Will be in London for a week in January. Have been searching Craigslist/internet for large studio or 1 bedroom "serviced" apartment for 3 in Chelsea/S. Kensington/Earls Court or Notting Hill areas to be near daughter's college. Don't need fancy, just clean, comfortable, safe and convenient to Tube. Prices are all over the place--how to tell if a deal is too good to be true? How to determine whether rental agent is reputable and apartment is "as pictured"? Advice welcome about units or rental agents readers have used! Thanks,
Posted by
Newburyport, MA
683 posts
Royal Court Apartments in Bayswater (next to Notting Hill area and just north of Hyde Park), is reasonable and close to major sites as well as Underground (plus only 3 blks from Paddington).There are stores nearby
Posted by
Atlanta, GA
380 posts
Ellen,
We've used holiday-rentals.co.uk twice and had excellent success. We rented a flat in Germany last year and then a cottage just north of London this year. They have a lot to choose from and the website is easy to navigate. Both times we were able to communicate with the owner via email before leaving and only had to make a small deposit to reserve and then brought the rest with us. We were even lucky, the owners of the cottage had an American bank account that I could just make the deposits into without carrying the cash on our trip.
Posted by
Spring Hill, TN, USA
81 posts
Hello! To be honest, I tried using craigslist for apartment searches for London a few months ago and was emailed scam letters wanting me to send them a huge cashier's check and they would return the balance. So, I didn't go that route and am a little leary of that anyway.
I used www.vrbo.com and am planning on my trip in the Fall. You can try that website as they have many apartments to choose. I hope this helps!
Posted by
OP
Sacramento, CA
3 posts
Thanks responders. To anyone else interested in this topic, I found lots (80 pages of postings!) on holiday apartment rental scams on tripadvisor.com Very sobering. See that site for travellers tips on red flags and how to avoid being taken. Meanwhile, more suggestions from fellow Steve's travellers about legitimate places is welcome. Thanks!
Posted by
Boulder, CO, USA
780 posts
www.gumtree.co.uk is like an english version of craigslist.
Just beware of scammers asking for Western Unions of cash while they are "out of town" or such. Even if they tell you to wire it to yourself or a friends name in England and not to them, all while sending them a copy of the wire info to prove you sent it. Obviously they will get the money using the details on the "proof". Its all a scam.
Just warning you because I actually had 2 people attempt this on me.
Posted by
Ottawa, Canada
4555 posts
We've had excellent apartments through homelidays.com, a clearinghouse site, so you get to deal with apartment owners directly. There are reviews posted, too....so we always use ones with many reviews stretching back over time....not something a scammer can do on this site.
Posted by
Fredericksburg, TX, USA
73 posts
We have stayed several times at the Emperor's Gate Short Stay Apts. at 8 Knaresbrough Place about 2 minutes from Earl's Court station. Family run, very friendly, not fancy, and not expensive. And they will rent for less than a week.
Posted by
London, UK
356 posts
SACO apartments are nice and they do often have special offers. I have not stayed in the London apartments, but was impressed by the ones in Bristol.
http://www.sacoapartments.co.uk/destinations/uk/london-the-city-of-london