Can someone explain this British thing?

Was there something different or unique about your inquiry or situation? I've stayed in different lodgings on two separate occasions in London...rate and vacancy inquiries were no different than anywhere else. I'm also not sure I've ever had any place anywhere tell me how perfect their lodging was...I've always encountered nothing but friendliness/professionalism but never a sales pitch that I can recall. Based on my own experience, I don't believe there to be any "British thing" about making reservations.
Try Blades Hotel or Cherry Court Hotel. Cheers!

You need to tell us which hotel this is, and perhaps then we will know why they might want to discourage you. My first thoughts are that some places specialise in providing accommodation for homeless families, or asylum seekers. Other are used mostly by people working away from home - builders, shopfitters, etc. It is possible that the owners just thought that some Americans would not fit in well with their other guests, and might be disappointed or demanding. They might even ask for ice.

Maybe you just happened to pick 2 places that had a run of bad luck with Americans who complained about small rooms or being too far outside of London.. . or maybe asked for ice. Where did you find these 2 places?

You famously self-deprecating Brits want to explain this? ;-) Bob (the Brit!) has mentioned some very good possibilities that I'd never really thought of before - but then again the USA is full of the same type of hotels. I guess that by the time I've researched lots of reviews of a particular hotel I know it's a 'regular' tourist hotel by then. Or, they simply don't want any more whining Americans...can't blame 'em for that! Yeah, Melody - what are you looking at? Now we're curious!

On our first trip to Ireland, we ended up in a farmhouse B&B outside Dublin, near a nothing-much town that was just in the right place for our stop. It turned out, though, that they were one that actually catered to people working away from home, as Bob said. Every one of the other guests had been there for weeks, knew each other, "owned" the lounge, etc., and we felt really out of place. If we had been told that when we called, we might have chosen other accomodation.

Perhaps they just didn't want a review on Trip Advisor saying, "if we would have known this place was 25 minutes away from London, we would have never stayed here!" I call it being friendly, outstanding customer service oriented. Sort of like asking a taxi driver to take you to your hotel and he or she says no, cause it is only a 2 min. walk away. Would you be pleased that you just saved some money cause you didn't know it was so close or upset that they wouldn't drive you there?

I think Bob was probably right about maybe they are places that house the homeless. Social Services often use guesthouses for people they have nowhere else to send to.
And maybe the one that's 25 miles out of London were just being helpful and also didn't want to take your booking only to have you be unhappy.

Melody, The others have provided some good possibilities on why the establishments might be discouraging you from staying there. The impression I get from this very limited information, is that it's not so much that they "don't want you", but perhaps they feel that their facilities may not be up to a proper standard for tourists? Although you DID think through this, I'd suggest staying a bit closer to London as that will provide more touring time. Could you elaborate on why you want to stay some distance from the city? Cheers!

Sometimes it would be nice if accommodations were more forthcoming with their recommendations or "special" issues. We found what we thought was a nice Gite in Provence, out in the country and a bit isolated. That should have been our first clue, that the road leading to it was dirt for the last two miles. Turned out to be a very nice place, actually, but a 'clothing optional' environment. As titilating as that sounds, in actuality it put me off my feed for a while. It was hot and a nice swim in their pool turned into a lot of sky-gazing.

"As titilating as that sounds, in actuality it put me off my feed for a while. It was hot and a nice swim in their pool turned into a lot of sky-gazing." ROFLMAO!!! I needed that!

Melody, I don't believe that there is any "British thing". I have alway had wonderful experiences when making reservations in the UK for alll of trips. The one that told you that the hotel is 25 minutes outside of London was only being nice, suggesting that staying in the city would be much more convenient for you.

John, that has to be the funniest thing I've ever read on this message board!!! So how was the French sky?

Sorry, all, I was out all day and only now got to explain myself. There will be 5 of us; myself, my husband, our daughter (16) and my two sisters. We want clean rooms and friendly innkeepers. B&Bs are preferred. We thought staying outside London made sense, because we'll be dropping our car when we get there, then staying 2 days. The place is near Heathrow, which I thought would make our last day less stressful. After talking to my sisters, and the "other place," we decided to stay in the city, as they have an airport transfer service.
And, no, we wouldn't be asking for ice. But we do intend to wear clothes. :)

Star gazing? I would be checking out a different type of heavenly bodies.

As a Brit myself my immediate reaction on reading this post is that this was nothing more than the hotelier trying to avoid you being disappointed on arrival when you find that you are either not in London, or in a room that you may consider small. We are very self depreciatory us Brits, heaven forbid that we should sing our own praises, or that of our rooms to rent. I think we also expect our American friends to have higher expectations. In short we put ourselves down too often.

Anyone getting up at 3 a.m. EDT tomorrow to watch that other British thing?

Considering it - it starts at MIDNIGHT here; is that late, or early? It's crazy - I know that much...;-)

I'm going to record it on the DVR. But one of my coworkers (she's around 40, I think) is actually having a slumber party with friends, and they're going to get up at 3am (central time) to start watching it.

Of course I'll be up watching it - told my boss not to expect in until late Friday after noon. .
Eileen, I thought you'd be up with me watching it ??. In your tiara???