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Pre-cruise Travelodge Hotel in London


joyus
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My DH and I are arriving in London on Aug 27th for a cruise aboard Anthem of the Seas on Aug. 30th. We're considering staying at the Travelodge London City Hotel at 20 Middlesex St. We'd like to know if this is a good location and easy to get around to see mainly Buckingham Palace changing of the guards, Westminister Abbey and the HOHO tour?

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The better place for your research would be the British Isles board, here:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/148-british-isleswestern-europe/

 

Lots of local expertise there.

 

That being said, given London's fantastic "tube" (subway) system, there really isn't too many "bad" places to stay, considering access to the major sites.

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Agree with looking at the UK board for better recommendations. I wouldn't consider this a prime location from which to sight see. It is on the edge of the City, which is the financial district, and is pretty much dead at night. About the only thing going for it is proximity to the Aldgate tube station, where you could use the Circle line to get to Westminster.

 

You might also want to look at sights like booking.com or hotels.com for hotels in areas with good transport options, lots of restaurants and pubs, and closer to your areas of interest. I'd suggest looking in the Victoria Station, Kensington and perhaps Earls Court areas.

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7 hours ago, joyus said:

My DH and I are arriving in London on Aug 27th for a cruise aboard Anthem of the Seas on Aug. 30th. We're considering staying at the Travelodge London City Hotel at 20 Middlesex St. We'd like to know if this is a good location and easy to get around to see mainly Buckingham Palace changing of the guards, Westminister Abbey and the HOHO tour?

 

@joyus

 

Howdy from Texas! emo22.gif 

 

Thank you for your new thread on the Ask a Cruise Question forum that is for general questions about cruising. 👍 

 

Since you post concerns London, to help you out I have moved your thread to the Ports of Call - Europe - British Isles/Western Europe forum where it will be on-topic. That is where all things Amsterdam, Brugge, Dublin, Edinburgh & London (Dover, Harwich, Southampton) are discussed. Please browse through the thread titles on this new forum looking for threads of interest. You will probably find your fellow Cruise Critic members have already posted questions and received answers that will be of interest to you.  

 

I sincerely hope this will be helpful and glad to have you aboard Cruise Critic! emo35.gif

 

Happy sails,

 

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9 hours ago, joyus said:

....to see mainly Buckingham Palace changing of the guards, Westminister Abbey and the HOHO tour?

For these sights, I'd suggest staying in the district centred around Victoria rail station.
If you decide on this, here's a suggestion for one of your 3 evenings (or lunch):

Hone your appetite at the Prince of Wales* pub on Wilton Road (S.E. of the rail station) then cross the road for some great fish 'n' chips at the Seafresh restaurant. Now that's being a Londoner!

What I can't recommend is the handy, hourly, direct train from Victoria to Southampton, because August 30 is a Sunday - the only day it doesn't run (boo). Take a cab over to Waterloo station, about 2 km. away; lot's of direct trains to Southampton from there.
* PS if you want the real Prince of Wales, he's been known to visit the Bag o' Nails pub, just south of Buck House.

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17 hours ago, joyus said:

We're considering staying at the Travelodge London City Hotel at 20 Middlesex St. We'd like to know if this is a good location and easy to get around to see mainly Buckingham Palace changing of the guards, Westminister Abbey and the HOHO tour?

 

1 hour ago, Bob++ said:

Hotels in the East of London tend to be cheaper (relatively) at weekends because they exist mainly for the financial district aka The City.

 

I agree. The answer to the OP's question is an unequivocal no. That hotel is miles away from the locations where the OP wants to be.

 

If the reason for lighting on this particular Travelodge is that it's cheap, it's likely to be cheap for those dates not only because it's in a location that (as Bob++ says) will be largely aimed at those who need to be near the financial district known as the City of London (hence the hotel's name) but also because 27 August is basically the beginning of a holiday weekend as Monday 31 August is a Bank Holiday / public holiday in England and Wales (and Northern Ireland, FWIW).

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A quick peek on Google shows this hotel to be crazy inexpensive (USD$50/night - which for London is basically misprint pricing cheap), and for that reason I'd say "stay there".  It's walking distance to the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, and Aldgate Tube Station (on the Circle Line), which can whisk you to pretty much any location in London in under 20 minutes.  You're probably looking at 3-4x the price to stay in the 'victoria' part of town. 

 

From Heathrow: TFL Rail to Paddington, and either Circle or Metropolitan line to Aldgate, or Hammersmith & City line to Aldgate East.

 

It's really not even that far from Bank Station, which is the quickest way to Waterloo station to catch the train to Southampton for your cruise.

 

 

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I don't see it quite that cheap, but it will be a non-refundable price with no breakfast, so yes - all the factors need to be taken into account. The Premier Inns in Victoria and City Hall are just under £100.

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48 minutes ago, scottbee said:

It's really not even that far from Bank Station, which is the quickest way to Waterloo station to catch the train to Southampton for your cruise.


If you are referring to the Waterloo & City line, it doesn’t run on Sundays, which is the day the OP’s cruise leaves. 

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1 hour ago, scottbee said:

It's really not even that far from Bank Station, which is the quickest way to Waterloo station to catch the train to Southampton for your cruise.

 

46 minutes ago, Cotswold Eagle said:

If you are referring to the Waterloo & City line, it doesn’t run on Sundays, which is the day the OP’s cruise leaves.

 

And with cruise luggage: :classic_ohmy:

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2 hours ago, Cotswold Eagle said:


If you are referring to the Waterloo & City line, it doesn’t run on Sundays, which is the day the OP’s cruise leaves. 

 

Good Point.

 

However, back to the original question; if the hotel is *significantly* cheaper than elsewhere, I'd stick with it.  It's really not hard to get elsewhere around town.

 

 

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55 minutes ago, scottbee said:

 

Good Point.

 

However, back to the original question; if the hotel is *significantly* cheaper than elsewhere, I'd stick with it.  It's really not hard to get elsewhere around town.

 

 

 

They're there for less than 3 days. I'm going to guess that the fact they're asking about a hotel near the City means they've not been before, so those 40 minutes a day have a cost versus going back. I don't disagree with saving money, but you've got to figure out what you want to do and what time is worth to you. If £50/day gets you significantly closer to what you want to do, balanced out with airfare, vacation time, etc., to return to London, you have to figure out what those £50 are worth to you.

 

To the OP: Pull up Google Maps and look at the places you want to visit. You've mostly listed places in Westminster. Staying in or near Westminster (or Victoria) will let you walk and wonder to those places. The Premier Inn is a great suggestion. Strangely enough, some of the Fullers Pubs also have rooms and are worth checking out. (I'd have to find it again, but a poster a couple of weeks ago asked about a location in Westminster that really looked surprisingly nice. 34 rooms with a pub...) But please look closely at a map (or Google Maps) and get a feel for the lay of the land and then look at hotels.

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So I am looking at somewhere reasonable. We only have the day we fly in and the next to cram everything in. So what does anyone think about the Hub by Premier Inn London Westminster Abbey or Victoria. And would it be walkable to the Victoria station if staying at the Westminster to head to Southampton. It would be me and my husband. They seem to have good reviews and a cheap breakfast. Or should I stay at reg. Premier Inn Victoria or somewhere similar. 

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On 2/8/2020 at 12:07 PM, joyus said:

My DH and I are arriving in London on Aug 27th for a cruise aboard Anthem of the Seas on Aug. 30th. We're considering staying at the Travelodge London City Hotel at 20 Middlesex St. We'd like to know if this is a good location and easy to get around to see mainly Buckingham Palace changing of the guards, Westminister Abbey and the HOHO tour?

 

As per my comment in response to a similar question in a previous thread ("London Hotel - down to 3 choices", started by MSPCUBS)... 

 

I would suggest you look at several Premier Inn properties that are much more centrally located than the Travelodge London City:

 

Blackfriars, Holborn, Euston, St Pancras, County Hall, Waterloo, Smithfield/Farringdon (in addition to Victoria, suggested by Bob++.)

 

I haven't stayed at any Travelodge hotels, but have stayed in a number of Premier Inns (in London and elsewhere in England) and have been quite satisfied with each of them.  It's my understanding, from numerous reviews and professional descriptions/recommendations, and casual observation (from what I've seen of some Travelodge properties and their location in passing), that Premier Inn is a step or two above Travelodge in terms of amenities, consistency, and overall quality.  Their prices can be extremely competitive if you can book well in advance.  Use the link to the Premier Inn website provided in Bob++'s post above, and book directly through that website.

 

 

 

  

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54 minutes ago, chismrules said:

So I am looking at somewhere reasonable. We only have the day we fly in and the next to cram everything in. So what does anyone think about the Hub by Premier Inn London Westminster Abbey or Victoria. And would it be walkable to the Victoria station if staying at the Westminster to head to Southampton. It would be me and my husband. They seem to have good reviews and a cheap breakfast. Or should I stay at reg. Premier Inn Victoria or somewhere similar. 

 

See my previous comment, above.

 

Be aware that the Premier Inn "Hub" hotels feature minimalist high-tech pod-style rooms. They might or might not be suitable for you, depending on your needs/expectations and the amount of luggage you have.  I have not stayed at a Hub and probably would not be likely to do so in the future unless it were only for a night or two.  (It might be tolerable for me on my own, but I know that SWMBO would not be keen to share the experience.)  The hub hotels also have what PI calls "Bigger Rooms"--bigger than the pod-like standard hub rooms, that is, but not the size of regular Premier Inn rooms.  There are some reviews of Hub rooms on YouTube--take a look to see what they're like and if they might be right for you. 

 

The PI Victoria is right around the corner from Victoria Station.  The Westminster Abbey Hub and also the Westminster St James Park Hub (very close to one another) are both a little over a half mile from Victoria Station.

 

Both the PI Waterloo and PI County Hall hotels are virtually next door to Waterloo Station, from whence the faster trains to Southampton depart.

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3 hours ago, markeb said:

 

Strangely enough, some of the Fullers Pubs also have rooms and are worth checking out. (I'd have to find it again, but a poster a couple of weeks ago asked about a location in Westminster that really looked surprisingly nice. 34 rooms with a pub...) But please look closely at a map (or Google Maps) and get a feel for the lay of the land and then look at hotels.

 

Off the top of my head, I'm pretty sure that was the Sanctuary House Hotel, literally next door to the PI Westminster Abbey hub on Tothill St.  It (Sanctuary House, that is) is frequently mentioned on CC, and gets generally very good reviews on Tripadvisor (apart from occasional complaints about noise from the pub at night).

 

I must make it a point to pop in for a drink next time I'm visiting my friends around the corner at H.M. Treasury!😉

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23 hours ago, chismrules said:

So I am looking at somewhere reasonable. We only have the day we fly in and the next to cram everything in. So what does anyone think about the Hub by Premier Inn London Westminster Abbey or Victoria. And would it be walkable to the Victoria station if staying at the Westminster to head to Southampton. It would be me and my husband. They seem to have good reviews and a cheap breakfast. Or should I stay at reg. Premier Inn Victoria or somewhere similar. 

 

The frequent and fast rail service to Southampton leaves from Waterloo Station (3x/hr, 1h20m) whereas Victoria has only one train per hour, and it takes 2h30m

 

 

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20 minutes ago, scottbee said:

 

The frequent and fast rail service to Southampton leaves from Waterloo Station (3x/hr, 1h20m) whereas Victoria has only one train per hour, and it takes 2h30m

 

Except that the OP is travelling on a Sunday, and the direct trains from Waterloo don't run on Sundays.

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22 hours ago, Post Captain said:

 

Off the top of my head, I'm pretty sure that was the Sanctuary House Hotel, literally next door to the PI Westminster Abbey hub on Tothill St.  It (Sanctuary House, that is) is frequently mentioned on CC, and gets generally very good reviews on Tripadvisor (apart from occasional complaints about noise from the pub at night).

 

I must make it a point to pop in for a drink next time I'm visiting my friends around the corner at H.M. Treasury!😉

 

That was the one. It really looked interesting.

 

Unfortunately, my only connection to Treasury around these parts is seeing Hamilton twice...

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3 hours ago, gnome12 said:

Except that the OP is travelling on a Sunday, and the direct trains from Waterloo don't run on Sundays.

 

Isn't the other way around? IIRC, the slow direct trains from Victoria to Southampton don't run on Sundays.

 

However, the fast direct trains from Waterloo to Southampton run every day of the week. After all, this is the primary route from central London to Southampton by train.

 

For a Sunday (and any Saturday), though, it is always worth bearing in mind the possibility of engineering work disrupting the train service. A quick look suggests that this may be an issue for this coming weekend (slower trains on Sunday) and the following weekend (no direct trains), for example.

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2 hours ago, Globaliser said:

For a Sunday (and any Saturday), though, it is always worth bearing in mind the possibility of engineering work disrupting the train service. A quick look suggests that this may be an issue for this coming weekend (slower trains on Sunday) and the following weekend (no direct trains), for example.

I think that it was the following weekend that I was looking at. Oops!

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12 hours ago, gnome12 said:

Except that the OP is travelling on a Sunday, and the direct trains from Waterloo don't run on Sundays.

Other way around. 

Direct [2h30m] service from London Victoria runs 6 days/week once per hour (no service on Sundays), 

Direct [1h20m] service from London Waterloo runs 7 days/week, 3x per hour

 

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13 minutes ago, scottbee said:

Other way around. 

Direct [2h30m] service from London Victoria runs 6 days/week once per hour (no service on Sundays), 

Direct [1h20m] service from London Waterloo runs 7 days/week, 3x per hour

 

Yes, I have already been chastised by Globaliser. 😃

However, track work does seem to disrupt Sunday service, so the OP will need to check the specific dates; When I looked at a Sunday in February I found no direct trains, and warnings that some of the connections might be made by bus. (Having had to do that in Spain a few years ago, it isn't a lot of fun.)

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