My trip to York on May 28 and 29th has happily been complicated by an additional traveler (my daughter). I find that at my original choice, the Coach House, adding a person in a twin bedded room doubles the cost. I am looking at other possibilities but have found that the tariff on the web-sites is considerably higher in some cases than the tariff quoted in Rick Steves 2012 Great Britain guide- 2o pounds per person per night in one example. Is something going on that I am not aware of? We would like a clean, ensuite lodging which is walking distance to the Minster. Any suggestions? I was searching out the places that Steves had listed for 60-70 pounds per room per night. (The nights that we will be there are Mon and Tues)
Posted by
Chicagoland
279 posts
We're going to be there in early July, and I booked us in the Birchfield Guest House, on the other side of the river from downtown York, but it's supposed to be only a 15-20 minute walk into town, maybe another 10 minutes to the Minster. It was really highly rated on TripAdvisor, which is why I went with them. We got a twin room, en suite, small but sufficient to our needs, for 130 pounds total for two nights. The owner did offer me a bigger room with a king sized bed and a pullout couch for 20 pounds more, but we didn't want to mess with pulling out the bed and don't mind a small room. Since we're getting a rental car on the second day we're there for the rest of our trip, the fact that the Birchfield is not downtown proved to be very convenient. We're only a 10-15 minute walk from the train station when we arrive to town, and after we get our car, we can park it near the hotel for free. If we were staying in the midst of everything, parking would have been a real pain. Oh, FYI, York is having its 800th birthday of being a city this year! Lots of various festivities are planned; check out their website and see if anything is going on while you're there.
Posted by
Olympia, WA, USA
6501 posts
Last year we stayed three nights at the Abbey Guest House (www.abbeyghyork.co.uk) and found it fine. Nice people, good breakfast, faces the river, easy and attractive walk to the Minster and medieval center. It was in the RS book, don't know if there's a discrepancy in rates but you could probably get the RS quoted rate from them, they get a lot of business that way.
Posted by
southwest, Missouri, U.S.A.
1717 posts
Hello Diane. In York, I liked being at the B & B 23 St. Mary's. It is located at a quiet street near the Train station. It might not be within walking distance of the York Minster church, but it is not far from it. That B & B is very nice, the rooms are lavish. I liked talking with the owner Chris in the parlor (the front room) in the evening. They serve breakfast in the dining room. A room (ensuite) in that great B & B cost slightly less than a small ugly old room in a hotel located near Victoria station in London. Information about that B & B - 23 St. Mary's - is in the travel guide books "Rick Steves' ENGLAND", and "Rick Steves' GREAT BRITAIN".
Posted by
Greenville, TX, USA
3 posts
We just stayed at St. Raphael's in York. We were not impressed, altough recommended by Rick. Bed was short and uncomfortable and I am not tall--try something else. All of Rick's other recommendations were spot on! A or A+.. St. R a C+