Lodging preference when traveling alone?
 

I'm tentatively planning a trip to London this summer. I'll be with a group for a week elsewhere in the UK, but once they leave, I'm planning on sticking around on my own for a few days. I've never traveled on my own before, and though I'm not really afraid (I'm pretty familiar with London), I also want to make myself as comfortable as I can in a somewhat new situation. I'm thinking about whether to look for a B&B or a hotel for lodging (I won't be there long enough for a flat, I don't think - probably four nights). Do any "solo travelers" have a preference for one over the other? A B&B seems like it might be a tad safer, just because the owner would know everyone who's supposed to be staying there on a given night, but maybe that's a false or irrelevant assumption. I'd welcome any opinions!

You really don't need to worry about safety in a London hotel!

I stay in B&Bs, but I'm on a budget. If you're there in the summer you could look at the LSE Halls of residence - www.lsevacations.co.uk

Where in London would you prefer to stay? I know a really nice B&B where I've stayed several times. I'd stay there again and in fact am considering doing so on my next visit. It's a 15-20 minute tube ride from Golders Green to say Leicester Square/Covent Garden. (and to get to Golders Green is a little over a mile walk through Hampstead Heath, or, take the frequent little neighborhood bus).

It's good for your "several times" trip to London because it's in a different part of town, near Hampstead Heath and Highgate and Kenwood House and Hampstead Village and so on. Nice base if you want to explore a bit of north London.

thursdaysd - I didn't think so either, but all the reasons I can give my parents not to worry will help. I may be 28, but I'm still their baby girl. :) I'm on a budget too, so I was thinking either a b&b or maybe trying Priceline, since I've heard London's a great city for it.

flygirl - on my previous trips, I've stayed in a flat (for a semester) and in a hostel in Bloomsbury, and also in a hostel between Victoria and Pimlico stations, I think on Belgrave. Hostels are great, but I'm ready for a little more comfort! For this trip I was thinking about Mayfair or South Kensington, but I really hadn't planned too much yet. I hadn't considered staying out of super-central London, and honestly haven't ventured much to north London. What do you like about the area? I love being able to walk to whatever I'm doing whenever I can, but I'm keeping an open mind for now!

As long as people are making suggestions, somewhere with free wifi would be GREAT, though not an absolute requirement. :)

jent103 - if your parents are worrying about you traveling on your own at 28, I guess they're never going to quit!!!

You could point them to some of the gap year sites (e.g. on Lonely Planet's thorntree), where kids just out of high school post about traveling to much more exotic places than London on their own!

You could also post on the Europe board, but be prepared for Brits to have a fit at the idea that a London hotel is dangerous.

Yeah, they won't try to stop me from going, but they always worry about me while I'm traveling anywhere. I wish they wouldn't for their sakes, but I've accepted it. They just love me. :) Thanks for the ideas!

I'll definitely post on the Europe board as well, probably once I get my flights worked out - I just knew the "solo traveler" board got folded into this one, so I wanted to see if anyone had a preference for one form of lodging over the other given that circumstance. I'm really not worried about it; if I thought central London was any more dangerous than my city, I wouldn't be going by myself! But if there's anything I can do to feel a little safer while I'm there (and still enjoy myself), well, I'm for it. So far I think the take-home message is that I should just find somewhere I like!

Check the Travelodge UK site- they always have discounted rooms for long distance booking, but you have to be quick- rooms go quick.

Barring that, I'd go down the B&B route too. The one I stayed in at Kings' Cross had free wifi.

Hi jent-

I travel solo a lot since I was 19 (and I'm female). I don't really have a preference one over the other, whether it's London or any other european cities/towns. B&Bs in London are <u>not cheap</u>, esp if you want to stay somewhere central. There are a bunch of B&Bs in Bloomsbury, the nice ones are pricey and the cheap ones are really, just cheap. You'd do much better in London using Priceline or Hotwire.

Actually, I quite like the cheap B&Bs in Bloomsbury - they're nicer than the Victoria ones. I've stayed at Arosfa and Ridgemount, and while they're for sure not luxurious, they're clean and comfortable and do full English breakfasts.

But the LSE Halls are still about the best deal around. Aside from Priceline, maybe.

thursdaysd - I guess we have different ideas of what's "cheap". I have the Arosfa bookmarked in my London folder, and they charge £55 for small single and £60 for large single. I guess it's more affordable now since the pound is so much cheaper, but a year ago when I went to London, that equaled to US$110 for the small single. I could get a regular 4* hotel via Priceline for less than $110.

When I say cheap, I mean something like the Jesmond Dene (£35 for single) but Fodorite rickmav had stayed there a few years ago and gave a horrible review.
http://www.jesmonddenehotel.co.uk/

Jent - just explain to your parents that you'd love to stay in a quality, safe and secure top of the line hotel but you're on a budget, but if they're really worried about you, you would be willing to sacrifice and allow them to pitch in the difference for that top of the line hotel. :-D

Seriously, I don't know if I think a B&B is automatically safer than a hotel. You might try looking at some of the tricks others have used to help with the "safety" issue. Here's a thread with some ideas: http://www.fodors.com/community/smar...o-it-alone.cfm

Incorporating some of these might help ease your parents' minds about your traveling alone - and they might help you feel more secure regardless of where you stay.

toedtoes - that's a great thread! Thanks so much for suggesting it. I really don't want to give the impression that my parents are huge worrywarts who will be calling my UK mobile every two hours to make sure I'm still alive; they're not at all. They're parents and they'll be concerned that their only daughter is galavanting off to a foreign country alone (even if it is one she's spent the equivalent of several months in already). But they do a great job of letting their "kids" be independent adults. I just want to make them feel better about it if I can, which is why I mentioned that aspect. They worry about my safety; I worry about their blood pressure. :)

yk - I think our definitions of "cheap" are on the same page. I know 55-60 pounds isn't expensive for London, but if I can find a better deal on Priceline or Hotwire, then I'm all for it. I'll do some research on both for sure, but I think I'm leaning that direction at the moment.

Jent - I understand completely. My Mom always expected me to keep myself safe - when I traveled, she worried. She didn't stop me (or try to stop me), but she worried. It did help her when I shared my plans for staying safe BEFORE I left on the trip.

toedtoes - exactly!!

I prefer small hotels. I don't like the 'intimacy' or forced socializing that may come with a B&B. The main thing I look for is a central location so I have lots of places near the hotel to walk to for shopping, meals, etc.

"I don't like the 'intimacy' or forced socializing that may come with a B&B." Haven't noticed too much of that in London B&Bs!

I stand corrected. I have never been to London. I picture B&B as the feeling of staying in someone else's home. But I must be wrong about that, at least in this situation. Sorry.

IME, the B&Bs in London are more like mini-hotels, with at least a dozen or more rooms for rent. They are run like a business, with hired maids and hired service workers.

The B&Bs in smaller UK towns or in the countryside are more like someone's house, with 2-3 rooms for rent, with the owners doing all the cooking/cleaning themselves usually.

It mainly is due to the price of real estate in London. Most regular people can barely afford a flat big enough for themselves. You'd have to be a multi-millionaire to be able to afford a house in central London with extra rooms to rent out (and if you're a multi-millionaire, you don't need to rent your rooms out to make money).

jent103- Regarding budget lodgings in London, you might want to check out this recent thread. It's got lots of excellent suggestions:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...on-lodging.cfm

yk - thanks! I've been keeping half an eye on that one, but haven't checked it out in great detail yet, so I appreciate the reminder. My plans have only semi-solidified in the past week or so, so I've got some research to do!

Thanks for the clarification on what B&Bs are like. So far I've stayed in B&Bs in semirural areas, and my experience has been somewhat similar to suze's, though I never really felt pressured to socialize. But London is obviously a different vibe than those areas, so it makes sense that the B&B experience would be different (and that from a safety aspect, it wouldn't have any advantage over a hotel).