London Accommodation
 

It's been discussed on this forum before, but usually at a higher price level than I am looking for. London accommodation around 60-65 pnds per double room per night.

Yes, I know it's cheap for London, but thanks to an awful exchange rate it equates to $130-$150 in our money, which is not cheap.

There are places. Many of the hotels around Paddington (Cardiff, Westpoint, Boulevard etc) can do it. They have small rooms, and their Tripadvisor reviews range from glowing to condemnatory (which doesn't make it easy). And some out-of-town places do too - the Bay Tree B&B at New Southgate for example, and also several around Shepherd's Bush.

Any suggestions anyone? Nice to be right in the thick of Paddington bars, eateries etc, or nicer maybe to be out in the suburbs with a train ride to look forward to (?) at the end of a night's eating and drinking?

Most seem to have good luck with Priceline bidding for 3-4 star hotels in London. Check biddingfortravel.com first

If the hotels in Shepherds Bush are the ones I'm thinking of (ie the ones mainly in Shepherds Bush Rd) then I would strongly advise against.

They are mainly used by construction workers and are very rowdy.

For budget accomodations you really should consider PriceLine. You will stay w/i your budget, get a much nicer property, and be more centrally located.

Even the worst located PL hotel in the Kinightsbridge-Kensington-Earl's Court zone (the Hilton Olympia) will be MILES better than any of the places you mentioned.

And you might luck out and get something like the Copthorne Tara.

Both are actual 3.5-4 star, full service hotels that you could "win" for around $90-$100-ish plus tax. So well under your $150.

Priceline is one good option that people recommend here often.

Another option is to consider B&Bs. I've stayed in the Bloomsbury area (Cartwright Gardens) and liked it.

I did a random search, and found the George Hotel offering doubles starting at 58 bob. Note that in London the word "hotel" is often used in names of B&Bs.

I did a random search, and found the George Hotel offering doubles starting at 58 bob>>>

When did you do this search? 1965? 58 bob is £2.90.

If you don't mind no frills and simple, basic place to sleep, Travelodge is a good choice. They have several scattered throughout the city, and if you're lucky enough, you might even get their very low rates (and I mean LOW... as low as GBP29/night).

So much for a weak attempt at cultural slang :( At least I didn't say 58 crowns :)

marking

At least I didn't say 58 crowns>>>

That's £14.50 - so you're getting there.

Now groats would be another matter....

Thanks for the feedback. Can someone tell me about bidding for hotel rooms? I will be in London for the last week of August. Will I get better prices if I leave it late (when hotels might be thinking better to get something for the rooms rather than have them empty) rather than bid, say, now (when hotels might still be optimistic about selling all their rooms for a good price)?

There are quite B & Bs around Paddington Station, roughly 50 pounds last time I used one which usually translates into $150 AUD. They are clean, small and basic. I've used the Omega but a friend prefers the Oxford.

Two,

Just bid on a room at a 4* for the secon week in May and won at $97 per night. I certainly wouldn't go over 100 when bidding. As others have said, go to biddingfortravel.com

I've had great wins with both long and short timeframes. The other side of the coin is that many hotels want to be assured of having a minimum base of bookings early on, so therefore put some rooms up early and take them away later.

Sanctuary House Hotel on Tothill - perfect! - I emailed and complaining of the exchange rate, glorifying their hotle, etc., and got a rate reduction and an upgrade! and it was wonderful - have a great time
Leslie

What dates are you needing? Obviously prices vary by date and if you need the room now as opposed to August, for example, the suggestions may vary a bit in how aggressive you may be advised to be in using priceline if you go that route.

I have used priceline for London and was satisfied with the result. I would suggest trying priceline bidding for a 4 star hotel and I would bid, at least to start, well below a hundred dollars (perhaps in the $65/75 range). As others suggest biddingfortravel.com is a really good place to start when considering using priceline.

twoflower: Don't bid on priceline until you have studied biddingfortravel.com and/or betterbidding.com Then, when you get an idea which zone/star level you would like to try for -- then you can post back here and we can give you some more help.

Now - we ARE talking about the &quot;<u>name your own price</u>&quot; side of priceline -- not just booking straight through PL. Often, when you bid on PL it will be denied and they will come back w/ a counter offer. If that happens - again come back and post here and we can make suggestions. It is almost never a good idea to accept a counter offer -- but one can sometimes use it for more info about what is available.

Often folks try really low bids far ahead of their trip just in case they can win a huge bargain. Then as it gets closer to the date, you can get more serious and bid closer to your max.

Since you asked for a suggestion; use priceline and bid in the Kensington or Marble Arch zones which may bring your lowest successful bid (recently, judging by results posted on biddingfrotravel.com quite a few bids around $75/80 have been successful. If you don't mind being a little farther away from much of the tourist sites and maybe spend a bit more you could try the Regents Park zone where you may get one of two Marriotts or a Hilton. I stayed once, on a priceline bid a few years ago of about ninety dollars (plus tax), at the Marriott Madia Vale. While some people have complained this hotel was too far out, I found it maybe an extra 5/7 minutes on the tube (compared to a previous hotel I stayed at in the Kensington zone) and the inexpensive pubs and grocery stores in the neighborhood made it a very pleasant place to stay.

twoflower-
I don't know how picky you are, so since you aren't going to London until AUGUST, you can consider staying at one of the University's dorms.

These dorms are for rent during summer holidays, and the several LSE dorms have en-suite twin rooms (ie your private bathroom). I stayed at a single en-suite (at the Northumberland dorm) last summer and it's right at Trafalgar Sq, really can't beat its location.

For summer 2008, looks like ensuite twin ranges from &pound;52-79 (inclu VAT). Prices vary by location. Also, some include breakfast and some don't.

http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/vac...ratesavail.htm

If you're going to be there 2 weeks, you might find some extended stay lower rates at some bandb's; try athomeinlondon for starters; we're staying 2 weeks in late July near Hyde Park for about $125 USD/night. Can't recommend it first hand yet, of course. But you might try it.

As said, I'm in London for last week of August. (26-31 Aug, departing 1 Sep). I've stayed in Cardiff Hotel, Paddington, before. I was travelling solo that time and it was fine. Small room, smaller ensuite, but handy, clean, and a good breakfast. This time I'm travelling with my DW, and was thinking of moving up a notch. Maybe.

Finding biddingfortravel a bit hard to get to grips with. Can access offers OK (Hotwire), but not opportunities to bid. Do I have to be an accountholder on the site? Tried it, but got bogged down in not-understood questions (what is yuku.com?), system got too slow, so I pulled the plug.

Will keep perservering...!

I'm not sure if this would be suitable or not, but if the idea of an apartment appeals try going to the vrbo site and looking up property listing #52647.

I haven't stayed there yet, but I've booked that apartment for next October. For a week's stay, it comes to about 75 pounds per night. Perhaps with a kitchen you could save a bit on food, making up the difference.

It's not tourist central, as it's located at Archway tube station. And there are many, many stairs involved, as it's on the top floor of a Victorian building with no elevator. But the owner has been wonderful in all my communications with her, there are rave reviews on the vrbo page, and the apartment looks so fresh and airy in the photos. Apparently there is a huge Sainsbury just down the street, and it's only 10-20 minutes on the tube to all the traditional tourist sights and neighbourhoods.

Again, I'm not sure if it's anything close to what you'd want, but I thought I'd suggest it since the apartment is in the ballpark of your budget, and appears to be available on your dates.

No - bidding for travel is not a bidding site - and a log-on is not required. Just scroll down to &quot;Europe Hotels&quot; &quot;England - London Hotels&quot;

There you can see both the list of &quot;known&quot; London hotels in each zone plus what folks have bid and won lately. That gives you an idea what sorts of bids are working and which were not successful

Susan7 - you mentioned 2 hotels: the Omega and the Oxford. I've been checking them out. Both seem OK. I think Omega incls full English breakfast, while Oxford incls continental breakfast. You said you've used the Omega - how do you rate it for comfort, cleanliness, etc? Are there lifts (elevators if you're an American) or do we have to lug bags up lots of stairs?

Grateful for your thoughts.

I like the Omega, I think I've stayed there 3 times now, it's very clean and quiet and the cooked breakfast is fine--standard egg and bacon. The bathroom is small, it's like a weird pre-fab plastic capsule, but perfectly functional.

There are no lifts, it's a converted terrace with, I think, 4 floors.

In case anyone's interested, Ibis Hotels are running 3-night specials (Fri-Sun). I can get into Ibis near Euston/St Pancras Stations for 58 pounds per room per night, plus 7 pounds per person per day for breakfast, plus VAT, all of which adds up to around 84 pounds a night, which is not bad considering I've found Ibis to be a known and consistent standard all around the world.

I don't know the Euston/St Pancras area too well, but I imagine it's as lively as Paddington? Then again, if I'm going up to that price level, I could look at the Copthorne Tara. Can anyone compare these 2 options and their respective localities?

Thanks Susan7, I'm also considering the Omega, the Oxford and the Cardiff. Each has good and bad reviews, which doesn't make the task any easier. (A worrying one - about the Oxford I think - was to do with room intrusions).

If I'm going to go to that price

Ignore last lonely sentence above. It should have been edited out.

Just topping this for feedback on Ibis in Euston/St Pancras area of London vs. Copthorne Tara in Kensington vs. variousothers in Paddington area.

Would appreciate comments re hotel and localities. Thank you.

We stayed at the Royal Court Apartments last summer not fancy but close to the tube and Paddington station. Clean and cheap $95.00 for a double and staff was great

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...n_England.html

Thanks Quiz. That would be $95 US? Was the room and ensuite a reasonable size? Was there a lift for the upper floors?

Anyone know the Hotel Radnor, also in Paddington?

Sorry
But yes it was US dollars. Yes there was a lift and it was a 3 room suite with kitchen and dining table, bedroom and a bath. Plenty large for myself and DW. There are many good pubs and shops near. They allowed early check in with no problem. Hyde park is across the street. I checked some recent rates on www.expedia.com and it seems to going for $115. to $125. USD at the current exchange rate.

Thanks Quiz. Royal Court Apartments must be good - they are already booked out for the dates I want, and that's not till late August!!

Back to the search!!! Keen to hear fodorites comments on the Ibis in Euston/St Pancras.

Ah the Ibis in Drummond St - such happy (and naughty) memories.

It's a chain hotel so if you've ever stayed in a Holiday Inn or Travelodge you'll know what to expect. It's clean and functional, but you only get the room - no brekkie. However Chalton St is just nearby and has some corking cafes which do builders breakfasts. If you want some sort of poncey continental arrangement the hotel does sell this - but it's stupidly expensive.

The area it's in is good too. Euston Station is the other side of the road and Drummond St itself has some rather good Indian restaurants.

The area that it's in - Somer's Town can be a bit iffy at night, but not around your hotel but I wouldn't wander too far into the estate behind the station (not that you'd want to - there's nothing there).

Quiz - tried Royal Court Apartments again, and this time I was given the opportunity to book for the dates I wanted. (Perhaps it wasn't fully booked after all, but had not just opened up bookings that far ahead when I tried before).

So I've booked a 1-bdrm apartment, at quite a good rate too.

I'm assuming there is a lift. Their website warns that the Paddington Hotel - which is part of the same establishment - has no lift, which I've taken to mean Royal Court Apmts does have one.

Thanks everyone for your input. Now to prebook Paris - but I'll start a new thread for that!