kuda35

Hi,

I have just been offered a role in London and will be moving there in June. I need some advice/recommendations of possible places to stay. My office will be near russell square station and the British Museum. My job will also require me to travel a lot, so would like something with easy access to an either Gatwick or Heathrow, initial preference would be for gatwick. Ideally my commute would be less than 40 minutes to work or to the airport.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks all for help so far, here is the extra information requested.

- budget upto 1250.
- preference would be for one bedroom flat but not studio apartments. In safe comfortable location, otherwise flexible. Somewhere with a few pubs, restaurants and nice cafes.
- travelling will be 50% of time to Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
- would consider Heathrow or Gatwick.

lhrsfo

There are plenty of places that work within those constraints, but the missing info is preferences (eg one bedroom flat in the most happening area, three bedroom house in suburbia, bohemian abode in an edgy area etc.) and budget. It may well be the latter which is the limiting factor.

Microwave

Agree, without a budget this isn't much of a discussion.

40 minutes to Russell Square and Gatwick is going to put you in a rather narrow range of neighbourhoods. Victoria, Clapham Junction, London Bridge are going to be the only major London stations with sub-40-minute journey times to Gatwick and still close enough to get you to Russell Square in a similar time. Honestly, hoping for a 40 minute door-to-door commute and being the same journey time to Gatwick is going to be quite difficult unless you have a very large budget or exceedingly low standards. There are some decent neighbourhoods near Clapham Junction (Battersea Rise comes to mind), but I think you'll need to loosen those standards.

Also... Gatwick?! ... I'm sure some people like it, I'm definitely not one of them. Heathrow and City are my poisons of choice, but then again I also think an airport should be in Greater London to be a London airport, so I'm a bit of an airport snob... In any event, being 40 minutes to Heathrow and 40 to Russell Square will be easier than Gatwick, as they're both on the Piccadilly Line. Basically any Piccadilly Line station from Osterley to Gloucester Road will give you sub-40 minute journey times to both the airport and your work, and there are a lot of different "types" of neighbourhoods between them, from posh to... less posh.

In short, knowing your budget and size needs will help, and being more flexible on your journey times will open up a lot of options.

ajax

I'd just like to add that if the OP's office is near the British Museum and the OP wants easy access to LGW, then somewhere along the southern end of the Northern Line is also within reason - perhaps Clapham. The walk from Tottenham Court Road/Goodge Street to Russell Square is only about 5 minutes.

But yes - a budget and some particulars about what type of housing are essential.

UKtravelbear

Yes Budget and what sort of place you want are important.

One or two beds? Period build or new build? What sort of local facilities (shops, bars etc) are important to you.

How often will you actually be flying - you say 'a lot' but that means different things to different people (whether from LHR, LGW, LCY or even LTN)? If it's once a month then I'd rather be closer to work than the airport if it's once a week then that would be more an issue.

I suggest you start looking at sites like Right Move and Zoopla to see what is available and where

stut

Flying to where, as well (and under what kind of policy)?

Actually, I do quite like Gatwick now. The new owners' efforts have made security, for example, significantly more civilised than at Heathrow. And it's incredibly well connected by train.

ajax

stut

Seriously.

I get on the train to King's Cross, answer some emails, watch something on my phone. Walk over to St Pancras, get a scenic tour of South London, and hop off at the airport. About 5-10 minutes later, I'm upstairs, and through security. Short-cut to the upstairs bit, grab a coffee and a sandwich in Pret. Gate is called, wander along, board (normally Norwegian short-haul) with minimal fuss, enjoy decent seats with free wifi.

Alternatively...

Get to King's Cross, head downstairs to the Tube. Wait for a Hammersmith train, get to Paddington, head upstairs on the Tube again, against a flow of "I'm not budging" commuters, down to the HEX platforms. Catch a ridiculously overpriced HEX to T5 (the new purple lighting really hurts my eyes, I should add). Head up to departures, wait for about 10-15 minutes where I'm barked at. If I'm unlucky enough to get selected for secondary, you can double that. Get diverted right across the terminal and back again if I want to visit the lounge (lost access now anyway so need to be with a senior colleague if that's going to happen). Then head to the gate as it's marked 'boarding' only to find people crowding around. Pre-boarding goes on, then they do elite boarding, and I'm never quite sure if I should be there as a lowly bronze. Get on board, enjoy the new seats which have my neck aching after about 20 minutes on board.

The aspirational shops and crowds of T5 do nothing for me. Gatwick South isn't a place I want to spend much time in, but thankfully I don't have to, as I know it's much more predictable to get to and through security. And there's always the free Regus lounge if need to take a call at an awkward time.

LCY, well, yes, great, but there are no longer direct flights from there to where I want to go. And I've found it a let-down recently. It's got so busy that any cancellation means you're tripping over people in the departures lounge. And the gate pens are seriously short of space for how long they can keep you in there. And they seem to have this new thing of getting you to gate check wheelie bags, except if you are a bit stroppy about it. And then you find the overhead bins are mostly empty, and they're not returning them at the steps, they're returning them at the carousel.

UKtravelbear

Can we get away from the 'this airport is better' to actually dealing with the OPs original question?

lhrsfo

We can but a) the consensus of the thread is that the OP has to give more information to answer the question more specifically and b) this comment doesn't deal with the question either.

UKtravelbear

Well you will have seen my earlier post to the OP so I have tried to help the OP

But diverting the thread to an LGW V LHR is not helpful to anyone - especially given that the OP has expressed a preference for LGW over LHR.

ajax

Hey, relax. We sometimes have chats about other topics around here. Nobody dies. Considering we are still waiting for the OP to post for a second time on FT, let's not get too bothered about slight diversions.

Wow - I think that's great. I have obviously studiously avoided LGW like the plague for the past 15 years but maybe it's worth another shot.

LCY has really gone off for me, too - maybe it's because I used to live quite nearby but a few years ago moved to the other side of London, but I just don't have the same love that I once did.

FlyerTalker7654

Just throwing this out there...but what about North London?? I lived in Finchley before moving to the US. I was near to the tube station and could be in central London within 30 mins....Heathrow without traffic could be done in 30 mins...

Just have a look....you never know ^

stut

Note that the OP has updated their post to include budget.

With your flying patterns, I think you'll need access to multiple airports. You'll get much more flexibility via Heathrow for your long-hauls (there are some hub connections, e.g. EK from LGW, but Heathrow will give you much more). For Eastern Europe, it depends on the destination and your flying policy. You may find LCCs may be the only option for direct flights, in which case STN and LTN may come into the picture.

JFSV

Re budget, I think you will have to find something in Zone 2 eventually unless you stretch it a little bit. It is hard to find a decent 1 bed for below 350pw which amounts to 1500pm.

SE1 is a good option indeed with great value for its location. Within SE1, London Bridge or Borough would be a good choice. Otherwise perhaps something in Angel would do.