Need help finding budget hotel in London
 

My 80 year old father and I will be traveling to London in September. We don't have a lot of money to spend and we don't have a clue about the best parts of town. I've found "budget" hotels but they get terrible reviews on TripAdvisor. We'll be in London for four days.

We definitely need an elevator. Will we need air conditioning?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm running out of time to book early!

Overwhelmed in Texas!

"Budget" means different things to different people. How much do you want to spend per night?

Not knowing your budget or preferred location....I'll jump in and say that one of my favorite places to stay in budget mode is the Comfort Inn Buckingham Palace Road. It's on St. George's Drive and right around the corner from Victoria Station.

http://www.comfortinnbuckinghampalacerd.co.uk/index.htm

It's 105 pounds for a twin for a random night in September I looked up. They also have an advanced booking rate that's a bit cheaper (but nonrefundable). This may be more than you're looking to pay so you'll have to let us know if that's in the ballpark.

I've had two really good stays there and will be there again in October. Friendly staff at the front desk, clean, well maintained and consistently a good value. I love the location, which provides all sorts of transportation links and is also (for me) very walkable to the parks, Trafalgar Square, the river, etc. Since you mentioned using Trip Advisor, this hotel does get good reviews there.

They do have a lift. I believe they do not have A/C; I remember a fan in my room which seemed adequate to me in September two years ago. (Need for A/C is a real individual thing...hard to judge for you on that.)

Good luck! I am sure you will get many good suggestions here. As janisj said, let us know how much you'd like to spend and if you have a preferred part of town based on your itinerary.

Without knowing an exact budget, my suggestion is to look at londontown.com and see what you can find. It's unlike Priceline/Hotwire in that you can see exactly what you're getting before you commit, so you can make sure you have an elevator. Using that site, I got a twin room at the Holiday Inn Bloomsbury for £90/night in May. I'd definitely recommend that hotel for your purposes. It's very close to Russell Square station (Piccadilly line), and depending on how mobile you are, could be in walking distance to a lot. The hotel had two elevators (keycard required).

It's hard to predict what the weather will be, but the average high in September is 66 Fahrenheit, so I personally would be fine without A/C if it's an average month.

I also suggest you look at Premiere Travel Inns in London, including checking reviews on Tripadvisor.

I was hoping for no more than $250 per night. My dad cannot walk more than 1/2 a block.

You shouldn't have much trouble finding a hotel in your price range, then. $250 is approximately £150 right now. How does your dad deal with climbing on buses or walking up/down steps (as in a Tube station)? If that will be an issue, I would set aside a portion of my budget for cabs and pay close attention to hotel location vs. what you want to do. If he's OK with both of those, though, you can be a little more flexible on location.

If your dad cannot walk more than half a block, I would consider a bus tour or some other kind of vehicle tour rather than relying on extremely pricey cabs.

You might try googling up advice for disabled travelers in London and see if it matches your sightseeing agenda.

Does your father have something very specific he wants to see?

We have been very lucky with "name your own price" Priceline hotels.

Hi K -

I was able to get my room at the Radission Edwardian Leicester Square for 100 pounds a night by pre-paying when I made my reservation, and they do have an elevator and ac. It's in a safe area that is a great base for sightseeing. I stayed there in May, so I don't know what their rates will be for Sept., but it's worth checking out. Hope that helps, and have a fab time in London with your dad!

oh -- $250 isn't really "budget" (that's why I asked) you're talking a little more than £150 -- you'll have LOTS of choices.

Before you get too excited about some special rate suggested for specific hotels - you'd need to look at the individual hotel websites to see if those promotions are still even offered. One visit a few months ago doesn't necessarily mean you could get near the same rate now.

But w/ a $200 - $250 budget I be very tempted to try Priceline. That would easily get you a five star world-famous place like the Grosvenor House or a place like the London Hilton on Park Lane. The London Hilton usually come in at between $150 and $200, the Grosvenor House at between $200 and $250.

And while PL only deals w/ "double" in London - that doesn't mean only double beds. The hotel will definitely have 2 bedded rooms available (every time I've used PL in London I've been able to get my choice of one bed or two (still only a room for 2 but w/ 2 separate beds.)

Instead of a sort of middle of the road place, and perhaps in their bottom tier room - you could stay in a VERY nice upscale property.

Janisj: Do share how promising her how easy it is to get "a five star world-famous place" at THE HIGH END OF HER BUDGET is more helpful than the information about perfectly lovely hotels that Jent, Sofakitty, and I posted? Oh wait, let me answer that for you: IT'S NOT!!

I found a feature story in the London Times last year. I think this is the URL: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/tra...cle4676526.ece

We ended up staying in a flat in Knightsbridge for we were at the end of a longer tour (Madrid, Barcelona, Nimes, Beaune and London) and needed a bit of room-and a washer/dryre (one of the principal benefits of of a flat in addition to being able to cook one's own meals, etc). We returned to Seattle on July 7 so if we can help you with any fresh information, please write.

PamEwing, take a look at betterbidding.com if you want to know how to get 5* hotels in London at great prices.

Uh -- $200 is not at the high end last time I did the math.

My comment was about your repeated recommendation of the RE Leicester SQ at £100. Last time we checked the website there were no offers at that rate. We did ask if you had a discount code or something else that would help get that rate, but you didn't come back w/ any add'l info.

What ARE you on about anyway???????

Thanks WillTravel, but I think you're missing the point that I was trying to make to Janisj, which is that the suggestions that others make are just as valid as hers in helping the OP to make an informed decision, and should be treated as such.

Thanks everyone for all the great suggestions. I'm following all your leads and will, hopefully, find just the right place and the right price.

OK - Pam. I just entered random dates in Sept and the very best <u>fully pre-paid, non-refundable</u> rates available at the RE Leicester SQ are £166 (on a Friday or Sat night) to £233-£256 for most week nights. These rates do NOT include VAT. So once again, how can the OP get your favorite hotel for £100?

Janisj: Please be advised that I will be bringing your outrageous insinuation that I'm on some type of narcotic to the attention of the forum moderators, and next time do your homework Janisj. Yes, I did already answer in that post that you are refering to that I booked the hotel in March for a stay in May and got the rate by pre-paying. It was that simple, no "discount code or something else that would help get that rate" was needed. I would have said so if it was.

"<i>Please be advised that I will be bringing your outrageous insinuation that I'm on some type of narcotic to the attention of the forum moderators</i>"

This truly (totally) baffled me. Narcotics?

Then an aha moment -- '<i><blue>What are you on about anyway?</i></blue>' doesn't mean 'What are you on?'

It means "What are you talking about?" or "What are you going on about?"