London - Thistle Marble Arch for $60
 

Wanted to share... I just booked the Thistle Marble Arch in London for 5 nights in Feb for $60 per night. I checked www.biddingfortravel.com to see what a 4 star in the Bloomsbury/Marble Arch area was going for. I bid $60 and it was accepted on the first try.

On www.thistlehotels.com the price was GBP 731 for 5 nights (I think that included taxes, but am not 100% sure). On www.hotels.com the price was $1372 plus $267 taxes = $1639.

This is my first time using Priceline. I decided to try it based on the numerous suggestions here. I never dreamed the savings would be so substantial. Some have said that you get what you pay for and the hotel is not that great. The reviews are mixed, most seem positive. We'll see... Thanks again to all you Fodorites for some great advice!

Congrats, travelgirl2!! I've only used Priceline once and I got a suite in Houston for only $50. Since then I am a Priceline fan for life, and I'm very much looking forward to trying it again.

I am going to London in April and I will use Priceline. I'm not sure when I should make my bid, I really need to post a thread to ask that question. I'm happy for your success, it gives me hope that I will find the same. :-)

Congratulations! I'm sure the room will be fine, and the location is convenient. If you're not happy, this hotel is usually quite ready to sell upgrades for 20 pounds per night, so you're hardly stuck.

For what you are paying, this hotel will be great. London is full of very high priced sub par rooms. You got quite a bargain. I feel totally vaidated for telling folks that London is a great Priceline city. Hooray for you!

I believe your chances of getting a remodeled room are enhanced if you check in early.

Our takeoff was delayed for 5 hours last September, and we didn't get to the Thistle until after 7PM. So the room we got stuck with was spacious, but it was in need of major renovation.

There are twenty-one bus lines that serve stops around Marble Arch, so you can get to almost anywhere in the city without changing buses. The map is here:

<b>http://www.tfl.gov.uk/buses/spiders/pdf/marble-arch.pdf</b>

The #15 will take you right by many of the most famous landmarks, and the #148 past most of the rest. Your hotel is around the corner to the northwest from bus stop <b><font color="red">N</font></b>.

I booked the Thistle Marble Arch through Priceline for my parents. They got the &pound;20 upgrade to a superior room, which included an English breakfast for both, which in itself was worth more than the &pound;20.

Hey, travelgirl2, guess what? I just made my priceline bid and I got Thistle Marble Arch for $60 also!! I tried to get it for $50, then $57, but they finally accepted $60. Woohoo!!

Hi

Just curious, but does this include the VAT? Even if not, it is still a great rate.

Johanna

With Priceline, you make a bid of, for example, $60, and then Priceline adds the VAT (17.5% in the case of the UK, I think) and a service fee to the total amount. So then you see the total amount for the entire stay before you complete your bid. So it's $60 USD/night + VAT and service fee.

Thanks for the info, WillTravel.

Congratulations P_M! Glad to hear it worked out for you. I'll post when I get back and let you know how the hotel was.

Thanks to everyone for the positive feedback and the reassurance about the hotel.

gracie04 - The Priceline price was $60 for 5 nights plus $63.43 for taxes and service fees, for a total of $363.43.

On www.thistlehotels.com the price was GBP 731 for 5 nights.

Its actually 505 GBP for 5 nights and includes 3 course dinner, bed and breakfast and includes all taxes.
Not a fair comparison ?

See: http://www.thistlehotels.com/winter/

I stayed at the Thistle Marble Arch about four years ago on a week long trip to London and Amsterdam. Of the three hotels we stayed at on that trip, the Thistle was the nicest hotel. The room was extremely large and was spotless. The shower had a feature that converted it into a steam sauna. (I had never seen that before.) It was a very enjoyable hotel.

There was an article in the UK Times newspaper this weekend where the journalists had done tests over several days last week on prices for London hotels.

Their findings were that in most instances they could get a better price going direct to the hotel rather than through a third party site. They used Priceline and Expedia as benchmarks. This was different to previous years when the same test was done.

$60 is a great deal, take an awful lot of effort to get a cheaper one on that particular hotel. But I have noticed the hotel market is going the same way as the airline market whereby the best deals are more often than not now direct with the airlines.

$60 for a hotel in London at that location is a steal!!!!!

For what its worth Thistle have their own auction site http://www.thistleauctions.com

I usually stay at the Darlington Hyde Park in Paddington which personally for me is normally better value for me than a Priceline special.
However I usually bid as much as $80 and if that is rejected go to the Darlington.

As Priceline invariably give you a Thistle I 'play' both Priceline and Thistle Auctions, if they have my dates. With Thistle you normaly get breakfast bundled in and all taxes are included,
I got the Selfridge, the next Thistle along Oxford Street from Marble Arch here last month for 25 GBP.

I'm glad to hear so many have been happy with the Thistle Marble Arch. I do feel like I got it for a steal!

Thanks for the information about Thistle auctions - good to know for the future!

LondonSue - With the way the prices vary, it is hard to compare rates across sites, unless they are at the same point in time. Now, on the Thistle web site, the winter rate shows no availability for my dates in February. The regular rate has also gone up in the last couple of weeks and is now GBP 906.75 (including breakfast) for 5 nights. Back on Jan 22, the rate for the 5 nights was GBP 731 (without breakfast).

It sure is wacky how these rates are so variable! The laws of supply and demand are one thing, but they seem to really be playing some games to command full pricing whenever possible and then drastically cut rates when necessary to achieve high occupancy. It may require a PhD in Economics to figure it out!

We have 3 people going to London this year. I've done Priceline for Seattle, but my understanding is you are taking a chance bidding a double room and hoping to pay extra for a triple or extra bed once you get there. When will Priceline do triples? I'd love to use them for London this year, but with the three of us, I see no way.

Giselle, at these prices you could get 2 rooms for 3 people and still save money.

Giselle,

As you're booking so far in advance try booking the advance specials at Travelodge.
They have several places in Central London with availability on advance specials from 26 GBP per room per night and includes all taxes
Most places have rooms that take 3 or 4, twin beds plus normally pull out sofa beds.

For the price its unbeatable, rooms are pretty standard chain 3 star types. Beds and showers are above average.

http://www.travelodge.co.uk/