 per night is cheap for what is a very solid hotel.

Yes -- just saying for a first time/short time visitor being either across the river -- or if south of the river, close to a station makes more sense.

. . . especially if one also wants to be convenient to LHR.

<< My preference is a 3-4 star hotel around $200 per night. >>

US$200 is about £127.

Do you want one room sleeping 4 for this price? Or 3 rooms each at that price? Standard hotel rooms sleep 2. They don't have 2 big beds like in the US. Many hotels have a family room sleeping 4 but those are relatively rare. And rarer at that price.

Another possibility is 2 rooms sleeping three. Sometimes there's room for a rollaway in addition to the double bed.

Sorry - I'm confused about how many of you there are. You mention kids and then also parents. Is this 4 people (can get family rooms although each hotel may only have a couple) or 6 people (and will have to get 2 rooms for 3 each). You price is very low for a room for 4 people in a central location with a lot of amenities.

Hotels in central London won;t cost what the ones at the airport do.

Yes -- please clarify -- I assumed you meant 6 people, (you, the kids, and the grandparents) and the $200/£125 is per room, not for all of you.

There are 6 of us. 4 adults and 2 kids. Prefer 2 adults and 2 kids to stay together, but we can work around it if necessary. We expect to need 2 rooms. Thanks!

<i>Prefer 2 adults and 2 kids to stay together, but we can work around it if necessary.</i>

That looks a bit tough. For a lot of hotels, that would require a suite. For those that don't, it looks like about the lowest you will get will be roughly $300 + tax. The Park Plaza, again with the somewhat inconvenient location (1 mile to the Tube), would be easily the cheapest option without going super budget, many of which seem sold out.

There is the Premier Inn Kensington that has a family room out by Earl's Court. Not super central, but transit access is pretty good. The family room would run around $550 for the two nights, all in with taxes.

http://www.premierinn.com/en/hotel/L...court?cmp=GLBC

check travelzoo offers. I just saw one for London but did not check the dates. It was the 4* Corus with breakfast for 99GBP.

All Premier Inns will let the two of you and the two kids stay in any of their rooms. They do not have suites so you'd have to ask/hop for near by rooms. But they might be your best bet in your budget.

Premier Inns are all over including at County Hall next to the Eye and directly across the river from Westminster Big Ben.

These will NOT be 'character' properties -- more like a HI Express or similar modern, purpose-built budget hotel. Comfortable beds, clean, etc -- but nothing posh about them

Check out the PI website -- there are several in London and rates vary a lot by date/location. From less than £75 to nearly £200 per night

http://www.premierinn.com/en/hotels/...v=shs4jV3Su_dc

That's a fairly low budget for London, so don't expect luxury. I usually stay somewhere near Victoria station, which is very convenient for getting to Heathrow by Underground. It's also a bus hub and is convenient for walking to lots of spots. And there are some good budget options in the area.

If you use www.booking.com you can enter your destination as London Victoria (maybe slightly different, I'm guessing from my Italian language site). Then you can enter the number of rooms you want and the number of adults and kids in your group. (You'll have to select "other options" under the number of people to see this.)

You can sort the list by price and then look through the offerings until you see something with an acceptable guest rating. I would be cautious of places with a rating below 7. Read the guest reviews, though; some of the things that cause low ratings don't bother me.

I happened to see a place called Victoria One that has family suites with two bedrooms and a sofa bed, and that might be in your price range, or just slightly over. It gets good ratings.

That should be >>ask/hope for nearby rooms . . . <<

Just saw bevlenci's post. Victoria One is in a great location, but will be well over the budget for the flats that sleep 6.

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I'm still searching. It appears my budget wishes are just a little too low. We were able to get our Marriott LHR hotel for Sunday night for 116 pounds, so that was the benchmark I was going off of. That was booked 2 months ago and is not in central London, so apparently I just have an unrealistic expectation.

It's amazing how difficult it is to get rooms to accommodate families of 4....

One question: If we get into Heathrow at 1045 pm at night, does the tube run that late or are we better off taking a cab into Central London?

Thanks for everyone's help!!!

The Tube runs that late. Personally, though, with 6 people, I would consider Uber or a car service.

>>If we get into Heathrow at 1045 pm at night, does the tube run that late or are we better off taking a cab into Central London?<<

>>The Tube runs that late.<<

Yes it runs that late -- however the last Piccadilly tube run starts from LHR T-1,2,3 at 11:45 and from T-5 at 11:42 so it is not certain you would be able to catch it. That only gives you and hour to walk from the (probably) remote gate, clear immigration, get your bags, buy your tube tix, etc. Everything would have to run like clockwork.

But taking a cab will be enormously expensive. Pre-book w/ justairports.com They will cost more than the tube, but much less than a taxi - and at that time of night the drive should be fairly quick.

You can't compare LHR hotel rates w/ central London rates. Just apples and oranges.

Someone above mentioned the RE hotel. I just wanted to say it's at the end of my road and while it could work for those who are revisiting London, on a tight budget and know the city well, I would not recommend it for a short visit or for the OP. I understand why it came up as it is affordable but you'd be better further in.

I agree with the advice above, don't take a black cab prebook what we call a "mini cab". We've used Blackberry cabs, they seem to be the cheaper side and I find them reliable. With six people it will be affordable.

http://blackberrycars.com

I agree looking at deals on Travelzoo could be a good idea. Also look at Orbitz and apply their current coupon PICKMEUP. I've often got good rates from them in London but you have to pick through a lot of stuff.

The Victoria One isn't that much over, assuming the budget was per room (and they were assuming two rooms) rather than for a group of six. If it was for a group of six, I don't know any place in London that would be that cheap.

It <i>might</i> just fit in the budget -- but their rates are very date specific so they'd have to plug in their dates to know for sure. Usually the smaller flats that sleep four are in that price range.

oops -- didn't mean to submit . .

But it would be good to check out because <i>if</i> you can nab a deal for one of the larger units it would be a good option.

Try on booking.com because you can look at all the various sized flats w/ availability on one page easier than on the hotels own website. If it shows availability you can always contact them directly to book.

I checked on booking.com and for a random date I chose in July, the rate was about £500 for a suite (2 bedrooms and a sofa bed) that sleeps six.

Thanks for everyone's help. Room availability everywhere was terrible for the dates we needed. We ended up at the Conrad St James for 225 pounds. More $$ than I was hoping for, but I actually feel lucky to have gotten the rooms at all and especially for this price. Funny how perspectives can change. :-) Thanks to all!

Actually that is a VERY good rate for that hotel . . . It is in a fabulous location.

And it is a true luxury hotel. You done good.