My wife and I are off to London in april. I wanted to stay in the Covent Gardens area, but everything is pretty pricey over there. We found reasonable rooms in the following hotels:

Dorset Square
Mercure City Bankside
Tophams Belgravia
Hotel Russell

We tend to like more sort of modernish hotels (we loved the hotel d'art in rome... fantastic hotel), and want to be near enough to the theaters and clubs (rock...not dance). Any thoughts about the above hotels? Any other suggestions?

The only one I'm familiar with is the russel - which is a very traditional hotel from the turn of the (20th) century. Can;t you just look at their web sites to see what they look like?

I've had some trouble with just looking at pictures on a website. Sometimes it LOOKS nice, but you get there and it is a little depressing. Also, you never get a sense of the general feeling from the site.

Agreed, London hotels are pricey.

If your priority is a hotel in the vicinity of Covent Garden, the first three places on your list don't really make the cut. The Hotel Russell is but as noted, the exterior is anything but modern. They've undergone a MAJOR renovation so can't say what the rooms are like. Early last year I looked into staying here as there were some very good rates being offered...turns out the rooms were unrenovated and the mgmt couldn't guarantee non-smoking. Renovation is probably complete but I'd still ask. Construction noise could be a factor too.

Not sure what $ value you assign as reasonable but check out myhotel Bloomsbury, a boutique-ish hotel with contemporary design. Very walkable access to West End theaters and nightlife in Soho.

I guess, ultimately, what we're looking for is somewhere that has a pretty great night life, or at least has stuff that stays open pretty late. We like to go see a lot of music, but also want to have the opportunity to just sit at a cafe all day and not do squat. Covent Garden seems to have that, as does Soho. Anywhere else?

How long are you there? Long enough (like a week) to rent an apartment?

The Waldorf Hilton has very modern interior--read reviews on tripadvisor.com.
It is $105 on PRiceline (4*--Mayfair Zone). This is for a double room. I have been very happy with this property. Tiny lobby, but fabulous health club.

Dorset Square isn't a bad position, and the hotel itself has a rather good restaurant (nothing exceptional, but reasonably priced, high quality food). It's a 20 min walk from Oxford St. (at average pace).

Belgravia could be a better position depending on it is that you wish to be in the immediate vicinity of. However, you say you wish to be near to rock clubs, that really isn't Belgravia.

I don't do rock clubs, so I'd hazard a guess that Russell is more rock club than the others, however, I could be utterly incorrect.

What's "reasonable"? I'd also advise using priceline if you're not after a specific property, it seems to be a good solution.