London hotel need help
 

I have had so many random suggestions of areas that I'm completely confused. We are landing in Heathrow, staying 4 nights, then going on Eurostart to Paris. Then back to London and flying out of Heathrow. For our 4 night stay what would be the area that makes it easy to get in from Heathrow, get out to Eurostar station, and walk to some main sight areas? I tried using the tube map to decide but I don't understand how to read it. I am looking at staying in a budget hotel (would like to spend less than $90 CAD a night).

Your best option would be try using Priceline or Hotwire for a hotel in the Kensington area - if you're familiar with either one.

There are at least 5-6 big hotels near the Gloucester Rd tube station. That is directly on the Piccadilly line, which will get you to both Heathrow and St Pancras without any change. The Circle/District lines also serve the Gloucester Rd tube station which can get you to many other sights (such as Tower of London; Westminster etc).

Not too many sights are within walking distance from Gloucester Rd tube station, with the exception of kensington Gardens, V& A Museum, Nat Hist Museum. Harros is about a 30-min walk from there.

P.S. Another option would be staying at one of the dorms by LSE: such as Northumberland House.
http://www.lsevacations.co.uk/reside...humberland.htm

All rooms have ensuite bathrooms, and its location - right at Trafalgar Sq - cannot be beat. You can walk to plenty of sights there. It does require one change on the tube to get to Heathrow or St Pancras.

Thanks YK, that's great to know. I wish I knew how to read the darn tube map. Hopefully we figure it out when we get there :) I like the idea of being around Kensington Gardens for a nice walk and no changes on the tube would be great with our luggage!

YK, can I ask a stupid question? I haven't used Hotwire or Priceline before. If I pick a Kensington area bid, is there a pretty good chance it'll be near the Gloucester Rd tube station? I don't want to walk to far with our luggage.

If you're not familiar with either Hotwire or Priceline, you should either:

1) Avoid using them
or
2) Go to www.betterbidding.com and www.biddingfortravel.com and study both websites in detail before attempting to use PL or HW.

P.S. since you don't know which hotel you'll get until after you prepay for the entire stay (both HW and PL), it's probably not a good idea of you to use either websites. No one can guarantee which hotel you will get until after you submit payment (and not cancellable), and there is a chance you may NOT get a hotel right at Gloucester Rd tube station.

OTOH, your CAD$90 budget is probably not too realistic to book a hotel via a traditional website. You can try looking at londontown.com.

You can also look at the Travelodge.co.uk hotels... or try Holiday Inn Express

Another suggestion - if you don't mind sharing bathrooms - would be the Ridgemount hotel in Bloomsbury. Fodorite Thursdaysd recently stayed there. A double with shared facilites is £58.
http://www.ridgemounthotel.co.uk/index.htm

I have an alternative suggestion. Rather than stay way out in Kensington (most of it is very nice but it is just too far from the centre of things), consider staying near the Eurostar staion at St Pancras. Assuming you will get the Heathrow express into Paddington you will just need to jump on the circle line (make sure it is going in the right direction!!) and get off at Kings Cross/St Pancras (which is right next to the Eurostar terminal.
There are loads of budget hotels along the Euston Road and surrounding streets including all of the budget chains like HI/Travelodge etc.. There is also a brand new YHA which has private rooms just 100 yds from the station.

You will be right next to the Eurostar terminal for your departure and much better place for travelling to the West End and City via the Northern Line and within walking distance of the British Museum. There are also lots of local restaurants in the Bloomsbury area.

The secret of using the tube map is took just look where you are and your destination in an A2Z and identify the closest tube station then look up the stations on the tube map and find the most direct route between the two.

"<i>Assuming you will get the Heathrow express into Paddington . . . . </i>"

I personally think anyone on a $90CAN hotel budget would certainly not be looking at taking the VERY expensive Heathrow Express. 2 fares on the HEX would cost nearly as much as your hotel budget. One can take the tube directly to Earls Court, South Kensington, Russell Sq, or Kings Cross/St Pancras for a tiny fraction of the fare on the HEX. And then be on a straight shot to St Pancras for the Eurostar.

But, since $90 is only about £50 - even Priceline will be a tough one. Sorry, but your budget is not terribly realistic for central London. It is a bit more doable in Paris, so maybe you can up your price range a bit for your London stay. Not that you can't find £50 hotel rooms - but good ones are few and far between and get booked up early. Either try PL (after carefully studying bidding for travel/better bidding mentioned above) or one of the college accommodations - but even those may be well above your budget.

I have a question about your return to London -- Are you planning on traveling back to London by Eurostar on the same day as you fly out? If so, how much time are you allowing from arrival at St Pancras to departure from LHR?

Bring insect repellent. If you actually find some place for 50 quid per night in Central London, you'll need it.

And instead of the Heathrow Express, you can take the Heathrow Connect -- it's about 1/2 the price of the H'Ex, but still more expensive than the LONG ride on the Piccadilly line from Heathrow to Kings Cross/St. Pancras station.

I agree you'll be better off staying near Kings X/St. Pancras area than in Kensington given your touring desires.

Several friends, all women,stayed here, all women, and they were quite pleased with the rooms and the breakfast. It is just a tiny bit over your price range. It's very near St Pancras/King's Cross

http://www.hotelmeridiana.co.uk/

You are very unlikely to find a hotel for 90 CDN in central london. You could try looking at the Euro hotel in Clapham (its down the street from where I live) http://www.eurohotelslondon.co.uk/

I believe its fairly cheap...but its in zone 2 and you would need to take the northern line into the city everyday.

For hotels around 50 GBP then look at the Travelodge website...

www.travelodge.co.uk

I'm staying at the Covent Garden one for 49 GBp a night (I've not been there yet but my daughter has stayed there and says it's OK...)

I suggest either using Priceline (see www.betterbidding.com )
or London School of Economics options.
http://www.lsevacations.co.uk/

Either way your budget is probably possible, with decent accommodation. For the LSE choices, I stayed at High Holborn with my daughter, and others on this board have stayed at Northumberland House. Both are super-conveniently located in central London. There are other options too.

It sounds like King's Cross area is where we should be. I'm assuming it's easy to get to the main sights from there? I still can't figure out the darn tube map. If we do take the Heathrow Express (might be worth it to save over an hour of a train ride with our luggage) how do we get from Paddington to St. Pancras?

Also, it looks like a Travelodge will be our best bet for King's Cross/St. Pancras. There are two in the area: Travelode Kings Cross and Travelodge Kings Cross Royal Scot. Does anyone have any experience with either and a recommendation on which would be better? Thank you for your amazing knowledge!

<i>I still can't figure out the darn tube map.</i>

What's so difficult about it? Each line has its own color. At the stations with the white circles, are where you can change between lines.
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloa...d-tube-map.pdf

<i>If we do take the Heathrow Express (might be worth it to save over an hour of a train ride with our luggage) </i>

You do realize the heathrow Express is £16.50 per person, one-way? That's compared to £4 cash fare (or, using Oyster PAYG, £3.80 at peak and £2.20 off-peak) on the tube. You can take the Piccadilly line (the dark blue line) directly from Heathrow to Kings Cross/St Pancras <u>without</u> change.

I don't get how you can't handle the Tube map. It's not like the NYC Subway where you have to figure out which train stops where, all the trains are local and make all stops.

Here's some help. You will be at Kings Cross.

To get to Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus, Buckingham Palace or Harrod's, take the Piccadilly line (navy blue) to Leiceister Square, Piccadilly Circus, Green Park, and Knightsbridge, respectively. The theatre district is generally in Piccadilly Circus/Leicester Square area.

To get to the Tower, take the Circle Line (yellow) to Tower Hill.

To get to Big Ben and Westminster Abbey, take the Victoria line (light blue) to Green Park and then the Jubilee Line (silver) to Westminster.

To get to St. Paul's, take the Northern Line (black) to Bank and either walk or take the Central Line (red) to St. Paul's.

Seriously, this isn't difficult.

Big Russ, I'm sorry, I probably sound so dumb. I've never been to a place that has a subway so I have never seen a subway map before. The closest thing I've used is a bus map and ours are so different than this. I guess where I am getting confused is how to get to certain lines. Say I'm in Kings Cross. How do I get on the yellow line you mentioned for the Tower? Also, yk mentioned the white circles mean you can change lines (thank you yk! I did not know that). So, would that mean that at Kings Cross I can access the navy and black lines in addition to the light blue? And thank you for telling me which lines to use for those sights, that will be very helpful for me!

Yeah, at Kings Cross you can access those lines.

Some more tips: (1) review the map and learn the names of the lines more than the colors -- the Tube operates more based on the funny name of the train line than on the color that represents it on the map. (2) When you enter the underground station (go onto the tfl website yk mentioned and look at the "roundel" -- the underground symbol that designates an entrance to the Tube), there will be signs that tell you where to go. The connections in the various stations can be long distances from platform to platform. At Kings' Cross, you look for signs for the Circle line to get to the Tower, the Piccadilly to get through Central London, etc.

Note that the Circle line runs on the same track or set of tracks with another train line for all of its stops -- at Kings Cross, those lines are the Metropolitan and Hammersmith lines. The Circle Line train will say Circle Line on the top of the face of the front car.

At Londontown.com you can get an interactive map of London that shows you the Tube lines and where they stop so you can determine which one goes near the sites you want to visit.

It might (or might not) help you get oriented if you looked at a tube map superimposed on a basic street map of London.

Cath -- that's what Londontown.com allows. Go to maps on menu on left, uncheck the hotels and check the underground options, and you'll get the idea.

Don't be stressed about using the tube. I was just in Minneapolis and I got all flustered using their ONE LINE tram system! Lol. There's a good guide on how to use the tube here: http://www.moneysavinglondon.com/Tra...derground.html

(and incidently there's something about using Priceline for London hotels on the same site: http://www.moneysavinglondon.com/Hot...on-hotels.html)

I would maybe be thinking of the Kings Cross areas as convenient both from Heathrow (on the tube) and St Pancras (for the Eurostar). It's cheap too.

If your budget will allow it, I would consider booking a car service to get from Heathrow to your hotel on your arrival day. Just Airports is good, and I'm sure other posters could recommend other companies.

The website is justairports.com

If your hotel budget is under $90 CAD/night, I would seriously start researching Priceline and Hotwire.

There are a lot of posts here on fodors about them, and yk has already given you the two websites you'll need to comb through. They will give you give you tips on how to use Priceline & Hotwire, a list of the current Priceline & Hotwire hotels in London, and the prices people are currently paying for them.

Try taking a look at this thread:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...on-lodging.cfm

People were getting the Holiday Inn Express Earl's Court for $50-$60 US on Hotwire. Last Christmas I got the Holiday Inn Camden Lock for the equivalent of $66 CAN per night.

So it is certainly possible to get a fairly nice hotel room in London for under $90, but you might have to be a bit flexible in terms of the neighbourhood.

If a particluar location is your priority, then you might have to be more flexible on the price.

Budget or not - you really do NOT want to take the Heathrow Express to Paddington. Honest. It would not be easier, would not be faster, and would be a LOT more expensive.

Paddington is a long distance from Kings Cross, so once you got to Paddington you'd either have to take a very expensive taxi, or the tube, or an even more confusing bus the rest of the way. You would not save time or money and would have a lot more schlepping of luggage.

The <u>only</u> practical ways to get from LHR to King's X is the tube: cheap, no line changes but some luggage schlepping -- OR -- a car service: much more expensive but door-to-door w/ no schlepping of luggage.

But I don't agree that you need to stay near Kings Cross. Anyplace along the Piccadilly tube line (the dark blue one) would be very convenient and most would be much nicer than at Kings Cross. Don't even try to figure out the tube mat until you are there. You are psyching yourself out - once you use the tube a couple of times it will all fall into place.

I just got back from a 2 week London trip w/ 6 friends -- all of them ladies "of a certain age" who had never taken a subway before. And every single one mastered the tube w/i a day or two. I did have to "hold a couple of hands" the first ride or two. But before long they were all old pros.

Despite the comments by janisj the Heathrow Express is definitely worth considering for travel into London (i have travelled this route may be 50-60 times over the last 5 years!). Yes it IS more expensive 16.50 compared with 4.00) but it is quicker (approx 35 mins compared with 55mins + IF there are no problems on the Tube). Admittedly you will have one change - when arriving at Paddington just head for the Underground and get on a Circle Line train (yellow line) heading for Edgeware Rd. If in doubt ask any of the LU staff who will help you.

The reason I suggested KC as and area to stay is that there are lots of budget chain hotels all along the Euston Rd around KC/St Pancras and Euston Stations plus you will be close to the Eurostar terminal for your departure. There are also lots of inexpensive hotels in Bloomsbury just accros teh Euston Road. The main benefit is that KC is a major tube interchange station with access to teh piccdilly, Victoria, Northern and Circle lines which will provide easy access to most of the sights in town.

To say "anyplace along the Picadilly Line would be very convenient" is misleading as it is a very long line and the distances on the map bear no relationship to the distances on the ground. West London is very nice and most Londoners would indeed aspire to live in places like Kensington and Knightsbridge but it is a bit out of the way if you are visiting the sights.

For cheap accomodation, keep an eye on www.travelodge.co.uk as they have been having some great deals over the last week (like 9 pound per night) and

http://www.yha.org.uk/find-accommoda...avel_info.aspx

I dont think you can book online yet but it would be worth giving them a call via Skype.

Otherwise www.hostelbookers.com are usually a good bet for accomodation in your price range.

Have fun in the greatest city in the world!!

I'm sorry, but for someone traveling on a tight budget, I have a hard time recommending the Heathrow Express. For 2 people (since the OP used "we" in her initial post), we're talking about £33 to get from Heathrow to Paddington; PLUS tube fare from Paddington to _______ (assuming Kings Cross). £33 = $60CAD, which is 2/3 of the OP's lodging budget per night... and this is for what? To save 20 minutes on travel time?

Most of the time, with overnight flights from N Am, early arrival to London = room NOT ready for check-in at hotel. I don't see the difference between arriving at 9:30am vs 10am for the casual tourist.

I am not saying that Heathrow Express is not the fastest way to get into London. However, it's not the best way for everyone. It's totally fine for people who have the money to ride it, or on a business account, or business people who are in a rush and have to attend morning meetings. However, for the casual BUDGET tourist, the 20-30 minutes saved is NOT worth the extra cost, IMO.

Crellston: The HEX really ONLY makes sense if one is staying near Paddington station. (And for most visitors that is not the best area to stay) For any other (better) part of the city it actually takes longer, or only saves a very few minutes. Paddington is not in the center of anything. So once you arrive there you either have to schlepp your bags down into the tube station - or schlepp your bags out to the buses - or schlepp your bags to the taxi rank and pay another £10-£20 to get to your final destination.

It is a comfortable service to be sure -- but it is very expensive and only gets one to Paddington. I have ridden it many times - but only when it fit into my plans and that is maybe 1/10 of the time . . . . . .

and meant to add -- I meant anyplace along the Piccadilly line <u>between Earl's Court and King's X</u>. Or better yet - between Gloucester Rd/South Kens and Russell Square.

From any of those areas, one would be centrally located and on a direct tube ride to KingsX/St Pancras w/o changes.

We have decided to use the tube from Heathrow. You're right YK, the Hex wouldn't save us much time. I am watching the Travelodge King's Cross. It's $106 a night which is more than I wanted to spend but seems to be the best option so far. Other hotels recommended on here aren't available. Price line and Hotwire don't seem to have King's Cross area offered (I couldn't find it anyways).

"<i>Price line and Hotwire don't seem to have King's Cross area offered </i>"

Kings Cross is in the Bloomsbury/Marble Arch zone on Priceline. (which also includes Russell Square). But you could also possibly get a place farther west.

I still don't think you need to concentrate ONLY near King's Cross. It really isn't the best area. Nothing dangerous or particularly nasty - just REALLY congested, noisy and busy.

It would be a real shame IMO if one picks a less than comfortable area mainly because they think the tube map is confusing. I'd personally pick a nice place to stay (or get a real bargain on PL) and then ask here the best way to get to King'sX from your hotel.