Travelodge Location

Thank you Emma. We had a friend who lives near London suggest the Covent Garden one. It looked good until I started reading reviews about the family rooms. I guess you can’t open the window and it can get super hot. Thanks again. Will take a look at the Waterloo. Our friend said that area was sketchy. What do you think?

Hi -

Having stayed there the one I'd avoid is Travelodge Aldgate East. It looks and is amazingly located and is cheap in comparison with others nearby.

But - and these are big 'buts' - the hotel is accessed down a rather dingy back alley, some rooms are in an annexe nearby I believe, but the biggest 'but' of all is that the hotel is literally slap next door to the railway lines. When we stayed there we were above the railway lines and on the opposite side of the building to them. You could still hear - and feel - the trains going past but it was bearable and didn't stop us sleeping. If you got a lower room next to the railway though I would have thought zero slumber while the trains were running, and they run frequently to and from the early hours, was guaranteed!

It is very cheap though, so you pays your money and takes your chances if booking there!

I have also stayed at Vauxhall, which seemed fine to me and Southwark which was also fine for our purposes. Travelodges are basic, not swishy, large or usually situated in the very best locales, but then they are reasonably priced and I've always believed there to be some truth in the statement that you get what you pay for!

Ian

Hi Ian,

Thank you for your reply. Will take note of the Aldgate East and mark it off the list. Appreciate your perspective. We really don’t need fancy. Just comfortable and safe, but sleeping is what the hotel is for so I will take note. Thanks!

As far as I’m aware Travelodge don’t have aircon in their rooms. There’s a heater and a desk fan for temp control, but no aircon.

Akkejake- I guess several have been refurbished this past year. Some of the Hotels have newer rooms with aircon.

We stayed in the Waterloo Travelodge a few weeks ago. We had what they called a "Super Room", but were disappointed at the small size of both the room and the bathroom. It was quite well equipped, the staff were friendly and helpful, and the breakfast was good of its kind. We booked late, so the price was high, which may have influenced our disappointment. I cannot imagine trying to get three adults comfortably in such a room. The weather was very hot, but I cannot recall any problems with temperature or noise, or if the rooms was air conditioned. Our practice is to turn off any air conditioning anyway.

The Wateloo Travelodge is on a typical busy London main road, although we were not affected by traffic noise. It is close to Waterloo Station, the South Bank and the Old Vic Theatre (in fact, I am sure we sat next to Sheridan Smith in the local Pret a Manger). There are restaurants and take aways nearby, but nothing very special.

Have you tried the Southwark Travelodge? I had a much better stay there than at Waterloo.

Thanks RyanandGill. I will check that out. I was also looking at the new London City Location. I stayed years ago at the Thistle Tower which I believe has a new name. My company paid for it and I remember liking that location ok. Anyone have any feedback on the location? Looks to be near the Aldgate East tube stop.

London City is a brand new Travelodge. There's another one in the same area called Central Tower Bridge or similar which I thought on reflection would have been quieter than the the Aldgate one.

But like I said, you pay your money and take your chances.....

Ian

My questions are: when are you traveling? Must you have a family room? What’s your budget?

Thank you all for your feedback. Going to contemplate all this and make a decision. Thanks!

Claudia- We are a family of three. Our daughter will be 19 so we can’t do the Premier Inns. Not traveling until next summer June. Although it seems triples and family rooms can book up so I figured I would start researching now.Trying to keep it under 200 GBP a night. The husband is a bit concerned about aircon or at least wants to be able to open a window. We had thought the Travelodge Covent Garden was going to be the ticket until he read people complaining it was like sleeping in a coffin this past summer seeing as the family rooms have no air circulation. Your darn heat wave this past summer has worried him. ;) If we can for sure open windows and have a fan we would probably be fine but there seems to be some buildings that don’t allow it for one reason or another. I will keep researching. Thank you again for all your feedback.

You might want to look at the Nadler Victoria. I stayed at the Nadler Kensington several years ago and really liked it. I'd stay at any Nadler hotel in a heartbeat.

The Victoria has rooms to accommodate three or more adults, and the "Superior" room is less than £200 per night, while a larger room looks to be just about £200/night. They have rooms available for next June, but if interested, I wouldn't dawdle about making a reservation because in my experience they book up fast.

The Nadler concept is that they concentrate on essentials and don't provide extras that many guests don't use (spas, fitness rooms, bars, restaurants). Each room includes a sweet little mini-kitchen with sink, fridge, microwave, and dishes/utensils. You obviously can't cook a big meal in the room but it's handy for keeping snacks on hand or enjoying a bit of takeaway if you're not up for going out for a meal. As I recall they also offer discount vouchers with nearby restaurants.

The hotels are modern, nicely designed, air conditioned, and the Victoria is I think their newest hotel. The staff were pleasant and helpful when I stayed at the Nadler Kensington. I've considered the Nadler Victoria myself because I think the location is sweet, but on my next trip I'm staying in another area of London. The Nadler Victoria location would be particularly convenient if you're coming in from Gatwick on the train to Victoria Station.

The other Nadler hotels in London - in Kensington and Soho - may have lower room rates than the Victoria.

Thank you Suz. I have just taken a look and it does look really nice. Price is of course higher than some others but I can see the benefits of the location. Thanks again.

The Ibis Earl's Court will apparently let you put 3 adults in their family rooms, and their prepaid no-refund breakfast included rate for a few June 2019 sample dates works out to $182 USD a night if you sign up for Accor's free rewards program. (Refundable breakfast included rate is currently $213 USD for same dates) Design is on the IKEA brutalist side, but Ibis puts an emphasis on comfortable beds and clean rooms and the hotel is advertised as having AC.

I'm confused. What does being 19 have to do with not staying at a Premiere Inn?

Oh never mind. She doesn't get to stay for free cuz she's over 16.

Please consider investigating AirBnB apartments with 2 bedrooms. I've saved Monies with AirBnb apartment stays because I've fixed my own meals. Might be another option to consider.

Look at the tfl.gov.uk tube map and research properties in Zones 1 & 2.

Something like this south bank apartment fits your budget.

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/2972260?location=London%2C%20United%20Kingdom&guests=3&adults=3&children=0&infants=0&check_in=2019-08-06&check_out=2019-08-10

Simply saying you have more than enough time to research for your accommodations for next Summer.

FYI when researching my AirBnb stays its vital that there are a minimum of 12 reviews, the owners face is shown (not the dog, cat or Elizabeth's Tower) and that they respond within 1/2 a day. I engage them asking about closest ATM, tube stop, market, pub, park, etc. I will say that nearly every host I've stayed with I'm still in touch with.

And it's the UK's heat wave not mine although it's only 10am here in Los Angeles and 86. Will be in the high 90's for the remainder of the week. Been ugly temp wise.

Claudia- Thank you for your response. We have used AirBnB and VRBO for many of our vacations and probably will for this one at other locations during our trip. Due to our arrival being at 6:30am even with getting through customs and transportation we will be arriving long before check in. I have found it can be difficult to find a place to stash luggage and due to this was thinking a hotel would be a better fit. I have also noticed that even with some of the more popular Airbnb host there are times that they cancel on their guest not that far out. With that said and our party of three being difficult to accommodate at times I would rather not chance it on this portion of our trip. I may go back and take another look though. Thanks.

Oh and Claudia it has nothing to do with her staying for free. They will not allow three adults to occupy one room at Premier Inn. I would have to get two rooms.

A triple room at Rhodes Hotel is £175.00 per night located at 195 Sussex Gardens, few minutes walk to Lancaster Gate tube station and Paddington tube station. The London Elizabeth has triple rooms also for around £150.00-175.00, it’s a two minute walk to Lancaster Gate tube station..

I’ve stayed around Lancaster Gate and Bayswater Road/Queensway several times. Good location near Paddington and the Tube. There are also a couple Best Westerns convienent to Lancaster Gate. I realize Victoria Station area is convenient for LGW flyers, but for four nights, to me that’s enough time to look at other neighborhoods beyond Victoria and Waterloo.

Emma- Funnily enough that is exactly what I did decide last night. I added myself to the Travelodge mailing list and announced to the family we were tabling it until at least November. I have this issue where I love to plan things out. Not so much every hour but hotels and things. Once I book airfare I get a bit obsessed. Lol Thank you again for all your feedback. I will look through all of it again and I am sure many will benefit from the information on here just as I have benefited from many other threads. I am sure you all will hear from me again before next June. :) Thanks again!

islandfam2008 - you may want to sign up for the Nadler hotels' email list as well. They'll sometimes have special deals for their email subscribers, or at least give you a heads up when they're starting a promotion.

Suz- Already done! :0)

My daughter and I stayed at both the Southwark Travelodge and the Windsor Travelodge (to celebrate her college graduation), we liked them both. Staff was good, rooms were spacious, trick is to check the search box on their web site for "accessible" bathrooms (I have pain/mobility issues) and the rooms are bigger.

Southwark had a nice staff and good breakfast, decent south bank location, right across from a pub that was good to eat at, and just 1 block away to a fancier one, and a block the other way was a Tube stop.

Windsor had a local laundry service that picked up and delivered for no extra change and was lower priced than I expected. There's a trick to getting in to the hotel, you have to come in on the upper level where the shops and train station are, to find the main entrance. If you come in by taxi, they drop you at a lower level garage with a bigggg staircase, and you would have to call the front desk to activate their elevator (we had no working cell phones when we arrived after hours, and got VERY lucky that another guest came in and he carried our bags up the stairs. whew).

The brand new Travelodge that I want to try next time is their Acton Travelodge, looks like a great location on the Kensington side of the river, much newer. That Acton location will be closer for your Victoria Station arrival than the Southwark one on the south bank.

Have a great trip!
-Alison

Alison, have you ever visited Acton, and its neighbor West Acton? What are their appeal?