Premier Inn London County Hall

"...Premier Inn is a Europen hotel chain geared to European priorities and tastes, so no air conditioning, small rooms, no expectation of tips...." Most Permier Inns do in fact have AC. I know from experience that the Premier Inn at "London Euston" does have it. You can probably get a similar rate. At the http://www.premierinn.com site there is a box you can click to list their properties which have AC. They have about 20 different locations scattered across the city most all with AC.

I stayed at the Premier Inn London County Hall in June 2008 and absolutley loved it ! The location is amazing and the rooms are clean, comfortable, and a good price. I do not know if no air conditioning in August is a problem.
They have a great breakfast buffet too.

I can't answer your question about Premier Inn. Regarding air conditioning, it usually isn't that hot in London to need ac, but there are rare heatwaves. Even when gets hot during the day the evenings are cool. You will find that a lot of hotels especially the older ones do not have air conditioning.

In the UK air conditioning is not high at all on the list of priorities for a hotel. Premier Inn is probably the best quality no frills hotel chain in the UK and the rate seems very good. The geographical location is very, very good August is one of the cheapest months to visit London as kids only get August off in the UK for summer so the bedrock of hotels, the businessmen and conference trade is dead. You'll probably get similar very good deals at 4 stars geared to the businessmen who are on the beach at that time. Premier Inn is a Europen hotel chain geared to European priorities and tastes, so no air conditioning, small rooms, no expectation of tips.
If you want a bit of the US in London then you really need the Marriott County Hall in the same building as the Premier Inn which fills that niche.

I once stayed in the Marriott in the same building (courtesy of a friend"s Marriott points) and the location is great, even though the Premier Inn doesn't have the view across the river to Parliament. There is a chance you might want AC in August (I once needed it in July) but a bigger chance that you'll need an umbrella or a sweater instead. If it does get hot, buy a cheap fan.

We were in London once in August - stayed in a hotel without airconditioning and were miserable all night. I'm told that's not typical, but there was a heatwave for the entire 2 weeks we were there. The hotel we stay at now does have airconditioning - just to be on the safe side.

I have stayed at the Premier Inn at County Hall many times. The location is ideal. The Premier Inn part of the building has no rooms with views..they (the views) belong to the much more expensivew Marriot in the same building. Now that I am about to tell you that AC is a minor concern, there will surely be a heat wave this August. If you got TWO rooms for £158.00, just open your window and enjoy the price.

Good advise Laurel!!

Linda, do you know what train station I will arrive at in London. The actual station I am departing from, as I have just been told is is "Wadhurst". Also, I just booked the two rooms at the Premier Inn London County Hall for an even better price, 69 GBP per room. I thought that was pretty remarkable, even for August? Seems Sunday night is by far the cheapest night, but it looks like everything I want to do is open on Sunday and Monday.

I knew I could count on all of you for excellent advice. We really want to be in a great central location, or else we may as well just commute in for the day(s) from Tunbridge Wells where we have a two week home exchange. I think my 8 year old daughter will love being able to look upon a huge ferris wheel during our overnight in London! Now I just need to figure out if we can bear to pay the outrageous fee for her to ride on it!!! Anyone ever see any coupons for it? We have coupons here in the US for everything, surely they have the same. The hotel does provide fans upon request.

Presume you will have return train tickets from Tunbridge Wells (nice town) so you will be able to claim these two for one ticket offers. Hang on the the inward tickets rather then handing them in when you get to London. Ths will mean going through the manned barrier rather than the automatic barriers when you arrive in London. http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/attraction-types/2for1london.aspx http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/faq.aspx#80 Also have a look at GroupSave tickets from Tunbridge Wells http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/group-save

<<We have coupons here in the US for everything, surely they have the same.>> The UK isn't like the US regards coupon's, certainly don't get the books of coupons you find in tourist areas in the US. Its done in a more subtle way here, nothing as straight forward as a coupon you just cut, tends to be part of a bundle with something else so the discount is 'hidden'. For the visitor probably the most accessible option for the London Eye is the 2 for 1 promotion for Travelcard. You'll have to use public transport to get around in London so rather than get an Oyster Card get a Travelcard from Waterloo Station behind your hotel - you must buy it from the rail station ticket office as they sponsor the promotion. This promotion also gets you 2 for 1 admission for places like the Tower of London and Madame Taussaud's as well as the London Eye
http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/2for1-london

more great advice, thanks so much!! boy, did that royal wedding get me in the mood for our first trip to England!

Just saw your post on the Italy forum. If you use this site and travel off peak a day trip should cost about £38 for all of you. A return ticket over a longer period should cost about £67 for all of you. http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

Thanks Linda, I was wondering where that post went! That's not a bad as I feared!

Kerry, 69 pounds is a great rate for any decent London hotel, so you've done well. Older hotels in London are typically not air conditioned, because of the cost of retrofitting and because most people won't need it most of the time. Newer properties may or may not have AC, going by my experience. Southern England has suffered through some summer heat waves recently, along with the rest of Europe. So, there is a possibility that you will encounter one. Odds are very high, however, that you'll see daytime highs in the 70's. August is the big vacation month in Europe. It wouldn't be if the weather was consistently bad.

Hi Kerry The fares I quoted were from Tunbridge Wells and doing the same search for Wadhurst came up with £53.70 and 67.20 I'm afraid. Still cheaper than your original findings! You will arrive at Waterloo Station, a short walk from the Premier Inn. See map from Transport for London's "Journey Planner" http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk/user/XSLT_TRIP_REQUEST2?language=en&sessionID=TLJJP04P1_641998683&requestID=1&tripSelector5=1&itdLPxx_view=detail&tripSelection=on&command=nop&calculateDistance=1&#35;jpmap_5

No air conditioning is quite common in England. And there are relative "heat and humidity waves' (not uncommon). Some hotels we have stayed at were able to provide portable electric room fans.

Thank you! If we can manage being in Southern Spain in 104F heat w/out a/c, I suppose we can manage just about anything.

Actually the train calls at Waterloo East not Waterloo. Waterloo East is sort over the road and around the corner and upstairs from Waterloo but should suit you OK for where you will be walking to. It is a roughly half hourly service which takes from about 1:03 to 1:08 to London Charing Cross, which calls at (Royal) Tunbridge Wells after 7 minutes High Brooms +4 more Tonbridge (note the spelling difference) +6 Sevenoaks +10 Orpington +10 London Bridge +14 Waterloo East +4 more
Charing Cross a final 4 more minutes. Occasional service does not go that way but goes to Cannon Street instead of Charing Cross. After London Bridge it is straight across the river to Cannon Street in the City and does not stop at Waterloo East. Its a few minutes slower, too.

Thanks Nigel! Very good to know.