IcHot

With all due respect, if we search London with a 1 mile radius, we get two hotels sub 40K which renders your point laughable.

Bohemiana

We are staying 3 nights in London before we want to explore another area of the UK, so no points needed for the London portion.

It sounds like York might be the best choice. We don't want to have to fly to Edinburgh. The main reason why we want to stay 5 nights is because the 5th night is free, plus we are slow travelers and don't mind a couple of afternoons reading a good book in a nearby park if we run out of tourist stuff to do (if it's sunny!). And sounds like the Doubletree is the best option, plus we love the cookies!

Regarding nearby Harrogate / Leeds / Bronte Country...are these easily accessible by public transport?

SeattleDavid

Don't worry about flying to Edinburgh - just take the train from London - if you buy tickets well in advance you can probably get a very good price.

But rather than Edinburgh, you could also consider the rural options - for example, the Dunblane Hydro (Doubletree) is just 30K per night and a great Scottish building. It is 1 mile from the station and you can explore Glasgow, Ediniburgh or Stirling from there as well as the Ochil Hills. Further afield you could take the train towards Inverness. London to Dunblane by train is about $60 each way (2nd class) or $100 each way (1st Class) and takes about 6 hours ( change trains in Edinburgh).

Or, given that Bath is too many points, look at the Doubletree in Bristol (30k points per night) - a short walk to the main train station and a. short ride to Bath, and trains to many other interesting places too.

Leeds is maybe a better option than York in terms of filling five days - trains to loads of places from Leeds - but not so attractive a city to be in itself. Harrogate is on a train line that runs from Leeds to York. Bronte Country is accessible from Leeds (to Keighley, and then a steam train to Haworth). Settle and the Yorkshire dales are easily reached from Leeds as well.

I would focus more on traveling by train than by bus - a much pleasanter experience. National Rail Enquiries - Official source for UK train times and timetables will let you look up times and fares and book tickets for any journey (up to 3 months out).

Bohemiana

We are trying to stay somewhat on a budget as we will be traveling for 4 months total. I just don't know much about the UK and without a car, I feel we are limited. I'll look into Bristol because it's easy to fly out of with Easyjet. I temporarily booked 5 nights in York, just to make sure I got something and we can fly out of Liverpool on Easyjet.

Can you give me a few other day trip ideas from Bristol besides Bath?

SeattleDavid

Besides Bath itself, and Bristol itself - which could easily take three days ....

• Walk along the River Avon from Bath to Bradford-on-Avon.
• Chepstow and walk north on Offa's Dyke Path up the Wye Valley.
• Cardiff (for big city - capital city - stuff)
• Salisbury - for the Cathedral, the river and Old Sarum
• And not forgetting, though not accessible by train, Cheddar, Wells and Glastonbury.

amanuensis

amanuensis

BotB

Agree with what others have mentioned, York or Bristol are good places given your comments about flying out again budget and public transport links. SeattleDavid has done a sterling job pointing out places to see within reach of Bristol and should you decide you'd rather change to Bristol, you may wish to view the links to things to do I mentioned in this thread:

Garden Inn Bristol Review (with links to things to do)

I'd check here as well as the DT Bristol for points if you do decide for Bristol. Avoid the Hilton Bristol as it is too far away from the city centre and places of interest to you.

If you go to Bristol, (and some points I didn't mention in the post I linked to above) you could also consider visiting:

Aerospace Bristol (a Concorde museum with plenty of other aviation history there)

Wapping Wharf (an all independent shop and restaurant area on the harbour)

The Severn Estuary (the second highest tide in the world)

I hosted an FT DO in Bristol with a visit to the Aerospace Bristol museum and you can see many of the exhibits and things to see in this thread:

Aerospace Bristol (Concorde museum) visit and DO | 24 Feb 2018

I'm biased as I live in Bristol but you'd be very happy with either York or Bristol, should you decide to visit the west country, please do send me a PM with your dates if you're interested in meeting up and sharing a walk or drink together, always good to meet fellow FTers. ^

Wherever you go, hope you have a brilliant time, shouldn't be hard with a 4 month journey. ^ Safe travels.

Bohemiana

You've sold me on Bristol! Actually, the Doubletree is 2000 pts less per night than the Garden Inn (Bristol) and Hampton Inn in York. Also, the flight out of Liverpool is at 6:20 a.m.--no way!

Quick question--I just noticed this...my stay would be June 21-26 but my Hilton Honors Amex card expires 6/21/19. Do you think it's possible to cancel the card right after my stay and get my annual fee credited back? With free breakfast and a free night, it's still worth the fee just for that trip alone but I will only have 20k points left so won't be staying much, if at all, at Hiltons throughout the rest of the rest of the year. I thought about cancelling last year but I had booked 5 nights in Johannesburg with a 5th night free and they told me I wouldn't get the 5th night free if I cancelled before the trip. Also last year I tried to get a bonus for keeping the card another year but I wasn't offered anything.

RAPC

Edinburgh and York are normally fine.

For many 5 night dates (inc a few in the summer) the 3 York hotels are coming in at 29 to 31k each. Even at busier times, the Hampton Inn tops out within their points at 30k.

For Edinburgh it is definitely tougher, although many hotels are around 30k at cheaper times. I suggest Edinburgh though as there is the Hampton Inn West End which tops out at 30k, so again in the points range.

notakeenflyer

I have need to be at a customer in Wirral first thing in the morning in a couple of weeks, and looking at options for the night before. Both the Doubletree Chester and Hilton Liverpool City are well placed, and within budget. Any redeeming (or otherwise) features of either of these? Lounge at Liverpool would be handy, and I'd like to use a gym or go for a run in the evening (typically before undoing all the good work in the lounge!).

Would probably drive to Chester and get train to Liverpool.

Anyone have a view on these properties?

Thanks!

ankomonkey

Depending on where in The Wirral you need to be, I would also consider the potential traffic at the time you need to go from hotel to customer. The Mersey Tunnel (between Liverpool and The Wirral) can definitely get busy, but mainly going towards Liverpool which would be the opposite of your journey.

notakeenflyer

Pretty much right in the middle, near M53 J4. I think I'd probably get the train +taxi/bus if in Liverpool.

ankomonkey

I have no experience of either hotel, but it sounds like the two locations are equally convenient.

Ryanardo_daVinci