We are planning a trip to London for April. I searched the forum for recent hotel recommendations and have been looking them up to check rates. I am finding that many say there are no rooms available for our dates (April 6-14). This is true for many of the Premier Inn locations and several others I tried. Do rooms really book up this far in advance? Thanks for any insight. We have never been to London, so maybe this is the case - just a little shocking as I thought I was an advance planner.
Posted by
San Francisco area
1802 posts
I suspect this is a case where it’s just too early to book. The hotels might not have those dates available to book yet. Try checking again tomorrow as it’s a new month or in a couple of weeks.
Posted by
UK
501 posts
I double checked and found the same thing.
It’s the Easter school holidays which is a very busy time in London, especially for family hotels like PIs, but I find it difficult to conceive that they’ve all sold out this far ahead. Most people won’t have decided where they’re holidaying yet.
Here’s a thought. I note it’s mostly the central London ones. I wonder if they’ve just not yet set their rates for next Easter because they’re not sure what demand will be, and are showing as sold out because they’re not on sale yet? Premier Inn does have dynamic pricing depending on demand and time of year.
It’s very early to be booking a hotel for next April. I’d be very surprised if they sold out much before Dec/Jan.
Posted by
Lynnwood, Washington
8331 posts
I went to the Premier Inn Waterloo website and they only have dates available on their website through March at this time. I think if you wait a month, April will then be posted. It isn't that they are full, it is that they have not posted these as available yet.
Posted by
London, UK
451 posts
I can't imagine all the PIs are booked up. Just tried a dummy booking at the PI at Euston and the PI at Waterloo for next April and it worked fine. Am using google chrome browser - maybe change browser?
Maybe others have some ideas why its not working for you.
Update. Weird, re-checked and it says fully booked now at Waterloo and Euston. Dynamic pricing I think for Easter.
Posted by
OP
St. Louis, MO
14 posts
Thanks everyone - it was those specific dates. I am an idiot and did not realize this was over the Easter holiday until you pointed it out (we are not religious). I tried a week later and am getting different results. I think we will be changing our dates! Thanks again!
Posted by
Chicago
1323 posts
It’s not unusual for hotels to not show availability this far in advance, especially since you can’t compare year over year. April 2020 was very different than April 2021 and much much different from April 2022.
Generally six months out is the earliest I’d suggest booking. Hotels often have to allocate a certain number of rooms for events as well as business travellers. They might be planning renovations for some rooms as well taking them out of service, but they might not know exactly when they’ll do they renovations in 2023.
Posted by
South Yorkshire, UK; formerly St. Louis, MO, USA
317 posts
As others have said, check as you get closer to the dates. Once you hit the 6 month mark, if you havent already, you should see dates open up.
If you were unaware, in the UK - Easter is a big holiday, largely because there are two bank holidays (think federal holidays in the US), one on Good Friday and the other on Easter Monday which give a four day weekend. Schools are also out around this time so many people take advantage of kids being off school and travel.