Having a hard time deciding on a hotel for one night in London. Really don't even know which area to pick! We will be leaving our rental car at Heathrow Airport the morning Friday, Feb 4. And then we'll be flying out of Heathrow late Saturday afternoon. Really only leaving about 2 half days for sightseeing. Would love to see the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, St Paul's Cathedral, Big Ben, the Thames River, and Westminster Abbey. And a play Friday night at St Martin's Theatre. I realize we may not be able to do it all in such a short time. Not too worried about touring anything, just seeing it would be great. What area of London would you recommend staying in? Close to the airport, the theatre, where the most attractions are? Any ideas would be helpful. And maybe the best way to see as many of the sites listed as possible.

Maybe starting to answer my own question Googled all the places I'm interested in and they're actually not all that far from each other. Just the distance from and to the airport, but I'm sure there's a train or bus to take. Still would love suggestions on where to stay!

For one night only you have a simple choice. Central London in the City or Westminster district, or close to those.

There are lots of options. I recently booked for next June using the priceline.co.uk "bidding" system. If you are American you can do the same using priceline.com. That resulted in four nights in Trafalgar Square at a 4* for about GBP85 including taxes and fees.

The only danger in that system is not being able to check out the hotel reviews in advance, because it's a lucky dip. I ended up in the Club Quarters, which has mixed reviews - but at that price it's brilliant.

PS Use the Heathrow Express to get in and out of town, and buy a ticket on one of the hop-on hop-off buses for a tour in that short time. I used the one that includes a river trip, but I've forgotten the name.

Cheers, Alan
http://loraltravel.blogspot.com/

priceline is a travel agency - and this is a non-commercial forum. Business entities cannot be promoted on Fodors. You should refrain from recommending online booking engines which are actually travel agencies that make a profit when people book through them.

I would pick a hotel that is near the Picadilly Line and you can just ride the tube directly out to Heathrow without changing for the price of an Oyster Card which is alot cheaper than the Heathrow Express.Buy the Oyster card at Heathrow and you can put as much or as little money on it as you want-use it on buses,tube,etc. for a cheaper regular price on tickets.
I am partial to staying around Russell Squareand its tube station and Bloomsbury as it is close to the theatre area,shopping,great restaurants,Covent Garden,etc.
Leaving again tomorrow to see my kids in England-hope its warmer than here?

travelhorizons, I've found a lot of great web sites on this forum that make a profit somehow. That doesn't mean they're not worth advertising. It's not like Alan was recommending a site that he personally makes money from (which is explicitly against the Fodor's terms of service).

I do definitely agree with Alan that you want to stay in central London. If you share your budget, you will get more specific suggestions for hotels. If you can find something in your price range, I think the Leicester Square/Covent Garden area would be ideal. It's walking distance to St Martin's Theatre, a longer walk to Buckingham Palace, and a long walk or easy bus ride to the Westminster area. Importantly since you'll have so little time, both those tube stops are on the Piccadilly line, which is the one that goes direct to Heathrow. (I'm not sure why you'd take the Heathrow Express - it drops you off at Paddington and you still have to take either the tube or a taxi to your hotel; Paddington isn't really near anything else you want to do. If the tube isn't your style, a car service may not be too much more than a couple of Heathrow Express tickets plus cab fare.)

travelhorizons, this taken with your other very recent post makes it sound like you are a disgruntled TA. As I mentioned on your other post, unless one has a financial interest in priceline, recommending it is not against the TOS, nor are posts about other OTA's or individual properties. Repeatedly posting about an issue that is stuck in your craw, on the other hand, may be.

We have booked hotels on www.londontown.com a few times and they are good to deal with. You generally pay at the hotel, not before. They have an online map of central London which shows the hotels and price for your dates. Just pick a couple that are reasonably close to the attractions you want to see then check them out on www.tripadvisor.com and book one of them. I wouldn't recommend staying in The City (the financial part of London) as it is deserted during the weekend with most shops closed and definitely wouldn't stay out near Heathrow for your weekend. You want to enjoy being IN London and soak up the atmosphere!

You may like to do a guided walk with www.walks.com We've done lots of their walks and they offer some that give you an overview if you've never visited before. You don't need to prebook, just turn up at the designated meeting spot and pay your money. They're very informative and entertaining too.

Kay

travelhorizons, I was a little bemused by your response, until jent103's reply made me remember this thread and your comment to me there: http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...xperiences.cfm

I have written and read on several travel forums, including TA, Thorntree and others. I learned many good tips about booking agencies from the good people on those forums. I have used almost all of those agencies at one time or another, saving thousands of dollars in the process. Some were good, some were not, some are only good in certain regions, some have unique restrictions like priceline.com etc.

I'll pass on my experiences if it seems relevant and appreciated until a moderator drops in and tells me not to.

Are you a moderator? Or are you a competing travel agent?

I do not get a cent (I wish from any of them. Hey - maybe I should advertise here for payola from the booking agencies to allow me to travel in a style where I could afford to use a travel agent. Nah - I'm too honest when they stuff up.

Cheers, Alan
http://loraltravel.blogspot.com/

Travel Horizon I have never heard of such a rule here. It would be different if a Priceline representative was peddling their business under the guise of a recommendation by a legitimate poster. Many tour companies (which hopefully are in business to make a profit) are discussed here all the time.

And by the way, we have also used Priceline.com several times to select hotels in London with very good results.

dutyfree has a good suggestion about using the tube to and from Heathrow -- as long as you don't have too much luggage and are not traveling in commute times. The tube may involve some stairs.

For your quick visit to London, you could take a bus tour, either the Hop-on-Hop-off bus or just a mostly drive-by tour.

Good advice about taking the tube to and from Heathrow. Look for a hotel that has good access to the Piccadilly Line.

We did this in July and stayed at the Rembrandt Hotel and just walked to the tube station which was only a few blocks.

Londtown.com is a good website to check out hotels.

Check out Kayak, I got a 4 star , right near South Kensington tube for 99 dollars a night with breakfast. I know the location before I pay.

travelhorizons has another thread in the Lounge about the same thing for some reason. :-?

If Fodor's is a non-commercial forum... Posted by: travelhorizons on Dec 13, 10 at 8:56pm
Posted in: Fodorite Lounge