Southampton Hotel

Which hotel in Southampton have you had a good experience with? So far, Grand Harbour and Jurys Inn seem affordable and both probably pretty nice, but not luxury from what I can see. Any opinions on which is best, or is there any other you would recommend? We don't need fancy but clean, good location, walking to shops and sights is important.

We are doing the Premiere West Quay which gets good reviews and is literally across the street from the main mall in town, so shops and restaurants abound.

A few weeks ago, we took a 9:AM coach from Victoria Coach Station in London to Southampton Coach. From there it was an easy walk, with luggage, to the Novotel on West Quay. We booked a superior room, price was excellent - join their program for an additional 10% off. The room was ready when we arrived. It was clean, and had ample space, work desk and sofa, nice view of the waterfront, too. The price point included full breakfast - very good assortment of foods.

We walked toward Old Town to explore the area, had dinner at Duke of Wellington and then meandered through the huge shopping center. If you follow the paved path behind the hotel, it will lead you to Majestic Wine, well priced and excellent assortment.

On the morning of the cruise, I asked the front desk to contact a taxi - they called West Quay Taxi, nice town car & set price to the ship terminal. We used their sister company, Discover the South for a custom tour post cruise with drop at LHR in the early afternoon.

Darcy

We stayed at the Holiday Inn. It had nice rooms, floor to ceiling windows, close to the shopping/restaurants, and easy to walk to the ship.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn. It had nice rooms, floor to ceiling windows, close to the shopping/restaurants, and easy to walk to the ship.

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Thanks for the feedback. We booked Holiday inn Herbert Walker Southampton for that reason! I understand it's close to bag drop then continue walking to registration. What time did you go over? Any strategy for the elevator in the morning??

Yes, we walked over after breakfast, so probably around 11 a.m. Yes, the elevators are a bit tight and few, but it wasn't a big deal. I don't know that I felt there was a massive rush of people. I honestly have dealt with way more crowds at our hotel in Cocoa Beach when we cruise out of Cape Canaveral. The beginning of my report mentions when we went over and such.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=53711073&posted=1#post53711073

We stayed at the Premiere Inn West Quay last summer. Great location and you can walk most places. Very friendly staff and the room was clean and comfortable. A/C was good on a hot day. Only slight negative was that the bed was not large by U.S. standards. Cross between a double and a queen. Probably would book two beds if available next time. We were able to check in on arrival at around 1pm.

We stayed at the Hilton at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton. We were very happy with it. It's about 15 minutes drive from the port but there are some restaurants and shops less than a mile from the hotel. The hotel is built into the Ageas Bowl which is a cricket arena and also hosts concerts and other events which made it unique. There is a gold course and small lake there, too. We were mostly relaxing and adjusting to the time difference from the US.

Previously we have stayed at the Premier Inn West Quay but had problems sleeping due to bed size. DH uses a c-pap and we do better in a US King or twin beds. The Premiere Inn does not have rooms with twin beds. UK Kings are close to the size of a US Queen.

There are not many places in Southampton with UK Super-King beds. For 2019, as we will not have a car, we have booked at the Pig in The Wall who have ground floor rooms with super king beds and a 2 minute walk to the Duke of Wellington. I'll report back next Fall.

I'm late to this thread.

If you've not yet booked.................

All the hotels mentioned to date (other than Hilton at the Ageas) are convenient to the city centre.

Jury's Inn is on the opposite side of the centre to the cruise terminals, one of the least convenient for cruisers but no big deal

It's also in the middle of a traffic island, but the majority of guests survive the road crossing ;)

Hol Inn (Herbert Walker Ave) is indeed adjacent to the City cruise terminal (berth 101) and therefore popular with cruisers - if their ship is RCI or NCL or a number of others. Also close by are Premier Inn West Quay, Grand Harbour, Pig-in-the-Wall and mebbe Ennio's..

But Southampton has four cruise terminals. No problem if your ship sails from a different terminal, all Southampton city centre hotels are within a £10 taxi ride of all terminals.

http://www.southamptonvts.co.uk/Live_Information/Shipping_Movements_and_Cruise_Ship_Schedule/Cruise_Ship_Schedule/

The two Hiltons and the two HI Expresses are on the city outskirts, not convenient for the city centre and no facilities in walking distance.

I've attended functions at the Hilton Ageas, and sneaked a look at a couple of empty rooms. Large rooms, beautifully fitted-out. But not my scene - I found it "cold" and impersonal. And the bar prices astronomic. :eek:

Horses for courses, the Wildcats were clearly happy with it.

Here's a précis and thumbnail map of the hotels

https://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/southampton_accommodation.htm

(most but not all city centre hotels are included)

Most are modern cloned chain hotels, some better than others but all are perfectly satisfactory for an overnite.

For something different

Pig-in-the-Wall & Ennios are boutiques in historic buildings.

The Dolphin is an old coaching inn, a well-known landmark and probably the most historic hotel in the city.

Grand Harbour has a stunning atrium

The recently-opened Southampton Harbour hotel is themed on an ocean liner (from a fuzzy aerial photo you'd think it was a ship that had rammed the quayside head-on). It's the city's only 5*, it's very expensive but getting excellent reviews. I've dined there, very good but expensive.

For B&B aficionados, Southampton has some excellent ones. Not on that list/map, they're mainly clustered a mile or so north of the rail station. Inconvenient for the city centre but with local shops, pubs etc in easy walking distance

JB :)

Hi JB

Is it easier to walk to restaurants and attractions from Jurys or Grand Harbour? I think Jurys is closer to the train. We will be there for three days and would like to walk to sights. Thanks for the help..you are a star!

I jump in here & ask

which hotel would be closer to shops/restaurants etc

Novotel or Grand Harbour ??

We were going to do Premier Inn West Quay but like the poster above the beds may not work for us

Looking for something clean but not too pricey for a couple of nights next spring (under 100 GBP pn)

TIA

Jurys Inn & Grand Harbour are equi-distant from the rail station at around 3/4 of a mile, but if you're walking Jury's Inn starts with a steep hill whereas Grand Harbour is all on level ground.

Grand Harbour is also right by the big West Quay Mall and its multiple-restaurant satellite, and the walled old-town with its few sights, the waterfront and the historic pubs.

There are shops & restaurants & pubs near Jury's Inn, it's not in the middle of the desert ;) - but the balance very definitely lies with Grand Harbour and the other hotels near it.

JB :)

One other option to staying in Southampton if you’re going to stay a few nights prior or after a cruise, is to try Winchester. We’d stayed in a B&B in Southampton and enjoyed it (its closed now) but there isn’t a lot to see in Southampton because so much was destroyed in WWII, so we were looking for another option for the next Southampton port cruise.

We’d taken the National Bus from Heathrow to Southampton and went through Winchester and it looked very interesting, so the next time we stayed there for 2 nights prior and had a great time there. Its a great walking town with very interesting sights beyond the Cathedral. Its only a short distance north. We took a taxi for about $20 to get to the Southampton docks.

Den

One other option to staying in Southampton if you’re going to stay a few nights prior or after a cruise, is to try Winchester. We’d stayed in a B&B in Southampton and enjoyed it (its closed now) but there isn’t a lot to see in Southampton because so much was destroyed in WWII, so we were looking for another option for the next Southampton port cruise.

 

We’d taken the National Bus from Heathrow to Southampton and went through Winchester and it looked very interesting, so the next time we stayed there for 2 nights prior and had a great time there. Its a great walking town with very interesting sights beyond the Cathedral. Its only a short distance north. We took a taxi for about $20 to get to the Southampton docks.

 

Den

We did this too! Here is the Winchester part of my cruise review:

Winchester was a lovely choice for a pre-cruise visit. Smiths for Airports was right on time at our meeting place in Heathrow and whisked us off to the fairly modern Winchester Hotel. After a nap in our US-size king bed we walked into town to attend Choral Evensong at the Cathedral. http://www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk/ The Manchester attack had occurred the previous evening so it was good to pray in that glorious place. The first night’s dinner was part of the hotel’s Heritage package and we chose freshly prepared Shepherd’s Pie to start our British adventure; a breakfast buffet was also included and had a wide range of foods. The next morning we took the bus into town to find the old city mill which operates at 11:00 am. We then walked along the river-side to the cathedral. When we arrived a tour of the crypt was about to begin so we quickly got tickets and followed the guide down under the cathedral. Afterwards we wandered around the main area to find Jane Austen’s grave stone which is in the cathedral floor and then ate lunch in the refectory. We still had places to explore and headed uphill to visit the Great Hall and then back to our hotel. That evening we met cousins for an excellent dinner using locally sourced foods at Chesil Rectory. Thankfully they picked us up as I don’t think my legs could have gone much further. The next morning we packed, picked up the wine for our cabin from the nearby Co-Op store, and were promptly picked up by Smiths for our ride to Southampton.

I am looking into a possible Transatlantic cruise from Southampton and this would be my first trip. I live in the US so unfamiliar with Hotels, cruise terminal used by Royal Caribbean and best transportation to use.Any information would be appreciated. No dates are set at this time.

I am looking into a possible Transatlantic cruise from Southampton and this would be my first trip. I live in the US so unfamiliar with Hotels, cruise terminal used by Royal Caribbean and best transportation to use.Any information would be appreciated. No dates are set at this time.

Royal Caribbean berth at City Cruise Terminal (berth 101)

https://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/southampton_accommodation.htm

On this map it's the Red B, but the port gate is by the Yellow A.

Hence Holiday Inn is the closest.

But all the hotels on that map are within a £8- £10 taxi ride.

Best transportation?

From Palm Springs?

From the US most folk fly into London's Heathrow (LHR) or Gatwick (LGW) airports, and there are flights to both from LAX or LAS.

Southampton is about 65 miles from London.

Best transportation to Southampton depends on which of those London airports you fly into.

And whether you want to spend a pre-cruise day or two in London.

Heathrow is marginally closer & cheaper for Southampton, but I suggest you don't concern yourself with which London airport and instead choose according to your preferred airline / flight times / flight prices.

There's also the option of flying to a European hub like Amsterdam or Paris, then a flight from there to Southampton.

But Southampton airport is generally worth considering only for folk in Europe.

JB :)

JB thank you, I would most likely fly out of LAX, and noticed that others spoke of flying into Heathrow or Gatwick and figured there had to be a good reason.:). I have never been to the UK but met a couple from Manchester on my Barcelona TA back in 2011 and would have flown with them this past April but had to cancel following DH's heart attack on our Copenhagen TA this past Sept. I have a cruise with the daughter in March of 2019 with friends plus our first Allure sailing in 2020 with the daughter. I love Transatlantics. if I am fortunate to book a cruise i would get with others from our Roll Call. It might even be possible the daughter could join me. Thank you for the information, much appreciated. Oh Palm Springs is in So California about 125 miles West of LAX.

Gay

We just returned from a British Isles cruise.

We arrived on Thursday morning at Gatwick and took the train to Southampton. We stayed at the Travelodge. We were able to walk there from the station with our luggage - maybe 20 min or so. The next day, we walked from there to the Ocean Pier (I think that was the name) where our cruise ship docked (Royal Princess), maybe another 20 min or so.

The hotel was okay - just the basics. We arrived around 2:30pm, and had to wait a bit to check in. We found the beds a bit soft, but for one night it was fine. We paid for late checkout and left around 2pm I think. We didn't buy their breakfast in the morning. I wake early and wandered around. I found a Co-op grocery story and bought some danishes and juice.

On our return, we stayed at the Ibis Hotel for 3 nights. We liked this better than the Travelodge, mostly because we found the beds more comfortable. It was fairly basic as well. They also have a breakfast you can pay for, but there is also a McDonalds about 2 min away which we preferred. It was a lot less expensive and I was happy with a McMuffin and melon slices.

We took a cab from the pier and it was 7 pounds. We paid for early check-in and got our room right away (shortly after 9am). This allowed us to stow our bags and head for the train station. The station is about a 5 min walk behind the hotel. We did day trips for the next 3 days and then took the train back to Gatwick, so this was a perfect location for us.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn. It had nice rooms, floor to ceiling windows, close to the shopping/restaurants, and easy to walk to the ship.

We did, too. Nothing fancy but it was bright and clean and easy to pull our own luggage over.

Viv

I'm, also, gathering info for Southampton and a hotel to stay pre-cruise in Sept. We've cruise from Dover a few yrs ago and loved the town! It was so easy to walk around. We stayed at the Churchill Inn which is a B&B. We were kind of thinking that we'd like a B &B but haven't come across one yet. We're open for a hotel, too. It would be nice to find one that we could walk around the town at night and close to the cruise port. I have no idea how Southampton is!

Thanks! This is so helpful!!!

The Premier INN west quay is pretty central from what I could find out but the bed arrangement would not suit our needs

Has anyone stayed at the Double Tree Southampton?

We stayed at the Ibis Budget last year for one night before our cruise. It's comparable to a small dorm room with a thin mattress and unusual configuration of the toilet and shower in a tiny separate room but the sink in the bedroom. The staff were very friendly and gladly held our luggage while we went for lunch since we arrived early. We ate breakfast at McDonalds before walking to the port.

This year we're staying at the Holiday Inn.