London experts needed!
 

Hi - I'm headed to London with my mom and have found two flats that I'm interested in renting for five days. One is a one bedroom in the heart of Covent Garden (stayed in this area for one night many years ago) and the other is a two bedroom on the cusp of Kensington/Earl's Court on Hogarth Road. Both very similar in price - I've been to London a few times and have always stayed in Knightsbridge but am looking to change things up a bit. This trip will be exploring neighborhoods, shopping and heading to markets, won't be hitting the "big" tourist sights.

Any info/advice on these areas would be a great help!

Covent Garden is MUCH more central than Earls Court. Depending on which end of Hogarth Rd you could actually be facing the station. Not an area I enjoy at all.

(I'd personally prefer Covent Garden even over Knightsbridge because is is close to so many threatres and sites)

Coventry Garden. Not a debate in any way.

Depends on the flat I guess...but I would take Covent Garden over Earls Court for location.

For your purposes Covent Garden sounds far preferable. I'm surprised the two locations would be similarly priced.

Here are some of my London suggestions. Not much on shopping but some stuff on walks, museums and markets.

http://www.somuchmoretosee.com/search/label/London

Have fun!

Depends whether you're happy sharing a bedroom with your mother. But Covent Garden, as a location, puts you closer to what you're hoping to do. Does having a bit more travelling to the things you're looking for, a not particularly charming range of shops and services on your doorstep, and (depending on which side of Hogarth Road we're talking about) the possibility of overlooking the railway lines, outweigh having a bedroom to yourself?

Definitely go for Covent Garden unless there are other disadvantages to the flat. With a hotel room you would be sharing - and here you have a LR too - so as much privacy as you want.

There is no way I would stay in Earl's Court - I'm not even fond of much of South Ken - good IMHO - only for the museums.

We always stay either right in, or very close to, Covent Garden but that is driven by the things we like to do.

Hopefully, by the time you get there the whole Covent Garden tube station issue will have been resolved.

"Exit only until early November 2015.
Also on Saturdays and Sundays westbound trains
will not stop. Please use Leicester Square instead"

Thank you for the replies - I was leaning towards the Covent Garden location but wanted some feedback from others that know the area well. I saw a street view of the Earl's Court flat and it made me think twice. While the Covent Garden flat is smaller, it does have a sofa bed which I can deal with.

I'll be sure to check out your London tips welltraveledbrit...