Places to Stay in London
 

My 2 sisters and I want to head over to London sometime this fall, August preferably. We want to save some $$$$ on the hotel, but with the dollar doing so poorly the trip might have to be delayed. We are looking for a room for 3 adults with a private bath. Since we are going to be spending most of our time site-seeing, the hotel doesn't have to be grand, just clean, comfortable and within walking distance of a tube station. Close proximity to restaurants and a grocer would be a plus. We have narrowed to list to the following "hotels":

1. Norfolk Plaza Hotel - Paddington
2. Park International Hotel - Kensington
3. Regent Palace Hotel - Piccadilly Circus

Any suggestions? Are we limiting ourselves?

I don't know anything about the first two hotels on your list, but I did stay at the Regent Palace last year and I would NOT recommend it even though it is reasonably priced for London and even though it's in a great location at Picadilly Circus. It's dirty, moldy, dark, shabby and noisy. It's rates do not include breakfast, that's extra. Service is indifferent and none of the staff speaks much English. They should not have been allowed to use the word Palace in their name. With a little research you can find places a lot better for close to the same price.

Thanks for the info

You should have a look at www.londonnights.com. They list great specials on hotels and I just booked one at 110 pounds a night at the Cranley in South Kensington.

If you don't have luck there, try the London Tourist Board at www.londontouristboard.com.

You're on to something with the Paddington area. I've stayed in Paddington on 2 of 3 trips to London and I wouldn't consider staying anywhere else. I don't know anything about Norfolk Plaza, other than it's on Norfolk Square and is getting mixed reviews on tripadvisor.com; however, I stayed at a place called the Dolphin Hotel on Norfolk Square in spring of 2002 and loved it.

It's exactly what you said you're looking for: nothing grand, clean, and comfortable. VERY reasonable rates, they'll give you a discount if you stay a certain number of nights...I think it's five. Great breakfast, and it's included in the rate.

There's a Safeway grocery about a 10-15 minute walk away on Edgeware Rd. Follow Sussex Gardens east, turn right on Edgeware and it will soon be on your right. Another bonus to the Dolphin is all rooms have refrigerators! Here's their link:

http://www.dolphinhotel.co.uk

Be careful researching it because apparently there's another Dolphin in London.

easylondonhotels.com i haven't tried it but a friend who doesn't have a lot of money says it's a good bet for all price ranges.

The other hotel would be the Dolphin Square complex, which has apartments as well as hotel rooms.

Be sure to check www.tripadvisor.com for reviews of any hotels you are considering. It's very helpful. Also, I've found good budget rates on www.hotel-london.co.uk. Be sure to check whether the rate includes the 17.5% VAT.

For three I would definitely recommend an apartment. A triple room in any budget hotel would be pretty cramped. A 1 bedroom flat with living room, bath and full kitchen would be a bargain - and let you do laundry in and some cooking.

The Dolphin Square that underhill mentions is really good - but is not a "budget" property.

Try E & E Apartments. Phone 011-44-20-78280453 or e-mail [email protected]

They manage privately owned flats in Victoria and Pimlico, and a 1 bdrm for 3 people (they usually have a double or twin bedroom and a sofa bed in the lounge) would run £78 per night. This would give you a LOT more space than a triple in a budget hotel.

topping for hootie1fan (you started 2 threads)

I just got back yesterday from another great trip to London with a side trip to Rome. On my first five visits to London I stayed in Victoria and Paddington. I will never stay in Central London again. During the last 3 months in my two visits to London I stayed at a great BandB.

It is the London Bed and Breakfast. The website is serenade.ndirect.co.uk It is located in North Harrow which is in Zone 5 for the tube. While the 6 zone pass will be more expensive than if you stayed in Central London, the money you save by staying there will more than make up for it.

Single is 30 GBP, Double is 44 GBP, Triple is 55 GBP and family is 66 GBP.
The money I have saved in my two visits covered the cost of one of my flights.
It is in a VERY quiet residential area. The tube (Metropolitan line) is a 3 min walk around the corner. Also, around the corner is a laundry and several great places to eat. There is also a convience store (Costcutter) just around the corner that stays open until midnight. One tube stop away (Harrow-on-the Hill) there is a large shopping center across the street from the tube station.

Tara and Bruce Muldoon are two of the nicest people I have met in all my travels and they will make you feel right at home. Since the exchange rate is so terrible right now, staying here will allow you to save money. In two visits I have saved 425 GBP compared to what I paid on my last stay in Paddington. London Bed and Breakfast is the ONLY place I stay in London.

One more thought to add to my post. The Metropolitan line takes you to Liverpool Street from North Harrow. There you can catch the Stansted Express to Stansted Airport for cheap flights to other destinations in the UK and the Continent. I flew to Rome on Ryanair for 38 GBP return.

Thanks for all the suggestions and keep them coming. We are going to look into renting a flat.

I'm not sure if it would save you money ultimately considering you have three people, but consider two hotel rooms on Priceline. My latest deal was a bid of $64 for the Holiday Inn Kensington Forum - good reviews and good location. So if you bid for two rooms and got a similar deal (although of course you can't specify the hotel), would you come out ahead? Then your biggest problem would be determining who got her own room - maybe you could flip for it. :-)

willtravel-that is a excellent price! That is where I stayed 4 years ago. great pub and nice area. I looked the other day and they wanted over 200 a night. Ouch! How does priceline work? I seem to avoid going there.

Paula,

Take a look here:
www.biddingfortravel.com
www.betterbidding.com

In short - Priceline divides London up into several zones. I decided for this trip that I would be okay with Kensington, Bloomsbury, or Mayfair/Soho. Other possibilities are Westminster, South Bank, Regents Park, and a couple others.

You can also choose your star level. Normally I am happy to go with 2* or less when booking on my own (and in fact I was very happy with that last year in another London zone), but I knew Kensington had some not-so-great hotels at the 2* level. So I chose 3*.

Then I put in my bid for my dates (July 23-25) and succeeded. The odd thing was that I had failed a few days before - you never know when Priceline will have hotel inventory for the day you want. The main things to watch out for are that you do not get carried away with excitement and overbid. You can always pause and try again in 72 hours should you fail. The other thing to watch out for is that you restart a new bid for each separate zone, rather than including all the zones at one time - this practice helps prevent overbidding. But to learn a lot more - visit those sites.

Thanks willtravel! I did try and they gave me earls court-which I didn't want. Do they always tell you the name of the hotel before booking? Also what is a good price to put down when bidding? This could be fun!

A few additional suggestions:

1) Book a standard cancellable (not sure if that's a word) moderately price hotel. This will be your standby.

2) Starting about 2-3 weeks before the trip (when you are 100% certain that you're going), check out discount hotel websites. I've used superbreak.co.uk and cheaprooms.com, and I got some great deals on 4 and 5* hotels in Mayfair. Haven't tried Priceline (complicated for non-Americans), but presumably it fits into the same category.

3) Alternatively, if you want a budget option, consider staying in a university residence. Imperial College in Kensington is in a fabulous, central location, and there is a nicely decorated, clean womens' residence there (I stayed about 10 years ago). While the bathrooms were down the hall, it was worth it (about 15 pounds a night in the early 90s). Very safe and secure, and very convenient.

4) Another alternative would be the Citadines Apart'hotel chain, which have some suites that include small kitchen facilities and laundry in the building. They're rather utilitarian, but generally new and in good shape.

Paula,

If you aren't okay with the map for the whole zone (Kensington - Earl's Court - Knightsbridge), don't bid for it. Now - personally I think the risk of getting a 3* hotel right in Earl's Court is pretty low, and I think they include that part only because that area includes so many 2* hotels. In fact, all of the 3* hotels won so far that have been posted on BiddingForTravel have been in Kensington, I think. Of course there is always the possibility you would be the very first to get something different - you have to figure out what risk you're okay with.

Then, if you are okay with all the nonrefundable terms, etc. and still want to bid, I would probably choose $64 for that zone (just because it worked for me) - it's possible something lower would work too.

I checked out the places you gave me. saw your name and read a few postings on betterbidding. I put in 3 and 4 star for 50 dollars and was excepted. It's my first time using it-makes me a little nervous-but there's always a first time. I would be thrilled to get the deal you got. Thanks for the advice.