W/ 5 of you a hotel will be relatively expensive since you'd likely need 2 rooms. There are apartments that rent for as few as 2 or 3 nights and would usually be a better deal. What sort of budget are you thinking of?

>>>> What sort of budget are you thinking of?

Around US$ 150 to 200 a night.

Thanks

Have a look at London Walks. They have a good variety of walks, good guides, and last ~2 hrs. I did a bunch of their tours last visit.

Regarding the hotels/apartments, in the UK, do they really check the number of guest that stays in a room? In my experience in the US (mostly in Days Inn Hotels in New York, Texas and Florida), while booking, you can request for a single room and indicate that 2 adults and 1 child will occupy it (the rooms will usually have 2 queen size beds). However they won't really check that and you can have any number of people sleep on the room, albeit uncomfortably.

Bugger the hotel -- stay in an apartment. For 120 GBP (about $190-200) per you should be able to find a vacation apartment with a couple of bedrooms within Zone 1. At that price point, it won't be in Westminster or Mayfair, but Bloomsbury and near South Kensington are highly possible.

Google "A place like home" and check out VRBO.com. There are other apartment rental services that have been reviewed on this board.

To "cover as much ground as possible" you take the Tube in London. To see as much of the city by bus as you would like (near Parliament, Trafalgar Square, the Tower, Regent Street, etc.), just take some of the routes I mentioned above. The HO/HO is a tourist trap like the London Dungeon, Madame Tussaud's and the Eye.

Transport: all the main London attractions are in zones 1 and 2. Could I suggest you start to get the youngsters doing some planning for you, using the online train, tube and bus maps:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloa...itor-guide.pdf

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/gettingaround/1106.aspx

MEININGER Hotel London Hyde Park, is this hotel near places of interest and accessible to public transport ?

Thanks.

fnbj: You <u><B>cannot</B></u> 'sneak' more people than the room/hotel allows.

Europe/UK is not the land of 2 queen sized beds and "heck - one more doesn't matter."

A double room <u>sleeps two</u>. A triple room sleeps 3, a quad sleeps 4. And there will be no space to squeeze in more beds/rollaways.

There is no way you can get 5 in a room for 2 or 3. It isn't just space -- it is fire regulations. You will need two rooms in most hotels - a double and a triple. Or a 1 or 2 bedroom flat that accepts 5.

The Menninger does do rooms for 5 - @ £26 a night or approx $210 total.

The location is great -- but it is really more like a dormitory.

janisj - Thanks for the info.

Let's try this again:

A P A R T M E N T

No hostels, no dorms, no sneaking the 8-year old into a double room to sleep in your bed whilst the boys sleep on the floor. Get an apartment and get past the hotel fixation. You won't get a hotel in London for $200 for two rooms that is anything more than a place to sleep. Get an apartment and you can prepare meals at "home" and utilize other cost-saving methods. Beats the heck out of a hostel for $210 per.

BigRuss - its OK, I guess we just have to bite the bullet. I've been looking and found several options costing a total of US$ 700 - 800 for two rooms for two nights. We're just evaluating our options.

Plus we really don't want to prepare meals at "home" during the period. We'll be eating out all the time. We're in vacation. :~)

Thanks

"<i>Plus we really don't want to prepare meals at "home" during the period. We'll be eating out all the time. We're in vacation</i>"

Renting a flat does NOT mean you have to cook. The kitchen is merely a bonus. I'd guess 70-75% of the folks who rent apartments never turn on the stove. Microwave - maybe. Electric kettle - for sure. Toaster - yes. But heavy duty cooking - ONLY if that floats your boat.

But tell us -- would you rather spend $800 for two cramped hotel rooms -- or -- $350 for a 2 bedroom 1.5 bath flat w/ a living room, kitchen, washer dryer, 2 TVs, maybe a computer???

It isn't a matter of COOKING - it is about comfort and saving £££££.

"-- $350 for a 2 bedroom 1.5 bath flat w/ a living room, kitchen, washer dryer, 2 TVs, maybe a computer??"

That of course, but I have to find one first. As I said were evaluating our options.

Do you know of any website where I could search, I've been using expedia.com but they are mostly hotels and dorms.

Thanks,

start w/ vrbo.com and homelidays.com They are two sites where private owners list vacation rentals. Then there are agencies that handle short term rentals -- but vrbo and homelidays are good sites to get your feet wet.

Sites like expedia, orbitz, etc. are next to useless for apartments, cottages, or B&Bs.

Thanks a lot.

Now, if we're just stay within London, except for trips to/from Frimley twice, what's more convenient to use, Oyster or Travel Card? I know TravelCard can be link with 2for1 promos.

"<i>what's more convenient to use, Oyster or Travel Card?</i>"

Essentially no difference.

An Oyster is just a plastic card on which you load transport money. A travel card is one type of fare structure/amount of money you can load on the Oyster.

A <u>paper</u> version of the travel card is not loaded on Oysters, but is used interchangeably. It is the paper travel cards that get you 2 for 1's. BUT - you may not need paper travel cards at all, <u>depending on how you work out your Frimley stays</u>. Your R-T train tickets to/from Frimley could qualify for the 2 for 1's. If so, you could use Oysters while in London.

Thanks to everyone.

I've looking for flats, although there are so many choices, most of them requires minimum of 3 of more nights stay. Anyway we're still trying to sort things out with regards to the schedule.

By the way, is the Hammersmith & Fulham location convenient enough? What about the Kensington area? Which area with in/near London is ideal?

Thanks,



Thanks.

South Kens is better than Kensington because there are more museums nearby and it's on the Piccadilly and the Circle/District lines that take you to many tourist places [Piccadilly goes to Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, Covent Garden, the Brit Museum; the Circle/District lines go to the Tower, Westminster, the Monument, the Tate Britain, others].

Hammersmith & Fulham is a little further out than South Kensington.