Hello everyone, I'd love help finding an inexpensive place to stay for 2 nights before heading to Heathrow and sadly, home. We love London and have been there just a few times now with our longest stay in an Airbnb near Earls Court tube for 9 nights a couple of springs ago. Sadly they're booked but it got me to thinking about lovely high streets, and eclectic wonderful East London. We want to go to a play while in town just one night and as long as we can tube it we'd love a place with access to a kitchenette at least or a kind host that provides breakfast since we like to take care of that and perhaps be back in for a late dinner spending only a lovely lunch out and about. We're retired now but very fit so we tend to wander that beautiful city. I've got my eyes on a couple of areas, including Clapham and Dalston by Hackney. We love ethnic foods and have seen the first time to London visits, including the Tower, V@A Museum, the amazing British Museum, changing of the guard at Buckingham, so we don't want to stay in the center, although again we'll want to come in for a play. We'll be dropping our car in Slough and stay a night in Windsor before trying to get lost in London but have a quiet residence, not a hotel, to rest in or duck into if its a bad rainy day in June. Thanks for any suggestions on safe but wonderful and lively neighborhood suggestions to stay in. We appreciate your viewpoints! Darla
Posted by
Land of La
9531 posts
Define inexpensive in your POV.
Would you consider staying at a Premier Inn property? No kitchenette but the properties are often well situated so easy peasy access to cafes, restaurants, pubs as well as tube stations.
On my last trip ( November 2024) explored the Hackney neighborhood a bit. Liked it. Meet up with a fellow Forum poster at the Mess Cafe. Very nice place for a meal and meet up. From where I was staying in Holborn it was about a 45 minute ride on public transport. Change at Stratford if memory serves.
Posted by
London
311 posts
I'm not sure how important a consideration transport links are to your planning, but if so I would choose Clapham over Dalston. While Dalston is on the Overground, which is less frequent than the Underground and doesn't go into central London (so you'd have to change to get to the theatre), Clapham is conveniently located on the Northern line which goes straight into theatreland (Charing Cross/Leicester Square). Pretty much any neighbourhood in London is going to have good food from a variety of countries. Clapham is also very close to Brixton, which has an amazing selection of places to eat at Brixton Market. Good luck!
Posted by
London
1600 posts
I thought Darla was confusing Clapham with Clapton if we're talking about Hackney, but maybe not. Cat makes a decent case for Clapham anyway.
As Cat mentioned, Hackney is a bit more for the experienced public transport user as a place to stay, as there isn't an underground station in the borough. I live in Hackney and use the Overground, buses and can link up with the underground at Angel or Finsbury Park (amongst other places).
I'm not the best person to ask about accommodation in the borough as I live here and don't use hotels, but off the top of my head I can think of Kip at Hackney Central - https://getsomekip.com/ (just opposite where I had lunch with Claudia) and there's a Travelodge in Hackney Road -
https://www.travelodge.co.uk/hotels/597/London-Hackney-hotel?searchLocation=Hackney
I haven't looked as yet but the online platforms for apartment rental should have a few choices in Hackney Central / Dalston / Clapton. I wouldn't really advise going much further east or north east of Hackney; Stratford is well connected but may or may not be a bit rough for your tastes. A regular contributor to the forum has family there and may know better than me.
If you're genuinely interested in staying in Hackney we can talk more about what you might like to do and see. In a way, even though I live here, I'd lean more towards nearby Islington for the visitor. There's also going to be nice short term let flats in Islington, but at least if you're around Upper Street / Angel you're a bit handier for the tube, or even Kings Cross / St Pancras mainline stations.
Posted by
OP
Oregon
18 posts
Wow! Great info everyone. So now I'm thinking Clapham/Brixton is best since we have a short time and want to come in for a play one night and Clapham has a fun high street area with lots of restaurants, pubs, shops. I think a B&B or a kitchenette in a small let is what we'd like. Hotels can be noisy and definitely more expensive. I'll continue my search tonight. Thank you!