catnap2005

I'm trying to decide which area is better (opens later) and has more going on (people and such). Is Kensington High Street better or Oxford Street better?

How far are they from each other. Thanks!

janis

I don't think I understand what you mean by "opens later".

Oxford Street is simply the busiest shopping street in London and sometimes in all of Europe.

High Street Kensington is much less frantic/crazy than Oxford Street - but still lots of cafes, restaurants and shops.

In general Kensington is a nice place to stay than Oxford Street. But tell us which hotels you are considering. Then we can give you better advice.

catnap2005

I was hoping to find an area that will be open late. How late do most cafes/shops open to? We may consider splitting our hotel stays between 2 hotels. Which place would be nicer for a longer stay? How close is Kensington from Oxford Street. I know I'm asking a lot of questions. Sorry. =(

I am considering the Kensington Close or Kensington International Inn. Is one better than the other?

Also considering Boonington Hotel on Southampton Row. How far is this hotel from Oxford Street shopping area? Can we walk? Going with some older folks so this may be an issue. I haven't found anything else in the Oxford Street area for around $150US that actually looks okay from the website photos.

Are there any okay hotels near the London Bridge? Thanks for any info.

janis

OK - WHY do you want to stay near Oxford Street? Is there something about it that sounds interesting to you?

And WHY London Bridge?

Neither place is the nicest for a London stay.

Southampton Row is near the British Museum.

Don't worry about being on Oxford street. Stay in a nice hotel and then IF you still want to go to Oxford St, you can take a bus, the tube or a cab there. I personally would not stay on Oxford Street.

And I also would NOT change hotels. Almost every hotel in central London is convenient to just about anywhere else because the transport is so good.

Kayb95

I've stayed at the Bonnington a couple of times and the immediate area has several small shops and restaurants. But it is not a hopping night spot if that's what you're looking for. The Bonnington (which I would recommend as a decent, affordable hotel) is very close to the British Museum, but might be a longish walk to Oxford Street (the part of Oxford Street where most of the shops are), especially for your older travelers.

We normally stay in Kensington when in London and I much prefer shopping along Kensington High Street than Oxford Street. Many of the same shops, but it's not wall to wall people like Oxford Street.

And if you stayed in Kensington, the #10 bus will take you right to Oxford Street.

MaureenB

When we were at Oxford Street for the first time this June, I couldn't get out of there fast enough! Not my cup of tea. Wall-to-wall people is right. Stay elsewhere and take the tube to Oxford Circus if you want to, but it's not a great place for a hotel IMHO.

Kayb95

I don't think there are many hotels actually on Oxford Street, are there? It's mostly retail - not even many restaurants.

schnauzer

Don't stay on Oxford Street, yuck. We used a good internet booking site when we went last time www.discountcityhotels.com they had a big range of hotels. We stayed near Grosvenor Sq. near Bond St. Right opposite the American Embassy. Very convenient to Bond Street tube and only a reasonably short walk to Oxford St from memory. Also the hotel room was actually a decent size for london, and the bonus was it was clean. Some London hotels can be pretty grotty. check out the web page you could find something there, they were very helpful and everything went according to plan re bookings etc.

m_kingdom2

Kensington High St. is too far west to be a really useful location. Oxford St. is a good position, but try to stay in Mayfair rather than Oxford St. itself.

Allylondon

There is very little to do around Oxford Street in the evenings - Kensington definitely has the better restaurants. Also Oxford Street is exceptionally busy, and not always the most pleasant experience. For shopping, in my opinion Kings Road in Chelsea (not too far from Kensington) has the best shopping in a defined area - not many hotels round there in what I think is your price range though. The area is next to Knightsbridge (Harvey Nichols, Harrods etc) so you really get 2 great shopping areas for the price of 1 (and the 137 bus will take you straight to Oxford Street for shopping in Selfridges (the only reason to go there.

Don't stay near London Bridge - this is in the heart of the business district and is absolutely dead after 9pm evenings and at weekends - if you mean Tower Bridge (which is the famous one) then there is a hotel directly overlooking this called the Tower Thistle - not much to look at from outside, its a bit of a concrete monstrosity actually, but apparently not too bad inside.

If I were you I'd definitely try and stay somewhere that isn't just touristy and is in an area where people actually live (so avoid Piccadilly and Oxford Street) - this was you might actually meet someone other than hordes of other american tourists!

schnauzer

posted another reply but it didn't come out. To update my previous reply we stayed at the Millennium Mayfair on Grosvenor Street, have a look at it on the discountcityhotels site. We were very pleased with the hotel, clean and decent sized rooms, both unusual in London.

m_kingdom2

King's Road has very High St. shopping. There's nothing designer (bar Viv W.) and it feels very generic in this day, and age. Mayfair really is the perfect place to stay in London, or perhaps in SW1 Knightsbridge/Belgravia. Kensington is too residential, and too far west for a tourist - you'd find it quite some exercise walking around. From Mayfair you can walk to anywhere in London (within reason).

amelie

We stayed in South Kensington and loved the area (near the museums). Our hotel was 4 min walk from the tube. Really, you could stay anywhere you want in London and easily get to Oxford St. via the tube or buses.

Definitely don't stay in two different hotels. Like Janis said, the transport is SO good.

eilis

We stayed in the Copthorne Tara which is right next door to the Kensington Close hotel. I thought the location was brilliant - 2 or 3 mins to the tube. I really liked Kensington High Street for eating and shopping and felt very safe there at night.

Allylondon

Kings Road does have High Street shopping, but it isn't solely non-designer. What about Anna, Mimi, all the shoe shops, also Peter Jones which is a major institution. Make sure you know what you're talking about M_Kingdom2 before posting. Knightsbridge is right next door as well - the hotels are here rather than Kings Road, I was just giving a sensible alternative to Oxford Street (with many of the same stores). Also bear in mind that for most tourists the Uk's high street stores are actually pretty interesting...

But I would agree that Mayfair is a good place to stay if they want to be central.

m_kingdom2

To me those shops aren't designer. Peter Jones most certainly isn't. It's an household department store, a member of the John Lewis group, albeit in a Sloane Sq. location. You won't find one designer garment or shoe under their roof, although they have quite a nice (for a quick bite) rooftop cafe/restaurant.

King's Rd. feels young, and cheap. I never, ever go shopping there as they have nothing that can't be found elsewhere. It's lacking any sense of a couture feel.