London Hotels
 

Looking for a good, nice quiet hotel - prefer 4* walking distance to a tube.. Have tried 3* and mostly been unhappy for various reasons. Planning on going late August.. Thank you.

Please advise total available budget, it allows one to be much more specific in their advice.

I would really recommend the Hotel Westland near Hyde Park on Bayswater road. Very easy to get to and from airport. Very comfortable with gigantic rooms. Delicious and enormous breakfast. 2 tube stops nearby...Notting Hill Gate and Bayswater with a 3rd a little farther away. Close to Kensington, close to Geales's fish and chips, and just a really nice place to stay. It's a little expensive but we have found it to be very worth it., especially on the first and last night of a trip.

Check out the classic Brown's Hotel, which is quite near the Green Park tube station.

Brown's I'm sure is out their price range, hence I asked their budget!

How do you know Brown's is out of their price range? I think that is for Skaye to decide, not you. Very presumptuous.

I would recommend The Regency, which is in South Kensington and a 3 min walk from the South Kensington Tube Station and also within walking distance of Gloucester Tube Station. It is near the museums, especially the Science Museum (walking distance). It is also within walking distance of Kensington Garden and Kensington Palace.

We stayed there in June and it was really quite a lovely neightborhood and a beautiful hotel.

http://www.londonregency.com/

~amelie

It seems reasonable to ask Skaye what the budget is. Otherwise anyone's recommendations are actually pretty useless. Browns is a very upscale property and expensive (and worth the cost IMHO). But if skaye wants to spend $100 or even $200, Browns is not the right place.

Skaye - give us a hint . . . . . .

The "prefer 4*.....have tried 3*..." suggests that they are not looking for a five star property, or at least to me that seems obvious. I'd imagine they're looking at around 150GBP or less per night. Unlikely to find a deluxe property for this price. Hence, the need to ask for budget to help with finding a suitable four star hotel.

My sugestion is the Rembrandt in Knightsbrige, a good 4 star, in an excellent location or the Academy Townhouse, very nice also, in Gower Street, they have excellent rates . I stayed in both and enjoyed them very much.If you want to spend some extra money then book the Dorchester.

Didn't mean to start a "tizz-wazz" - M.kingdom I deliberately did not say how much we were budgeting because in London, especially, I have found that stars/$$ many times do not add up. e.g. about five years ago finished up paying over $250 for the Elizabethan on Cromwell Road. Which is supposedly a three star!! By asking for your opinions I received names of hotels where people had actually stayed and considered them value for the amount.. teacherlady,underhill, Amelie and Tere all evidently look at the same things I want. It is not necessarily the amount of money you pay but are you getting the value for that amount. Which we definitely did not at the Elizabethan. No.. thank you kindly, do not even want to consider the Dorchester or Claridges or the Savoy!! Isn't the Rembrandt on a main street? I thank you all very much.. if you think of any more, please let me know.

Try the Cranley if you want a smaller 4*...http://www.thecranley.com/

How ridiculous! People will still give you advice, and most probably even better advice if you could tell them how much you are prepared to spend. None of us our tour operators, and as such will not plug a property unless it is worth plugging! If you had specified a budget, you would not have had people reccommending Brown's which is obviously not to your tastes. Whilst "stars/$$" no not always add up, it is nice to have a 'ballpark' figure to work with.

Surely you have some 'floor and ceiling' figures! Just because you tell someone how much you have to spend, it does not follow that they will endorse overpriced, underserviced properties! Please employ some logic here, if one was to walk into a car showroom and ask the same question with no mention of budget, would the salesperson be expected to assume they have limited resources, or are tied to a tight budget?

After all with no budget stated "anyone's recommendations are actually pretty useless".

If you don't mind chain hotels, look into Thistle. Their hotels are often close to tube stops and they run many really good specials. Many of their properties are 4*. I've stayed in the Victoria one (4*) which is directly connected to the Victoria Underground and train stations. It is on a busy street but I've never been bothered by street noise in my room.
Be careful when looking at the rates. Rates can be per person, per room, and may or may not include breakfast and tax. (This is true of an hotel rate.)
I've heard good things about the Millenium Hotel (4*) in Knightbridge. I haven't stayed there myself. It is just around the corner from the Knightsbridge tube station and often runs specials.

MKingdom: sorry, as yet we do not have a budget.. that's what I'm trying to figure out by learning the approximate amount that we would need to pay for hotels.. have no idea if Brown's is out of reason since the poster didn't give $$. If they thought it was worth mentioning then it is worth my while to look at it. I very much appreciate the input. Thank you all.

I don't know if the original poster will consider this a reasonable suggestion, but considering her post, I would suggest that she consider bidding for a 5* hotel on Priceline.

I wouldn't suggest bidding for a 4* on Priceline, because many of those are actually only 3* in quality.

But with a 5* bid, you have an excellent chance of getting a hotel that is better than a typical 4* and for a relatively reasonable price also.

I haven't tried Priceline.. how does it work? Do you have a chance to look at the hotel (on the web) before you tell them yes or no. Have been happy with Expedia but then I pretty much knew which hotel I wanted. Even then I missed the breakfast option!

For Priceline information, look at these two sites, particularly the FAQs:

http://www.biddingfortravel.com
http://www.betterbidding.com

The main disadvantage is that you don't get to see the hotel ahead of time. However, you have an excellent chance of knowing it will be one of a select few, particularly at the 5* level. Still, it sounds like you might not like this option. I like Priceline because I know I will get a much better hotel within my limited budget than I will through any other means (at least in some cities). If price is not an issue, then Priceline is not that useful.

For breakfast - the odds are it wouldn't be included in London with a Priceline bid, but I did have it happen once. Usually the savings are substantial enough that I could buy a fabulous breakfast if I wanted to.

Skaye-

Re Priceline:
No, you don't get to choose your hotel on Priceline. What happens on Priceline is that you can choose the "area" of your hotel (there's a map on the website). Then you choose # of *s. But in most people's experience, Priceline's *s are over-rated. That's why WillTravel tells you to bid for 5*, which in fact you will end up with more like a 4* hotel.
After you choose the hotel "area" and "*s", you have to enter your "price" which you are willing to pay; and your credit card info. Be careful, your price usually does not include tax and surcharges, so you have to read the fine print carefully.

If your "price" gets matched by any hotels, your credit card will be charged immediately and you will receive email from Priceline. At that time you will find out which hotel you will be staying at. If you don't like it, too bad. You cannot cancel or get a refund.

I think you will be safe if you go for a 5* hotel... they can't be that bad.

Skaye: Your best bet is to do a bit of research and shopping on your own.

TripAdvisor.com is an excellent resource for hotel reviews.

Nearly no hotel in Central London is NOT withing walking distance to a tube station, and the buses are a more scenic and convenient way to get around.

August is during prime tourist season, so you must adjust your budget accordingly.

You may want to consider recommendations for Thistle and Millennium properties. Again, you can find reviews for all at TripAdvisor. Not that these can be booked directly at their websites or via Londontown.com, but you must pay attention to taxes, breakfast, cancellation policies.

If you wish to consider Priceline, go to www.biddingfortravel.com - study the hotel FAQ's and peruse recent winning bids and attempts.

Though, if you truly wish to "learn the approximate amount you would need to spend" you can accomplish that via any of the plethora of web booking sites.