Neighborhood and hotel recommendations, May 2024

To get an idea of what’s available and the prices of rooms for your travel dates, try booking.com. Although I would book direct with whatever you decide on.

Look at the Premier Inn chain.

Popular on the Forum is the PI at County Hall.

You should also research the PI near Victoria Station. Research regular PI’s not HUB ones. Those are better for solo travelers.

There’s a PI I Iike near Tower Hill and Tower of London. It’s the Premier Inn Blackfriars. Close to a favorite pub the gorgeous Art Deco Blackfriars and across the road is the Blackfriars station.

Happy travels to my favorite city on the planet.

I recommend The Resident Kensington or The Resident Victoria. Both are well-located, close to tube stations. They have little kitchen "closets" with a sink, mini-fridge, microwave, coffee/tea makers, and plates/utensils. The staff is VERY friendly and very helpful.

https://www.residenthotels.com/

Sadly Claudia the Premier Inns don’t have a concierge and that seems important to the OP. Also with a budget close to £400 a room there will be plenty of more upmarket options.

I’ll start with a couple. The first is the Marriott County Hall - the same building as thePI County Hall but having the iconic river views across to Parliament. The second is the St Pancras Renaissance. It’s right above St Pancras station and is a reconstruction of an iconic station hotel. Yes, they are both Marriott group hotels but in an exceptional location and building respectively.

Thanks all to these very helpful suggestions! Much appreciated!

I checked the two Marriott hotels first as we frequently stay at Marriott's here in the U.S. Both were considerably over my budget for the May timeframe. Also looking at Resident hotels as was suggested, but not sure of location and small rooms. With a week's stay, and elderly travelers, I'm looking for location as well as comfort, but maybe this is going to be difficult with a budget of $500 USD/day. I'm open to additional neighborhood/hotel suggestions. With my one trip to London over 25 years ago, for all intents and purposes, I'm a first-time visitor and feeling overwhelmed by choices. Thanks so much!

Susan I PM’d 2 suggestions.

After re-reading the importance of a concierge as well as your budget might I suggest the Royal Horseguards Hotel. Ideally located and in your price range.

Also research The Montague on The Gardens hotel which is across the road from the British Museum.

With that budget, have you checked places like St James' Court Taj hotel or The Royal Horseguards Hotel? Might just about make it under 500/night/room..

I recently stayed at the Clermont Charing Cross and really liked it. You literally couldn’t be more central. It’s a large Victorian railway hotel built above Charing Cross station.. They have a concierge although I didn’t use it. Staff were generally very helpful and it had a lovely calm atmosphere.

Can anyone tell me whether a double bed (eg, at Royal Horseguards) is the size of a US double or a US queen or something else?

A UK double is quite small and it would be extremely unlikely that the bed would be that size. I’ve never had a bed that small in a hotel. The best bet is to check with the hotel directly as they can tell you the exact sizes.

Let me jump in regarding the Resident Hotels. According to the people at the Resident Kensington, they believe I might hold the record for the most nights staying there than anyone else. (I question is as they don't have records before 2017 when it was a different name and used a different computer system.)

It checks all your boxes....it's a safe neighborhood, they can set up the king rooms as either a king bed or two twins (and it's the size of a US king.), they are terrific not only at "normal" front desk tasks, but can also help plan sightseeing, making suggestions on things to do, giving directions; the rooms are not massive but the "king" rooms are not small; and every night between 6 and 7 they offer a free glass of wine or prosseco.

It's quiet, it's clean and I have sent numerous people to the hotel who have come back raving about it.

The tube station is less than five minutes away and there are numerous restaurants, pubs and groceries near the tube station. They can recommend some...and a few give discounts to Resident Kensington guests.

If the Resident Kensington is too far away for your liking, any of the other Resident Hotels should be the same as they offer many of the same amenities and pride themselves on the service they offer.

Beds are definitely smaller in the UK. Royal Horseguards website states that their double bed measures 150cm wide and 200cm long. That's slightly smaller than a US Queen size bed, more like a US Full size. Their King bed is 182cm wide, which is bigger than a US Queen but smaller than a US King. Twin beds are usually 90cm each, but you would have to confirm with the hotel as I didn't see it listed. Although total size of 2 Twins is smaller than the King, it may be a more comfortable option due to the individual mattresses.

Susan - you must be looking at expensive dates. I just looked at three separate dates in May and each had rooms available for a bit under £400, on your budget. Maybe you’re looking for a better room or suite?