Kaneez

We (husband and I; three kids: ages 10, 5, 2; mother) managed to get very good fares to London from the US ($3,000 including taxes for the 6 of us), and now find that the lodging may cost more than the airline tickets!
I have been searching online for apartments and find central London apartments upwards of 3,000 pounds for the week!
Does anyone have any suggestions (website addresses) for me? Looking for a central location (near a tube stop), does not have to be fancy - but clean.
Thank you all!

laurie_ann

Have you tried www.vrbo.com? (It stands for vacation rentals by owner.) I have used this website to find rentals in many places (although not London) and found with asking the right questions you can do well. They appear to have many "sleeps 6" London places for well under 3000 pounds per week. Keep in mind that even a moderate hotel room can be £200 pounds per night in London.

KayF

You could try the following places:

www.astons-apartments.com
they quote about 1200 pounds for a family apartment for a week.

www.chslondon.com/
They have 2 bedroom apartments for less than 200 pound per night.

www.deepblue-apartments.com
They also have 2 bedroom apartments from 1200 pounds per week

http://www.clearlakehotel.co.uk/apartments.html
this place has family apartments for less than 1000 pounds per week

I have booked an apartment through Deep Blue Apartments and they were fine but have not used the others.

Hope this helps,
Kay

janisj

also try

• www.londonguestsuites.com/

• www.farnum-christ.com/

• www.priceapts.co.uk

Where have you been looking?? In my experience, one has to look pretty hard to find £3000 a week flats. Large 2-3 bdrm places in great, central neighborhoods can run anywhere from about £800 - £2000 a week depending on the "posh-ness" level.

Judyrem

Kaneez. I just rented a 3 bedroom 2 bath flat for 1095 GBPs. It is in the Albert Embankment area. We are going March 8-15. I think this is not a unreasonable amount of money. It was VRBO.com titled "magnificent views of the Thames" or something similar . FYI, judy

DCJones

Beautifully Furnished Huge... Huge!! Ultimate Chelsea Location

http://www.vrbo.com/50246


I haven't stayed here, but it's a 30 second walk from Sloane Square.

Rates start at 1850 GPB for a week in low season.

If this one isn't what you need there are other nice apartments on vrbo.com.

janisj

The flat DCJones linked is a perfect example of what I meant - about as good as it gets for amenities and location. Very large, in a VERY posh neighborhood, yet more than £1000 less than the "upwards of 3,000 pounds for the week" you mentioned.

If that is too much, you will find tons of other properties for lots less.

Kaneez

Thank you all for your tips and replies. I was doing random google searches for apartments that slept 7 in London. I am finding better rates outside of SW1 (I believe central London) - but with three kids, I need to have easy access to the apartments to accomodate naptimes, meals, etc.

JudyRem - I hope you are reading this... was your VRBO listing #47056? It had the description you stated - when I emailed the owner, I was given the rate of 1800gbp for a 6nights/7day stay (inclusive of taxes), for essentially 10 days after your stay period.

MelJ

Last April we took the kids to London and Paris (six of us). When DH and I travel we generally rent apartments but, try as I might, I could not find anything in a price range I could afford in London for the week we would be there which, in fairness, was during spring break.

We ended up in two rooms at the Holiday Inn Kensington (not the former Forum--the original HI across the street). It was actually a good idea as the rooms were large (American standards).

We had a great, affordable apartment in Paris for the next week.

I didn't start planning the trip until January so perhaps you'll have better luck working on it now.
GOod luck and have a great trip!

janisj

Kaneez: There are MANY postal zones in central London other than SW1. That is just one bit basically from Hyde Park to the river and south of Green and St James Parks.

Other central postal codes would include SW3, SW7, W1, parts of W2 and W8, WC1, WC2, the northern corner of SE1, and the EC4 (mostly a business area though)

Mimar

Here's a link to a review in Slow Travel: www.slowtrav.com/uk/vr/review.asp?n=2246

I prefer to rent from agencies rather than owners. You pay more but you can pay by credit card and you have some degree of guarantee from the agency. Direct from the owner, you don't know if the place even exists, let alone if it is as advertised.

The Slow Travel web site lists rental agencies as well as rentals. And reviewers tell about their experience with the agencies.

avalon

Wow! That Sloane Sq apt is gorgeous. I just wish I needed 3 bedrooms.

Judyrem

Kaneez, yes that is it. We are leaving London before Easter week. Easter is March 23 BTW The day we leave, the price goes up! That was one of the reasons we picked that date. It saved us some big bucks IMO. I tried his Notting Hill unit he rents out, but that week was booked. FYI, Judy

Judyrem

Kaneez, I am sorry, the VRBO unit number is 109206.