I'm searching budget accommodations for my upcoming stay in London (July) and, since I was there checking airfares to/from London to other destinations, linked onto the hotels link on BA.com. They seem to have some good prices, at least compared to checking those same hotels' websites. I know that it's a budget hotel, probably comparable to a Hampton in the US, but found good reviews of the Jury's Inn in Croydon on tripadvisor. The price is right--$105/night for the 2 of us with breakfast included and if it is booked on the BA website, there is a special $50pp discount as well. For 4 nights, we would pay $322 US with breakfast included. That strikes me as a darn good price. Assuming it is comparable to a Hampton or similar in the U.S...... Any thoughts on that? Also, which tube zone would be in if we stayed in Croydon and wanted to travel into the city for sightseeing? I'm trying to also calculate transport costs to see if it is still as good a deal as it seems. All constructive advice is appreciated.

Croydon isn't on the tube. It's actually quite far out but really well connected. It's on the overground to victoria via Clapham Junction.

There is a link to the tube using the tram to Wimbledon and then the district line but i really wouldn't bother. Just stick with the train from East Croydon. Try to avoid West Croydon as the service is nowhere near as good.

It's in Zone 5.

Croydon is also an exceptionally boring, but safe, commuter town which seems to go to sleep for the night about lunchtime, though it's some years since I last had the misfortune to find myself there so dizzily late. The hotel you're looking at is about five mins' walk from East Croydon station, whence most trains into central London (and they're every 5-10 mins)take around 15 mins.

Well, actually, flanneruk, boring at night suits us. I'm 46 (which we all know is older than dirt) and she's 14 (so she doesn't yet NEED more excitement even if she thinks she does!).

Is the 5 minute walk safe at night? We are planning to go to at least one West End show and would be returning late alone.

Oh, and Cholmondley Warner, can you give me some guidance on how to find fares and info on the trains versus the tube? We got very familiar with tube fares and how to navigate last summer, but I haven't really used the train system at all (I assume the Heathrow Express doesn't count!). Thanks.

I would NEVER use Croydon as a base to visit London. You would be miles from your hotel w/ absolutely no way to get back in the middle of the day w/o using up half your sightseeing day. That means not being able to ever drop off any purchases, having to wear the same thing you put on at 7:00 a.m. to the theatre at 7:30 p.m. -- even if you got caught in a downpour, no way to change shoes if you start to raise a blister. Just REALLY inconvenient. The true definition of a false economy.

BA has not given you much of a bargain - consider that you can regularly get the Hilton Olympia on Priceline for the $75-$85 range and be right in central London . . . . .

Guess I should get to betterbidding.com and figure out the zones for London, etc. I used priceline for a hotel in Budapest last summer and got what I thought was a wonderful deal, but haven't investigated it for London. Thanks, janisj.

Kellye, this can be a very good choice for budget accommodation in London too.
http://www.lsevacations.co.uk/

High Holborn House and Northumberland House are two options that are super-central. We stayed at HHH last year, and some other Fodorites stayed at Northumberland House (which is newer), and it was fine.

Some other locations are good too, and all of them are much better than Croydon.

For a three-day travelcard, you're paying £11.80 to Croydon, vs £6.30 in the centre.

Personally, I don't buy this "don't stay there" stuff. The hotel's a very safe walk, and trains go to lots of different bits of London a lot faster than (and at least as frequently as) the tube. Getting to a hotel in the tourist ghettoes of Bloomsbury or Gloucester Rd in the middle of the day for a nap isn't instantaneous either.

Trains from East Croydon go to London Bridge, Waterloo East, Charing Cross, Blackfriars and St Pancras as well as Victoria.

Wow! I think my head might explode! LOL

Thank you for the input. I guess I need to look around a lot more. Keep suggestions coming. I'll bring my short list back for critique when I get that far.

Kellye,

My best friend recently moved to London - specifically Croydon, and I now stay with her when I visit. I travel with her on the train into London while she heads to work. As a tourist, staying in Croydon is absolutely not worth it unless you are staying there for free! (Even then, when I come sightseeing with others, I stay in London proper.) There is nothing worth seeing in Croydon and commuting into the city is inconvenient.

To sum it up, when I told the immigration officer at LGW that I would be staying in Croydon, she looked at me in disbelief, and said that "no London tourist stays in Croydon!" I responded that the price - "free" - was worth it because I could no longer afford to buy British pounds with the US dollar...

Keep looking!

Have a great trip,
Chels

Croydon must be my least favourite suburb and not a good place for a holiday.

In July, August and September it's possible to book good value rooms in university halls of residence, and many have en suite bathrooms. The following are examples:

http://www.london.ac.uk/699.html

http://www.ccrs.qmul.ac.uk/holidays/

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/residences/hall...ge/index.shtml

http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/vac...mmodation.html

https://kcl.ac.uk/about/structure/ad...ndividual.html

try priceline. but read up first on how to do it correctly.

also, www.londontown.com is a good website as are www.ryanair.com and www.easyjet.com

Well, totally nothing wrong with Croydon itself. Just a middle class suburb, on a commuter belt to London. Has a (rather sad-looking) shopping areas, mainly dominated by cookie-cutter multiple retail chains. Train links are good--just check if there are going to be any weekend rail repair work. Actually a good link if you're flying in/out of Gatwick.

No need to book tickets in advance. You can buy off-peak day return in a ticket machine. You may want to avoid travelling during rush-hours, most trains are no longer the old types (where you open the door from the window!), though note there will be no A/C on the train.

Oh, and Oyster is not linked to mainline trains.

Londonres,
Thank you for those links. A couple of those seem quite promising and I sent a request for more info to two of them. I'd really like to keep it in that $100 range. We don't mind self-catering at all and actually wouldn't mind having the ability to buy a few things at the grocery store and brown-bag it at lunch and have breakfast in too. That would dramatically reduce our costs.

Oh, and Oyster is not linked to mainline trains. >>>>>

It is in croydon.

it takes about 20 min to get to london victoria. however you will feel quite disconnected from london. commuter trains are once per day affairs. you will not want to do this journey more than once per day. croydon is not considered a nice place (it's the butt of many jokes) although it does have some restaurants and bars thanks to the many young city workers who live there. most people just go there for IKEA and wing yip.

places like olympia are not preferred locations either but you will feel a little more like you are in london rather than a depressing suburb. i don't know the costs of london hotels on the auction sites but croydon would not be a preferred location. but i don't see it as a disaster as long as you understand the negatives.

interestingly, the a23 in croydon is the most american landscape i have ever seen anywhere in britain.

>>Oh, and Oyster is not linked to mainline trains. >>>>>

It is in croydon.<<

Looks like we have a disconnect here. The map on the tfl website showing National Rail lines and stations where Oyster PAYG can be used does not include any of the Croydon stations.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloa...G-08-01-02.pdf