Overlooking London Neighborhoods for Lodging?

We like the South Kensington area near the Gloucester Road tube. It is easy to get to the London sights by tube, and it is walkable to several museums, the Victoria and Albert museum and the Natural History museum. We have walked to Kensington Gardens and Harrods from this location also. We especially like the Bailey’s Kensington hotel and the Hereford Arms Pub. There are grocery stores and bakeries nearby also.

Kensington, Bloomsbury and Soho are all very good options (although Soho is very noisy with nightlife).

I mean, Soho is slapbang in the centre of London just above Chinatown, between Trafalgar Square and Oxford Street. Bloomsbury is nicely situated between the West End and the City (as is neighbouring Holborn) - the British Museum is right there!

South Kensington, around Gloucester Road tube, is a really popular location.

I don’t think Chelsea is quite as good in public transport terms.

But the point is, from Paddington in the west to Tower Bridge in the east, from Euston Road in the north to just immediately south of the Thames, you’re in central London and nothing will be far away. The “main” tourist attractions are spread all over this area so nowhere is close to everything, but public transport is really good.

I stayed Hotel 63 on Bayswater Road right across from Kensington Gardens. Heard about it from Forum.

Small, historic, quaint.

Close to excellent public transportation. Very good walking.

Simple but decent breakfast . Good wi fi

https://hotel63.co.uk

We stayed in West Kensington/(South Kensington?) nearly equidistant from the Baron's Court and West Kensington stations. The Piccadilly Line and the District Line took almost everywhere we wanted to go. Lots of food, shopping nearby. Pretty quiet.

Everything Kay said in her post. I recommend South Kensington near the Gloucester Road tube station. Lots of great hotels and great museums all around.
Gloucester Road tube station has several tube lines coming through, so you need only to hop on for transportation to nearly anywhere in London.

We always stay in the Bayswater or Paddington area. It's such a quick trip on the Heathrow Express or Elizabeth Line and we can get anywhere in town easily on the underground that goes thru Paddington Station.

We've stayed a couple of times at the Premier Inn Paddington Station which is about a 400 yard walk on the other side of Paddington Basin canal. It's very nice, and has a good bar/restaurant without having to go out. There are also a bunch of restaurants in and around the train station.

Most sights in London are spread out throughout the city. As long as you are near a decent tube station, you should have no problem getting anywhere.

Some used to say that if you stayed within the Circle Line you'd be fine. You could even stretch that out a bit.

Thanks for all the responses thus far!

We have spent a lot of time on London over the past 20 years; it is one of our 2 favorite cites (the other is Venice) and we find it great for walking. The first 2 times we stayed at Sanctuary House Hotel in Westminster, close to Westminster Abbey and St. James Park. We like that , but since then, apart from the short 1-night stays near Paddington for convenience to Heathrow, we have preferred the South Bank/ London Bridge/ Tower Bridge/ City of London areas. We especially enjoy the proximity to the Thames pedestrian path on the south side, as it is great for walking east-west, especially if on the South Bank. From the City of London/St. Paula’s area, we wither cross the Millennium Pedestrian bridge to the south bank path, or hop on the No. 15 bus at the stop in front of St. Paul’s. This bus runs east-west between Trafalgar Square and Tower Bridge/ Aldgate (and beyond).

Once at Trafalgar Square, to reach the museums just south of Hyde Park (around the Victoria and Albert, Science Museum, Natural History Museum), we enjoy the walk through beautiful mast. James Park, green and grassy Green Park, and Hyde Park.

For moving north-south from the river, if we don’t care to walk, we find a bus. This map shows the main bus routes between the main sites:

https://content.tfl.gov.uk/bus-route-maps/key-bus-routes-in-central-london.pdf

Or often we will treat ourselves to a riverboat ride to a further destination:

https://www.thamesclippers.com/plan-your-journey/route-map

Note that I haven’t mentioned the Tube, as I do not care to ride the underground trains. Too noisy, unfriendly, and you don’t see anything.

Lola is, of course, right....you see a lot more of London using the city buses and the Uber/Thames Clipper boats for transportation.

Lola, thanks so much for the bus map!
Are we able to tap on/off with credit card on London busses as we are able to do on Underground?

Are we able to tap on/off with credit card on London busses as we are able to do on Underground?

You tap on, but don’t tap off as it’s a set price.