London Hotel Suggestions For a Group

Have you researched the Premier Inn Leicester Square? Or any of the Premier Inns?

How many people and how many rooms?

As Claudia says. Have you looked at Premier Inns. Have AC.

Have you looked at the Imperial Hotels group? They have a bunch of hotels in Bloomsbury. They’re not the most glamorous but they’re popular with groups because of the range of room sizes (the Tavistock for example has triple & quad rooms). They’re also good value for money. Location is also good.

https://www.imperialhotels.co.uk/

For students what about university rooms? The George VI apartments are open year-round

https://www.lsevacations.co.uk/Home.aspx

Thank you - I should have given a little more info about our group...

Numbers are not set in stone, but hopefully about 12 teens (about age 14) and three adult chaperones. Would need a triple or two, 3-4 doubles (depending on how many girls/boys we get) and three singles for the chaperones (Yes I know we can save money by bunking togther, but the company that books everything generally has separate rooms for chaperones)

I did see the the Premier Inn Leicester Sq at one point and I'm not sure why I did not have it higher on my list (I think because they do not show availability for our trip dates since it is still months away.) Will keep a close eye on that one in particular.

I saw the Imperial Hotels, look really nice, and fit everything but not AC I believe (which is not necessarily a deal breaker).

I'll look into the George VI apartments and the others that are part of that group.

Thank you and if any has any other ideas let me know!!!

AC isn’t particularly common in hotels, especially older hotels or those at the lower end of the price scale. Hotels without AC will normally have opening windows.

This used to be absolutely fine except then we got a bunch of really hot summers.

The descriptions of both the standard rooms and the super rooms at Travelodge Covent Garden says that they have air conditioning, They are currently booking to 6 August 2025- so 350 days in advance.

I'd make a/c a priority and not worry about breakfast beyond factoring its presence or absence into the financial evaluation of your hotel options. Breakfast is generally quite a money-maker for hotels; it's just that you don't know how much you're paying for it unless the hotel allows rooms to be booked with and without breakfast. Unless your group has a lot of ravenous eaters (possible at 14, I guess) or folks who need multiple cups of coffee, sourcing breakfast at a place like Pret a Manger or Costa will be a lot cheaper. On my last trip to London (2022), there was a cafe near my hotel offering omelets for about £9.

You might do some research on booking.com to get an idea of current rates in the neighborhood you're interested in. The area around the British Museum is nice but not especially lively, and the hotels there tend to be a bit more expensive. The Holborn Premier Inn often has higher rates than most of the other PIs in the city.

Premier Inns are my choice when I travel to London during air conditioning season and have someone splitting the cost with me, but I'm not sure they have the sort of bed arrangements you're probably looking for--rooms with multiple separate beds.

acraven: some good ideas and something to think about. The company I work for (this is a custom trip where I am also the teacher/chaperone and program director working for the company) usually looks for hotels with breakfast as it is convenient. Kids can get up early and grab something or wait until last minute. Otherwise part of the package is the company pays for breakfast and dinners and it starts getting more complicated.

I know there is not much around the British museum area, but it’s less than 15 minute walk to center of the city so it’s not too bad.

I’ll start looking more at Premier Inns though. Not sure why I left them off my radar. Had seen them and stopped looking at them for some reason. The one near Leicester Sq might be perfect. Kids would have to share some beds, but that is part of the deal. They do have triples (full sized and then a cot or something like that).

I took a group of young adults to London this past June and stayed in the Premier Inn County Hall. It was very reasonably priced and the rooms were comfortable and clean. Early check-in is possible for an extra £10.00 charge, but you must wait until you get there to see if the rooms are ready. If not they will store luggage.
Our room had an extra bed, but I am pretty sure it's meant for a child under 12.

The location is great, right next to Westminster and the London Eye. Starbucks is across a pedestrian-only street. Not all rooms are airconditioned, so check the description of the room. This hotel gets very full in the summer. Its. popular for a reason. I have actually stayed at the Travel Lodge in Covent Garden, and I wasn't impressed. IMO Premier Inn is a much better hotel chain.

The extra bed in many/most PIs is a day bed. It serves as a sofa unless you have them make it up as a bed. I've slept on those beds in several PIs, including Holborn, County Hall and Heathrow T4. I found them comfortable (they aren't pull-out sleep sofas), but they don't have the same fabulous mattresses as the large beds. I'm 5'3" and didn't notice a problem with bed length, but if you have people in the group who are super-tall, inquiring about the length of the extra bed would be smart.

I recall earlier posts on the forum to the effect that a lot of PI rooms only allow two adults. For this purpose, I believe your 14-year-olds are adults. I've only shared with one other person, so I haven't researched this policy.

Premier Inn has 3 types of reservations, whose rates vary by change/cancellation policy. The rates are usually considerably lower if you book well in advance.

I recall earlier posts on the forum to the effect that a lot of PI rooms only allow two adults. For this purpose, I believe your 14-year-olds are adults.

Actually, the cutoff at Premier Inns is age 16. Any kid 16 or older is considered an adult for their purposes. I know this because I had to research it for my trip next year with two grandchildren. Also, you may want to read the terms and conditions below. For group bookings, you need to call them to reserve any rooms. https://www.premierinn.com/gb/en/terms/booking-terms-and-conditions.html

One other advantage PIs have is that two children (up to age 16) can eat breakfast for free with one paying adult. So if you have 12 teens, at least 6 of the ones under 16 could eat for free based on the three paying adults.

Premier Inn has 3 types of reservations, whose rates vary by change/cancellation policy. The rates are usually considerably lower if you book well in advance.

acraven, I think that PI is changing this. When I was looking for rooms for next year, I noticed that the third option (the completely non-refundable one) is now gone. If I try to book something this year it's still there, but if I look for bookings beginning in January, there are only two options: Flex, which is the completely refundable option, and Advance, which is refundable up to 28 days before arrival, but must be paid in advance. The Standard, which is the completely non-refundable option (and the cheapest) has disappeared. I'm assuming there was a change in policy that goes into effect at the end of the year.