Newbie going to London for week long vacation next month...

[TooStrong]

My wife and I are going to London next month and we're trying to find a place to stay. We're kind of overwhelmed with the number of options and wonder if you worldly guys/gals can recommend where to stay (hotel and area)?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[CurtEastPoint]

1. I was just looking at London hotels, too! I am using cheaptickets.com

and there are some very good prices. Have not landed on one yet but what I do is find one and then look on Tripadvisor for the reviews.

Let me know what you find!

[sinkingfeeling]

2. Rooms are usually smaller than here. We stayed at a Holiday Inn, close to

an Underground station. Don't recall which one. Buy a pass for the 'tube' and travel all over.

[VMA131Marine]

3. There's a Hilton at

17-18 Upper Woburn Place, London WC1H 0HT, which is very close to London Euston. I stayed there in 2014 and found it very nice and convenient for the Tube (which is what you really need for getting around London)

[unc70]

4. Have often stayed at the Montague on the Gardens

Across the street from the British Museum. Convenient for most things. A bit pricey, but look for deals online and on their web site. Last trip, in addition to breakfast, it included other things like high tea one day.

Unfortunately, the sharp decline of the dollar versus the pound and the euro under Trump has raised effective prices by over 10% everywhere.

If you arrive early before your room is ready, freshen up a bit at the hotel and go on to the Museum for a few hours, maybe grab a bite while you are there.

Have a great trip wherever you stay.

[roody]

5. If your budget is tight, try Hostelling

International. They usually have private rooms too.

[jmowreader]

6. You can do better with a flight/hotel Travelocity package

I went to Travelocity and found the least expensive two-person, one-week LHR package (I set the US airport as Sea-Tac) that wasn't in a hostel to be $1550. This is flights, room and taxes.

Then I went to British Airways' website (Travelocity's server is acting up right now) and found airfare alone to be $1605. I then found on Hostelworld's website a really fun hostel (a converted old courthouse that, they claim, Charles Dickens worked in) for about $600 for a private room. So...about $2200.

[Coventina]

7. Consult the Rick Steves guide to London.

We found a place in there that was reasonably priced that came with a huge breakfast (full English - they call it) every morning and an en-suite bathroom.

Highly recommend Rick Steves!!!

Edited to add: in addition, the place was in the very nice neighborhood of Belgravia. We always stay in places recommended by Rick Steves when going to Europe. Always very good value, and they are usually small, family run establishments.

[smirkymonkey]

8. I agree, Rick Steves is a great guide book.

I would also recommend a hotel on Gower Street in the Fitzrovia/University of London area. There are some great small hotels there that are pretty cheap and it's a wonderful location. They aren't terribly modern, more like B&B's but they are adequate and include breakfast and very close to everything.

I have stayed at Cavendish House and the Garth Hotel and both were decent. The rooms are small, but if you are just sleeping in them, it doesn't matter so much. I really liked the area and it was very walkable to almost everything you would want to see.

[GoneOffShore]

11. I'll also say that Rick Steves is a great guide for first time travellers.

And do check out reviews of hotels and restaurants on Trip Advisor.

[callous taoboy]

9. I stayed at The Thanet.

Reasonable rates, nice room and bath, quiet, near the British Museum and a tube station. It comes with a
full English breakfast which was very good and filling, but the cook was a real grouch. That was the only
downer, that he made a big deal out of me asking for a bit of salmon (which was an item available on request)
with my breakfast one morning. Ask for the room on the top floor facing the back.

[DFW]

10. I'd listen to the advice of those who have stayed there

I run up there on occasion, but I usually am home the same night, and rarely sleep there. I heard it used to be pretty expensive, but when the pound dropped from $1.56 (or whatever it was pre-Brexit vote) to $1.30, American tourists got an instantaneous 25% or so discount.

[GoneOffShore]

12. No clue as to hotels - we stay with friends or use AirBnB - but here are a couple of tips.

Get an Oyster card for getting around - https://oyster.tfl.gov.uk/oyster/link/sso/0005.do

Single tickets are very, very expensive.

The Underground is great and needs to be experienced but buses let you see the city and depending on the kind of transit pass you get, may allow you to get on, ride, and if you see something interesting, get off, investigate and then go on or go back the way you came.

Try these guys for guided tours - http://www.walks.com lots to choose from and very interesting.

For eating - pub lunches are excellent - Look for the Davy's Wine Bar chain - especially The Boot and Flogger - http://www.davy.co.uk/wine-bar/boot-and-flogger/
If you're near Sloan Square - try The Surprise Pub in Chelsea, near the Chelsea Hospital
http://www.thesurprisechelsea.co.uk

If you want a taste of the many international cuisines try Ottolenghi-
http://www.ottolenghi.co.uk/locations

And for old style nose to tail eating - Fergus Henderson's St. John - but be prepared for a serious bill. https://www.stjohngroup.uk.com/smithfield/

[Shrek]

13. I had a good experience at this place last year

https://www.grangehotels.com/hotels-london/grange-city/about-this-hotel/

Going back in a couple of weeks but this time I'm at a Hilton (corporate policy).

[mnhtnbb]

14. It depends upon what you want to spend--and do--but for the 30 years we've been going to London

we really like staying in the South Kensington area. Close to two Underground stations--Gloucester Rd and Earl's Court--
and if you are flying in to Heathrow, try to choose a hotel that is near a stop on the Piccadilly Underground Line so you can take
the Underground in to town. It's the least expensive way to get in to London. http://content.tfl.gov.uk/standard-tube-map.pdf

Yes, hotel rooms are SMALL (think of NY size hotel rooms) and it used to be difficult to find hotels with King size beds, too.

The last time we stayed in London we booked an apartment in the South Kensington area through flipkey. https://www.flipkey.com/ Prior to that, the last
hotel we booked was Best Western Burns hotel only a 5 minute walk from the Earl's Court Underground Station (on the Piccadilly line) http://burnshotel.co.uk/

Depending upon your age and financial circumstances and your expected arrival time in London, we now think it's worth the money to book our hotel room
for an extra night so that when we arrive at the hotel at 9 am we can go straight to our room, take a nap, wake up refreshed around noon for lunch and then go out sightseeing. I can't handle flying all night anymore and waiting until 3 or 4 pm to get in to a room. That's something to consider if you have the money for an extra night. (If you are renting an apartment for a week, you may find the owner won't charge you extra to meet you at 10 am.)

Good luck! I love London. One of my favorite cities.

On edit: if you do decide to book your hotel for the extra night when you are arriving in the a.m., be sure to communicate with the hotel about your next day arrival so they don't think you are a no-show and give your room away.

This was the view of the private park across the street from our room at the Best Western Burns

[BannonsLiver]

15. Don't be obsessed with seeing every single attraction

Pick things you're interested in. For me, my must was Westminster Abbey. Soak up some London culture without an agenda. Also, remember, there's more to England than London.

[WinkyDink]

16. Hyde Park (formerly Dickens) Hotel, by Hyde Park. It's been a while, but I loved it!

Last edited Tue Aug 15, 2017, 07:40 PM - Edit history (7)

http://www.london-hotels4u.com/the_hyde_park_ryan_hotel_london.htm

I wanted a hotel near Portobello Road, because I am, or was, a collector of various tchotchkes.

BTW: Trust me, as I've been at least 10 times to London. In a week, you should NOT MISS:

1. Parliament, Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey inside. See: Henry VII Chapel; tombs of E I and Mary I; tombs of Chaucer and Dickens; Throne of Scone. Not far away is Westminster Cathedral, for the Catholic response, heh.

2. Then walk north to Trafalgar Square (If you like art, there's the National Portrait Gallery right there, too), and then a wee bit farther north to Covent Garden.

3. The Tower of London and the Crown Jewels. Seriously, the Jewels are the world's best. And don't you want to see where Anne Boleyn and Sir Walter Raleigh snuffed it?

4. Then WALK (I think west) down Fleet Street to St. Paul's Cathedral! Go inside; the crypt of Christopher Wren is in the lower floor. Then check out Dr. Johnson's house (seen in a Basil Rathbone S.H. movie) and the near-by but little-known Silver Vaults, wherein you can see an original Magna Carta, a letter from E I to Essex, and of course fabulous silver items!

5. Two main shopping areas:

a.) Knightsbridge---Harrod's; a block away is Diana's favorite shopping street, Beauchamp ("Beecham" ) Place; across the street are expensive former horse-stalls called "The Mews."

b.) Regent's Street---One of the 5 streets branching off of Piccadilly Circus. This is $$$, as is the illustrious Jermyn Street. Oxford is like America, haha.

6. A SPECTACULAR EVENT: The Changing of the HORSE (Queen's Life) GUARDS! This occurs at the opposite end of Buckingham Palace via the beautiful St. James Park. It is also EARLIER than the regular Changing of the Guard, which you can then see if you hustle through the park!

7. Like British mysteries? Visit "221-B Baker Street"! Or maybe that's just me, :-P! Maybe take in the play "The Mousetrap"! But DO try to attend at least one play in the West End! Hey, ya gotta do something at night!

8. Speaking of which: I really enjoyed the night "Jack the Ripper tour," led by the author of an esteemed book on the topic. Free. Meet-up across the street from the Tower.

9. THE BRITISH MUSEUM! OMG!! The Anglo-Saxon Sutton Hoo treasures; Egyptian mummies; "Kublai Khan" as penned by Coleridge; The Codex Sinaiticus; A First Folio; etc., etc.!!

10. If you have time, or want to make time (and really, you should), THE day-trip is to Windsor Castle. The tiny town itself is quaint, and you can walk across a small bridge to Eton.

11. Of course, there's so much more, but I feel these are the "Don't Miss" places! I've still not been to the zoo! (But I did once get to Highgate to see Keats's house and Marx's tomb!)