Where to stay in London?
 

We will be spending the majority of our trip in Paris and in Italy, so we'd like to keep our time in London to 3 - 4 nights.

My fiancé loves soccer, so we will be spending one of our days watching a game. This will be our honeymoon; however, we are keeping the romantic part of our trip to Paris and Italy. J In London, we'd like to spend no more than 150 pounds per night at our accommodation. We are open to B&Bs, hotels, etc. We would love something modern; however, that's not a must have. We would just like something nice, comfortable, and in a great part of the city where we can walk to eat, drink, and be merry!!

Our must sees seem to line the Thames River... all the way south as Westminister Abbey to as far north east as the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge. Anywhere in these areas or in between would be divine? Am I choosing the most expensive part of town?

Also are B&Bs popular in this part of the city? If so, is there a website I can refer to for choices??

p.s. as far as taste goes…. We have viewed www.guoman.com, as recommended on this forum, and this is a very nice hotel that we may strongly consider. Any other?

Thank you,
AB .....as I have been known to be called by the fodorites!

... we would love to stay on the river if at all possible? Is it really that nice? Do they do any kind of "cruise" on the river?

... I still can't find antyhing... still looking...

AB

<b>http://www.riverthames.co.uk/</b>

I know you are looking for cheaper but sometimes Claridges has deals and the extra $$$ would be worth it. I love the place. It's the type of place where if you go back they will say &quot;Welcome back Mr &amp; Mrs AustinBride.&quot;

That's exactly the answer I was looking for!! If it's worth the extra money, I'll take it!! Please recommend those instances! Thank you!

AAFrequentFlyer,

I have been to this link before and when I clicked on the hotel link it took me to a listing that I was not familiar with. I thought that is was a listing of London boroughs, but I have a map with the boroughs indicated and I didn’t find a similarity with some of the listings. Help!

Try www.lastminute.com

I've had good luck with it.

When is your honeymoon? Don't forget if you want to watch a football match (yes we call it football over here) the season is from August to May. Plus if your fianc&eacute; has a preference for a team - my guess is one of the Premier league teams like Arsenal or Chelsea it is almost impossible to just turn up and just get a ticket you will need to try the club's websites and book ahead or a ticket agency. However if you just want to have the experience of a football match and don't want the inflexibility of having to organise it before you may have more luck going to one of the less followed teams such as Fulham or Charlton who still play in the Premiership.

Over hotels although I'm a Londoner I've always thought the Marriott at County Hall has the advantage of being a good well known chain and a modern hotel and the position near all the best sites (London Eye, Houses of Parliament, West End) and overlooking the Thames is just about perfect.

Yes there are river cruises. If this is your first visit to London you can combine the hop on hop off giving you a flavour of all the sites with a river cruise which would take you down to Tower Bridge and even as far as Greenwich with Cutty Sark, the Greenwich observatory (where Greenwich Mean Time comes from) and the Maritime Museum

Some general comments to help you find something. Even though the Thames flows through big sweeping curves - it is considered to run west/east. No one would consider Westminster to be &quot;south&quot; or the Tower as &quot;north east&quot;.

There are many hotels generally near the river - Royal Horse Guards, Marriott County Hall, and places near Covent Garden, etc. But the majority of the area between Westminster and the Tower is the commercial/business core of London. It is not full of hotels or B&amp;Bs. And the ones that are in the area tend to be sort of bland, modern business hotels.

But that really isn't an issue since EVERY part of central London is convenient to every other part because of the really excellent public transport.

Have you considered priceline? If you check biddingfortravel.com you will see which hotels in which zones are being won at what bids. You should be able to get a really nice 4 star for &pound;100 or less.

If you aim for postcodes ending in 1, but avoiding those starting with E (I'm not a fan of east London) then you'll find yourself somewhere central. W1 area is probably the most &quot;in the middle&quot; of things.

The river Thames cruises are super and the hop-on-hop-off option is particularly useful...if you want a truly romantic event, stop by a grocery/vintners and pick up provisions for a picnic...the grounds around the Greenwich Observatory and Naval Chapel are sprawling and lovely. It made our trip to spend a quiet hour there on our recent third honeymoon (same man, different decades...)

Hi AustinBride,

You should be able to get somewhere reasonable within your budget close to the river although you haven't said what time of year you will be hear.
One place not mentioned yet is The Sanctuary House, close to Parliament Square and Westminster and over a pub of the same name yet tucked quietly away down a side street - www.fullershotels.com

For somewhere a little different and cheaper try the B&amp;B Belgravia in Ebury Street, a 5 minute walk from Victoria Station. Very modernist yet great value.

The Royal Horseguards is more old fashioned and The Marriott County Hall has great views. Ask for a river view room.

For reviews of places you can check the very useful reviews section of www.tripadvisor.com

Have a great stay and you can always pop up the 20 miles to Watford and see my team play!

My fianc&eacute; is TOTALLY on board with “football” details. In spanish, we say &quot;futbol&quot;... :) He is constantly telling me something about the teams he wants to see, but I just have no idea what he’s talking about! I think he said that the schedule was coming out in June sometime? He was sooo excited. He’s silly!

Our dates are tentative, but we are mostly likely traveling in January or February. Maybe a little cold for a picnic??? This will eb our hoenymoon, but not immediatley after the wedding.

Thank you everyone for your responses!!

Also, are there any areas I need to stay away from? I was looking last night and found many hotels that look nice and in our price range in and around Kensington Palace. Is this a good area?

Congratulations on your forthcoming wedding.

You should be able to find a game to see even if you have to down a division.

Kensington divides into two areas. The area around Kensington High Street which would include hotels close to Kensington Palace and South Kensington which would also include places close to Gloucester Road tube. Both areas are fine with plenty of pubs and restaurants to keep you occupied in the long evenings - it gets dark about 4.00pm in January.

You can get almost anywhere in London within 20-25 minutes from either location.