Where to stay in London?

[muzicgal]

I have never been to London before. We are going to be there on June 18th and then going out of Dover on the 22nd. I have NO idea where to stay since I don't know anything about London. Any suggestions as to what area to stay in? We would like something moderately priced and close to the trains. I know that we have to take a train from either Victoria or Charing Cross to get to Dover.

 

Any suggestions would be greatlly appreciated.

 

Laurie

[Globaliser]

There are lots of threads about hotels in London if you search this forum. Very many of them discuss hotels that are convenient to Victoria and Charing Cross railway stations, for exactly the reason you give. It'll be worth your while going back through the titles of the last couple of hundred threads (it five pages) to pick out those threads.

[FinelyRetired]

muzicgal:

 

In your same position. Never been there, limited days, not sure where to stay. Nearly 1000 hotels in London! Daunting task to pick.

 

I tried this process. I bought a small guide book......Fodor's London's 25 Best. It contains the Top 25 attractions. Picked the 5-6 I MOST want to really visit places, the rest were relegated to the "drive by will do" category( ie Big Ben, etc). Circled those must visit places on their map in the book & used walkit.com for walking distance, and found a hotel on Tripadvisor.com (and by chance it was also on my cruiseline pre-cruise offering too..tho pricier) and selected a hotel that way. Near a tube, too. I want to walk to as many places I'm truly interested in as possible......I love to walk, but not hike.

 

So......I guess what I'm saying is....pick your MUST see sites and you know you want a tube station close by and then visit the recs Globaliser(VERY saavy poster) suggested on this thread and, maybe Tripadvisor.com and "back" into the hotel that's closest to much of what is interesting to you? That might help?

 

There are SO many decent hotels.......the hotel needn't be the first priority. It's location in proximity to what YOU want to see and do is the priority .....whether that's shopping, historical sites, museums, theatre, food, gardens etc. Different for each of us.

 

If you find a general area that "looks" promising in that many of the sites you really want to explore are nearby and close to a tube stop and you don't find it's been covered on this board......just start a new thread requesting hotel recs for the general area and you will get good, honest responses for decent hotels in that area from the many experienced folks on here.

 

Planning is half the fun. Enjoy your trip.

 

Martha

[gratefulguy]

One of the real challenges this year will be finding a "decent" price. As a world capital, London's hotels have always been in great demand--a US dollar worth only 50 pence will make it difficult to book one with the amenities most of us are accustomed to. Have you looked at some of the web-sites such as kayak, tripadvisor, venere, and mobissimo? The London Tourist Board, Timeout Magazine, and guide books can help, but FinelyRetired's plan is excellent--London is a great city that warrants a lot of study to begin to know her.

I've been 20 times, and still find something wonderful to see each time, but the exchange rate made it difficult to enjoy the hotels I "settled for" the last two times (July and December '06).

[haggis]

Hello Laurie,

This site gives a fair idea of prices etc for some of the London hotels and their location.

 

www.activehotels.com

 

Jimmy

[Barbiegator]

Does anyone know what hotels RC using for precruise in London?

[packandgo]

Does anyone know what hotels RC using for precruise in London?

 

One of the hotels that RCCL is using for pre-cruise is the Kensington Forum which is a Holiday Inn Chain. The cruiselines current rates for a 2-nt. stay is $376 per person and it includes the transfers from the hotel to the pier.

 

It is about the same amount if you book on your own but does not include the transfers.

[pcur]

We just got back from our trip, and stayed 2 nights pre-cruise in London. We took National Express bus transpo Heathrow-London Victoria Coach Station, and then walked 4 blocks to our hotel, the Luna and Simone.

 

The National Express Victoria Coach Station (they call it the Central London Coach Station) and the Victoria rail and tube stations are literally a block away from each other. Very easy to walk.

 

The Victoria rail/tube station has a shopping center attached to it, so you can get just about anything you may need, plus lots of inexpensive (but good) eating choices. The tube station is right there for sightseeing if you don't want to catch the hop on/off bus, which is also right in that immediate area.

 

I cannot say enough about the Luna and Simone hotel. Go read the reviews on tripadvisor.com, and they don't do it justice. It's got small rooms, and it might be warm in June, but they have fans in the rooms. We fell in love with this hotel. Clean, clean, clean, clean, updated, looks like they just painted and carpeted it. Great breakfast included, and a super nice family running it. It's actually two hotels joined by a single lobby. We got our room for 80 GBP per night, and they can arrange transfers for you also from the airport if you want. Their prices were very reasonable, and probably because they also have family members doing that, too!! The hotel is owned and operated by twin brothers who appear to be around 50 - 60 years old. Then they have wives, sons, neices, nephews, etc. helping out. Great family, and a super deal of a hotel.

 

Free internet, too!!!!

[muzicgal]

Thanks a lot for all of the responses. We are going to stay in Victoria and found a hotel through Hotels.com. I hope it's good. It seems like Victoria is a good place for transportation from the airport and also for the coach to Dover.

 

Thank you all

 

Laurie