London Travel Recommendations

[Petrushka]

We stayed at the Premier Inn at Gatwick recently, but unfortunately the fire alarm went off (twice) - once at 2.20am and then about 5 mins later.
To our surprise, they honoured the "Lenny Henry" guarantee of a good nights sleep, after hundreds of us evacuated to the rain and wind outside, some of us with minimal clothing. I was surprised that some people had either not gone to bed, or decided to risk being burnt and they had put all their clothes back on!

This happened to me once when stopping at the Regent Palace Hotel (now demolished) in 1992. Hugely inconvenient, of course, as it was 1.30am and the London Fire Brigade had to ensure every room was empty before it was deemed to be a false alarm and we could all return. Mind, it had its hilarious moments as a party of Japanese tourists went round the lobby with their camcorders filming everyone in every stage of dress and undress. Some people came down the stairs fully dressed dragging all their luggage!

Nowadays I use one of the Imperial Hotels along Southampton Row near Euston station.

[richardfinegold]

The budget hotels such as the Premier Inn at Waterloo offer a room only rate at very reasonable prices:

http://www.premierinn.com/en/hotel/LONWAT/london-waterloo-westminster-bridge?cid=KNC_Brn_G_UK_UK_Eng_Enc_LO_London_EX&mckv=sj1qGtjzc_dc|pcrid|41152011939|kword|premier%20inn%20waterloo|match|e|plid|&gclid=Cj0KEQiA8rilBRDZu_G8hszXraoBEiQABlB9Y95YBR22iSllz1Rt76m8PklR4dSothD4AmBCkw0_YOoaAmjP8P8HAQ

It would be very useful to be as central as you can as it would make it easier if some members of the party wanted to curtail their sightseeing earlier than the rest of the party and just a short bus ride or taxi journey away.

Thanks, Still, this looks very promising

[Dave2002]

Travelodge also have cheap rooms - charged by the room, not only per person. Usually these are located close to motorways, but there are some in London. Currently showing about £60 per night, though they do sometimes have offers - for advance booking - which are significantly cheaper. Very basic accommodation, but maybe that will suit some in the expeditionary force. I feel Premier Inn is better, but they all serve a purpose. These cheaper hotels may not have features such as swimming pools and restaurants, but in cities that often doesn't matter much as there may be a lot of restaurants etc. nearby.

http://www.travelodge.co.uk/hotels/book/london-hotels

[Don Petter]

Being in retirement, we use Travelodges quite a bit, probably twenty to thirty nights a year. They are perfectly comfortable and clean, and generally good value. (The general scheme is the earlier you book, the lower the price.)

We've never stayed at a Premier Inn. They few times we've done a comparison, they've been about double the price of Travelodge (and could anyone stand that horrible purple colour?).

[richardfinegold]

Travelodge also have cheap rooms - charged by the room, not only per person. Usually these are located close to motorways, but there are some in London. Currently showing about £60 per night, though they do sometimes have offers - for advance booking - which are significantly cheaper. Very basic accommodation, but maybe that will suit some in the expeditionary force. I feel Premier Inn is better, but they all serve a purpose. These cheaper hotels may not have features such as swimming pools and restaurants, but in cities that often doesn't matter much as there may be a lot of restaurants etc. nearby.

http://www.travelodge.co.uk/hotels/book/london-hotels

We stayed in a Premeir Inn for one night in York a few years ago. It was quite basic and a little blah but as you said the fun is from touring the City itself. We are thinking about it.
The size of the Expeditionary Force is enlarging. My wife has five siblings and now they all want to come, with families, children of varying ages, etc. When I first suggested this to her, as away of getting her Mother's mind diverted from her loss, I thought it would be just the 3 of us. Now it has swollen from a small commando raid to the Normandy Invasion and trying to make everybody happy with arrangements is stretching my diplomatic and planning skills. Any help greatly appreciated.

[teamsaint]

Being in retirement, we use Travelodges quite a bit, probably twenty to thirty nights a year. They are perfectly comfortable and clean, and generally good value. (The general scheme is the earlier you book, the lower the price.)

We've never stayed at a Premier Inn. They few times we've done a comparison, they've been about double the price of Travelodge (and could anyone stand that horrible purple colour?).

My experience in my jet setting career is that premier inns are far better quality. I suspect that they tend to be a bit more expensive than Travelodge, but if you book early enough there are plenty of great price rooms at £29.00 or similar.
Purple is in the eye of the beholder........

Many more nights away Don, and I reckon you should earn a reduction on your council tax.

[Cockney Sparrow]

For the budget end - If there are families with young children (so not grown up offspring - need to check older age limits for the children in the group) then we had good experiences in European Youth Hostels where they will provide a "family room". I'd rather not take the pot luck of sharing YH accommodation generally but this arrangement was very acceptable. (One at least of the London Hostels mentions it will let rooms of less than 8 beds as a family room).

http://www.yha.org.uk/

I've been asked to fill in my availability / sign up for rehearsals on a website where I assume you can construct various choices for your family (for those "willing to use the internet") to indicate what they would prefer or agree to. Might save some of the frustration?

http://doodle.com/

Also at the budget end - University accommodation might be worth checking out? For example Imperial College is right by the Royal Albert Hall..... (Although it may be less available in early July as term might not have ended? - OTOH universities have conference style accommodation , so worth checking out).

http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/summeraccommodation/ourrooms

[Dave2002]

My experience in my jet setting career is that premier inns are far better quality. I suspect that they tend to be a bit more expensive than Travelodge, but if you book early enough there are plenty of great price rooms at £29.00 or similar.

I tend to agree, though some Travelodges are OK, and low prices in the Premier Inns might be difficult in some parts. If rooms in Premier Inns or similar can be had for £29 in Central London I could certainly be interested to know about that.

Some of the discount get away breaks sites feature hotels such as the Mercures* - some of which are good - for stays of 3-4 days with food and drink included. They can be good value, depending on the discounted deal, but I'm not sure that the prices or deals are likely to be good in central London.

* The Madeley Court Hotel near Telford is a good one, as is also the one near Albrighton close to Shrewsbury. These don't help for London, though!

[LeMartinPecheur]

Now it has swollen from a small commando raid to the Normandy Invasion and trying to make everybody happy with arrangements is stretching my diplomatic and planning skills. Any help greatly appreciated.

History does suggest the Brits keep the quieter beaches for themselves...

[Dave2002]

I was reminded yesterday that sometimes in London, perhaps mostly while eating out there can be hidden extras. In recent years quite a number of places are adding "a discretionary service charge of 12.5%." I don't really mind paying that if (a) the service is good and (b) the overall product is good, and not too expensive, but sometimes it just feels like an unwanted extra charge, and sometimes it is not flagged up very well, so only becomes visible when the bill is presented, which I feel is really sharp practice. I think what I really dislike is the way it gets added in automatically in some establishments, and then one has to decide whether to insist on having it taken out, or not. It also gives a misleading impression of the prices for goods and service beforehand.

It is a problem, as often the workers really aren't paid very well, and sometimes indeed the service charge does (apparently) get fed back to the workers, but one can't always be sure. Also, a properly administered service charge for staff should benefit all the relevant staff - for example in a restaurant, the chef, the cleaners etc., not just the waiters who happen to be in the front line, and an organisation with responsible management may be doing that. However, one could also suggest that responsible management would get the financial basis of their operation sound enough that the prices would be fair, and that their staff would be paid adequately without "discretionary" charges.

We tend not to pay the "discretionary" charge if it looks as though it's just a way the management have of bumping up prices. Otherwise we may leave a separate tip if the service really is better than satisfactory.

As I recall from fairly recent experiences this service charge price inflation is something which the budget hotels don't seem to do.

[richardfinegold]

An Update; Rfg's Expeditionary Force will be arriving in London on July 4, an auspicious day in the history of Anlo-American American Relations. We leave on 7/10 (my wife's birthday) for Paris. We will be staying at the Millenium Bailey Hotel in South Kensington. Any restaurant recommendations would be appreciated. And anyone who would like to get together to lift a pint or attend a Concert is welcome.

[mangerton]

An Update; Rfg's Expeditionary Force will be arriving in London on July 4, an auspicious day in the history of Anlo-American American Relations. We leave on 7/10 (my wife's birthday) for Paris. We will be staying at the Millenium Bailey Hotel in South Kensington. Any restaurant recommendations would be appreciated. And anyone who would like to get together to lift a pint or attend a Concert is welcome.

That's a good long stay - over three months, including the whole Prom season.

[Flosshilde]

Naughty.

They do things differently over there.

[mangerton]

Naughty.

They do things differently over there.

Oh, don't I know it. We've got a lot of new software at work, the dates are all in that format, and we're told it can't be changed.

[umslopogaas]

Richard, its many years since I ate out in London and I cant offer any specific recommendations, but you will be spoilt for choice. One thought occurs to me, if you feel a bit adventurous, try some Indian and Chinese restaurants. There are lots of them, the English national dish is said to be chicken tikka marsala (which ironically, isnt Indian at all, it was invented here, or so I am told). However, a word of caution: in my experience, American food is good and plentiful, but a bit bland to my taste. Bland is not a word you can use about our Indian restaurant dishes and if the proprietor says a dish is hot, it'll probably blow your head off!