London - Bed and Breakfast ideas
 

Hi everyone

We will be in London in September and are interested in staying in a bed and breakfast... can any Fodorites suggest or recommend any good B and B's?

Cathy

OK - what is your impression of a "B&B"? We sort of need a definition of terms. In most of the UK, B&Bs are private homes w/ varying levels of "posh-ness", and usually large/excellent breakfasts.

In London - not so much. Many places calling themselves B&Bs are actually lower end tourist hotels w/ b'fast rooms in the basement. There are MANY of these - primarily w/i a few blocks of all the main train stations. Especially near Victoria and Paddington.

There are <i>some</i> true B&Bs in London, but not all that many. And some of those are rooms rented out of an apartment.

So are you looking for 1) budget accommodations, or 2) a true B&B, or 3) just a place that includes breakfast in their rates, or 4)??

Also - what is your budget?

Hello :-)
All very good questions that I should have answered. I guess I was hoping for a 'true' bed and breakfast. We like the idea of staying with someone with some local knowledge, and have a different experience to staying in a hotel. Our budget is roughly 100 pounds a night. Doable? Or is there a hotel that would be in this budget that is clean and central? Any thoughts are really appreciated.

We were in London several years ago. Stayed at Vancouver Studios. It was clean ,quiet, and a great location. We had a small Kitchenette. It was`about 80 pounds, but we were there in Nov.

Vancouver Studios aren't a B&B but apartments in Bayswater, and a room for two will run substantially more than £100.

Here are three B&B type accommodations w/i your budget (there are 2 properties on one link and 1 on the other) These are in Sloan Square, Knightsbridge and South Kensington which are posher and more central than Bayswater.

http://www.londonbb.com/sloane-square.html
http://www.londonbb.com/knightsbridge.html

This is another B&B agency http://www.londonhometohome.com/homes_central.html

Of those I'd consider:
LHH/15
LHH/27
LHH/25
LHH/16

Those 4 are all in very good locations, look nice, and are w/i your budget.

I have not stayed in any of these - but I've heard good things about both agencies -- especially "Home to Home".

This website and the people who are so generous with their time and advice never fails to amaze me. Thank you so much.

Last year we contacted At Home in London (recommended through Frommers), looked at the B&B's available, found a neighborhood and price we liked, and were well pleased. http://www.athomeinlondon.co.uk/
Everyone's idea of B&B is different; the one we chose is not like the cozy ones we've stayed at in, say, the Texas Hill Country or Colorado, but it was oh, so convenient, fairly roomy, totally neat and clean, and quite comfortable. The breakfast was Spartan, but the price, last year when the rate was less in our favor, averaged out to about $130/night--we did get a break for staying 14 nights. But WHEN (I refuse to say IF) we ever go back to London, I will be contacting this agency first. So--

Oh, I forgot to say--it really was a B&B in that it was rooms in a person's private home--not in a separate, detached house but in a narrow mews-type home, but still, rooms in a home.

Thank you, thank you thank you, what a great site!!!!!