london hotels

Why don't you telephone the Celtic Hotel, taking into account the time difference.?

You don't mention when you're going to London. I was there solo in 2007 and stayed at Imperial College in South Kensington. It was near the tube, in a nice location, very close to the Victoria & Albert. You can only stay during the summer when University is not in session. There are a number of universities that do this. I paid approx $70 Cdn/ngt for a private room & bath, including breakfast. http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/summeraccommodation/shortstay It might be of use to you.
Good luck!

May 2011 for 8 days

Clapham is not within the central tourist London (generally within the circle of the "Circle Line" tube). Why not stay closer in where you will be ble to walk to sights and get more of a feel for London

I'm open to recommendations

I agree that Clapham is a bit far out, particularly if you are a first time visitor. Not a very good area either. Have you considered bidding on priceline? You can find tips for doing so on biddingfortravel.com and betterbidding.com, along with bids that have recently been won. For example, some recent winning bids were Notting Hill Hilton $86 and the Copthorne Tara in Kensington for $85 plus taxes. Also, take a look at the Cherry Court Hotel, a 12-room B&B near Victoria Station. I have not stayed there ( just walked by it), but have heard good things about it. It's in a much better location than Clapham, and is in your price range. Good luck!

Wow, that bidding looks complicated, not sure I can tackle it.
The comment about the location of Clapham is a definate concern. I am still looking around. I fell I've waited to long to get reservations for May 20-28

I agree Priceline can be a bit intimidating. But I have saved a lot of money using it, both in the U.S. and London. BTW, I think I was editing my post to suggest the Cherry Court Hotel at the time you replied, so maybe Cherry Court will work for you. You have not waited too long to find a good deal. I usually book rooms 2-3 weeks before departure, and have never paid more than $140 a night, even without Priceline. Please take a look at wotif.com. They have a few hotels that might work for you. For example, the Lincoln House Hotel is going for £75 ($120) during your travel dates -- higher than your price range, but not bad for central London. On the hotel's own website it is only £65 ($104) for a small single, and £85 for a "single plus". (Don't know if you are traveling alone or not). Also look at londontown.com.

Priceline is definitely the way to go for a hotel in London if you want to keep cost down. We spent five days bidding for our October '10 trip and stayed at four stars in/near South Kens and got our**** hotel for $100 per night-no breakfast included but bought what we needed at Waitrose-coffee/tea provided in room and we had a refrig. Look at Bidding For Travel prior to PL to see what others have gotten in London using PL.

I agree with the others. For under $100, go with "name your own price" on Priceline. It really isn't that hard. Pick a neighborhood, pick a number of stars, put in your bid. Review some of the recent wins on the two websites mentioned previously (betterbidding.com and biddingfortravel.com). If you find priceline too intimidating, you might try hotwire.com. Hotwire will show you the price upfront, but won't tell you the name of the hotel until after you pay. Most of the hotwire and priceline hotels are chain hotels. I've never had a problem and I've gotten some bargain rooms. Clapham is not so convenient for sightseeing.

One other place to consider ... easyhotel. These are very basic, but would definitely be clean, safe, and under $100 and in London. Check the reviews of easyhotel on tripadvisor so you know what you are getting to see if this is something that would work for you.

hmmmm I'm not sure Clapham would be my first choice.

Thank you for all your help, sounds like Chapham would have been a big mistake. Cherry Court Hotel sounded wonderful but their recent bout with beg bugs scared me off. Took my son six exterminations to get rid of the critters (they would come out and bite at night) and each time the exterminator claimed they saw no traces of bugs . Did get a reservation at Celtic Hotel. They had high reviews considering they sound like an eccentric facility. I still appreciate your comments if I've made another mistake.

Definitely a much better location than Clapham. If for some reason you get to the Celtic and don't like it, take a look at the Arosfa Hotel as a backup. Same general location, and single rooms can sometimes be had on wotif.com for as little as £67 ($106) per night. Bed bugs at the Cherry Court--yikes! That would scare me off, too. Which website mentioned the bedbugs? Didn't see it on tripadvisor. In any event, have a safe and wonderful trip!

I haven't actually stayed yet, so was a bit hesitant to reply, but I got such a good package deal... I will be staying at the Queen's Park Hotel in Bayswater. Some of the reviews on tripadvisor aren't the greatest, but it seems to be a pretty decent 3 star hotel. I hope to be quite comfortable. For my entire 7 night package with dbl room and round trip airfare (Milwaukee to London), it cost me just over $1,300. I found the website through a travelzoo email newsletter. In case anyone is interested in checking it out: europevacations.com

You could try looking at http://www.vrbo.com/ for options to rent a flat. We have used them for two trips and have had great experiences. They include kitchens so you can save a lot over the cost of eating out constantly.

We had a wonderful experience in '04 at the Thistle Hyde Park on Bayswater Rd. This was our 1st trip to London and our travel agent booked us here. I'd highly recommend it. We were 2 blocks either direction from Tube stops (Lancaster Gate and Queensway). There is a very historic pub, the Swan, within walking distance. Our rooms were spacious, charming, and comfortable and included a fantastic, plentiful breakfast.