PROBLEM
How to find a reasonably priced hotel reasonably near central London.
ANSWERS
HOTELS, BUDGET HOTELS
Regarding hotels, you need to decide your budget. (If necessary, work out the exchange rate.)
IS BUDGET BEST?
When is a bargain a bargain? When is a bargain not a bargain?
The one star hotel chains are good value but can be a walk from the station. I used them when visiting the World Travel Market at EdExcel in the East End of London. Under £100.
BREAKFAST INCLUDED?
The first night it was a nuisance not having breakfast in the hotel. I dashed off. The second night I found the eating place across the car park and discovered that I did not have to wait around but could buy a takeaway coffee and a bun from a cabinet just to grab when racing off to an early morning meeting. the third day, when I was checking out, I had saved food from the day before.
The best deals are the week before on the late booking sites.
STORIES
Years ago we did a tour of the Lake District in England. I insisted on stopping to see a hotel and restaurant which were way beyond our budget. I looked about, saw the menu, photographed the view, said were were travelling elsewhere but might come back another time, and left my card.
Next spring we were posted or emailed an offer of a break of three nights for the price of two, or was it two nights for the price of one, accommodation and breakfast and dinner included. Lunch, a packed lunch, was also a bargain price. To my amazement, my budget conscious family did some calculations on the cost per night and the cost per meal and we went off to my dream hotel for a lovely stay.
This year (2017) we made a booking for an anniversary trip to Cambodia, as a side trip from Singapore. We found a reduced price deal on airfares, then booked a hotel through booking.com. The price for the hotel, three floors with no lift, just a little more than we wanted to pay, for what looked like a night in a hotel with a swimming pool, and free collection from the airport (not free return) turned out to be the late deal price for all four nights! (Lemongrass and Ginger hotel - I have more information in another post and on TripAdvisor.)
BOOKING SITES
Booking.com lets you choose the location and budget.
I find it a nuisance when I am browsing to have to fill in a date, especially if I don't yet know the date of travel. On the other hand, you might change your date if you can get a great deal on hotels a week later, or early, or at the weekend, or midweek, by hotel hopping, or by booking a minimum number of nights in one hotel.
You also want to consider whether you want to be in a hotel where you can chat to other tourists over breakfast (included), or would like an all suite hotel for privacy and the chance to cook your diet food, order food delivery or keep takeaways and store pills and leftover food in a fridge. You might also consider whether you want the predictability of a hotel chain, or something person and surprising such as a boutique hotel, a historic house hotel, or a home stay.
You might also want to have a getaway on the outskirts of the city after a busy week in the centre. If you are going back to Heathrow, you might pick a hotel near a station, on a line which connect to Heathrow, or near Heathrow, or even somewhere miles away with a coach connection to Victoria, such as a hotel in Watford, which has a museum - check opening times and days. Speaking of Watford, you might pick a central London hotel near an all attractions, such as Oxford Street or Kensington, or Watford for going to see the Harry Potter studios tour.
LATE
CHEAP
www.hoteldirect
a i r n b (spaces inserted because - spell checker keeps changing what I type)
LOCATION
staycentral.
HOTELS BY STAR RATING
PREMIER INN three star
IBIS one star
PRICE COMPARISON SITES
BOUTIQUE HOTELS WITH CHARACTER
My art teacher friend stayed in a hotel in London, England, near Oxford street based on illustrator and humorist Lear, more character than a chain but very expensive unless you get a last minute deal.
UNKNOWN HOTELS
I looked at Edward Lear Hotel in Oxford Street and up popped Seymour Motel, from £37, marble Arch Inn £55, Point A hotel, £56. Don’t know any of them. Another area with lots of small hotels is Notting Hill Gate, famous for featuring in a couple of films. Near the park.
ROOM CHOICE
Ask to see two rooms on arrival. Decide if you want top floor or ground floor, front with lively street view, or quiet at back. Are you willing to pay more for top floor and/or room with view? Or for a hotel with an indoor or outdoor swimming pool?
You might want to swim. Even if you don't, you might like to sit by the pool and sunbathe or entertain a friend to cocktails by the pool.
TRIP ADVISOR DEALS
If you write a few reviews of restaurants or museums or hotels on TripAdvisor in your home town before leaving you will be offered discount deals and promotions on the TripAdvisor website.
LOYALTY SCHEMES
You might also like to join a hotel loyalty scheme. Sometimes I have joined a loyalty scheme and been told that I only get reduction on my next booking, or I have to wait until I am posted a card. Check out loyalty schemes which work from your first visit, or which you can use to book a hotel as soon as you get the number.
Some loyalty schemes will give you upgrades to a club lounge floor. We once paid less than £25 to join a loyalty scheme in a hotel in Seoul in Korea. When we were told we had to pay to join the loyalty scheme, we said, "No thank you."
I asked, "Just out of interest, who we get?"
We got:
an upgrade to the club floor with a larger room with a better view,
the use of an English speaking concierge to help me book taxis and answer any questions,
plus a breakfast buffet,
all day coffee,
and evening cocktails and nibbles from 5 pm until 7 pm for both of us - for a week.
We said, "Yes please!" Five lots of coffee for two in the downstairs restaurant would have cost as much as joining the loyalty scheme.
We missed at least one of the breakfasts by dashing off early on business and on a day trip. We also missed a couple of the evening cocktails because we got back late or went off to dinner early. Even so, just the room upgrade would have made it worthwhile, transformed our stay.
AIRLINE DEALS
Your airline may offer a discount at a hotel at the destination of your journey or a stopover.
LUXURY BEYOND YOUR BUDGET
If you really like an expensive hotel or restaurant, it's worthwhile getting on their mailing list. Drop in and put your card in their restaurant's bowl. You might be offered a free meal, or a meal with a bottle of wine included. I had a free bottle of wine from a London restaurant.
ALPHABETICAL CHAIN & Group LIST
NB Some hotels are owned by one group and managed by another; some independent hotels of a certain type or character group together as consortiums for marketing.
Best Western
Britannia Hotels
Copthorne Hotels
Crowne Plaza
Days Inn
De Vere Hotels
DoubleTree by Hilton
Hampton by Hilton
Hilton
Holiday Inn
Holiday Inn Express
The Hotel Collection
Hyatt
Ibis
Ibis Budget - cheap, from £32+
Jurys Inn
Leading Hotels of the World
MacDonald Hotels
Marriott
Mercure
Novotel Hotels
Old English Inns / Hotels
Park Plaza
Premier Inn
Q Hotels
Radisson Blu
Ramada
Relais
Small Luxury Hotels (SMH)
Sofitel
Thistle Hotels
Warner Leisure Hotels
CHARACTER, TYPES, STYLES, SWIMMING POOLS
Michelin Guides classify hotels with symbols for quality of food, countryside, views
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/united-kingdom/england/london/articles/the-best-london-hotels-with-a-pool/
RATINGS & CLEANLINESS
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/united-kingdom/england/articles/Britains-best-and-worst-hotel-chains-named-in-Which-poll/
More Information
http://www.theaa.com/hotel-services/members-area/ratings (How they AA rates hotels, with VisitEngland VisitScotland and VisitWales)
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer,a author and speaker. I have several more posts on London, hotels, museums, statues on stations and countries around the world. Please bookmark and share links to your favourite posts.
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