London lodging

Hi David: Earlier this year I looked at the LSE web site for vacation lodging in one of their resident halls. I read that LSE is the only university to offer year round accommodations though the number of rooms available during the school year is limited. I would look at their page some more - maybe even call them (a 3 minute conversation will cost about $0.33 on my Verizon calling card).

Inexpensive means how much to you? It's subjective so could you be a bit more specific?

Inexpensive to us would be about $100 a night. And again, we don't feel it necessary to stay in London. If there is a neighboring town within a 30-40 minute tube ride that is fine for us. I did book a room in a hotel in West Croydon last night, but would like to keep looking as it didn't get great reviews. Thanks!
David

$100 per night might be very difficult but try www.travelodgeuk.com or Premier inns uk. these are well maintained budget style chain hotels that may work for you for alittle more (website posts specials) than your budget but worth the proximity to London. Tube fares can get costly and exhausiting espec w/ children at days end.
the convenience may be well worth any xtra GBP's.

Check out the London School of Economics: http://www.lsevacations.co.uk/ They offer apartments or suites, with a kitchenette and coffee maker, laundry room in the basement, and some locations have a cafeteria on the first floor. Look at their website for more information; they have several locations, all convenient to the tourist sights and museums. Their prices are around your stated budget; different prices for different locations. Here is a map, showing the location of my three favorites; Grosvenor House Studios, High Holborn Residence, and Northumberland House. http://www.lsevacations.co.uk/images/Maps/New%20maps/LSE%20-%20Grosvenor-High%20Hol-Nthumberland7.4.pdf If you wish to stay south of the Thames, look at the Bankside House, which is near the Globe and Tate Modern: http://www.lsevacations.co.uk/images/Maps/New%20maps/LSE%20-%20Bankside%20House%20D.pdf

I appreciate the advice on all fronts. We did look into the London School of Economics. Unless we were reading the website wrong they only offer lodging during late summer months. I'm assuming everyone is back in school by October when we will be out there. Thanks again!

The LSE Top Floor website is the one that will give you info about year round accommodation. However, prices on apartments start at 110 GBP/night (about $170 USD, not including taxes/fees) but that is for basically a studio for 2 people, not an apartment for 5 (even if 3 of 5 are children). I stayed at LSE's Northumberland House in a single with a twin bed for 50 GBP/night. LSE availability outside of summer is limited & their website nearly always shows them fully booked, so the only way to truly know is to call or send an email to see if they respond to your inquiry. $100 USD/night for London, even off season, is very low for a family of 5. I would not be so keen trying to cut corners by staying 30 minutes outside London on a train line, particularly with kids. There can often be construction taking place on some lines during weekends which can cause delays or stations to be outright closed forcing a detour to another station that may not be as convenient to your lodging. It's a pain to deal with weekday rush hours going into/out of London trying to get seats for your large family. And the cost spent on all those tube/train rides means in the end you wind up paying nearly as much (or more) to spend unnecessary time in transit when you could have been somewhere more central where you could walk. I could have had a single room for cheaper further out in London, but paid the extra for Northumberland and wound up being able to walk to many major attractions avoiding the cost and hassle of trains. There are many cool things to see in London that are absolutely free admission which help offset having to pay the extra to stay in an apartment in a place like LSE, plus you'll have access to things like coin-op laundry facilities and a kitchen, both of which to me seem like they'd be worth their weight in gold if traveling with kids.

It is a challenge to find a room for 5 in London and I think finding one for under $100 will be close to impossible. Look at the Premier Inn chain as they have family rooms. Also, on tripadvisor, one of the regulars compiled this list of budget hotels. www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g186338-c162572/London:United-Kingdom:Budget.Hotels.In.London.html

Thanks for all of the advice. Extremely helpful. Cheers!

Couple of ideas now that you've given a dollar amount. First checkout either the Bridge Hotel 30 Borough Road London SE1 0AJ or try using Priceline or Hotwire. A year ago I bid via Priceline for the very first time and scored a double room (2 queen beds) at the Regent's Park Marriott for $90/night. The first picture on this link shows exactly what our room looked like; http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/lonrp-london-marriott-hotel-regents-park/ Flat screen TV, all amenities. Restaurant on the premises, never ate there. Very pleased. Give it a shot. Easy transport into the city center. Swiss Cottage Tube stop 2 blocks away. Regents Park is nearby. Gorgeous. The zoo is there. Paddle boats. Gardens. A Marks and Spencer on Finchley Rd to get picnic staples. Bank ATM right across from the Swiss Cottage Pub. Sweet cafe upstairs in the nearby library. Kids playground adjacent to the Swiss Cottage Sports Center which is a block from the Hotel. There's even a climbing wall in the Leisure Center.

David, Regarding the London School of Economics, they rent the Apartments out all year round. The dorm rooms are what is not available all year round. Two different things. Have a look here at Apartments only: http://www.lsevacations.co.uk/Topfloor.htm It is really worth it to pursue this because the price is great, locations great, and there is lots of room for a family. If you check availability and it looks like they are booked, give them a call (not expensive) because there is a glitch in their computer system that shows they are full, when they are not.

I've had some success using Priceline in London, and although that was summer 2010, I tried my luck in Dublin in the summer of 2011 and was successful again. What I did was select the highest # of stars I could and the region I wanted and then put in a rate of around $120 for London-got a great room at the Park Plaza Couty Hall near the Eye, and in Dublin, we ended up in Hilton for around the same amount. We were happy with the results both times and were close to everything. Good luck!

We stayed in a private apartment. We had good luck finding multiple alternatives at around 500 to 700 pounds a week in the London area through HomeAway.co.uk . We stayed in Barking which is twenty minutes by tube from downtown. It feels inner city, but also safe enough. There are more suburban feeling possibilities like Hampton Court and Greenwich.

David, a 30-40 minute Tube, or train (they're different things) ride, really won't get you very far, in terms of distance and savings. And, if you stay far enough away to find cheaper prices, the tradeoff is the extra time and cost of commuting back and forth. Consider how you might feel putting up with an hour-long Tube trip late at night after an exhausting day in London. Bear in mind, too, that the Tube stops running around midnight. Every way to save money in London accommodations involves trading away something. Consider minimizing your stay in London and increasing your stay elsewhere. London's great, but it is not the same as the rest of Britain.