London Hotels - just starting our reseaerch

[Love Cruis'n]

We’re real close to booking Princess’s 14-night Baltic Heritage Cruise in/out Southampton July 7 – July 21 2012.

 

Just starting our research and have never been to London.

 

Can we get some reference links – places where we can get some good info on hotels, the geography of London (one district v. another) etc.?

 

We’ll most likely fly in on July 3, arriving from the USA on July 4. While not enough to do it justice that is all our real world circumstances may allow for pre-cruise activities. Of course if hotel rooms are a bit less costly we might be able to swing a few more days. So what is a good site to do some research?

 

Can anyone who has traveled in the US provide some sort of equivalency guide – what would a standard room at a Marriott, Hilton or Hyatt compare to in London. Are our standard Marriott rooms the equivalent of 2, 3 or 4 stars, etc?

 

Do most hotels in London accept AAA, AARP, or Entertain book discounts?

 

Open to all reasonable suggestions.

 

Thanks,

Terry

[Weluv2cruise2007]

I bought a "Rick Steeves" Pocket London Travel Book which is great! It breaks the city into districts, identifies key tourist sites and lots of great tips on hotels (all price ranges), restaurants, entertainment venues etc. It also includes good maps including a detailed pull-out map which you can use to plan your stay.

I ended up choosing our hotel based on location - walking distance to all (Westminster area) including the National Express Bus terminal which we will use for our transportation to the port.

[MSMcDuffy]

Take a look at this site: http://www.londontown.com

[jmlh]

We have stayed twice at The Cavandish - a great central location which allows one to walk to Buck Palace, etc. Tube stations at Picadilly Circus & Green Park are a very short walk. And the breakfast is wonderful! Just a suggestion.

[John99]

We (DW and myself) planned a 3 day pre-cruise in August. TripAdvisor was very useful in my research. We found a nice hotel (Park Plaza Victoria) in the Westermister area close to Victory Coach Station, Buckingham Palace plus other major sites which are within easy walking distance. At time be booked, the price was $660 dollars which incl. taxes and a breakfast.

 

The number of hotels available is truly overwhelming. The site allows you to refine your choices by date, price, location, stars, hotel brand, etc.. Plus you can read other travlers reviews of a hotel your interested in for additonal info.

 

What every hotel you decided on -- make sure it has air conditioning. Some London hotels do not have A/C.

 

John

[eqj60]

We were in London early May 2011. We really enjoyed our stay at the Luna Simone- great people. location & breakfast.

http://www.lunasimonehotel.com

 

Near Victoria Station & HOHO bus!:)

[phabric]

Here are some sites that might help -

 

http://www.bhrc.co.uk

http://www.london-hotels.co.uk

http://www.theoriginaltour.com

http://www.bigbustours.com

http://www.justairports.com

http://www.simplyairports.co.uk

http://www.londoneye.com

http://www.nationalexpress.com

 

We stayed at the Rubens at the Palace and Thistle Westminster in the Victoria area of London. Hotels in the Victoria area are close to Buckingham Palace, Royal Mews, The Queens Gallery, The Mall, National Express Coach and Train stations, restaurants, pubs, bus, Hop On/Hop Off (HOHO) bus, and stores.

[jtamchay]

we are staying at The Rubens at the Palace...close and within walking distance of what we want to see.

[stanjj111]

Take a look at this site: http://www.londontown.com

 

Great site

[John Bull]

Check out this map:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=London+Victoria+station,+London,+UK+SW1V+1JU+(Victoria+Rail+Station)&daddr=51.5134,-0.15871+to:51.52216,-0.12825+to:51.5207,-0.11278+to:51.51355,-0.0734+to:51.50279,-0.07715+to:51.50693,-0.0909+to:51.50717,-0.10602+to:51.5002,-0.12618+to:51.49486,-0.12535+to:Victoria+St%2FA302&geocode=FSvGEQMd3cz9_yHNpt7CpGvfnw%3BFTgIEgMdCpT9_ylzFe1hMwV2SDHAyKg2xoUREw%3BFXAqEgMdBgv-_ylvmODaMRt2SDFABAA5xoUREw%3BFbwkEgMddEf-_yl3S-xCSRt2SDEQ_f84xoUREw%3BFc4IEgMdSOH-_ymDvkYgSwN2SDEwhDlkMa4OEw%3BFcbeEQMdotL-_yn332bDRQN2SDGRFlizLa4OEw%3BFfLuEQMd7Jz-_ylTVKgAVwN2SDGBkWsuxoUREw%3BFeLvEQMd3GH-_ykrbWrVsQR2SDFhHUc2xoUREw%3BFajUEQMdHBP-_ykrUhhgxAR2SDFBTJk2xoUREw%3BFcy_EQMdWhb-_ylrx9VuwgR2SDHhuAg5xoUREw%3BFd7GEQMd-Nf9_w&hl=en&mra=dpe&mrsp=9&sz=13&via=1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9&dirflg=w&sll=51.505323,-0.116215&sspn=0.040282,0.104198&ie=UTF8&z=13

 

Ignore the "directions", concentrate on the area within the blue line, most of London's tourist sights are in that area, the majority in the western half ("the West End"), and most of those are easily walkable from one to the next. Buck' Palace, Parliament/Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Cabinet War Rooms, Whiehall, Downing St, Trafalgar Square, London Eye, etc.

Fewer sights in the eastern half ("the city") such as St Paul's, Tower Bridge/Tower of London. Try to avoid hotels east of the blue line, pretty inconvenient for most folk.

 

Best compromise between location & value includes around Victoria (by the A & B flags) which is why you're getting a lot of suggestions in that area, but there's plenty of other options.

Westminster is much more convenient so generally more expensive, but consider Marriot County Hall or, in a lower price bracket, Premier Inn County Hall. It's an iconic building, so much more "British" than the modern cloned hotels, and within easy walking distance of a lot of sights - and Waterloo rail station if you're aiming to take the train to Southampton

 

Choose a hotel which is handy to the tube and perhaps a ho-ho route - particularly important if the hotel is outside the blue line. The tourist area is way too big to cover on foot, so you'll almost certainly be using the tube for some sights wherever your hotel is located.

 

The ho-ho bus is good for orientation and an overview of a huge number of sights. Tickets are good for 24 hours, so mebbe jump one for a complete tour on your first afternoon (you'll not be feeling energetic then)and next morning a boat trip and a different ho-ho route (all included in the ticket), & hopefully the first couple of in-depth stops before your ticket expires. Their route maps also give an indication of where the sights are concentrated.

 

Number 99 makes a point about aircon in hotels. The UK isn't big on air-con, Brits don't find a need in our climate & don't give it a second thought. But many of our US cousins do seem to have a problem in the UK.

Even Americans are ok with rooms with fully-opening windows unless they have a problem with noise, but try to avoid modern p/b hotels that have no aircon or decently-openable windows.

Hotel rooms throughout europe, esp in central London, tend to be smaller than in the US.

 

the tube:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloa...d-tube-map.pdf

 

ho-ho bus:

www.theoriginaltour.com/

or

www.bigbustours.com/

 

 

John Bull :)

[Jeffbhhs]

I just booked at the Mint Hotel Tower of London and this place has been getting phenomenal reviews from TripAdvisor. The Tower Of London location is VERY close to the Tower Hill Tube station.

 

After very much research into the issue this hotel had among the best reviews for the price... I think I paid 129 GBP/$211.00 a night for my stay this upcoming August. This rate also included a FULL English breakfast each morning.

[iancal]

We did Priceline hotels on both visits in April. Got Marriotts both times-Kensington for 3 nights and Maide Vale for 2 nights. $104 and $90. per night respectively-before tax.

[Giantfan13]

We’re real close to booking Princess’s 14-night Baltic Heritage Cruise in/out Southampton July 7 – July 21 2012.

 

Just starting our research and have never been to London.

 

Can we get some reference links – places where we can get some good info on hotels' date=' the geography of London (one district v. another) etc.?

 

We’ll most likely fly in on July 3, arriving from the USA on July 4. While not enough to do it justice that is all our real world circumstances may allow for pre-cruise activities. Of course if hotel rooms are a bit less costly we might be able to swing a few more days. So what is a good site to do some research?

 

Can anyone who has traveled in the US provide some sort of equivalency guide – what would a standard room at a Marriott, Hilton or Hyatt compare to in London. Are our standard Marriott rooms the equivalent of 2, 3 or 4 stars, etc?

 

Do most hotels in London accept AAA, AARP, or Entertain book discounts?

 

Open to all reasonable suggestions.

Thanks,

Terry[/quote']

 

Hi Terry

 

Are you looking for 4-5 star accommodations?? or are you looking for average price hotels, budget hotels?? Have you thought about staying at a bed and breakfast??

 

If you have just begun to look, be aware that London is expensive if you are looking for first class hotels. Expect to pay $200++ or more a night at the minimum. Most travelers to London want to be in a specific area, and the closer to the touristy things, the more you will pay. (there are always exceptions though). As was said, you can stay a bit further away from the 'heart' of London, as long as you are near a Tube station. the Tube is the best way around London, and the savings are remarkable if you can stay, say 10 minutes away.

Also be aware that many of the average hotels may not have AC, and the rooms are usually much smaller than American hotel rooms. If you have any sort of hotel 'points' use them here. We stayed at the Hilton Tower Bridge for pre crusie and the Sheridan Park Lane post crusie, all with points we had saved for years. it finally payed off.

 

Cheers

 

Len

[iancal]

After 5 or 6 visits to London our preference is for a hotel on the Picadilly line. London is so spread out. We find it convenient to get to most places, either direct or easy change, and we particulary like being able to get off the plane,hop on the tube, and go directly to our hotel (we are light travellers).

[Keith1010]

A hotel to take a look at (there are so many) is the Landmark Hotel. It is equivalent to a Hyatt.

 

Keith

[sunsetbeachgal]

We booked our stay last September on Priceline (name your own price) as we wanted air conditioning and and convenient location-we stayed near Victoria Station which was convenient to trains, Hop on hop off bus, etc and not too far to walk alot of places. We were very pleased with Priceline and got a 4 * hotel for much less than even a 2 * hotel (and far less than some of the prices quoted in earlier posts on this thread)...

[hpf]

Does anyone know of any hotels near Heathrow as we have an early morning flight and would like to stay near the airport. Also do they have shuttles to the airport and also breakfast. Sorry for asking so many questions all at once. Helen

[iancal]

We stayed at the Sheraton Skyline last month for the same reason. It was very nice. We took the free city bus there from the airport. In the morning we took a cab. There is a shuttle for about 3GBP each. Cab was 10GBP. I seem to recall that the Sofitel and the Premier Inn had shuttles but I could be mistaken. We got the Skyline on Priceline. It was a very nice hotel. We were flying out of Terminal 3. Don't know about breakfast. For early AM flights we like to cut it fine and just eat at the airport after going through security. We don't really enjoy breakfast at the hotel if we are worried about the time.

[hpf]

Thanks iancal, we are flying out of Terminal 3 as well. I'll now see if I can book there or at one of the others you mentioned. Helen

[Nanatravel]

We just returned from the UK and our British Isles cruise. We stayed at the Sanctuary House Hotel 3* booked through booking.com. This is a 35 room boutique hotel with a Fuller Pub below. It is a 2 minute walk to Westiminster Abby, walking distance for St. James Park, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Churchill's Mueseum, the Westminster Bridge, the London Eye, Whitehall St., HOHO bus and Trafalgar square. The St. James Tube station was a 2 minute walk and the Westminster Tube less than 10 minutes away. Service was excellent. They do have AC and a small elevator (don't forget to be sure your hotel has a Lift).

[Love Cruis'n]

Thank-you, all.

Now that we’ve actually booked both the cruise and our air, the search starts in earnest. :D

Thanks again for priming the pump.

 

Terry

[jarand]

We went on the Brit Isles cruise last June and stayed several days before and after in the Park International. We were very happy. Smaller hotel, recently remodeled, about $130 per nt, several restaurants nearby. Most importantly, in a great location, near the Gloucester subway (tube) station that takes you everywhere.

 

Post-cruise, we rented a car and went to the city of Bath via Stonehenge. Stayed in the "Badminton Villa" B&B. Very reasonable and just wonderful. If you can squeeze it in, I'd highly recommend Bath.

 

From there we drove to through the Cotswolds, staying in the Old School House B&B. In the English countryside, and absolutely charming. Then onto London for a few days.

[KirkNC]

We were in London early May 2011. We really enjoyed our stay at the Luna Simone- great people. location & breakfast.

http://www.lunasimonehotel.com

 

Near Victoria Station & HOHO bus!:)

 

This is where we are staying next June.

 

Kirk

[hubofhockey]

http://www.sterminshotel.co.uk/

 

I just booked the St Ermins for one day pre-cruise (spending three days in Paris before that). Highly rated on Trip Advisor and is very close to Victoria Station and the main attractions. I think rate for July 7 was $313 (USD) prepaid or $353 with no advance payment.

 

Up until last weekend, we were going to go directly from Paris to Southampton. But we changed our minds and chance to stay at St Ermins for a decent price certainly played into our decision.

[Bob++]

http://www.onefinestay.com/search/

 

I just came across this and if you want something out of the ordinary then check it out (I have no connection)