My husband and I are planning a trip to London, first time for both of us. We're 30, live in San Francisco and want to stay in a "fun" area. Any ideas? We figure we'll have to pay at least $200/night for a room.

Not exactly clear what you mean by 'fun'. Near theatres? or funky/counter cultureish? or Semi-redlight district? or Artsy?

Most any area of central London is w/i a short distance of some fun things.

Using SF as an example -- which areas of SF would you consider fun? That will give us something to work w/.

By 'fun' I mean pubs/restaurants ... since we have never been to London during the day we'd like to sightsee, but at night we like to go out.

OK -- that clears things up. There is no part of London that isn't chock a block w/ pubs and restaurants. Except for 'The City' (the square mile equivalent of the Financial district in SF) which has lots of pubs/restaurants but they are pretty much quiet at nights/weekends since it is a business area.

Otherwise -- you can stay absolutely anywhere and be near pubs and such. What sort of property do you like? £125($200) isn't a fortune in London but is certainly doable.

Also - Priceline is terrific for London.

For a couple in London I would definitely do Priceline - otherwise I fear you may be disappointed at what is available in your budget (London* ranks are not similar to the US - what we would call a 3* they will call a 4* and so on). I would NOT stay anyplace less then 4* in London. Also I would stick with the most central areas - so you can walk to a lot of places (tubes stop running very early and even buses don;t run much at night).

"<i> . . and even buses don;t run much at night</i>"

There is an extensive system of night buses that run from 1AM - 5AM

You should look at Time Out online and imagine if you were there this week, what you'd likd to be doing at night, and note the neighborhoods and tube stops of where your kinds of attractions are.

Another way to go about this would be to peruse a Lonely Planet or Rough Guide for the kinds of nightlife you like, and look at their recommendations for neighborhoods where people your age hang out.

I definitely think some areas of London are much more fun than others. Personally, I don't think Mayfair is fun. Or South Kensington, Westminster or the area around Victoria Station. I think the Southbank is fun, Marylebone is fun for me, and I've enjoyed being in Islington, but I might not if I was 30. Some younger people like Notting Hill area, and around the Portobello Road. Around Bayswater can be cheap as well.

Have a good time wherever you stay!

IMO there is some waaaaay over-thinking going on here. I go out almost every night when in London. Either to pubs, the theatre, concerts, or just walking along the river. There is no venue I can't get to by public transport from wherever I'm staying.

Few entertainment venues could survive very long if they were not near a tube station. But Portobello Rd, Notting Hill and Bayswater are pretty remote from most of the sites and aren't what one would call 'happening' at night.

There are great pubs everywhere. Sure, Soho, Covent Garden, the southbank are all fun areas - but most important is finding a hotel w/i your price range. Staying in a 'fun' area ain't much fun if you are in a dump of a hotel. All things being equal, I'd probably stay in Covent Garden -- but except for the Travelodge, it has mostly expensive accommodations. And even the Travelodge is often higher than $200 a night.

Thanks for all of the suggestions!! I'll take a look at some of the areas mentioned on here and the lodging in the area and see where that takes me ... our price range can be adjusted, not knowing where to begin I just threw something out there.

Your welcome, luhoosier.

In case you also misread my post, I definitely did NOT recommend SoHo or Covent Garden, which I don't think are fun for a couple your age. And my reason for mentioning Bayswater is that many people find it an affordable option, yet walkable to many nightlife venues -- since I didn't know if your budget was flexible.

Other people are different, but when I go to London looking forward to its nightlife -- especially nightlife that keeps me out past midnight -- I think it is better to sleep in that area, to be able walk back to lodgings, rather than have to wait for a bus. The temptation becomes to get a taxi, and they are pricey, and it adds a lot to the cost of a hotel.

As janisj points out "There is no venue I can't get to by public transport from wherever I'm staying" and areas with nightlife have tube stations.

So when you get up in the morning to go sightseeing, you'll have no problem getting to the sights. But if you stay near the daytime sights, and go far to find nightlife, you might have a problem getting back to your lodgings. You end up either having to cut your night short to catch the tube back to your lodging or waiting for a bus or trying to find a taxi if you were having too much fun to turn in early.

There are dumps of hotels all over London, including right next to the sights, and at the same time there are really nice places on the southbank with great tube connections and really fun places to hang out with music, dancing, etc. But the truth is that everybody has different ideas of what makes for a fun evening -- which is why I suggested you look at Time Out and guidebooks which describe nightlife and who goes where for what. You might think the theatre district in Covent Garden is fun even if I don't.

If you are looking for nightlife in London beyond a beer or a meal:

http://www.londontown.com/nightlife

Sorry - I'm talking in comparison to NYC - where subways and buses both run 24/7- although perhaps every 15 minutes instead of every 5 minutes as during the day. In London we found cabs were necessary after 11 pm if you didn't want a long wait.

Also, we prefer to stay in a central area - Mayfair or Knightsbridge - so you can walk a lot of places.

"In London we found cabs were necessary after 11 pm if you didn't want a long wait"

Only if you can't be bothered getting a bus.

OK what am I missing? Covent Garden isn't fun, but Bayswater is???

(the Southbank and Covent Garden are walkable from each other -- so either one is central/fine. Bayswater isn't walkable to most anywhere)

We've stayed in Knightsbridge a couple of times and Mayfair once. Knightsbridge is (along with many other neighborhoods in which we've not lodged or had experience [others here have]) pretty lively and has good underground service to Picadilly, Leicester Square and other popular vevening venues. We recommend that you consider a flat if you're to be in London more than, say, five days. It gives you a bit more control over your environment (breakfasts in the flat can be inexpensive and delightful, and private if you feel like not dressing for breakfast) and usually a washer/dryer if you're averse to having a hotel deal with your laundry and don't want to waste valuable touring time in a laundromat (during breakfast and at the end of a touring day works well).

Covent Garden isn't a fun place to stay any more than Times Square is a fun place to stay for some travelers. If you are going to the theater a lot, both places are convenient for that. But the tourist scene there is corny and obnoxious to many people.

If you enjoy the restaurants and general ambience of Marylebone, or the areas around the Portobello Road or Notting Hill, you can walk there from Bayswater.

What you are missing -- and I think mohun and flanneruk are missing too -- is what some people traveling to London are looking for when they ask for advice about where to stay. They are specifically looking for a neighborhood with an enjoyable ambience and evening pleasures in walking distance, NOT lodgings where they will need to take the tube to find that, or a bus back, or a taxi back or the underground back. Many would like to get up in the morning and go to a neighborhood place for breakfast that serves great coffee and has great baked goods, rather than eat a hotel meal.

Of course people have different ideas about what suits them for ambience. I wouldn't want to be stuck in Covent Garden, Westminster or Mayfair for an extended period, and I wouldn't want to be in Picadilly or Leicester Sq any more than necessary. But some folks will and should head straight there to get what they want.

But I think it is undeniable to anyone who visits London that all neighborhoods are not alike, and even if you don't want dancing, there is a huge difference between the ambience of Marylebone or Islington and Covent Garden or Soho. There is a distinctly creative vibe to the Southbank that you aren't going to find by booking blindly through priceline into one of the hotel alleys in the mega-tourist zones.

It really shouldn't be such a battle to get information onto Fodor's about the creative-oriented neighborhoods of London, with hip restaurants, coffee houses, and wine spots and pubs ESPECIALLY since they are so convenient to the package-tour sights anyway. It is not hard to get up from an espresso in tree-lined Marylebone in the morning and get yourself to Buckingham Palace or Billy Elliot if that's on your sightseeing list. You don't have to stay in Covent Garden or Mayfair -- and then take tubes and buses to find some nightlife at the end of the day, when you'd rather just hangout in a fun nabe with a youthful, creative vibe.

Having been round and about Clerkenwell a month or 2 ago, might I suggest it as fun and interesting....or Shoreditch....

Also look at Kayak. I had booked 14 nights direct for 1695 GBP. While checking airfares on Kayak I decided to check hotels. I got the Same hotel I had booked for 1683 DOLLARS for 14 nights. I canceled the first booking and rebooked. The price was prepaid but fully refundable . It is in South Kensington, my prefered area

My simple >>All things being equal, I'd probably stay in Covent Garden<< has been used as a cudgel. Jeeze - it was just one phrase out of a lot of other good advice.

Dominating a thread and heavy handed attacks really aren't of benefit to anyone but the one doing it. Discussion/offering alternatives is one thing - calling out others for 'stupidity' is something else.

OK -- back to the discussion -- I've stayed in almost every section of central London. The only ones I'd always try to avoid are Paddington, Queensway/Bayswater (except <i>maybe</i> near Lancaster Gate) and Earls Court. The main thing is finding the <u>best hotel or flat in your price range</u> in a decent neighborhood.

I'd say Shoreditch - it is my favorite place for nightlife. Shoreditch House looks like a great, very cool place to stay, but books up early and isn't cheap. The Crowne Plaza Shoreditch is a nice enough, if corporate hotel, that can sometimes be had for a deal on the weekends.

All that being said, you could also just use Priceline, get something for around $100/night and use the savings to pay for cabs.