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London Hotel

Looking to decide between three hotels. They are Hub by primerinn.
I am traveling solo to London for 9 nights. Want to see the big sights and a day trip or two. Windsor for sure. I am comfortable using the tube but would like an area is also walkable to pubs or restaurants.

My three choices with prices for 8 nights are as follows

Goodge Street- Brook House Torrington Place. £581

Westminster Abbey
21 Tothill street £551

Westminster St James Park
15 Darce Street £614

The price is close so I am not worried about the difference

I hope to see a few plays so may be coming back late on my own a few times

Posted by
8572 posts

Door Number 3 Monty.

Couldn’t be more safe since it’s across the road from Scotland Yard.

Easy walk over to the lovely St James Park and Buckingham Palace. Same with walking to Parliament Square.

However only you can make the decision which of the three suits you best.

Use Google maps street view option to see what’s close by each. Closest bank ATM, tube station, market ( for snacks ), coffee, pub etc.

Adam and Eve pub is nice and close for pub grub.

Then use the tfl.gov.uk website to see how to plot your treks on foot, tube or bus.

Edit: guess Scotland Yard has moved. Given all the intel Google sounds like the best option.

Posted by
350 posts

Thank you for the replies. I was leaning towards Goodge Street but then looked at the St. James Park location and liked how close it was to some sights. I as still torn between the two. I like that there are supermarkets near the Goodge Street location as I will get some snack and maybe even to a picnic in my room some nights.

Posted by
11294 posts

I stayed at the Goodge Street location twice this past year (April 2018 and September 2018). I usually took the tube to sights, but was very close to lots of supermarkets and restaurants for my evening meals, which was nice. There's also all kinds of other stores (the Primark came in handy when I realized I had forgotten gloves). It's also walking distance to the West End theatres - about 20 minutes. And when it was time to leave, a bus took right to Kings Cross and St. Pancras stations; there are lots of buses nearby to other places too (I used one to go to Brick Lane for the Beigel Bake). I like the staff at the hotel as well.

I can't really compare it to the other locations, but would gladly stay there again.

Do be aware that the standard room in a Hub is really small. It's fine for one person and well laid out; the shelf under the bed pulls out, so you can fill it up with all your luggage, purchases, etc. But it is a bit like living on a submarine. If you get claustrophobic easily or just want more space, consider spending at least some of your time in one of their "Bigger" rooms, which really do have more space. If you have trouble booking the Bigger room on the website, use the Hub app (a tip I got at the hotel).

One more tip: since most people stay in this hotel only one or two nights, the staff had no idea where the nearest laundrette was! It's on Cleveland Street in Fitzrovia, just north of Grafton Way. Just be careful that you don't buy fabric softener when you want detergent (when I went, detergent was in the left of the dispenser, softener on the right):

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Laundrette/@51.5226268,-0.1414494,19z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x48761b29d6567c3d:0x7e79ac8d713ffb73!8m2!3d51.5223376!4d-0.1408307

Posted by
583 posts

I'm a hub hotel fan - have stayed solo at the Westminster St James location twice, the Westminster Abbey location once, and will stay at Goodge St early next year.

  • The two Westminster locations are literally around the corner from each other, but I prefer Tothill Street to Dacre Street. Dacre St is a tight little side street with a very narrow sidewalk (hard to walk with a rollaboard) and is across from a huge construction project at the former Scotland Yard. Tothill St has a normal sized sidewalk (AKA pavement in local lingo) with more foot traffic. And bonus, as you step outside the Tothill St location you can see Westminster Abbey.

  • I felt perfectly safe returning to either location at ~11 pm after
    the theatre, but there is definitely more foot traffic on Tothill St than Dacre St if that matters to you.

  • Both locations are just steps from the St James's Park tube station (Circle/District lines) and useful bus routes (number 24 and 11 I think) and within walking distance of Buckingham Palace, Victoria Station, and
    (obviously) all the Westminster sights like the Abbey, the Cathedral,
    Parliament, Whitehall, Churchill War Rooms, Horseguards Parade, the
    Mall, etc, as well as Westminster tube station for access to the Jubilee line.

  • The "feel" of the neighborhood is definitely "government/office" and
    so tends to be livelier during the day than at night. Strutton
    Ground has a weekday market with lunch carts and a good chippy
    (Laughing Halibut), among other stores. Victoria Street has tons of
    shops including Boots, Pret, etc and a bit further down at Nova
    Victoria across from Westminster Cathedral is the excellent Ole and
    Steen for Danish open-faced sandwiches and yummy baked goods (try the
    cardamom roll). Ate at two area pubs, Sanctuary House (Fuller's)
    and Feathers (Nicholsons). Excellent sausages at Feathers.

  • I don't have any firsthand info on Goodge St because I haven't stayed there yet, but from Google Streetview I'm anticipating more of a university-student vibe, and I'm looking forward to being walking distance from Euston Station, British Museum, British Library, Wellcome Collection, more theatres, etc.

I don't think you can go wrong with any of these three hubs.....I hope you enjoy your visit!
Feel free to PM me if you want more info.

Posted by
583 posts

I stayed at the Goodge Street location twice this past year (April 2018 and September 2018). I usually took the tube to sights, but was very close to lots of supermarkets and restaurants for my evening meals, which was nice. There's also all kinds of other stores (the Primark came in handy when I realized I had forgotten gloves). It's also walking distance to the West End theatres - about 20 minutes. And when it was time to leave, a bus took right to Kings Cross and St. Pancras stations; there are lots of buses nearby to other places too (I used one to go to Brick Lane for the Beigel Bake). I like the staff at the hotel as well.

Harold, thanks for the details on the Goodge St location - I'm taking notes for my visit early next year.

Posted by
350 posts

Thank you
I was leaning toward Goodge Street it was my first choIce but then I surfed the web again and thought about the other locations. Think Goodge sounds like a better area for me.
Thanks Harold for the location of a laundry mat. I will be arriving in London after a Royal Irish Tour with my mother who be flying home from Dublin

Wendy

Posted by
1321 posts

I stayed at the Westminster Abbey location exactly one year ago today. It was fine, there was a good pub down the street, not much else going on at night. One block to the tube.

Make sure you’re away of how small the rooms are. I typically stay at Hubs in London, but it’s usually for 3-4 days at a time.