London Hilton
 

I am traveling to London with my 12yo son. We are staying at the Hilton Kensington on Holland Park. A tour bus stop is accross the street from the Hotel. We want to start our day with the Tower of London, then London Dungeon and Lunch. Should we take the tube to the Tower and then join the tour bus? Also, what kind of dining is available in the Holland Park area? Finally does anyone know any 2 for 1 deals for the London Eye?

Let's take this bit at a time.

I don't know what you mean by "on Holland Park". Holland Park (the park) is about a mile away, and there's no hotel in the park

You're probably talking about a hotel at the far west of Holland Park Avenue, though most of us would say it's on Shepherd's Bush roundabout. It may technically be part of the Borough of Kensington and Chelsea: no-one but a PR handout with scant regard for the truth would claim it's actually in Kensington

If you want to start the day at the Tower, then get the tube to the Tower. Neither of the two "hop on, hop off" buses stop within a mile of the Shepherd's Bush Hilton, so it's not at all clear what tour buses you're talking about. If it's some private tour - only you and the tour compsany will know whether your suggested arangements are practicable.

I VERY VERY strongly suggest you search this site for visitors' reaction to the London Dungeon. They're 90% unfavourable: the other 10% criminally libellous

There are almost NO decent restaurants near the Shepherd's Bush Hilton, though Edera, an Italian slightly east of the hotel on the other side of the street gets some OK write ups. My experience of eating in the hotel is dismal. There are loads of pleasant restaurants round Notting Hill tube (Costas for Greek and Geale's for fish and chips have been looking after us for decades): the walk back down Holland Park Ave is pleasant and leafy, though the out of condition might find it wearing

Last November a friend of mine stayed at this particular hotel while I was staying in the Marlebone area. For some reason, it fell upon me to meet him at his hotel everyday instead of him coming to me! Anyway, this hotel is right next to the Shepard's Bush roundabout. You're also closer to the Shepard's Bush Tube station than you are the Holland Park station but we found it more pleasant to stroll to the Holland Park station.

I don't think there's a tour bus, just a regular bus line service that does stop in front of the hotel (I don't remember what route number it was). I do agree that the Tube is your best bet.

I can say (thinking of your 12 yr old son) there is a Pizza Express in the area of the Shepard's Bush station. It should be on the opposite side of the street as the Tube station (the same side as your hotel) and it's tucked along the side of a building.

There's definitely a Starbuck's, a small grocery (I think a Tesco), and a few small cafes between the Holland Park Tube and your hotel.

The hotel itself was quite nice and my friend really liked it there though he did mention it was too expensive to eat in the restaurant.

As to the London Eye, at the time we were there you got the 2 for 1 deal if you had a Travelcard loaded on your Oyster. Don't know if that promotion is still available.

The London Dungeon is wretched for most adults, but my daughter (14 at the time) liked it. I think many 12-year-old boys would like it too. So I can't say it's a great cultural benefit or anything, but I think there's a good chance he'd like it. And the Tower of London and the London Dungeon are close together. I seem to recall reading, though, that it's better to visit the Tower later in the day, for the sake of reduced crowds.

We got a 2 for 1 for the London Dungeon at our hotel.

Some other 2 for 1 deals:
http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/

1) I think you probably have various Hilton's confused. As the others say - this particular Hilton is not near a hop-on-hop-off tour bus stop.

2) If you go to the Tower at opening time (an excellent idea) you will still be there at lunch time. If you try to go to the Dungeon (not a good idea IMHO but like WillTravel says some kids do enjoy it) after the Tower - you'll be eating about 3 p.m.

Thanks for the info. The name of the hotel is the Hilton Kensington located on Holland Park Ave. I thnk we will go directly to the Tower of London and Dungeons. My son is into that kind of stuff.

There are some bloody wonderful restaurants in Shepherd's bush - just not ones the tourists would know or use.

At the risk of giving away the best kept secret in london (apart from C*** B**** in wandsworth common). Patio in Goldhawk Road is fantastically good. It's a Polish place that's been there since the end of the war and is everything a good neighbourhood restaurant should be.

All the pubs are pants though.

Would that be Chez Bruce? ((A))