Hi Everyone,
Just starting to plan a trip to London/Ireland in July or early August and have a question about hotel occupancy in London. We are a family of four - mom, dad, son- age 18 and daughter - age 16. When looking into hotels, is it common to find a room with two double or queen sized beds or should we consider two rooms. Ideally, we would like to spend $350 or less per night, so multiple rooms would affect our budget.
Thanks!
You can certainly find family rooms in some properties - and they can have 3 or even 4 beds. Not sure how many nights your city stays are, but you might want to consider an apartment if you're staying a few nights in each city. You'll get way more room and you can definitely come in under your budget.
Many hotels in the UK have rooms that sleep four. You're likely to see them called "family" rooms, and they often have one double bed and two single beds, rather than two doubles. Here is one example from a budget hotel in London (click on "family" for a picture of the room):
http://www.hotelmeridiana.co.uk/W/meridiana/Rooms
(I don't have any connection with this hotel - I just stayed there once, and it was an example that came to mind.)
Fantastic - thank you both, I'm sure this is the first of many questions (after using the search button of course). Right now, I am planning a week in England - not sure if we will use London as our base or break it up into two different areas. I may look into Airbnb as well.
So here's an example of an apartment that's well within your budget. It's in West Kensington. I've actually stayed in their 2 BD unit, which is pricing out at 211 GBP per night on some random August dates I put in. That's 305 US per night. It's quite a large unit. There's a master in the bigger bedroom and two twins in the smaller bedroom. There's a nice outdoor patio, a big living room and a kitchen. Here's the property name: http://www.castletownhouse.co.uk.
Obviously this depends a lot on where you want to go and what you want to see in England, but I'd definitely at least consider staying outside of London for part of your trip. London hotels - especially ones that are well-located for day trips outside London - are expensive. Your budget is generous enough that you should still have plenty of options, but you can almost certainly save money and get a nicer room if you stay almost anywhere else.
Some hostels cater to families offering "family rooms" sleeping four or more.
http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2016/jan/09/top-10-youth-hostels-with-family-rooms-uk
Take advantage of low hostel prices without having to share with
snoring strangers by picking a family room in one of these popular UK
locations
You should look here , it's a very likely answer for you . I have stayed with this brand numerous times in London and throughout the UK and have always been very pleased . http://www.premierinn.com/gb/en/home.html
I like to get one room for my family of 4 (2 teens). Usually the room is a double and 2 singles or a double and a bunk. It takes some looking. As I recall, family rooms at Premier inn have an age limit so won't work for your older teens. Travelodge did not have a limit. Don't quote me on that! My memory isn't perfect!
RS guidebook usually indicates if there are quads which will save you time.
Rooms in Europe (including England) are almost always priced per person as opposed to the common practice in the US of being priced by the room. The typical US room with two queen beds is not common in Europe. SO, be very specific about your rooms needs and that it include two, almost adult, children. Don't expect to book a double and show up with four people. You could be denied a room in that situation.
Once you fix your date, run it through the Premier Inn website and see what kind of rates you get. Their County Hall and Waterloo locations are convenient to transport options and seemused by lots of UK families. In our experience, UK beds are smaller and while a property ( AirBnB, VBRO)may say it sleeps 4, it may not sleep 4 adults comfortably. You may want to ask for dimensions to guarantee it will fit.
Some Premier Inns have connecting double rooms which means that you get the advantage of two bathrooms!
To be completely clear: while 16 is a child in Europe and the US, in the UK this counts as an adult. Any family room is completely out of the question-- you have 4 adults. So as suggested get 2 rooms or cheaper an apartment.
Some things: breaking room occupancy/age limits in the UK is more severe an infraction than it is in the US where it is more akin to breaking wind.
Many credit card sign up offers include the equivalent points for 2-3 nights free at a London chain hotel like Hilton, Marriott or Holiday Inn (IHG group).
Also rarely there are hotels with rooms with 2 double beds that sleep 4 adults like the Crowne Plaza London The City (IHG group).
