Need Advise - Best Western Victoria vs Premier Inn Victoria

[ChattTenn]

We are planning our 3 days pre-cruise next year late April. It will be our FIRST TIME in London and more likely will try to see some tourist sites (HOHO bus) or walking and probably won't use too much public system. We will be arriving on Saturday and leaving to our cruise on Tuesday.

 

We are looking at Best Western (recommended by Rick Steve London) and Premier Inn Victoria. Best Western is a little more expensive than Premier Inn.

 

Which one should be a better choice?. I would like to hear from the insights and experiences.

 

Thank You.

[Got2Cruise]

I can tell you that the traffic in London is horrific. If you take the HoHo you might not go very far. If you don't want to use public transportation, choose a property within walking distance to most of the places you wish to visit.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Bob++]

I don't think that there is a lot to choose between them. Expect smaller rooms than you may be used to and no air con (not that it matters in April). The key plus point for both is location: Walking distance to Buckingham Palace and Victoria is a travel hub; not only for touring London but for easy travel to Southampton.

 

Many people will just go for the one with the best deal.

 

Traffic in London is horrendous, but the HOHO buses do manage to get around and are a good way to get a brief sight of the tourist attractions. If you want to visit places like the Tower of London, you may need to plan ahead. London pavements are very hard on the feet and you should consider getting Oyster Cards and making use of the extensive public transport system.

[geoherb]

Three days really isn't enough. We stayed three nights in London before our cruise around Great Britain last month. We had both visited there before (and I lived there for seven months over 30 years ago). I was prepared to ride the tube more than we did. Our hotel in Kensington (Hilton Olympia) was not very close to a tube station. The No. 9 bus, however, came right by our hotel and took us to the Trafalgar Square area. Depending on traffic, it took between 20 and 30 minutes to make the trip. The double decker buses give you a great view of the city even when they're just regular buses and not HoHo buses. We did enjoy the HoHo buses in Dublin and Glasgow. My only complaint is that they do routes in one direction. If you wanted to skip ahead to an attraction, you'd have to ride the whole route again to go back to the attractions you missed.

[phabric]

You might look at Premier Inn Waterloo. This hotel is close to Big Ben, London Eye, Thames River, Westminster Abbey, Parliament, HOHO, tube, regular bus, Waterloo Train station.

[dsrdsrdsr]

Does the Best Western, if you book on their website, include breakfast? That'll help.

[ChattTenn]

Thanks everyone for the responses. We might reconsider about the public transportation at later time since our cruise won't be until next year. We got a book Rick Steven London and have been read it to make some sense out what we would need to do while in London.

 

dsrdsrdsr. Thanks for the tip. Premier Inn site breakfast would be extra.

 

phabric - Premier Inn Waterloo is on the other site of the Themes and got a lot of good comments. We will need to check on it.

 

geoherb - 3 days in London won't cover too much but it would give us a general view of the city. How did you travel to Southampton? Did you use a private transfer or drive a train from Victoria station?. We read your review and it sounds you had a wonderful cruise. Hope our cruise would be as good.

[Bob++]

The first thing I would do, as I do for every place we visit for the first time, is to make a list of all the must-see places that interest me. There is so much in London that in three days you will barely scratch the surface. Once you have a list, you can start to whittle it down to something manageable. Your list will depend on what your interests are: Cathedrals/churches, castles, museums, art galleries, etc. You will be okay to travel to Southampton on your departure day, but don't expect to do anything else.

[phabric]

Thanks everyone for the responses. We might reconsider about the public transportation at later time since our cruise won't be until next year. We got a book Rick Steven London and have been read it to make some sense out what we would need to do while in London.

 

phabric - Premier Inn Waterloo is on the other site of the Themes and got a lot of good comments. We will need to check on it.

 

I have stayed at the Premier Inn Waterloo before and will again in July 2018. It is a block away from a main road, walk over the bridge passing the London Eye and you are at Big Ben and the Parliament building. HOHO bus and regular within walking distance.

 

Premier Inn breakfast is a buffet.

 

I have stayed in the Victoria area and Waterloo area and found the Waterloo area more central to the sights I wanted.

 

I took the train from Southampton to Waterloo train station and walked to the Premier Inn Waterloo.

 

If, you stay in the Victoria area, take the National Express Coach www.nationalexpress.com to Southampton then a short taxi (under £10) to the dock or can walk.

 

When I had a short visit to London, I took the HOHO bus. The HOHO has 3 routes, I took 1 route all the way around, switch buses, took that route all way around, the next day took the bus to the Tower of London and then finished that route. With the HOHO ticket, you can take a Thamas river cruise.

 

I took Justairports www.justairports.com (a private car service) from/to my London hotel/ LHR, use your hotel's postal code to get a quote- per car.

[phabric]

I have reserved my Premier Inn Waterloo hotel for July I check back a few times and the price has changed so I have cancelled and rebooked with the new rates.

 

Just a reminder to check your bookings.

[geoherb]

We took a train from Paddington to Southampton. There had been an accident at Waterloo the previous day plus ongoing construction (see this article: http://metro.co.uk/2017/08/04/what-is-happening-to-waterloo-station-and-how-you-will-be-affected-6828775/).

 

After our cruise, we took the Princess transfer to Heathrow. I much preferred the train ride. If doing it over, I would have stayed in England a couple of nights after our cruise as well.

[insanemagnet]

If you want to visit places like the Tower of London, you may need to plan ahead. London pavements are very hard on the feet and you should consider getting Oyster Cards and making use of the extensive public transport system.

 

If you plan ahead you can 'star' on Google Maps places of interest to you so they are easier to fin, and then if you have a smartphone and data roaming you can use Google Maps to find the best route to get there as it knows all the timetables and has live bus and tube train times.

 

If you can't be bothered with the bus or the tube, then consider using an Uber. Fares are not expensive and are significantly cheaper than black cabs, and if there are more than a couple of you it can be cheaper than the tube.

[ChattTenn]

Thanks everyone again for the additional comments/advises. All of them are very helpful for those of us has never been to London before. We got a map from Rick Steves London and will take a good look it.

 

ChattTenn