London trip

Why did you choose that location? Cost?

I’ve be visiting London for nearly 60 years. It’s not an area I’d choose as a first time visitor. Instead look at the Premier Inn chain. London is not cheap but the PI chain does a good job at providing comfortable and affordable lodging through out London.

By choosing that lodging your Transport into the city ( ie Parliament, Westminster Abbey, etc) will be lengthy as Underground stations aren’t close. Bourough, Southwark or Elephant Castle are long blocks away for where you’ve chosen to stay.

Being blunt I’d look elsewhere for accomodations.
There’s a nice PI very close to the Tower of London, the Premier Inn Blackfriars. Or Premier Inn Waterloo.

Or look at 63 Bayswater where I’ve often stayed and will be returning to this month.

See if the Days Out 2 for 1 deal still exists. If not, pretty certain other posters can share intel on passes

I'm not clear what's wrong with Southwark in principle, though it looks like the OP's specific hotel isn't very close to either a tube station or railway station, two features I always try to be close to.

I like Southwark, but I agree that it's not really close to any major sites or any Underground stations. You'd be having to do a lot of walking just to get to public transport. If it's cost that you're concerned about, there are plenty of places that are closer that you might want to consider, but before I go into that, it would be helpful to find out if your hotel is cancelable.

At any rate, there is a chain of hotels called Premier Inn that you will find all over London. The Premier Inn County Hall is one that is on the same side of the Thames as Southwark, but it's much closer to the sights and very close to public transportation. It sits right on the Thames near the London Eye, is a short walk over Westminster Bridge to the Westminster Tube Station, and about a five- to 10-minute walk from Waterloo Station. And the price is usually pretty good. I stayed there in 2024, and loved the area. It's very close to the major sites in London. For example, Westminster Abbey is a quick 10-minute walk across the Westminster Bridge from there. There are lots of restaurants and cafes in the area. You're close to Borough Market, Southwark Cathedral, and all those beautiful bridges that cross the Thames.

Another nearby Premier Inn is the Premier Inn Waterloo, which is just up the street from the County Hall location, and it can be a bit less expensive. So you could check that as well. Keep in mind that breakfast is available at Premier Inn this, but will be an extra cost, although the price is very reasonable. They are very clean and very comfortable and are consistently good.

I would suggest a hotel with better transportation options and air conditioning. In September 2023 we had temps in the 90s.

Take a look at the often recommended Premier Inn County Hall. What it lacks in charm, it makes up with clean, comfortable rooms and a good location. If you can book their premier plus rooms you'll have a mini fridge and coffee maker in your room plus air conditioning and WiFi.

There are three tube station equidistant to your hotel. Each about a ten minute walk.

I agree with others that this may not be the best location- you're not very close to any of the tourist sites (except for IWM). If you are able to change it I would try to get something closer to a tube station. If you're going to be south of the river you probably want to be closer to Southbank/Waterloo area.

I typed your details into Trivago and came up with loads of results. Added a filter for AC and still got lots of results, some substantially lower than $633. Several were Premier Inn or PI Hub, so you might just go directly to https://www.premierinn.com/gb/en/home.html.

Didn’t say I dislike Southwark merely advised it wasn’t close to the sites. If the OP has visited London before then fine. But if first time visitors it’s not convenient.

Their money they can choose how to spend it. Simply answering their query!

Your direct question — Is this a good place to stay for $633? It’s a tricky question because we don’t know your criteria. Are you asking if the hotel is good or the location or both? As others have noted you will sacrifice a lot of convenience and time for that location. I agree with other posters that the two Premier Inns mentioned may have similar prices and are closer to main sites and better situated for transit and dining.

November 2024, my husband and I stayed a few blocks from The London City Hotel at the H10 Waterloo. As we had been to London several times before we wanted to try something out of the way. And it was. The neighborhood was nice, very quiet compared to other areas we’ve stayed in. It worked well for our purposes, however, as others have noted it wasn’t very convenient for transit, it was not close to any popular tourist sites and restaurant choices were disappointingly thin.

If your reservations are not cancellable, let us know and I’m sure the group can give you advice on making the most of the location.

As to your second question about passes, if you tell us more about your planned itinerary - what you want to see and where you want to go - you will get the best advice on that.

To determine whether there's a financially useful sightseeing pass, one must start with a list of sights to be visited. I've been to London many times in the last 10 years and have not been tempted by any sightseeing pass, because none would have saved me any money.

Keep in mind that many of London's large, exceptional museums are free/donation requested. A pass will not help in any way if you visit those, and if you go to several of them, that will be time you do not have available for seeing sights covered by a pass. Among the free museums are the British Museum, the Victoria & Albert Museum (decorative arts), the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, the Tate Modern, the Tate Britain, the Wallace Collection, the Imperial War Museum and Sir John Soane's Museum. And there are many, many more.

It is true that some of London's other sights are quite expensive: The Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, the Churchill War Rooms, St. Paul's and the London Eye (large ferris wheel) are among places with comparatively high entry fees.

Edited to add: If you want to sightsee "at a leisurely pace" or spend a lot of time at individual sights, it is very unlikely any sightseeing pass will save you money.

There are so many attractions in London that you will need to research to determine a list of your priorities for the time you have. While many of the museums and galleries are free, note that special exhibits within the galleries will usually have a fee. Check the websites to see which exhibits are scheduled during your visit. My husband and I really enjoyed the special exhibits in the British Museum. I didn't have time for much of the regular collection at Tate Britain, as I spent most of the time in the special exhibit.

We stayed in Southwark around the same timeframe this past summer, at the Premier Inn. We liked it very much! I’d agree with others that you want to map out your plans- you’ll never be near everything! But easy access to many of the places you want to go will be helpful.

From our hotel it was approximately a 10-minute walk to Waterloo, which we used more often than the Southwark station. It was also a very pleasant walk to Tate Modern and Shakespeare’s Globe and the entire river promenade area which was terrific. And of course the Southbank Centre is near, which has a lot happening including a great street fair where I had the best french fries ever.

We like to walk in general so we did actually walk home from our shows on the West End, and to the Tower Bridge and Churchill War Rooms. All were about 30 minutes.

All of that said, I’d certainly keep an eye on Premier Inn to save a bit. We probably paid about the same as you’re quoting, but for a large family room. PI runs many specials and we were able to save a good bit on a non-refundable booking a few weeks prior to our trip, during a summer sale.