london hotels

You might try using booking.com to identify possibilities for hotels, B&B's and apartments. Start thinking in GBP instead of USD. Change the US $ setting to GB £. Set your price limit in £. Then see what you can get and where in your price range.

FYI, today's exchange rate was £1 = $1.52. $200 = £131.48. I've been looking for lodgings (hotel, B&B or apartment) in early June. Prices vary a bit by location, but I'm not seeing much that I would find comfortable for the 7 nights I'll be in London below £150 per night.

I'm definitely leaning towards a serviced apartment due to the larger size for the price, more privacy, having a small kitchen and having laundry facilities.

Your travel style may be entirely different.

£130 doesn't get you much in London unfortunately, however, a good, reliable choice, would be any Travelodge or Premier Inn. Locations everywhere, the better the location, the higher the price, but £130-£150 should get you in anywhere you like. They are simple lodging, but always warm and clean. Outside London they tend to be £50-£70 per night.

ouch! It's going to be super hard to find something that cheap....I'd really try browsing on hotels.com...they let you search by area and what have you... it might be feasible to find something on the very outskirts but near either a rail station (but you'll have to pay each day to get downtown) or a metro station. The further out you get from the city center the more you pay for transportation, but less for hotel (to some extent). The averages in London are around $300 after the nasty vat tax (always be sure to see what the final price is before booking--it can be rather deceptive).

You may be able to get a 2.0 star hotel for under $200, maybe 3? Maybe??? But really read the reviews and check how far you'll be walking.

I've stayed at the Westpoint Hotel near Paddington before. Booking.com has it for $180/night right now for your travel dates.

Decent hotel for the price in a good location.

DJ

ok so I forgot about the pound dollar rate.... so 200 pounds and also what about in the countryside of London for a few days? any ideas... is it much cheaper?
thanks for all your great help....
Kate

also any other good suggestions? I am going to be celebrating my graduation from college and returning from India after a five month study abroad program. I am 47 years old and am happily celebrating my completion of my college degree 30 years after I started in 1986... so fireworks would be great and what about the may 2nd bank holiday? what's that all about>
thanks,
Kate

The Cherry Court Hotel (12 rooms) is where I and/or my family have stayed numerous times, so numerous I can't count, since 2000. It is safe, clean and friendly for a woman traveling alone. Mrs Patel is charming and helpful. http://www.cherrycourthotel.co.uk/our-rates/ However, as you are willing to spend £200 per night, you might require more amenities, which I just never use. Note that the bathrooms are small, so if you weigh 300+ pounds I do suggest you look elsewhere. I find this hotel perfect and if I could find one everywhere I travel, I'd be happy. There is a pub on the corner, which has a great breakfast or evening pub activities. When traveling alone that's where I have breakfast if I just don't go with the food provided at the hotel as sometimes I pack that up for a picnic later. This is a great hotel for being out and about or sleeping in, but if you like to spend the day in your hotel, this is definitely not the place (but then if that's the case, stay home and go to a 5 star hotel there, which is what I do when that urge comes on). This hotel is around the corner from main train and bus hubs, as well as the tube. It is an easy walk to Buck House or Westminster/Parliament. We'd actually walk everywhere from here, and if didn't walk back, would take the great buses. Have a great celebration! Wray

PS. The hotel has set reception hours, but it is not as if the hotel is unmanned, as the Patel's home is directly adjacent to the hotel, and they enter the hotel directly from their home, at any time it would be necessary...again, secure for a solo woman traveler. They are just not sitting at the desk thru the night...but they are there.

I stayed at Vancouver Studios in the Bayswater neighborhood and was generally pleased with it. A single room costs around £100 per night. The rooms are very small but come with their own bathroom and a kitchenette, which I liked because I saved money by buying food at the grocery store. I also like that the hotel is near 3 Tube lines. The lines are often partially or fully closed, usually on weekends, because of "planned engineering" (maintenance), so you'll want to check the Transport for London website every morning before you leave the hotel. Vancouver Studios is near the District and Circle lines at the Bayswater stop, and the Central line at the Queensway stop.

We've tried 6 different lodgings in London at different price ranges. Premier Inn County Hall consistently gets good reviews, so we tried it on our last trip. We were very pleased, especially with the beds and towels. It was very convenient for travel and seeing the sites. There is also the Waterloo PI which is about a block away. Not much on the amenities, but we use our hotel for sleeping. The staff was delightful.

This past August my wife and I stayed at two separate B&Bs in London. Both were near Victoria station which is convenient location for the tube. For six nights we stayed at Cherry Court which was mentioned by Wray earlier. The rooms are very small and simple. One person referred it to the Smurf Hotel. I could stand by the double bed and almost touch both walls. However it was comfortable and Mrs. Patel, the owner was great. The breakfast consisted of a basket containing several fruits, granola bars and juice box. You cannot beat the location and the price, about $125, in London. If you are traveling alone it would be great or did not require any amenities it is a fine choice. We also stayed at the Luna Sumone, which is also in the Victoria station area. It is only a few blocks from the Cherry Court. The cost is about $205 and is very comfortable. The rooms are small, but not smurf small. The breakfasts were very good and the owners very helpful. We would also stay there again. It all depends on how many amenities you require. What ever place you choose to stay you will have fun in London.

I would check out Aster House in South Kensington. They have a nice single room on the 4th floor that might work for you. I am staying at Aster House right now and the breakfast is outstanding. Eggs, scrambled or poached, fresh pastries, toast, delicious English tea, Orange juice, cereal, fruit, cold meats and cheese, all served up in a very pleasant conservatory with windows all around. I love the South Kensington neighborhood as it has a ton of different places to eat, and you can walk to Hyde Park and museums.

thanks for all the great information any other tips?
thanks,
Kate

http://www.thezhotels.com/z-piccadilly
https://www.darlingtonhotel.com/
http://www.the-belgrave.com/

http://www.premierinn.com/gb/en/hotels/england/greater-london/london/london-kensington-olympia.html
http://www.premierinn.com/gb/en/hotels/england/greater-london/london/london-kensington-earls-court.html

Not sure if anyone has mentioned this yet, but for most of our stays during our trip, I'm looking at airbnb.com. They are locals renting out rooms or their entire apartments, some offer continental or cooked breakfasts as well, all are rated and I believe they do background checks in order to list on there (don't quote me on that but I believe I read that somewhere). I have not used it yet as we are traveling next year but I have several friends that have used it for travel all over and all have had great experiences. Lower cost than hotels as well.
Rick Steves book also recommends londonbb.com and londontown.com.
Hope this helps! Have a great trip!

HI All,
I have sent emails to two different hotels and have had no response? Is there a proper way to connect with hotels?
thanks,
Kate

The London Elizabeth is a great hotel. Across the street from Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens. Two minute walk to Lancaster tube station. Five minut walk to a great pub, The Swan.

kate,

One hotel you might consider is the Luna & Simone Hotel, which is in the Victoria Station area (very convenient for transportation). I stayed there in September and would absolutely recommend it. One point to mention though is that they don't have an elevator (if that's a consideration).

Congratulations on your graduation! I think it's great you're treating yourself to a special trip. Have you checked Rick's London guidebook for hotel recommendations? He covers a wide range of prices and amenities. I always tend toward the Spartan end of the spectrum, but there are some splurges in there too, and plenty of suggestions in between.

As to your question about emailing hotels, you may just need to wait a bit for an answer. Also, in some cases if the hotel does not have a vacancy for your preferred dates, they won't answer. I'd wait a couple of days, then try emailing again. If there's still no response, try another hotel (or two or three...)

Kate,

I'd also like to offer congratulations on your graduation. Taking 30 years to complete it takes a lot of commitment and dedication!

The hotel I mentioned above should provide a fairly quick reply. To answer your other question, it may be a bit cheaper to stay outside of London, but that's not always the case. The U.K. is generally on the "pricey" side for those of us that have terrible currency exchange rates to deal with. You mentioned "dollars" in one of your other replies - which currency are you referring to?

We're staying at the Kensington Gardens Hotel next spring; in fact, we'll be there when you are in London. I don't know that I would call it a "great hotel," but we like it. It's very small, in a great location, and affordable. The on-line rate is, I think, £90 a night, without breakfast. But you can get breakfast for another £6 or 7. If you deal with the hotel directly, it's about £125, breakfast included. I've posted a review elsewhere on this website; https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/england-reviews/kensington-gardens-hotel

The prices have changed a bit since the review, and the hotel is being updated. The other responses on that thread will catch things up to date.