London hotels, where can I find good deals? Day trip options
May 11th, 2013, 07:57 AM
#1
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London hotels, where can I find good deals? Day trip options
Hello
I am trying to book for a hotel in London in Euston/st pancras or bloomsbury area. I would like to know which sites offer good deals, discounted prices for a stay of over a week. I always use booking.com which seems to have same price as the hotel websites. Any other sites out there that can offer better deals? thanks
Also I always make it a point to take a daytrip from London. I've done Bath, Oxford, and stratford-upon-avon. Loved Oxford best among these. This time I am considering Cambridge or Edinburgh. (I don't care about the train ride being 4 hours long). I don't want to spend a night there though. I would love your opinion on the matter.
thank you
I am trying to book for a hotel in London in Euston/st pancras or bloomsbury area. I would like to know which sites offer good deals, discounted prices for a stay of over a week. I always use booking.com which seems to have same price as the hotel websites. Any other sites out there that can offer better deals? thanks
Also I always make it a point to take a daytrip from London. I've done Bath, Oxford, and stratford-upon-avon. Loved Oxford best among these. This time I am considering Cambridge or Edinburgh. (I don't care about the train ride being 4 hours long). I don't want to spend a night there though. I would love your opinion on the matter.
thank you
May 11th, 2013, 08:29 AM
#2
While I've never actually booked on the site, prefer to book directly with a hotel, I've had the impression that good deals could be found on Laterooms, especially if you can wait to see what deals are available closer to the time of your arrival: http://www.laterooms.com/
My preference, though, is to find a well-reviewed small, moderately priced hotel and book early to make sure I get a room at a good price.
My preference, though, is to find a well-reviewed small, moderately priced hotel and book early to make sure I get a room at a good price.
May 11th, 2013, 08:39 AM
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http://www.travelodge.co.uk/
Travel Lodges IME can be great deals especially if you can get some of their discounted offerings - some in great locations like near Covent Garden. Dependable modern.
Travel Lodges IME can be great deals especially if you can get some of their discounted offerings - some in great locations like near Covent Garden. Dependable modern.
May 11th, 2013, 08:45 AM
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Edinburgh is too far. You might just do York, though I'd be frustrated with so little time. I would want nice weather for Cambridge. Other thoughts: Salisbury, Winchester, Windsor, Brighton.
The word is Priceline is good for London hotels. If you're not familiar with it, check www.betterbidding.com first.
The word is Priceline is good for London hotels. If you're not familiar with it, check www.betterbidding.com first.
May 11th, 2013, 08:50 AM
#5
I'm sure PalenQ is right and I suspect one must book early for the best deals. How you decide to go about it will depend, too, on what you like in a hotel, a traditional smaller one, for instance, or a larger newer reliable chain and if price is your first concern.
May 11th, 2013, 09:00 AM
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http://www.premierinn.eu/en/hotel/london.htm?trk=1
Premier Inns are rather like Travel Lodges - a chain with good prices for what you get - a htoroughly modern room - I believe County Hall, right by the London Wheel is a Premier Inn property.
For lots of good stuff on British trains check out www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com. For longer trips you can nab good discounts from www.nationalrail.co.uk - but cheaper tickets are often restricted to a certain specific trains and cannot be changed - sometimes hard to tell when you will want to return from a day trip say to York or Edinburgh - you could take the Caledonian Sleeper train back from Edinburgh to London to have a lot more time there and enjoy some of that town's famous nightlife!
Premier Inns are rather like Travel Lodges - a chain with good prices for what you get - a htoroughly modern room - I believe County Hall, right by the London Wheel is a Premier Inn property.
For lots of good stuff on British trains check out www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com. For longer trips you can nab good discounts from www.nationalrail.co.uk - but cheaper tickets are often restricted to a certain specific trains and cannot be changed - sometimes hard to tell when you will want to return from a day trip say to York or Edinburgh - you could take the Caledonian Sleeper train back from Edinburgh to London to have a lot more time there and enjoy some of that town's famous nightlife!
May 11th, 2013, 06:40 PM
#7
I'd stab myself in the eye before staying in a travelodge for a week or more. *(and yes, PQ, before you jump on me I have stayed in travlodges several times).
They are good for a night or two IF you book early enough to get a great deal. But they are not a place to hunker down for an extended stay. Premier Inns would be better but they do cost more.
Why the focus on a 'deal' - why not just pick a hotel you like that fits in your budget?
IMO/IME Londontown.com is a good place to start. They do show 'discounted' rates but they are generally the same rates you'd get on the hotel websites. Many/most hotels do reduce their rates for pre-paying and extended stays.
York is a nice day trip. Edinburgh is not - a total of nearly 9 hours on trains leaves no time to see/do much at all. The only way to make an Edinburgh day trip work would be to take the sleeper up the night before and arrive in the very early AM.
They are good for a night or two IF you book early enough to get a great deal. But they are not a place to hunker down for an extended stay. Premier Inns would be better but they do cost more.
Why the focus on a 'deal' - why not just pick a hotel you like that fits in your budget?
IMO/IME Londontown.com is a good place to start. They do show 'discounted' rates but they are generally the same rates you'd get on the hotel websites. Many/most hotels do reduce their rates for pre-paying and extended stays.
York is a nice day trip. Edinburgh is not - a total of nearly 9 hours on trains leaves no time to see/do much at all. The only way to make an Edinburgh day trip work would be to take the sleeper up the night before and arrive in the very early AM.
May 12th, 2013, 03:25 AM
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Thank you everyone for the replies and for the day trip and website suggestions. So everyone agrees that Edinburgh as a day-trip from London is a bad idea. I was thinking to taking the 6 am train which arrives around 10:30 am and leave there by 6 pm.
May 12th, 2013, 05:29 AM
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I've frequently done return daytrips to Edinburgh by train and by plane (they both take roughly the same time from central London). I can't begin to understand why anyone finds either hard to imagine - but for tourists there are some problems.
The full fare is about £150: that's the only kind lots of early morning trains accept. You're typically limited for the £50-odd Advance tickets to trains leaving around 0700 (and even those only as long as availability lasts, which often it doesn't after 6 wks or so before departure).
Those trains get in around 1130-1200, and to get back to London that night you have to be on a train leaving no later than 1830, so you've got less than 8 hrs to actually do anything in.
The argument for the train, of course, is that you can do an awful lot of work, or catch up on a couple of substantial books, in those completely uninterrupted nine hours on the train. Although 8 hours in Edinburgh is more than enough to bollock an idle area manager, present at a sales conference or tour the local retail network (and, with decent time management, do all three), it probably isn't enough to see the city much as a tourist, and the place really does call out for overnighting in.
The full fare is about £150: that's the only kind lots of early morning trains accept. You're typically limited for the £50-odd Advance tickets to trains leaving around 0700 (and even those only as long as availability lasts, which often it doesn't after 6 wks or so before departure).
Those trains get in around 1130-1200, and to get back to London that night you have to be on a train leaving no later than 1830, so you've got less than 8 hrs to actually do anything in.
The argument for the train, of course, is that you can do an awful lot of work, or catch up on a couple of substantial books, in those completely uninterrupted nine hours on the train. Although 8 hours in Edinburgh is more than enough to bollock an idle area manager, present at a sales conference or tour the local retail network (and, with decent time management, do all three), it probably isn't enough to see the city much as a tourist, and the place really does call out for overnighting in.
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