Budget Travel - london hotel

Thats right, im moving up in the world! no hostels on this trip. need a budget hotel, i know some hotels can be listed on hostels.com but i was reading some reviews on expedia among others and they dont sound much better than hotels. anyone have any luck or recommendations? will be there in feb for one or two nites.

grb

I was looking at some of the budget hotels in London on Tripadvisor.com last night, and their prices were higher than what I've got on priceline in the last, or booking directly with Thistle hotels with some of their promotions. Travelodge also has some London area properties for 26 pounds a night (about $46) for selected dates.
http://p070.ezboard.com/bpricelineandexpediabidding
http://www.betterbidding.com/
http://www.thistlehotels.com/
http://www.travelodge.co.uk/

Another site you may want to check for London hotels:
http://www.londontown.com

Do Priceline and bid for a 4* for Bloomsbury, and hope you are lucky enough to get the Thistle Marble Arch in the $52-56 range other people have been hitting. Otherwise, you can bid on Priceline for lesser starred hotels (I've been lucky so far). But read and post at BetterBidding to get a good idea of what to do.

ive got some good prices, but have come across mixed reviews of the properties. anyone have recommendations. id rather hear it from a ft'er, i think we are somewhat all like minded.

Though $85 may not be 'budget' enough - I got a very nice hotel for that price via priceline at the Crowne Plaza City - directly across from the Blackfriars tube/rail station last Saturday night. It's a four star and frankly, nicer then a lot of hotels at twice the price. I put in for a four star because I find London 3 stars and below to be too unpredictable. In the end, it's a $100 a night which isn't bad in one of the most expensive cities in the world. Just remember, you get what you pay for!

<snip> i think we are somewhat all like minded.

Um, ya .... right ;)

Perhaps I can jog your memory with this thread about merits of time versus money (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=489998) in our very own BT forum :D

London can be a bit pricey, but I'm sure you'll have good luck in finding a decent place. Sorry, don't have anything to recommend, but I loved staying in B & Bs with the traditional English breakfast :)

EmailKid

For a budget room, you can't really beat Travelodge (if you can find a reasonably central one with a bargain rate)..they're basic, but they are pretty reliable!

Thistle Hotels just sent me an e-mail with 35 pound London fares this morning ($61):
http://www.thistlehotels.com/winter/

Edited to add: fine print requires double occupancy, so this may not work. Their web site is down right now, as I am trying to see what it prices out at for a single.

You can try Easyhotel: http://www.easyhotel.com/
Very cheap (and Nasty).
The Regent Palace Hotle is always cheap - as bathrooms are shared. It is bang central in Piccadilly though
www.TheRegentPalaceHotel.co.uk
This site seems to have some good deals:
www.discountcityhotels.net

do NOT stay in the London House hotel. The name is misleading as it is a dump, not a hotel. I made that mistake thinking that it was a good price. The price was good, but I'd rather stay in a garbage heap in a middle of the ghetto.

I'll be trying the Farringdon Travelodge this coming weekend, I'll post my comments next week here. (GF and I got GBP 26 deal)

David

Another option is to wait until you get into London, and then head into Earls Court. Plenty of hotels around there, usually 40 quid a night for a double. I know y'all Americans don't like single beds!

Yotel should be opening it’s first hotels in LGW & LHR sometime mid 2006.
Info here: www.yotel.co.uk – you can subscribe to their mailing list here.

I’m hoping the concept is a huge success – it’s EXACTLY the kind of place I’d like to be able to rely on for affordable accommodation in the world’s great cities.

At least I hope they do budget hotels better than they do their sushi.

This isn't useful for the OP, but during the summer, various universities in London turn their dorms into short term accommodation. You can get a single or double room, usually with a sink and sometimes with a bathroom attached (or shared in the hallway), and a light breakfast is usually included for under 25 pounds.

here's one website:
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/residences/prices/individual-rates/index.shtml

Has anyone stayed at this place?

Vicerage Hotel, London (http://www.londonvicaragehotel.com/)

It seems to have gotten very good reviews (Trip Advisor, etc.) and the price isn't too bad.

A little later than I thought, but here is my promised review:

Stayed at the London Farringdon Travelodge for three nights in December for 26GBP/night.
Room was nice and clean, with own shower/bathroom, non-smoking, TV with 3 channels (more if you pay on demand), water kettle for tea and coffee. Although the room was facing the main road, there was practically no noise coming into the room.
Didn't buy breakfast, so cannot comment on it.

All in all, I'd stay there again, especially since they now have an offer for rooms starting at 10GBP (Travelodge website (http://www.travelodge.co.uk) )

Hope that helps
David

Thats right, im moving up in the world! no hostels on this trip. need a budget hotel, i know some hotels can be listed on hostels.com but i was reading some reviews on expedia among others and they dont sound much better than hotels. anyone have any luck or recommendations? will be there in feb for one or two nites.

grb

Priceline has been working well for central London at the Thistle Marble Arch particularly for 51-53, especially this month and next.

Travelodge .... never seems to have the cheapest rates available whenever I've looked just out of curiosity.

Priceline and Hotwire still serve great deals in London.

Thistle Marble Arch? *shudder*

My experience with Travelodge is quite different - I just booked another 3 £26 rate nights at the exact hotel I wanted on the weekend I wanted them! I'm happy ;)

Best Western is offering a 2 nights for 1 (bed and breakfast) deal at the moment. Works out anywhere between £45 and £60 a night and a couple of the locations are really central.

http://www.bestwestern.co.uk/microsites/2for1atoc/

All you need is a train ticket which you'll probably have anyway.

anyone stayed in an 'easy hotel' in london?

http://easyhotel.com/

Thistle Marble Arch? *shudder*

My experience with Travelodge is quite different - I just booked another 3 £26 rate nights at the exact hotel I wanted on the weekend I wanted them! I'm happy ;)

What's wrong with the Thistle Marble Arch?

What Travelodge did you obtain? I'm sure they're fine, but the reviews for the London ones are much worse than for the Thistle Marble Arch. That said, if you got the 26-pound rate, who can complain?

I've had bad experiences at Thistle properties which have put my right off. In March I have to stay at the Thistle Tower - now the Guoman (or more cruelly GUM) Tower, their new luxury brand. I can only wonder what this experience will be like!

As for Travelodge - I got London Kew Bridge - clean, modern build with good links to Heathrow and West/Central London..that'll do me nicely ;)

As for Travelodge - I got London Kew Bridge - clean, modern build with good links to Heathrow and West/Central London..that'll do me nicely ;)

That looks good. Do you take the train into London from Kew Bridge railway station? How long does it take and how much does it cost?

Well most my business was in Hammersmith and Sheperds Bush so it certainly worked out with buses directly to both! When I went into Central London I normally took the short bus ride to South Ealing tube and the Piccadilly line from there. I believe the train takes about 30 minutes and goes into Waterloo. As for cost, I can't tell you - I use an Oyster card so normally have weekly unlimited travel!

I would just reiterate the priceline recommendation. For my trip in March, I picked up the 4 star hotels Novotel Euston for $60 and the Hilton Olympia in Kensington for $66.

Although, none of the reviews on either property are spectacular. It seems like the deals on priceline are a better value than paying 30-40 pounds at a deep budget place.

The Thistle Marble Arch comes up on priceline even cheaper than the Hilton Olmypia. The Hilton Olympia is not that bad, but has noise issues with wind noise and street noise coming into those rooms that face the main street on which the hotel rests.

try this one mate, I stayed for 3 nights and it was very very nice. :)
Premier Travel Inn
London Kensington
Knaresborough Place
London
Tel: 0870283304

Very nice room!!!! It costed me about GBP79.95 per night.

Well, try those people said before Travelodge is very nice too, it's a bit like motel in New Zealand but much nicer.

Hope you can have a good stay in London!!! I love the UK so much!!!! and I miss it!!! :(

he Hilton Olympia is not that bad, but has noise issues with wind noise and street noise coming into those rooms that face the main street on which the hotel rests.

I would totally agree - as hotels go, it's not bad, but it has the potential for noise if your room is facing to the street.

I like to check www.laterooms.com
Its great for London and the rest of the UK as well as the world. I also like, as mentioned earlier www.londontown.com

London is a great city. Heading back there in March.
Cheers