priceline london
 

I have read biddingfortravel as well as this board. I will be travelling alone (mental RR and lots of galleries not night life) and will try 4* mayfair. For a second choice would you include the Kensington-Knightsbridge or Bloomsbury/Marble Arch? Thanks! I have never used Priceline and am still contemplating an inexpensive small hotel.

topping

Using suggestions from BFT, I secured a room at Millenium Bailey's, which was just what I needed. It's been 2 years, but we got a King size bed, room plus taxes(no breakfast) for under $100. The location was great. It was a 4* in Kensington/Knightsbridge. Be sure to read an updated list of the hotels that have been used recently, although even that is not a guarantee.

Last month I got the 4* Thistle Marble Arch (Bloomsbury/Marble Arch) for $75. This was a great hotel in a good location (Oxford Street, close to the tube, close to Hyde Park), one of the best Priceline deals I've ever had considering how expensive London hotels are. Hotels in Mayfair seem to be coming up for about $20-$25/night more than in Bloomsbury/Marble Arch, so if you are willing to pay that to be in Mayfair, go for it. Just remember if you fail for Mayfair and try Bloomsbury/Marble Arch to LOWER your bid price back down! Unless your dates are really busy in London (check availability at the Thistle Marble Arch), $75 is a great starting point for that zone.

Andrew

I'm thinking of trying for a Priceline room for London next year also - what I did was to map the known Priceline hotels for the zones I'm considering.

This way I have a pretty good overall picture of where these hotels are, and I can best figure my bidding strategy from there.

The hotel Andrew specified has been having a run of really good winning bids over the last few months, though. If you are traveling soon, I would see if you could win that hotel.

Once the great deals are over at the Thistle Marble Arch though - I'm also interested in opinions as to whether the Kensington or Bloomsbury/Marble Arch zone is more desirable.

Also keep in mind that IT DOESN'T MATTER where you sleep, because <u>no hotel</u> is close to <i>everything</i>, and the bus and Tube can get you anywhere in very few minutes.

Look for a) value and b) proximity to public transport. One of the best hotel deals I ever got was the Days Inn across from the Imperial War Museum in Lambeth. On a map, it looks like it's out in the boonies; in fact, it's five minutes to Westminster on the bus.

Nah, I can't agree with you, Robespierre. I love the Tube, but it's far from perfect. Last month (and frequently it sounds like) a couple of the tube lines were shut down for maintenance (weekend) and getting around London was kind of a pain. I would most certainly not want to be out in the boonies in London and relying only on the tube. Buses are great if you can figure out which ones to take but that's not always easy, and they aren't perfect either. Again last month: instead of taking the tube (one change) from Baker Street to Marble Arch, I took a direct bus. The bus hit serious traffic and it took 45 minutes to make this short trip, what I later did in 15 minutes on foot, probably 10 minutes by tube. Buses ground to a halt the next day too due to a protest in Hyde Park that shut the adjoining street down.

I'm not complaining about the tube and bus in London - I'm just pointing out that you shouldn't necessarily rely on them to the exclusion of walking. It's nice to be able to walk to stuff too. Also, a hotel isn't just a place to sleep to all of us. I've stayed in both cheap flop hotels in London and nicer hotels (Thistle) and it does make a difference to get back to your hotel when your feet are killing you from a day of walking and you just want to relax for a while.

Andrew

&quot;Also keep in mind that IT DOESN'T MATTER where you sleep, because no hotel is close to everything. . .&quot;

I disagree with that too -- or at least partly. While no hotel is close to EVERYTHING, many are close to a lot of things. I stay for weeks sometimes in Covent Garden and don't get on a bus or tube for days on end. I like to walk, but am able to hop back to my flat between matinee and evening performances of plays within a few blocks of there. I walk to Hyde Park, Green Park, St. Pauls, the South Bank, the Strand, Trafalgar, Westminster, the National Gallery, London Eye -- well, lots of places.

&quot;I like to walk, but am able to hop back to my flat. . .&quot;

Gee, I hope no one takes that literally. I'm really a terrible hopper.

Thank you for partly agreeing with everything I said.

Please read carefully: I never said Lambeth is out in the boonies, and in any case I have never experienced any delays getting from Kennington Road to somewhere else. If Westminster Bridge should be tied up, there are buses that cross Waterloo Bridge. If both are blocked, there's Lambeth Bridge. It's also possible to walk to Big Ben in fifteen minutes.

But being close to Covent Garden isn't particulary beneficial to a first-time visitor who wants to see the whole range of North and South Bank attractions, from the V&amp;A to the Tower. Once the sights near the hotel have been exhausted, transport is necessary.

I haven't done Priceline for London but follow Priceline and biddingfortravel messages regualarly, and it does seem that London is a great city for using Priceline. I will be bidding there we next plan a trip to London.

Hi All, I'm reading this with great interest as I'm taking my niece, age 16, on a 10 day trip in april. With 3-4 days in London and trying to figure out the best area to stay in. I am the type that likes to walk out the door and be there, and with only 3 1/2 days, don't want to spend too much time on busses or tubes. I have stayed in several locations in London, but have never stayed near Marble Arch, why do you all like it so much? I will try priceline too. Anyone Stayed at the George &amp; Bower near Victoria Station? I've stayed at a B&amp;B on Ebury St. nearby and that was fine.
Thanks!
Celia

toby1...(or celia)...
at risk of hijacking this thread, which I am loath to do, a 16 year old girl will want to be there in the centre of things, so go for Marble Arch, Oxford Street (I'm staying at The Selfridge with my 14yo daughter in a week or so, and will report back to you on that hotel [on a separate thread I think would be polite] - I booked it for its great location and good price of 85 GBP), Covent Garden, or Chelsea. Victoria is an OK location (I stayed there with my 16yo daughter, but we found you have to get the tube to most places (not that much fun with lots of shopping bags!). She will love TopShop on Oxford Circus - on Saturdays they are scouting for models so there is a bit of additional fun to be had there!

Marble Arch is not what I would call the hippest part of town but it is very central and as stated above, right on Oxford Street so ideal for shopping. Even if you do need to use the tube or bus, your are in a pretty good spot to do so. I would be thrilled to wind up at the Thistle Marble Arch again for $75/night - I see on BFT that someone got it for even less than that. Note on BFT the other areas and what people are getting hotels for there, it may be worth it to you to bid higher for one of the other areas you might deem more desirable. But if you are on a budget, don't hesitate to go for Marble Arch.

Andrew

Be sure to check out the Priceline packages. I've had fabulous luck with the Priceline packages for London. And, you can pick the hotel (as well as the flights). Everything is priced out to the penny ahead of time as well.

About Marble Arch -- If the main reason for your trip is teenage shopping sprees you really could not do better.

But if you plan on other activities/sightseeing - then it is not very well located. The only major site w/i walking distance really is Hyde Park, and it is on only one tube line so wherever you travel you likely would have line changes.

Victoria, South Kens or the northern bit of Chelsea, Charing Cross, or the general Covent Garden/Holborn area would all be more convenient for sightseeing or going to the theatre.

Since no single location will be near more than a handful of sites, I find it more convenient to stay near a station served by multiple lines.

But again - If the 16 yo mainly plans on shopping, shopping and more shopping - then you can't beat Marble Arch.

Thanks everyone. My niece is more of the smart bookie type, but likes shopping. She also likes theater, she and her friends write plays and movies (or they try) so we do want to go to as many shows as we can in our short visit.
I will post another question so I'm not in the wrong thread for other things re this trip. thanks again!

While I agree that Marble Arch isn't the most ideal location in London for walking to attractions, there are things you can walk to, and it's also not badly located to the Tube. Marble Arch station is on the Central line; go a few stops west and you can get to Notting Hill Gate (Portobello Market), east to St. Pauls. Also, the Bond Street tube station isn't that far of a walk from the Marble Arch station, maybe five minutes, and at Bond Street you can take the Jubilee Line directly to Westminster and to Waterloo. Or you can take buses directly to/from Victoria Station.

Andrew
(suddenly wishing he was back in London...)

I stayed in Bloomsbury on my 4 most recent trips to London. It's quite central, and easy to walk to many theatres. It was easy walking distance to the Russell Square tube as well as Tottingham Road tube station. Although my hotel backed up to the British Museum grounds, the area was not congested with tourists. I think Bloomsburg area is really convenient and there are reasonably priced hotels there, although mine was a fairly expensive boutique type hotel. However, I will admit I'm not at all into shopping in London, especially around Oxford Street! A teenager might prefer that to a less frenetic area like Bloomsbury.

I just had to post to this thread again - I just placed a bid and won the Thistle Marble Arch for $55 per night, 6/11/06 - 6/17/06 for 2 rooms.

I occasionally check betterbidding.com for winning bid information - and I saw 2 recently posted wins for this time frame with this pricing.

I wouldn't have considered bidding this early, but I figured if other people were winning, I might as well try.

I am ECSTATIC - generally speaking, I knew it might be harder to get 2 rooms for 6 nights.

Anyway, thought I'd let people know that an awesome deal can be had.