igorek

Trying to book an inexpensive London B&B or hotel for May 30 - June 2, and it seems I got to it too late - most are solid booked. Things are complicated by the horror stories about bed bugs attacking London hotels, so any recommendation would be highly appreciated. May be I should rent a flat instead ? What would be a good source for safe rantal flats in London ?

RainyDay09

That too short of a time period and too short of a notice to book a flat. Have you tried Priceline?

KTtravel

Have you tried looking on londontown.com?

igorek

londontown.com helps, found quite a few hotels in L40 - L65 range. Henley House near Earl's Court, The Fairway Hotel new King's Cross St Pancras are among them, they looks reasonable. But I do not understand - where is the catch ? Even the shabby hotels near Victoria station for L60-70 are booked, why these are still available ?

igorek

Here is the answer, checked Henley House on Tripadvisor, and found complaints about bed bugs and cockroaches. Very nice.

janisj

The only bedbug mention on TA is from <u>2007</u>. For such a cheap hotel, the Henley House reviews are pretty darn good. Five times more excellent/very good vs. poor/terrible.

I'm not recommending it -- never stayed there and try to avoid Earls Court -- but I'm not sure where your complaint came from.

igorek

Yes, it was from 2007, but it means that the hotel had bed bug infestation. Usually they cannot get rid of them completely, so there is a very good chance that the hotel still has got them. There were very few reviews recently, about 8 in the last 3 years, so it is hard to judge the quality.

KayF

Accommodation in London is expensive, for the prices you mention you are going to get something pretty awful. We've found we had to spend at least £90-100 for a double to get something halfway decent. If you can't spend more more than that, hope you have low expectations.

You could try Travelodge or Premier Inn. Travelodge are very bare bones but do have a bed and a shower and Premier Inn is a bit nicer but also a bit pricier.

Kay

ElendilPickle

Have you considered a YHA hostel? Many have private rooms. www.yha.org.uk

Lee Ann

igorek

I ended up booking Days Hotel London North M1, with excellent reviews, for L52. The catch ? It is 15 minutes walk from the Apex Corner, which you can reach by a bus from the Edgware tube, which is itself the last station on the Nothern Line .

Now my question is: what kind of ticket would cover all transportation, including buses in the North of London ?

janisj

Oh - my goodness. That hotel is not even IN London really. It is out on the M1 nearly to Barnet at a Motorway service area. From that hotel to Trafalgar Sq will take nearly 90 minutes each way (including wait time).

Per the tfl journey planner you have a 10 minute walk to the nearest bus stop. Then a 12-15 minute bus ride just to get to Hendon Central tube station.

I personally wouldn't stay there even for free. Do you realize you can travel in to London faster from Oxford than you can from the Gateway service area . . .

pavot

Consider Priceline. Really. You can't go too far wrong location-wise, and you'll probably find something near your price range; in some ways, the later you leave it, the better. Or try Hotwire, which has a few more deatils about the hotels on offer.

Please reconsider your choice of hotels. You'll spend a lot of time and money getting into the city you want to see if you stay all the way out on the M1.

nytraveler

Staying at the end of hell and gone is really not the answer. Agree to try Priceline rather than this. You do realize that staying there will mean you can;t do shows or whatever in London - since it will be too late for you to get back to the hotel on public transit. (And the cost of cabs - if added to that of the hotel would let you stay in a normal human place.)

mztery

don't know if you are M or F

friends have stayed in the private rooms at Palmers Lodge in Swiss Cottage - a bit far out but not bad;( I actually like that area quite a bit but I've been to London many times) but there is no private room for your dates

Palmers just opened a new lodge in Willesden Green - a funkier area - but there is availability . Others can comment on the location, I wouldn't walk at night alone but i don't walk alone at night most anywhere

Travel_Britain

We just stayed at the Radison Edwardian on Canary Wharf (can be found here: http://www.radissonedwardian.com/lon...4-9pj/gbcanary) Not really for a budget stay (it was 80 pounds per night) but it was easily accessible by DLR get off at the East India stop or walk to the Canary Wharlf underground stop, its literally less than five minutes walk to either. For something that was booked lastminute (we were meant to have stayed at a friends, but her mum came to town - which is the budget way stay with friends!) it was a relative good find. The beds were clean, comfy and bed bug free. We didnt order any of the extras that would have made it a more expensive stay eg the spa or room service. It was a nice stay, and we found a great little cafe on the same street as well, they dont roast their own beans but know how to make a good coffee (which is harder than you'd think to find in the UK).

I can recommend the RE Shoreditch as well. It has the best breakfast buffet ever well in the UK, and easily accessible by normal public transport links. http://www.hotelshoreditch.com/

Have you considered hostels? They do individual rooms which are less than hotel rooms, but dont have the squish everyone into one room that dorm style rooms have. Google London Hostels, and look at the map see which area you want to stay, then plug the hostel name into hostelworld or tripadvisor. I don't book any hostel with less than 80% positive reviews if i can help it, I figure if 80% of people were happy I will be too. It pays to do the research with London hostels some of them can be manky and not value for money according to the reviewers - choose wisely!

Also try lastminute.com sometimes they have good offers!

KayF

You need an Oyster Card for all your London Transport. Buy one when you first arrive. You probably haven't costed the trip from the Days Inn into central London or you would realise the hotel is not actually that cheap, by the time you add on fares. Fares in London are not that cheap plus you will spend hours each day on the tube and bus.

If you haven't paid any money yet, then really consider booking somewhere closer in. The LondonTown website is good, we have used them quite a few times and it shows all the available hotels on a map with the price for each.

Kay

igorek

Thanks for your suggestions. I ended up booking a room, with a shower and toilet, at Flexistay Tooting, near Tooting Broadway Tube station. I cincerely hope that I will be able to make it alive from the station to the hotel during daylight (please let me know if this assumption is not correct )

PatrickLondon

You should be fine. Tooting is an unremarkable London suburb, mixed and gentrifying. You will be living and commuting as most Londoners do - it is a bit of a way into the centre. Bear in mind that you don't have to rely on the tube - a little further away down Mitcham Road is Tooting station, where national rail suburban services run into central London (check timetables at www.nationalrail.co.uk); like Tooting Broadway, it's in fare zone 3. It's also served by a couple of night buses if you want to stay out after midnight.

lizziea06

If you are looking for good cheap eats near Tooting Broadway, check out Mirch Masala. Bring a few bottles and just tell them to bring out whatever they want. You'll walk out of there fat and happy for less than £12

http://www.mirchmasalarestaurant.co.uk/restaurant.htm

igorek

Special thanks to Travel_Britain, as lastminute.com really seems to have some good value propositions (Flexistay Tooting hopefully being one of them). londontown.com, on the other hand, was useless, may be because it immediately narrows your serach to the Central London only.
lizzieao6, what did you mean by "bring a few bottles" ? Did you mean vodka ?