London-1st time-Need help with zones!
 

I'll be in London December 14th for 4 nights. After reading London threads on this forum, I'm going to use Priceline for my hotel. I've used it before and have gotten great hotel deals at the lowest rates.

I'm not familiar with the zones in London, but would like to be centrally located with easy access to public transport. An area similar to Chelsea, Soho, The Village in NYC will do for me.

Can you recommend where I should stay?

BTW, I'm going with my cousin and we're both in our late thirties, although very young at heart. We would like to be close to or in an area where there is a pleasant nightlife atmosphere. Not too clubby.

Also, what is the cheapest/convenient way to get into the city from LHR airport?

Thanks for the advise!!

Chelsea, Soho, The Village but not too clubby. Hmmm.

The transport issue is nil. Everywhere in London is within a few paces of a bus line, or a few blocks of a Tube station.

Cheapest way to get downtown from LHR is the Tube. Most convenient is a car service.

I assume you are asking about Priceline zones - right?

(Be sure to check the PL zones on its own website because they have been re-drawn and the zones on biddinfortravel.com are the old versions)

The most central zones are Mayfair/Soho, Westminster (though there is now a hotel south of the river in this zone), Kens/Earls Court/Knightsbridge. This last zone will often net you a place in Earls Court/Olympia which is a bit west - but if the bid is low enough still a decent location. I personally would try multiple times for Mayfair/Soho or Westminster before adding other zones.

Two other zones which to consider if the above don't work out are Bloomsbury/Marble Arch and City/London Bridge. (City/LB used to include some bad areas but now is much better drawn)

Try Hotel zum Turken in Berchtesgaden-Obersalzberg. The web site is not now active but you can access the telephone # by searching Berchtesgaden hotels. It is the singular remaining WWII hotel remiaing in Obersalzberg and the owner speaks english, loves Americans. For an absolute perfect Xmas zip over to Oberndorf, Austria where you can go to services in the little "Silent Night" church [where the song was written in `1815]. It snowed the Christmas we went in '86 and it was a magic evening.

<i>&quot;Try Hotel zum Turken in Berchtesgaden-Obersalzberg.&quot;</i>

Don't think that's in London. :)

Ryanair still got 0.01 Euro flights from Salzburg to London Stansted, so Berchtesgaden is well connected with Britain's capital ;-)

But seriously, I have to admit that I usually end up with getting a hotel in the aforementioned Earls Court / Kensington area. This will probably tell most Londoners that I cannot spend an unlimited amount of money on hotels ;-)
Until now, I found that area to be quite okay for tourists. Lots of backpackers there, ethnic food &amp; stores, and so on. It also offers a great direct connection to LHR by Tube, and to any location in central London. But it probably lacks a &quot;nightlife atmosphere&quot;.

There's loads of night life in the Earls Court area - just walk down to the Fulham Rd. Nightlife galore.