Hi,

Could anyone please advise on the quality/standard of these hotels: -

Barkston Gardens Hotels - Earls Court
Edward Hotel - Bayswater/Paddington

I'd be a lone traveller without a big budget and these places are around A$110 per night, which sounds v. reasonably if they are OK. My criteria for OK is clean, safe, central, preferably with own bathroom. I spend so little time in the room (only to sleep and shower and read a while at the end of the day) and I'd be on my own so the size of the room is unimportant.

Any other suggestions are most welcome.

Thanks.

Don't know those hotels but you can check reviews on www.tripadvisor.com.
I would recommend using Priceline, I just bid and received the Holiday Inn Kensington Forum for $80/nt. You can get a 4* hotel in London for about $80-$100/nt., just read www.biddingfortravel.com first to help with the bidding strategy.

Don't know those hotels but have stayed in the Bayswater area and really liked it. Check out Craven Gardens Hotel. It's about 50£ for a single and when I was there that included a full breakfast (a pretty good one, not just the cold toast most budget London hotels have). www.hydeparkinn.com/craven/home.asp

Thanks.

Craven Gardens looks quite good, so will investigate further. I've stayed in Leinster Terrace before so know the location. I really like the Paddington/Bayswater area, it's so easy to get around from here and it's a great neighbourhood.

Have you thought about a hostel? I stayed at the Globetrotter Inn last year and was very impressed with it. It's bare bones, but it's clean and the staff was friendly. The showers (though not private) are great compared to others I have stayed at. It was about a 10 minute tube ride into the city. Not sure if this interests you at all, but it is inexpensive and clean (i.e. will serve the purpose).

http://www.globetrotterinns.com/english/location.php

Enjoy your trip!!

I'd second the recommendation for using priceline. London is one of the locations where you can really cut your costs by using priceline. Read about how to do it on www.biddingfortravel.com. Here is the link for their London board: http://p070.ezboard.com/England--Lon...abiddingfrm215 Looking at this site, I see that people are currently paying as little as $70 for a 4 star hotel in downtown London.

We recently paid $80 + taxes through priceline to stay at the 4 star Copthorne Tara in Kensington, and it met all of your criteria. It is very close to a Tube stop which makes getting around very easy. The Copthorne Tara is large hotel, and isn't very charming, but it was absolutely fine, and you can't beat the price.

Here's another vote for Priceline. I, too, got the Copthorne Tara for $79 a night in August 2005, and was very happy with the room, its size, its location, and the helpfulness of the staff.

Daneille , I assume from your budget that you are Australian ? If so look at Australian Gourmet Traveller edition for Jan / Feb 07 which is just out as it has a really good section on about 6 or 8 budget hotels in London ( relative to the usual cost in that city )including pics etc .One of them may suit you .

With Priceline I stayed at the 4* Riverbank Plaza on the Thames for $85/night and the 4* Jolly St. Ermins for $90/night -- with taxes and fees, it was $110-115 USD total.

The Jolly S. Ermins was not nearly as nice as the Riverbank Plaza but it was a totally adequate room with a new, modern, marble bathroom with excellent water pressure. Tube station entrance right outside the hotel.

Thanks to everyone for your replies. This is in the very early planning stages at the moment. I have done quite a bit of budget travelling when I've needed to in the past and whilst one day I hope to be able to stay at The Ritz, travelling this way at the moment suits me fine - and hey it beats staying at home.

Cwoolner - with regard to the hostel where you stayed - what was the average age group? I just feel I might be a little too old. Whilst I would like the benefit of a 24 hour bar I'm not sure I'd appreciate dozens of 20 something drunks running around in the wee small hours. Thanks.

try Priceline... I got a rate of $45 for the Thistle Victoria and it was for 5 nights...I try to stay near the train stations whenever I travel, so much easier..

Hey Danielle!

I was 29 when I stayed there. I was in a room with my friend and 4 other girls that were in Uni, however they were all in bed before midnight! We were the late ones in. That being said, the age groups ranged from young to old, families with children and seniors the next morning at breakfast. For the price (about 20USD /night), I couldn't beat it! I stayed at a different hostel near the London Bridge and was not impressed at all - loved the location, but conditions were less than par. I'm not the typical person to stay at a hostel - I don't like sharing my space, but it worked for that trip! I did not experience any drunks running through the halls late at night. They have several floors and are set a good distance from the bar area. Depending on what floor you'd end up on (or ask for the quietest area), you may not hear a peep! I completely understand where you are coming from - I love a good night out but when I want to sleep - that's all I want to do.

As a side note, I stayed at the Thistle near Kensington before and I would not recommend that particular location. I don't know if all the Thistle hotels are the same, but for what I paid for the extremely small room, you can find better. Have you been to London before?

You might want to check out this promotion that they're discussing on another forum:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=653250