London: Moderate, Central Lodging
 

Can someone recommend a moderate hotel or B&B accommodation for a twenty-four
year old son of mine? (May or June) No dorms; nothing elegant.

Many thanks,

GK

PS: I'm overwhelmed with the choices.

What is his budget?

Lee Ann

Yes, we really do need to know what sort of budget you are looking at, and also the length of his stay.

However, you might want to try Priceline - you can get good prices for London. I really like the S. Kensington area - good transport links, lots of conveniences there, close to museums, and lots of accommodation options. The Copthorne Tara and Holiday Inn Kensington Forum are typical Priceline offerings at the 4 star level in that neighbourhood.

London hotels are generally pretty modest at the 3 or even 4 star rating.

Check out betterbidding.com and biddingfortravel.com to see what sorts of prices people are getting at the different properties.

yep - I'll join the chorus. . . . . "Moderate" means many things to many people. Give us a $ or £ number . . . . . .

There's an interesting article in the London Times about lodgings under 100 pounds per night. If this may be useful, please respond on the forum and I'll try to figure out how to send the link to you.

mohun: All you have to do is copy/paste or type the URL into your post. It will then show as a clickable link . . . .

He may like the LSE dorms (not the kind you think... but single rooms, all ensuite, and some include breakfasts).
http://www.lsevacations.co.uk/Topfloor.htm

Unfortunately, I saved a shortcut in my browser's "Favorites" (for my future London trip planning) so any links I can find to the article simply refer to the file on my hard drive under the file name "The best hotels in London for under £100. It was in the September 8, 2008 the London Times "Where to Stay" section. No link on the page I've opened refers to the URL of the page itself.

Aha! I searched the London Times archives and here it is: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/tra...cle4676526.ece

Most university halls of residence will still be in use by the students.

He could try the Travelodge hotels at Marylebone or Covent Garden. They have some good online deals if you book early. See:
http://www.travelodge.co.uk/

The Royal Adelphi Hotel has small rooms and charges about £70 with breakfast. It's shabby and basic, but clean, and has a very good central and safe location.

Royal Adelphi Hotel
21 Villiers Street
London
WC2N 6ND
Telephone +44 (0)20 7930 8764
Fax +44 (0)20 7930 8735

The excellent Fielding House Hotel charges £90 for a single en suite with breakfast, and has a great location by Covent Garden. http://www.thefieldinghotel.co.uk

Another vote for Travelodge which offers great deals if you are flexible (or lucky)I'm going back to London in April for 2 nights and could get the 29£ saver rate each night at the Covent Garden one. The one in Euston is nice (newer)as well but a bit further from the centre. It makes me go to London, more often! :-)

Many, many thanks to all of you. Any more ideas would be welcomed.

(If "moderate" is so ambiguous, why do so many travel organizations use the term? "Moderate" in my mind is neither
ritzy and elegant, nor chintzy, run down, and cheap.)

Again, thanks to all. You're wonderful.

BB

Ooooops.

Addendum:

Ideally, I'd like to send my son to London for 8 or 9 nights,
and pay under $2,500(US) for air and lodging only.

BB

Where will he be flying from? May/June plane tickets are on sale, but of course can vary by a few hundred dollars depending on whether he's on the E Coast or W Coast or midwest. Either way, it should be less than $1000 for airfare, which leaves $1500 for 9 nights of lodging. That's a <u>very generous</u> budget, IMO.

"<i>If "moderate" is so ambiguous, why do so many travel organizations use the term? "Moderate" in my mind is neither ritzy and elegant, nor chintzy, run down, and cheap.</i>"

If we didn't need a number we would not have asked for one. You still have not told us what we need to know. Since we don't know how much his airfare is -- w/o the airfare, How much do you want to spend for lodging???

(Publications do not give exact #'s for lots of reasons -- 1) lazy, 2) they'd have to update the printed amounts too frequently, 3) hotels change branding/remodel/go up or down market all the time, etc . . . )

Wow! What great help you've been!

Many thanks to all. Just what I had hoped for.

BB