I have been reading "Bidding for travel" in order to help me use Priceline to find a hotel in London for this summer. I found this site to be a bit overwhelming - is there somewhere else that sums things up a bit more briefly?
Also, could someone recommend which areas in London would be best? On the Priceline map, Kensington looks the furthest from the city, but I remember reading on another post that this is a good place to stay . . .I just don't know enough about proximity, safety, etc. to make a choice . . .
Also - if we need to book nonsequential nights (i.e. we will stay in London, travel to some other cities, and then stay in London again toward the end of the trip) do I bid for 2 separate hotel stays? I don't see a way to book it altogether.
Thanks!

Hi BPJones -

Also try www.betterbidding.com. I've used Priceline in London with very good results - got the Copthorne Tara (not the best hotel, but certainly decent for the price) for $85 USD a couple of years ago. IIRC that was in the Priceline Kensington-Earl's Court-Knightsbridge area. Very convenient to tube stops, the Kensington museums, etc. I wouldn't bid on the PL Kensington area as it looks way the heck out there.

Other areas I've stayed in (though not with a PL hotel) and been happy/comfortable with: Bloomsbury, Islington, Marylebone.

Regarding non-sequential nights - yes, that would be two separate bids.

Good luck - PL in London can be a good deal.

We have to spend the last night in the UK at Heathrow due to an early flight home and I used Priceline to get a 4* hotel. The entire bill came to $142 for the Marriott, which usually costs that much in GBP. I always bid at least four stars, plug in what price I want, and if they don't like my bid, they counteroffer higher; and if I don't mind the higher price I accept. Otherwise I could lower my requirement to three stars, not that I ever have.

Since you don't know your London neighborhoods, work backwards. That is, find out what places/attractions you really must see and pin them out on a map. Then choose a hotel in the neighborhood that is most convenient to your tourist interests. This will lessen the time needed for transportation to and from your hotel each day, if you're already close to what you want to visit. Also check to see where the nearest tube stations are if you plan on getting around that way.

Yes - you do have to do different bids for the different dates.

Kensington isn't really that far from the center (and there are some museums there) but Mayfair and Knightsbridge are closer.

Do realize that * ratings for UK hotels don;t really translate to US expectations. That is, what they call a 4* we would usually consider a 3* - so keep that in mind when bidding.

In the Kensington zone, you can get a hotel that is a bit far out (Hilton Kensington Olympia) or one that is really convenient (Holiday Inn Kensington Forum, Millennium Gloucester, Millennium Bailey), among others. If you bid in the Bloomsbury zone, you'll get a pretty convenient hotel no matter what. Mayfair-Soho is the most central of all, but also tends to be very expensive.

All of the London zones (except in my opinion Docklands) would work out OK, but my preference would be Bloomsbury, if it's possible to get a good deal. (I'd say Mayfair-Soho, except that is definitely out of my price range.) With some other zones, it may be more inconvenient to stop back at your hotel in the middle of the day.

On PL - Knightsbridge, South Kensington and Earls Court are all in the same zone.

Knightsbridge/South Kens/Earls Court, Westminster, and Mayfair/Soho are probably the best PL zones, followed closely by Bloomsbury/Marble Arch.

It's not at all impossible, but with Westminster you might get the Riverbank Plaza, which is OK but not the most central, as it's across the river and 10 minutes walk from a tube station. Some Westminster hotels are very central, though.

Yes - just about every zone (except Mayfair-Soho) has at least one outlier. The riverbank plaza w/ Westminster, the Hilton Olympia w/ Knightsbridge-S Kens-Earls Court and anything around Kings Cross w/ Bloomsbury-Marble Arch.

But even those are great bargains if the bid is right.

Just curious. Am I the only one who thinks a "bargain" is not a bargain if you end up with a place where you didn't want to stay? Maybe I'm odd, but I've turned down free stays because it wasn't where I wanted to stay. I guess I'm always a bit taken back by the idea that even though it's not where you want to be, if the price is cheap enough, then it's OK.

That is why I'd personally never bid Bloomsbury/Marble Arch - because I'd hate being stuck in Kings Cross. I'd be happy in any hotel in the 3 other areas.

And for some, getting a PL room for $100 means the difference between one trip to London in a year, and three trips . . . . .

Not every one can afford $250-$400 a night

Well, that wasn't my point. I think I'd rather opt for a lesser hotel for the $100 in an area where I wanted to be, rather than have a "nicer" room and hotel somewhere where I really didn't want to spend my vacation. To me it's more about the location that the quality of the room (although I'm not sure I'd be happy with many $100 hotel rooms in London, so I do see your point).

That's where we differ, I guess. I'd be fine staying at the Novotel Euston, for example, even if it's near Kings Cross, which is not really that horrible, in my opinion. My daughter loves Camden and Hackney, it is easy to get into more central areas, many sights in north London interest me, etc.

I did pick our location this last trip, and stayed in an LSE residence with a near-perfect location so far as central London goes. That was great, but if that residence is not available on our next trip, I'll happily bid again and accept whatever location I get, making the best of it.

I recently read somewhere that the area near Euston/King's Cross is improving and with quite a few up-and-coming restaurants.

Finding a place (not Priceline) for $100 in central London is quite impossible.

Even though I've always preferred to be near Bloomsbury or Covent Garden, the last few times I've stayed at Westminster and Kensington zones I have found those acceptable.

My daughter and I prefer the South Kensington area. We got the Park International through Priceline for our trip next month. It's on Cromwell Road just up from the Gloucester Road tube stop.

The hotel has mixed reviews, and I wonder if any of you are familiar with it.

Carolyn, what star level is the Park International on Priceline? I remember seeing this hotel when I stayed in that area, but I don't know anything about it otherwise.

Carolyn, do you mind sharing how much your bid was?

carolyn, I'm interested too in the PArk International. Please post your review. Having been to London more times in the last 40 years than I can recall, I don't mind staying a bit out-of-the way and tbing, but I do want a NICE hotel to come back to!

one comment about the concern of being far from a tube station.

I have found the bus system so efficient and easy to learn that i rarely take the tube when not in a huge hurry.

what i like most is re-seeing the monuments everyday as i bus into town, even from the hilton olympia, (which, by the way I would not be upset winning a bid there again).

Priceline is great for hotels---would not use for airfare though as you may get bad flight times. Low-bid on the hotels especially if close to the trip. I have many friends who have gotten some amazing deals on hotels with priceline.

lincasanova: I agree w/ you. I've gotten the Olympia Hilton twice and really liked it. The service was great and they asked me at check in what sort of room I wanted. No hint of "priceline bias" at all.

I just meant many people will bid that zone hoping to get a hotel in Knightsbridge or along Cromwell Rd in S Kens and end up at the Hilton. Nothing at all wrong w/ it - just not quite as convenient a location as some others.