London Hotel?

We need a hotel in London for 4 nts. pre-cruise and 2 nts. post-cruise.

Any suggestion that don't cost $300 a night, but still located well?

Lots of suggestions in previous threads on this topic. Many cruisers seem to stay in the cluster of modern hotels near (some in) the old County Hall on the south bank of the Thames. This location is great for seeing the London Eye, Westminster Abbey, 'Big Ben', Buckingham Palace, etc., all of which are in very easy walking distance. Also good transport links (Waterloo station is very close) and river trips. Look at the Premier Inns (County Hall and Waterloo), Park Plaza hotels (Westminster Bridge and County Hall) and the Marriott County Hall.

We've recently stayed at doubletree by Hilton Westminster. It's a decent quality, very central, on a bus route , close to sights and tubes.

We are staying at the Luna Simone because of recommendations here. I'll be sure to report back here after our stay but it seems like a great location and the price is reasonable.

Amazing coincidence but I have also stayed a Luna and Simone. It was very good value, is family owned and very welcoming. Rooms were tiny and it is a bit further out. I've never chosen to go back as we prefer bigger hotels with more facilities. It receives excellent reviews on trip advisor.

If you're willing to pay that kind of money and want a beautiful hotel with British flare...there is Rubens At the Palace, which is a block away from

Buckingham Place and close to many attractions within walking distance.

It is part of the Red Carnation Collection Hotels. You can have high tea there and experience a true 4 star London hotel.

It's a very lovely hotel. Can't beat the location.

For reasonable prices with modern facilities I would try Travelodge, Premier Inn, who have many hotels dotted around Central London, bearing in mind it's a very large city and you will have to taxis, bus, or tube if you want to see a variety of things, saying that you haven't been to London if you haven't been in a London Taxis or travelled the tube.

Janec16

If you are on a tight budget, I recommend the London Town Hotel.

It is a B&B right around the corner from the Earl's Court Tube Station.

We took the tube everywhere and saw a lot of London in our short time there.

We stayed there for three nights in April, 2010. The staff were very friendly and helpful.

Our room was very small, but had a private bathroom (ensuite).

The room rate includes a surprisingly nice breakfast, so that saved us some money too.

We had a room on the top floor. It is in a residential/hotel neighborhood and we were not bothered by street noise.

There are many restaurants nearby, and it is in a lively neighborhood.

Red carnation hotels are excellent - but expensive. Montague on the Gardens is fab. If you simply want a base from which to sight see, with comfortable, clean modern bedrooms and bathrooms, then as the response above says, try Premier Inn - they do a decent breakfast too.

A low cost hotel in Bloomsbury, not far from the British Museum, that you might consider, is the Bedford Hotel on Southampton Row. Rooms are small, but clean and have been modernised recently. There are a number of restaurants nearby, and its close to Russell Square tube (on the Piccadilly line), and on bus route to the Strand (good for Covent Garden) and Trafalgar Sq, among others. If you book it, ask for a room at the back, as they are quieter.

If you want to see a range of the sights in London, you will, as that post says, have to use buses, underground or cabs anyway.

We are staying at the Luna Simone because of recommendations here. I'll be sure to report back here after our stay but it seems like a great location and the price is reasonable.

Kylie, Are you back from Luna Simone? How was it? How did you get there? Thank you.

Len - these are 4 good ones:-

The Tower, excellent for the Tower of London etc

Club Quarters. St Paul's. for St Paul's, the river walks & Tate Modern

The Rookery. For the Barbican , St Paul's & lots of other sites

Crowne Plaza St James for Buckingham Palace & Westminster

They are all worth a google !

Sorry, double post!

We are staying this summer at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge. They have an "advance saver" rate that saved us some $$$. We booked through their website.

I've stayed at the President. It is 1 block from the Russell Sq tube stop and a few blocks from the British Museum. Great location...however the breakfast was awful but there is a Tesco near the tube station and we used that at times to grab something for breakfast.

We stayed at Palace Strand for two nights last month after our Transatlantic on the Eclipse.

It was close to everything, had a great breakfast buffet and staff was great.

Room was not huge, but clean and nice. Paid about $220/night.

Mike

Kylie, Are you back from Luna Simone? How was it? How did you get there? Thank you.

The Luna Simone was great! We did walk there after taking the tube to Victoria Station. Glad we did it once to say we did, but we did take a shuttle back to the airport on the morning of our flight just to be on the safe side and avoid the crowds.

We had to keep asking people if we were going the right way after getting off the tube. It took a good 15 minutes to walk there and pulling our suitcases was kind of a hassle. The tube was empty when we got on at the airport (7AM) but packed by the time we tried to get off.

Any more questions?

Kristi

The Luna Simone was great! We did walk there after taking the tube to Victoria Station. Glad we did it once to say we did, but we did take a shuttle back to the airport on the morning of our flight just to be on the safe side and avoid the crowds.

 

We had to keep asking people if we were going the right way after getting off the tube. It took a good 15 minutes to walk there and pulling our suitcases was kind of a hassle. The tube was empty when we got on at the airport (7AM) but packed by the time we tried to get off.

Any more questions?

Kristi

Thank you Kristi. I think we will try to walk also. Do you have any other suggestions for us? We get there early Saturday morning and leave Monday morning.

Diane

Thank you Kristi. I think we will try to walk also. Do you have any other suggestions for us? We get there early Saturday morning and leave Monday morning.

Diane

How was your trip, Diane? Sorry I didn't get back here until now. Did you enjoy your time in London?

Kristi

How was your trip, Diane? Sorry I didn't get back here until now. Did you enjoy your time in London?

Kristi

Kristi, Our trip was great. We did walk from Victoria Station to Luna Simone and had to ask someone for help but we made it. Before the cruise we walked from Luna Simone to Victoria Coach Station to take the National Express Bus and that was easy. We enjoyed staying at Luna Simone and got in as much as we could in the two days we had.

Diane

We need a hotel in London for 4 nts. pre-cruise and 2 nts. post-cruise.

Any suggestion that don't cost $300 a night, but still located well?

I was going to suggest a lovely B&B that we stayed in (Cartref House), but their website says they have closed because their landlord is making the place into a private home.

Rick Steves recommends both the www dot limetreehotel dot co uk or www dot morganhouse dot co dot uk. We're staying at the Lime Tree Hotel next week when we're in London. It costs more than the Morgan House, but looks more upscale. Both look nice, though, and are in the Victoria/Belgravia neighborhood - very centrally located and near lots of transportation.

On my last stay in London, I stayed in the Premier Inn County Hall in I believe the district is called Southbank. I can really recommend the place. The desk employees were really helpful and exceptionally went out of their way to help our group out.

Pros:

Rooms were clean, comfortable, and much larger than expected. The bathrooms were especially large.

Tube stations in one direction very near (Waterloo - also trains), another just a short walk over the footbridge (Embankment), a third across Westminister Bridge (Westminister)

Red Buses a short walk out to the Westminister Bridge Road and the water bus stop for the water trip out to London Bridge included in Hop Off Hop Off tour deal kicks off just across the bridge.

Aquarium, Florence Nightingale Museum, London Eye, a nice park, Big Ben, House of Lords, a large festival hall (sorry, forgot the name) and I don't know what else right there in walking distance. Also a nice row of restaurants along the river past the park at I think it is called Festival Pier.

Only con I can really come up with, I don't think I would want a ground floor room with a window facing onto the park. If those even exist as I think the restaurant and things like that are on that floor no rooms.

Edit: Sorry, I don't know the current pricing. Prices when we stayed there were exceptionally competitive.

On my last stay in London, I stayed in the Premier Inn County Hall in I believe the district is called Southbank. I can really recommend the place. The desk employees were really helpful and exceptionally went out of their way to help our group out.

 

Pros:

 

Rooms were clean, comfortable, and much larger than expected. The bathrooms were especially large.

 

Tube stations in one direction very near (Waterloo - also trains), another just a short walk over the footbridge (Embankment), a third across Westminister Bridge (Westminister)

 

Red Buses a short walk out to the Westminister Bridge Road and the water bus stop for the water trip out to London Bridge included in Hop Off Hop Off tour deal kicks off just across the bridge.

 

Aquarium, Florence Nightingale Museum, London Eye, a nice park, Big Ben, House of Lords, a large festival hall (sorry, forgot the name) and I don't know what else right there in walking distance. Also a nice row of restaurants along the river past the park at I think it is called Festival Pier.

 

Only con I can really come up with, I don't think I would want a ground floor room with a window facing onto the park. If those even exist as I think the restaurant and things like that are on that floor no rooms.

 

Edit: Sorry, I don't know the current pricing. Prices when we stayed there were exceptionally competitive.

We will be staying there in September. Did you have breakfast in the restaurant? Also, did you eat in any of the nearby restaurants, were they reasonable priced?

My mistake SOUTHWARK not Southbank it seems. Just looked at the map to provide clearer information where the things I am mentioning in this post are located. Yes, we did eat in nearby restaurants over the course of the week and all were reasonably priced.

We had breakfast twice in the hotel. It was not the cheapest, but it was a buffet which saved time. Full English with the usual mushrooms, variety of eggs, beans, toast, tomato, sausages or bacon, juices, tea, coffee, the works! I want to say it was around $12. I did hear sometimes they have special deals with it included. We got a really, really inexpensive rate for the hotel, so we didn't worry so much about that.

I had a hamburger at Giraffe at Festival Pier just east along the river bank past the park just beside the Inn. Current menu says a classic burger is 9.95. Others in our group enjoyed the restaurant next door, which I think was Thai. They served noodles and were slightly cheaper. Reportedly the food was very fresh. This is a row of restaurants on the bank, not out on the pier. Some of the group had late night sushi from the place over by Festival Pier. They said it was good and priced about the same as at home.

If you leave the hotel and turn left down Belevedere road, there is a Pizza Express with wood fire oven just past the back side of the Festival Pier restaurants before you get to the National Theater on the right. I had a four seasons pizza which was quite tasty there. Here is their current menu.

None of these are what you call luxury dining, but they were tasty and different from home.

There is also a quick stop type shop right across the street from the hotel which opens early.

Thank you TravelinGert for all the wonderful information! Any pubs nearby?

My mistake SOUTHWARK not Southbank it seems. Just looked at the map to provide clearer information where the things I am mentioning in this post are located. Yes, we did eat in nearby restaurants over the course of the week and all were reasonably priced.

 

We had breakfast twice in the hotel. It was not the cheapest, but it was a buffet which saved time. Full English with the usual mushrooms, variety of eggs, beans, toast, tomato, sausages or bacon, juices, tea, coffee, the works! I want to say it was around $12. I did hear sometimes they have special deals with it included. We got a really, really inexpensive rate for the hotel, so we didn't worry so much about that.

 

I had a hamburger at Giraffe at Festival Pier just east along the river bank past the park just beside the Inn. Current menu says a classic burger is 9.95. Others in our group enjoyed the restaurant next door, which I think was Thai. They served noodles and were slightly cheaper. Reportedly the food was very fresh. This is a row of restaurants on the bank, not out on the pier. Some of the group had late night sushi from the place over by Festival Pier. They said it was good and priced about the same as at home.

 

If you leave the hotel and turn left down Belevedere road, there is a Pizza Express with wood fire oven just past the back side of the Festival Pier restaurants before you get to the National Theater on the right. I had a four seasons pizza which was quite tasty there. Here is their current menu.

 

None of these are what you call luxury dining, but they were tasty and different from home.

 

There is also a quick stop type shop right across the street from the hotel which opens early.

Thanks so much TravelinGert for all the information. We did not get a great price for our stay, but the location seems like it would work best for us. We are in our 70s and I would be afraid to use the subway, just some walking the HOHO and a tour or 2. The breakfast was quoted on their website as 12 pounds. I didn't know if this is an average price for breakfast or there were other options in the immediate area.