Places to stay in London and Rome?

[GraceeS]

You will save plenty by bidding for a room on priceline.com. You can get a 4-star in a desirable area (Mayfair/Soho, Kensington in London) for $80-$125 or even a five-star for $175-$225 (that's US dollars) if your bid is accepted. See this site for winning bids:

http://biddingfortravel.yuku.com/forums/105/t/England-London.html

You can see winning bids for Rome hotels on this site, too.

 

I've read the rooms (on priceline) are supposed to be for two only, but three of us shared a room in Orlando this past summer on a priceline bid and no one at hotel reception batted an eye and they made sure our room had two queen beds. However, if you do decide to bid for two rooms for the three of you, the price for both rooms could very well come to less than the price of one room "retail". As you can see on the above site, the winning bids are for decent hotels that normally cost in the hundreds of pounds per night.

 

Good luck and enjoy your trip.

[GraceeS]

I forgot to add in my last post I have been researching London hotels because we will have a pre-cruise stay in London next year, too. This looks like a decent place and gets glowing reviews:

http://base2stay.com/

 

We were seriously considering base2stay, then decided on a whim to bid on Priceline since 5* hotels are going for about $200 per night, which is about what we would have to pay at base2stay. After a bid and re-bid or two on Priceline for a 5* in London (Mayfair/Soho area), our $200 bid was accepted and we will be staying at the J.W. Mariott Grosvenor house. Even though taxes and fees are added to that amount, our five-night stay will cost literally almost $1200 less than if we had booked on the Marriott website at their cheapest non-refundable rate! In fact, their rate in pounds is higher than our bid in dollars! I know the pound has been tanking in value lately next to the USD, but I doubt it will sink that low. Definitely worth looking into Priceline.

[Excited to go crusing]

http://en.venere.com/hotels_rome/kolosseum/hotel_colosseum.html?sd=19&sm=11&sy=2007&ed=26&em=11&ey=2007&pval=2&rval=1&geoid=3425&ref=40643

 

 

we stayed here last November, it is in a good location, near to the Termini, Santa Maria Maggiore Church, & also where the hop on off tour buses start their tours. The front desk helped us book some tours & the tour company sent a shuttle to pick us up. There is also quite a few restaurants & a supermarket in the vicinity. OUr bathroom had been recently remodeled & we were satisified, it is not top notch,( & the price reflects that) but it was clean & comfortable & in a good tourist location.

[chrismch]

Last summer we stayed at the Grovsesnor House Mayfair by Hyde Park. It is not a budget hotel but worth every cent we paid. It currently shows as $298 for a double room through a hotel booking site. It has a great location (1 block from the tube), excellent service, very comfortable rooms and included a full breakfast buffet (which they called a continental breakfast) that was as good if not better than any cruise line's breakfast. It kept us full until mid afternoon.

 

London is very expensive! Our first meal was 3 small cornish pasties and a cup of coffee for $18! What you pay in the US is the price you will see on menus there; however you then have to convert it to the GBP which is currently 1.75 approx to our dollar.

[Twickenham]

You will save plenty by bidding for a room on priceline.com. You can get a 4-star in a desirable area (Mayfair/Soho, Kensington in London) for $80-$125 or even a five-star for $175-$225 (that's US dollars) if your bid is accepted. See this site for winning bids:

http://biddingfortravel.yuku.com/forums/105/t/England-London.html

You can see winning bids for Rome hotels on this site, too.

 

I've read the rooms (on priceline) are supposed to be for two only, but three of us shared a room in Orlando this past summer on a priceline bid and no one at hotel reception batted an eye and they made sure our room had two queen beds. However, if you do decide to bid for two rooms for the three of you, the price for both rooms could very well come to less than the price of one room "retail". As you can see on the above site, the winning bids are for decent hotels that normally cost in the hundreds of pounds per night.

 

Good luck and enjoy your trip.

While I agree that Priceline is a teriffic deal in London, do not, repeat, do not bid if you're hoping to get a triple room. Priceline only guarantees a room for 2, and while most US hotels will be able to accommodate a third, European hotels are a whole other story. Triple rooms are a rarety, and I seriously doubt that you would be able to get one on a Priceline reservation.

[debsjc]

For London you could check the Hoxton Hotels rates, although i'm not sure if they do triple rooms or not.

 

We stayed there for one night and really liked the place, it's very chic and modern with friendly staff and a lively bar. It's about 5-10 mins walk from Old Street tube station, and takes about 15 mins on the tube to Covent Garden area. Because it is just slightly out of the west end you can sometimes get a good rate (from £59)

 

http://www.hoxtonhotel.com/

 

 

It's also worht checking out http://www.lastminute.com/ for London hotels, but often they don't give you the name of the hotel until after you have made the reservation.

[twoatsea]

Just got back from the Holiday Inn Kensington (not the Holiday Inn Forum in Kensington). Our adult son went with us & it was important to us (DH & I) that he had a full size bed & not a roll away or sofa pullout (too uncomfortable). So we stayed at the H.I. Kensington; rooms have 2 double beds. It is across the street from the Gloucester Road tube station - very convenient. Also the non-touristy area is a nice retreat. Plenty of cheap food close - Burger King, Tesco market with donuts for breakfast & ready made sandwiches for lunch/dinner. We loved the ready made 'honey mustard chicken salad (forks provided).

 

Oh, we paid 109 pounds per nite for a 3 nite stay (total for 3 people including taxes). Great price for 3 people, 2 beds, & such a great location.

 

Stayed one night at the Holiday Inn Gatwick & paid 90 pounds, but that is too far out & transport cost would negate the lower hotel cost.

 

By the way, AAA is the best way to go. Those rates are sometimes a few pounds higher, but allow for cancellation up to 4pm day of arrival. I used that & started at over 200 pounds a nite & kept checking their site & ended up at the above prices. Can't do that if you get non-refund rates. Then if a few days before you leave you find a cheaper non-AAA rate, take it. Made joining AAA worth it for us.

 

Breakfast was not included & costs $20-$30 pp - YIKES! That's why the donuts at Tesco were great!

 

Love London! Have fun! Be sure to take some London Walks tours - great bargain, convenient no pre-reserving (just show up), & very well done.

[handfordr]

Just got back from the Holiday Inn Kensington (not the Holiday Inn Forum in Kensington). Our adult son went with us & it was important to us (DH & I) that he had a full size bed & not a roll away or sofa pullout (too uncomfortable). So we stayed at the H.I. Kensington; rooms have 2 double beds. It is across the street from the Gloucester Road tube station - very convenient. Also the non-touristy area is a nice retreat. Plenty of cheap food close - Burger King, Tesco market with donuts for breakfast & ready made sandwiches for lunch/dinner. We loved the ready made 'honey mustard chicken salad (forks provided).

 

Oh, we paid 109 pounds per nite for a 3 nite stay (total for 3 people including taxes). Great price for 3 people, 2 beds, & such a great location.

 

The Holiday Inn Kensington is soon to become a Crowne Plaza so I don't know if the Holiday Inn Kensington Forum across the road will drop the Forum lablel which might confuse.