London hotel location

[erinsmom03]

We are looking for hotels that are convenient for sightseeing on our first trip to London, that won’t break the bank and have rooms that can accommodate a family of 3 adults. I’ve found a Travelodge at 10 Drury Lane, High Holborn, London, UK. We’ve never stayed at an Econolodge, tend to stay at Marriott brand hotels. Any one know about this hotel? Is the location good? Any other recommendations?

 

https://www.travelodge.co.uk/hotels/318/London-Central-Covent-Garden-hotel?utm_source=google&utm_medium=GHA_Organic&utm_campaign=GHA_London Central Covent Garden

[KforKitty]

Travelodge is a basic UK hotel and will be several grades away from the Marriotts that you are accustomed to.  Personally, if I was staying for longer than 1 night, I would choose another chain.  The location is very central but also very busy.

 

Catherine

[Island2Dweller]

The location is incredibly central, but as the previous post said, you cannot put Marriott and Travelodge in the same sentence.  A reasonable budget option, but it is a budget / no frills option.

[Globaliser]

26 minutes ago, erinsmom03 said:

... that won’t break the bank ...

 

It would really help to know how big the bank is. For some people, £250 per room per night would break the bank. For others, the figure may be closer to £1,000 per room per night. Yet others may not even flinch when paying that much. So what is your budget?

[Harters]

15 minutes ago, KforKitty said:

Travelodge is a basic UK hotel

Agreed. But you can get mixed results. Their "new design" is pretty good - maybe better than most Premier Inns. I've stayed in the one in Hexham and thought it was very good for the price. On the other hand, the one in Llandudno is very shabby. Both in the last couple of years.

 

I've not stayed in one in central London, as I prefer the Premier Inn opposite Euston, as it's handy for the train. 

 

 

Edited November 18, 2023 by Harters

[erinsmom03]

2 hours ago, Globaliser said:

 

It would really help to know how big the bank is. For some people, £250 per room per night would break the bank. For others, the figure may be closer to £1,000 per room per night. Yet others may not even flinch when paying that much. So what is your budget?

I was hoping to find a 3 night stay for around $1000 (£270 night?). The challenge has been rooms that fit the 3 of us. 
 

[erinsmom03]

2 hours ago, Harters said:

Agreed. But you can get mixed results. Their "new design" is pretty good - maybe better than most Premier Inns. I've stayed in the one in Hexham and thought it was very good for the price. On the other hand, the one in Llandudno is very shabby. Both in the last couple of years.

 

I've not stayed in one in central London, as I prefer the Premier Inn opposite Euston, as it's handy for the train. 

 

 

The website did say it was redesigned. It looked nice in the pictures but not sure after reading the posts here if I would chance it.

[erinsmom03]

2 hours ago, KforKitty said:

Travelodge is a basic UK hotel and will be several grades away from the Marriotts that you are accustomed to.  Personally, if I was staying for longer than 1 night, I would choose another chain.  The location is very central but also very busy.

 

Catherine

Thank you for your advice. We don’t always stay at Marriotts, but they’re brands/partner hotels. Our 3 nights in London are the tail end of an almost 3 week trip, so I’m just attempting to be a little budget conscious at this point lol. 

[SSAtlantic]

I am also interested in this as we are a family of 3 adults and will be spending 3 nights in London in the fall prior to a cruise. We have never been to London, so we want to be close to major sites as we only have a limited time. 

[erinsmom03]

52 minutes ago, SSAtlantic said:

I am also interested in this as we are a family of 3 adults and will be spending 3 nights in London in the fall prior to a cruise. We have never been to London, so we want to be close to major sites as we only have a limited time. 

We will be there after a cruise in June. I know technically I could put our college age daughter in her own room, but we would rather have her with us than by herself. But it certainly isn’t easy to find rooms for 3, is it? We are trying to stay in Covent Garden area, but I’m not sure if the articles I read that recommended this are the most accurate. And it seems there are many neighborhoods that are close to many tourist attractions. I’m just not sure where we should stay.

[Harters]

3 hours ago, erinsmom03 said:

The website did say it was redesigned.

Yep, the photo looks like the "new design". Assuming it's been redone to the same standard as the new hotel in Hexham that I stayed at, then it'll be fine for a short stay, IMO.  Particularly so, as you are somewhat budget conscious and, I guess, are not needing much more from a hotel that's clean and comfortable and provides somewhere to sleep.

Edited November 18, 2023 by Harters

[erinsmom03]

48 minutes ago, Harters said:

Yep, the photo looks like the "new design". Assuming it's been redone to the same standard as the new hotel in Hexham that I stayed at, then it'll be fine for a short stay, IMO.  Particularly so, as you are somewhat budget conscious and, I guess, are not needing much more from a hotel that's clean and comfortable and provides somewhere to sleep.

Yes, we don’t plan to be there much, as there is so much to try to squeeze in with this quick trip. I just want it to be centrally located, easy to get to transportation options. 

[phabric]

I have stayed 5x at Premier Inn Waterloo (Westminster Bridge).  I take a twin room - 1 double bed and a day bed.  I always take Premier Inn’s twin rooms as we are 2 senior ladies that travel together.

 

Hotel has A/C, bar, restaurant, close to London Eye, Westminster Abbey, Parliament, Thamas river, HOHO, regular bus, 2 tubes station, Waterloo train station, pubs, restaurants, stores.

 

www.premierinn.com

[Globaliser]

14 hours ago, erinsmom03 said:

We are trying to stay in Covent Garden area, but I’m not sure if the articles I read that recommended this are the most accurate. And it seems there are many neighborhoods that are close to many tourist attractions.

 

The main tourist attractions are spread across central London in an area that's about 5 miles wide. Obviously, that covers many different neighbourhoods. If you're thinking about a particular area, it's worth asking yourself why.

[davekent]

We have stayed at this hotel on 3 or 4 occasions on theatre trips into London and have had no problems on any of the stays (in a previous life the hotel was a BT British Telecom office that I worked in!). Most of the issues I can see in reviews appear to be around low level or ground floor rooms which you could avoid by booking a Super room. The foyer is busy but always seemed well organised. The major shortfall for a 3 night stay would I suspect be storage but if you are happy to live out of suitcases that would not be a problem

 

Location wise I do not think it can be beaten. This is reflected in the price, similar Travelodges 20 minutes walk away up towards Kings Cross are usually around 30% cheaper. It is 5 minutes walk from Covent Garden, lots of theatres and the British Museum. 15  - 20 minutes walk gets you to Trafalgar Square, the Thames, Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus and the start (though not the nicer end) of Oxford Street shopping. Lots of pubs and restaurants including chains such as TGI Friday and the Hard Rock Cafe are within 20 minutes walk

 

Just over 5 minutes walk away is Holborn underground station where probably the 2 most useful tourist lines interchange, The Piccadilly line will take you to the Kensington museums, Hyde Park and Green Park, Buckingham Palace etc, the Central line directly to Oxford Street, Marble Arch, St Pauls and Stratford in East London for your Abba extravaganza. In saying that there are some real experts on visiting London and transportation options on this forum and I'm sure they can help you!

 

 

[erinsmom03]

10 hours ago, davekent said:

We have stayed at this hotel on 3 or 4 occasions on theatre trips into London and have had no problems on any of the stays (in a previous life the hotel was a BT British Telecom office that I worked in!). Most of the issues I can see in reviews appear to be around low level or ground floor rooms which you could avoid by booking a Super room. The foyer is busy but always seemed well organised. The major shortfall for a 3 night stay would I suspect be storage but if you are happy to live out of suitcases that would not be a problem

 

Location wise I do not think it can be beaten. This is reflected in the price, similar Travelodges 20 minutes walk away up towards Kings Cross are usually around 30% cheaper. It is 5 minutes walk from Covent Garden, lots of theatres and the British Museum. 15  - 20 minutes walk gets you to Trafalgar Square, the Thames, Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus and the start (though not the nicer end) of Oxford Street shopping. Lots of pubs and restaurants including chains such as TGI Friday and the Hard Rock Cafe are within 20 minutes walk

 

Just over 5 minutes walk away is Holborn underground station where probably the 2 most useful tourist lines interchange, The Piccadilly line will take you to the Kensington museums, Hyde Park and Green Park, Buckingham Palace etc, the Central line directly to Oxford Street, Marble Arch, St Pauls and Stratford in East London for your Abba extravaganza. In saying that there are some real experts on visiting London and transportation options on this forum and I'm sure they can help you!

 

 

Thank you!!!

[Simon-t]

As others have said, Travelodge is a basic budget chain. Although I have not stayed at this one, they are usually clean and comfortable, but with basic no frills furnishing and facilities. You cannot go too far wrong, so long as you are not expecting top end luxury. One of the big bonuses is that they do family rooms which will sleep 3 or 4 people,

 

The location for this one is excellent.

[princeton123211]

On 11/18/2023 at 2:48 PM, erinsmom03 said:

We don’t always stay at Marriotts, but they’re brands/partner hotels. Our 3 nights in London are the tail end of an almost 3 week trip, so I’m just attempting to be a little budget conscious at this point lol. 

If you stay in Marriott/Marriott owned properties with any regularity do you have a significant amount of Marriott Bonvoy points? Or possibly transfer credit card points over to Bonvoy points? In all likelihood you could book a nicer hotel than you are budgeting here for or a bigger room and spend little to nothing. 

 

Some great Bonvoy redemption properties in incredible locations St Ermin's Hotel (Autograph Collection), Sheraton Grand Park Lane, and Park Tower Knightsbridge (Luxury Collection). There are others for more points and some for less but those are some great values from a redemption standpoint for the location. Worth looking into if you have points or access to convert them over. 

[erinsmom03]

4 hours ago, princeton123211 said:

If you stay in Marriott/Marriott owned properties with any regularity do you have a significant amount of Marriott Bonvoy points? Or possibly transfer credit card points over to Bonvoy points? In all likelihood you could book a nicer hotel than you are budgeting here for or a bigger room and spend little to nothing. 

 

Some great Bonvoy redemption properties in incredible locations St Ermin's Hotel (Autograph Collection), Sheraton Grand Park Lane, and Park Tower Knightsbridge (Luxury Collection). There are others for more points and some for less but those are some great values from a redemption standpoint for the location. Worth looking into if you have points or access to convert them over. 

Thank you for the suggestion! I will definitely look into it! We do have a good amount of points banked up.

[Zach1213]

I always like to bring up the Cherry Court Hotel because I've stayed there several times over the last 20ish years. It's very basic, to the point where not only are the rooms quite small but there's not any elevator so you need to be able to lug your bags up/down the stairs. BUT, it's quite affordable and the location is great for exploring - right behind Victoria Station, meaning not only are you walking distance from a lot of great sites, but the transit options from that area are some of the best in the city. It's a great crash pad if that's the kind of place someone is looking for. 

[erinsmom03]

Well, I ended up booking a room at The Resident Covent Garden. It was a struggle to find a room to fit 3 adults, and I liked their junior suite option. Saved a bit of money by becoming a member.  I hope we like the location and the hotel. I feel like I’ve looked at thousands of options and I’m just thankful it’s a decision that’s been made. On to the next planning task!

 

Thank you to everyone for your input and advice.

[princeton123211]

2 hours ago, erinsmom03 said:

I hope we like the location and the hotel. I feel like I’ve looked at thousands of options and I’m just thankful it’s a decision that’s been made. On to the next planning task!

The location is great-- basically across the street from The Savoy which I consider to be one of the best top hotels in London from a walkability standpoint. 

[erinsmom03]

13 hours ago, princeton123211 said:

The location is great-- basically across the street from The Savoy which I consider to be one of the best top hotels in London from a walkability standpoint. 

Thanks, that is very good to hear! It looked like a lot of restaurants are close by too.

[princeton123211]

1 hour ago, erinsmom03 said:

Thanks, that is very good to hear! It looked like a lot of restaurants are close by too.

There are. Proximity to the theaters is also a major benefit of the area. 

 

In The Savoy Hotel itself you have some of London's most famous places to drink and dine. The Savoy Grill is a Gordon Ramsay affair which is quite good. The Thames Terrace for tea is a favorite (although my favorite tea in London is either The Dorchester for something a little over the top or Browns Hotel for something a little more subdued). The American Bar at the Savoy is one of the most famous bars in the world having given birth to a significant amount of modern cocktails-- well worth a visit. If they reopen Simpsons in the Strand by the time you are there its a great option for a traditional roast in a beautiful historic room. 

 

About 2 minutes walk from your hotel you also have Rules Restaurant which claims to be the oldest in London from 1798 (although the interior is more turn of the century Edwardian). Great menu that specializes in game, although plenty of options for most eaters. The bar upstairs is also worth a visit.

 

About a 15 minute walk down the Strand you find yourself at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese-- one of London's great preserved historic pubs. Parts of the building date from the 1660s and there might not be a 90 degree angle inside of the place-- it looks like its from the set of a Harry Potter movie. The food is fine but the atmosphere is well worth a quick drink. 

[Cotswold Eagle]

7 hours ago, princeton123211 said:

If they reopen Simpsons in the Strand by the time you are there its a great option for a traditional roast in a beautiful historic room

I fear whenever Simpson’s reopens, it will not be the same, not least because they flogged off the fixtures and fittings in a two-day sale a few months ago (despite it being refurbished only three years before it closed in 2020). The writing was on the wall for me when it stopped doing what was one of the great London breakfasts when it reopened in 2017. I never went back 😂

No doubt they will give the space to some executive chef, but Ramsey has apparently said it’s not going to be him.