london hotels.
 

LONDONTOWN HAS THESE HOTELS ATE MY PRICE RANGE. Any preferences?
Hotel at Chelsea
Thistle Lancaster Gate
HILTON kENSINGTON
THE RUBENS AT THE PALACE
RYDGES kENSINGTON pLAZA
thistle victoria or any other on Londontown.com Staying for 6 nights

I'm going to London and I checked www.biddingfortravel.com to get info on making a bid on Priceline. People seem to be getting good deals. I'm going to try it. Good luck.

Yeah, I got the Thistle Marble Arch for $75 in September through Priceline and was thrilled with it; off-season, people are getting it for $20 less even. Next time I go to London I would definitely do it the same way.

Andrew

Priceline really does a good job for London where the hotels are pricy. We stayed at the Waldorf Hilton 4* in the Theater district in April for $110 (dollars) a night for a double. I know a lot of people get the Copthorn Terra in Kensington near the tube station for 75-80 dollars a night.

Highly recommend Priceline (after doing your homework on BFT).

If you're a single or a couple, cannot imagine booking any other way. You'll save a fortune.

We've stayed at the Thistle Marble Arch ($75), Waldorf Hilton ($100), and Millennium Baileys ($80) - all absolutely fabulous and for a fraction of the rate booking through any other resources.

If you haven't already booked flights, check out the packages on Priceline. We got an AMAZING deal that way. And, you get to pick the hotel, and flights.

Have never done Priceline so can't comment on that, but we have stayed at the Rubens at the Palace on two separate occasions and really like the hotel and location. We also booked the Rubens thru londontown.com and never found a lower price on any other website.

Rubens at the Palace is heads above the Thistle Victoria. Stayed at both last year and very much preferred the Rubens.

Like all things in life you broadly get what you pay for.

The "4 star" hotels allocated to Priceline customers invariablly are the hotels which have problems filling their beds without 'distrees selling'. Particularly the Thistle Chain hotels which almost without exception get poor reviews but who can grumble if you're paying $75.

You can pay about $20 dollars more from an online discounter and select which Thistle or similat you stay in.
In December and January all Thistles are making rooms available for $100.

Of the list you selected the Rubens is probably the best hotel and the Thistle is far the worst. Though these are really big hotels. i.e. Taking the Thistle Lancaster gate if you're a Priceline customer you'll normally get an internal room, if you book direct you'll normally get a room overlooking Hyde Park.

If you're into large impersonal hotels probably the best deal currently is 'The Tower' hotel, a new hotel owned by the Thistle Group but not with the downmarket Thistle brand plastered on it. (It used to be the Thistle Tower Bridge). Its been refurbished a much higher standard than Thistles but rooms booked direct are $100 or less a night. Its right next to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge.

A lot of regular travellers to London not on an expense account find independent hotels like the Darlington Hyde Park and the Luna & Simone far better value for money than the big chain hotels however deep the discount.

I got the Meridien Piccadilly for $145 through priceline & for my next London visit I'll certainly be booking through them again.

handfordr says, "Particularly the Thistle Chain hotels which almost without exception get poor reviews but who can grumble if you're paying $75."

If you read BiddingForTravel.com, you'll see the Thistle Marble Arch gets great reviews and not as the exception. Believe me, I have stayed at a few Priceline hotels that were so-so but acceptable of the "Priceline rate," but the Thistle Marble Arch was great, I was very happy with it and would hope to stay there again. As for the $100 deal on Thistles in January: I think I'd rather get the TMA on Priceline again for about $55 off-season.

Andrew

I'll be staying at the Thistle Marble Arch for 6 nights next June through Priceline for $55 per night.

At that price, I wouldn't complain if the hotel was only so-so, but considering the relatively good reviews, I am thrilled with the deal I got.

We stayed at the Copthorne Tara in August for $80 a night through Priceline, and it was wonderful. The restaurants were great, the location fabulous (right down the street from the High Street Kensington tube station) the service great. No complaints at all! They even gave us free unlimited DSL access during our stay (evidently it was a monthly special).

chepar, the Thistle MA was the last of five hotels I stayed at during my September Europe trip. I stayed at a variety of hotels, including an Intercontinental in Prague, but the previous night had been at a modest 2-star in Budapest, so the Thistle MA seemed like heaven! The Thistle MA wasn't as nice as the Intercontinental, of course, but it was still quite nice and comfortable. Read my review on BFT for more details.

Andrew

I've stayed at several Thistle hotels, and IMO the Lancaster Gate is the best.
I thought it better than the Royal Horseguards. It is quite luxurious, in a sort of country house style. Very, very comfortable. Before it 'joined' the Thistle chain it was called White's, and was one of those wonderful old-fashioned hotels you sort of imagined Miss Marple staying in! Traditionally English.

Have a great trip to london.

Re: handfordr says, "Particularly the Thistle Chain hotels which almost without exception get poor reviews but who can grumble if you're paying $75."
If you read BiddingForTravel.com, you'll see the Thistle Marble Arch gets great reviews and not as the exception. Believe me, I have stayed at a few Priceline hotels that were so-so but acceptable of the "Priceline rate," but the Thistle Marble Arch was great,

Reviews on Biddingfortravel are hardly impartial, try reading independent sites reviews like TA. All are in the context of I only paid $75 at Priceline for Thistle Marble Arch what else can you expect:
Taking TripAdvisor this morning first few hotel reviews include:

"After reading quite a few negative reviews on this site, I was a bit apprehensive, but was pleased with my 2-night stay here. "

"Compare this too the Regent palace at piccadilly for roughly same price, this wins easily." (The Regent Palace is a 2 star hotel with shared bathrooms)

"I have lost two days of work upon my return to the states because my back is in such pain. This didn't make my cheap price from priceline worth it. If you do decide to stay here NEVER book this hotel without using priceline. Do not pay more than US $60 a night or you will be disappointed. At best this is a 2.5 star hotel."

I don't consider having that one bad review in a slew of good reviews to be that remarkable (I know there are also some other not so positive ones). Almost any hotel in London, even the ones people pay 200 pounds a night for, has at least a few similar reviews. Any old building, which describes the vast majority of London hotels, typically has a few rooms that are duds. Avoiding these rooms is an art, no matter your booking method.

I agree with WillTravel...the "reviews" on TripAdvisor, for example, and including my own, are about as biased as it gets and based on whatever the reviewer thinks is "good" or "bad."

I'm amused by some of the things that people think make a hotel "good" or "bad"...some so trivial, IMO, and others major so one has to always read carefully and between the lines as well.

Granted hotels are an individual thing, each to his/her own choice.

But the original question listed 4 four star hotels in London for comparison which all of course have their own followers.

At this moment every Thistle in London is making rooms available through the normal channels for around $100 over the next 6 weeks. If you read reviews on whatever bb is your preference nearly all the people staying at Thistle's are staying on deeply discounted room rates like Priceline.
Thistle have just refurbished the Thistle Tower Bridge and renamed it the Tower for $10 million for example and tried to disguise its a Thistle by calling it a Guoman. Doesn't it tell you something that its having to offer a supposed luxury hotel within 100m of Tower Bridge and Tower of London for $100 a night on its official web site, not just in the off season but through to next Summer.

That is not opinion, that is fact. I would suggest most reasonable people would come to a similar conclusion of why a single 4 star hotel chain has to make most of its rooms available at the prices of a 2 star to fill its rooms.

If price is everything to you then fine, Priceline and Thistle are made for you. But I would suggest most people are looking for best value, not necessarily the lowest cost, no matter what the product you receive is.

Where did you find the thistle hotels at 100 per night? their website..I can't find such a deal.
thanks
Jean

Stringbean, what is the price range you're talking about? When is your trip scheduled (since that will have an impact on the price) and was there a particular reason you are using the Londontown.com reservation service?

Also what are you looking for in your London hotel--is your number one priority convenience/location, cost, style, comfort, or something completely different? "Our" preferences won't help you at all if they are completely different from "your" preferences.

If it were me, I would shop around for the very best deal I could get for the Sofitel St. James and stay there. But that's not one of the hotels on your list, and I have no idea what your preferences/needs are so...

Where did you find the thistle hotels at 100 per night?

Not sure about the US but the local discounters here in London are always clearing out Thistle rooms.
Cheapest is probably lastminute.com, they don't actually says Thistle x - they say just say something like 4 star hotel Victoria, when you read the description of the hotel concerned its soom becomes clear what Thistle it is.
They had Thistle Victoria for 59 GBP which I guess is around $100.
I know Active Hotels has all of them available for 69 GBP until end of January which is just over $100.
Personally I'd use the Thistle Auction Site, the London hotels often go for well under 50 GBP per night which is probably what they're really worth.

Regards the Thistle discussion I agree with everyone.

Yes, it is questionable for Priceline to treat them as genuine 4 star hotels.

Yes, if you're paying full price, i.e. > $150 for a hotel, steer well clear of Thistle.

But, hey at $50-$75 a night it must be a bargain to stay at a Thistle.
After all I'll fly Aeroflot or Air India to London if the price is low enough.

The 4* Mayfair-Soho hotels on Priceline seem to have the best reviews and to be the "nicest" of all the zones. So if you are worried that a hotel like the Thistle Marble Arch is not up to your standards (at a price that comes out to about 40 pounds with taxes and fees all in for a double room), but you are otherwise okay with the Priceline concept, be sure to restrict your bidding to the Mayfair zone.

I've had three different Holiday Inns in London through Priceline (both 3* and 4*). I can't say the hotel experiences were transcendental, but they were well above adequate, and twice I've been upgraded to executive rooms. If you want a gorgeous boutique hotel, of course Priceline simply will not be right for you.

Would suggest you consider not going to a chain hotel however many stars it has.

My preferred London hotel is the Darlington Hyde Park. I don't think its bothered to get any stars, but the service, cleanliness and hospitality is second to none. It hasn't got 4 bars, and acres of marble but just do some basic research on the net to see I'm not the only one, try it once and you won't go anywhere else in London. Rooms this time of year with an excellent breakfast are reasonable at about $120.
Its costing you a lot of dollars to get to London, so for just a few dollars more than the Priceline lottery you're assured of a memorable stay.

To answer the original question. Don't know Hilton Kensington apart from going past it on the outside.

Of the others the Rubens at the Palace seems to stand out head and tails to me for both position and quality. If this is your short list I'd have no hesitation in picking the Rubens opposite Buckingham Palace from that list.

Off the list I'd also have no hesitation in also recommending the Darlington Hyde Park also mentioned by a couple of people here.

The Rubens is in a better position and will impress the folks back home more. The Darlington Hyde Park is the wise buy, a lot of the customers are like the person on the previous post - tried a lot of hotels in London and have decided on the Darlington as their London base.

Pick either one of those and I'm sure you're assured of a great stay in London.

We've stayed at the Hilton Kensington. It's not too far from the Holland Park underground station as I recall, so the location is fine. The rooms were clean, but very small; if you're expecting a regular Hilton, like one you'd find in the U.S., you'll be disappointed. Also, the a/c during the summer was borderline.

If I were in your position, I might try the Reubens. It looks great fromt the outside, it's in a good location near Buckingham Palace & Victoria Station, and it gets good reviews in this forum, as well as on trip advisor.

It looks like in your proce range you amy also be able to afford the Kensington Close Hotel which is in a great location in Kensington off High Street. The romms are clean and cozy, but not very big. Sometimes you can land a room for 75 pounds if you book at their websight by clicking on "SPECIALS"

http://www.kensingtonclosehotel.com/

As far as your other choices...

-The Hilton is a bit out of the way

-Rydges is an Australian chain that has a good reputation. The location is so-so though.