I hoped that I could read through old posts and find what I was looking for but I am still struggling. It is our first trip to London and we will be there July 18 through July 22nd. We are looking( like everyone I guess) for a really nice hotel very centrally located with a lot of London charm. However to complicate matters we need to sleep four. A suite would be ideal if that actually exists in London ( or any other suggestions you may have.) We would like to spend under $350 USD. I am really interested in the Kensington and Mayfair areas after reading a lot of posts. By the way my kids are 10 and 12. Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

Check out Citadines Apart'Hotels. Short on charm but well-equipped with mini-kitchens. Go to www.citadines.com.

Also have a look at Suzy Gershman's book, Cheap Sleeps in London (perhaps now "Great Sleeps&quot. It has some good suggestions for alternative accommodations (eg apartments).

Besides suite-type hotels (few and far between in London), you could also look at booking B&Bs - perhaps with a shared bathroom for two rooms. An upscale B&B would give you charm at a decent price.

Nancy,

In Mayfair proper--not some of the nearby areas of Paddington/Bayswater--finding a quality hotel for a family of four at under £180...well, it's tough (as you've discovered).

A couple of possiblities:

--Advance purchase rates at the nice (not charming) Holiday Inn Mayfair are about £120 per room. Some rooms sleep 4, although in two double beds, which may not be ideal (!). The location of this modern, air-conditioned hotel is good: just half a block from The Ritz (if money were no object) and very close to the Green Park Tube station.

--You could move south a bit, still in an upscale, central neighborhood, and stay at the Sanctuary House hotel for about £100 per night (weekends) £125 (weekdays). They don't have rooms to accomodate 4, I don't believe, but they have a/c and the location is walking distance to Westminster Abbey, Parliament, etc.

An apartment may work for you too, as some others have noted.

In my opinion, you should add air-conditioning to your criteria for travel in mid-July. London rarely gets hot, but if it is warm enough so that you have to keep your hotel room windows open, city noise might make sleep difficult.

Dave White
[email protected]

We stayed in 2 interconnected rooms at the Cranley Gardens hotel last year (each room was 89GBP). The location is great, So. Kensington, near 2 tube stops, restuarants, V&A museum and more. It does have London chamr but I would not call it 'really' nice. It was clean and quiet but the rooms were on the small side and a bit dated. The bathrooms were also tiny and in need of an update. The building itself was actually several connected townhouses.

One room had a double bed and the other had 2 twins. In general London is very pricey for both hotels and food, although the daily family tube pass is a bargain.

We are in the same boat as you, visiting London in late May. Here's what I've found for a nice "luxury" B&B, I think in the same neighborhood you want. We are a family of four, and prefer the more charming local color of a boutique hotel to a Holiday Inn, etc. Using Londontown.com I found the Hyde Park Radnor-- http://hydeparkradnor.bpweb.net/ (see my posted threads) for 109GBP/night, for all four of us, including a full English hot breakfast buffet. Very good reviews of this B&B on tripadvisor.com. The hotel staff has been responsive and friendly via e-mail. (I'll write a trip report when we get back home, but it won't be till late June.)
Try Londontown.com-- there were other choices for us, like the Balmoral House and St. George Hotel, for similar places.

Our family of 4 (13 & 17 year old girls) stayed for a week in London in December. We came from a week in Paris at a lovely, centrally located budget hotel with only 1 bathroom. For London, we wanted 2 bathrooms and central to sights, tube, etc. Do Priceline, it's your only chance for a decently priced hotel room. I did not want a kitchen, I do enough cooking at home all year. Through the use of biddingfortravel.com, we were able to get 2 huge rooms that gave us 2 bathrooms, 2 mini fridges, set ups for coffee/tea/hot choclate, wonderful terry cloth bathrobes and 2 TV sets. A real bonus was that they had American style electrical plugs, so need for adapters. The girls appreciated being able to plug in all their electrical appliances. We got the Holiday Inn South Kensington, a 2 minute walk from the Gloucester Rd. tube station. The area is near Harrod's, V&A musuem, Science and History museums. There is a large grocery store next to the tube station (Waitrose? Sainsbury's?) that has great take out food or goodies for your fridge. There is a tiny takeaway cafe next to the tube where you can get coffee, toast and eggs for 3 GBP each, which is a bargain compared to breakfast for 20 GBP at the hotel. There was a self service laundry 10 min walk from hotel as well. We paid $75/night/per room, a big bargain, believe me. Save your money on lodging in London, as you will need it for lots else. As many others have pointed out, the prices are the same as the US 20-30 per person for a decent meal, except we're talking pounds, which are double the dollar currently. Good Luck!

We are in much the same boat. 17 & 19 yr olds plus 2 adults. http://www.apartment-hotels.com/index.htm very helpful, small family run business.