OT - London Hotel/B&B

daviesee

Plenty of folks on here with the inside knowledge so hoping for a pointer.

I have a couple of midweek nights out in the west end planned for myself and the wife and I am looking for accommodation tips.

Priorities:-

1. Location. In the west end or on easy PT. And somewhere to leave the car.
2. Clean.
3. Quiet.
4. Cost. But will happily pay what it takes to get items 1 to 3.
5. Romantic. Way down the list as I don't expect to spend much time in the place.

EKE_38BPM

daviesee wrote:

Plenty of folks on here with the inside knowledge so hoping for a pointer.

I have a couple of midweek nights out in the west end planned for myself and the wife and I am looking for accommodation tips.

Priorities:-

1. Location. In the west end or on easy PT. And somewhere to leave the car.
2. Clean.
3. Quiet.
4. Cost. But will happily pay what it takes to get items 1 to 3.
5. Romantic. Way down the list as I don't expect to spend much time in the place.

Don't let your wife see this, but I applaud you!

daviesee

EKE_38BPM wrote:

Don't let your wife see this, but I applaud you!

I could show the wife, if it wasn't a surprise. I married well. :P

sketchley

As I live in London I don't stay in London, hotels very often.... However last two I did stay in are both very nice and both overlook Hyde Park.

The Lanesborough http://www.lanesborough.com/ and The Berkeley http://www.the-berkeley.co.uk/

They will fit all your criteria apart from 4......

daviesee

Sketchley wrote:

As I live in London I don't stay in London, hotels very often.... However last two I did stay in are both very nice and both overlook Hyde Park.

The Lanesborough http://www.lanesborough.com/ and The Berkeley http://www.the-berkeley.co.uk/

They will fit all your criteria apart from 4......

That's pretty much what I expected, and you are right about meeting point 4.
Get below half these prices and I'll enquire further. :P

clarkey cat

When staying in London with the wife we always stay at dean st townhouse

rubertoe

How about staying out of Town and Traveling in?

be cheaper for a hotel and you can into the west end within 20 - 30 minutes.

sketchley

Was about to say the same. Sometimes a cab all the way home is cheaper than a hotel even if your 40 miles out. Tip book local cab company to come and pick you up and agree a price, often cheaper than cab firms in London. If you are too far out for a cab then a hotel a bit out of town with cab can work out well.

msmancunia

This place is really lovely. Bang in the middle of Covent Garden but down a little street near the Royal Ballet so it's nice and quiet. Smallish but beautiful rooms, spotlessly clean, and they have a telly in the bathroom in the wall :-)

http://www.thefieldinghotel.co.uk/booking_form.php

daviesee

clarkey cat wrote:

When staying in London with the wife we always stay at dean st townhouse

That is a definite possibility. :P

daviesee

rubertoe wrote:

How about staying out of Town and Traveling in?

be cheaper for a hotel and you can into the west end within 20 - 30 minutes.

As said in the original post, as long as parking or PT is simple and quick, suggestions are welcome.
Cheers!
Edit:- Forget the parking. I plan on enjoying a tipple or two. :P

daviesee

msmancunia wrote:

This place is really lovely. Bang in the middle of Covent Garden but down a little street near the Royal Ballet so it's nice and quiet. Smallish but beautiful rooms, spotlessly clean, and they have a telly in the bathroom in the wall :-)

http://www.thefieldinghotel.co.uk/booking_form.php

Another top tip. :P

sketchley

daviesee wrote:

Sketchley wrote:

As I live in London I don't stay in London, hotels very often.... However last two I did stay in are both very nice and both overlook Hyde Park.

The Lanesborough http://www.lanesborough.com/ and The Berkeley http://www.the-berkeley.co.uk/

They will fit all your criteria apart from 4......

That's pretty much what I expected, and you are right about meeting point 4.
Get below half these prices and I'll enquire further. :P

Those are two of the best hotels in London..... However what you will find is there are a lot of average to crap hotels in London that basically milk the tourist industry, at Christmas these all charge premium due to Xmas parties etc, not all are bad but unless you prepared to spend top prices you will end up up disappointed re point 5 at least. I'd look at holiday inn express, premier inn, and travel lodge, in places like Hammersmith, twickenham, Richmond, Kingston, Stratford, Docklands etc you will pay more than you want too but at least you know what you are getting, but what you save from the top hotels spend on cabs getting around a nice meal out somewhere nice.

Had another thought this place I've stayed in after a xmas party about 8 years ago and was quiet nice no idea recently http://www.thezetter.com/ so you will need to find some reviews. This place was good when it was city hotel, which then became mint hotels and are now part of Hilton http://doubletree1.hilton.com/en_US/dt/ ... r/index.do

daviesee

Thanks Sketchley.
No need to worry about Christmas prices as we are going the last week in May. Prepare for bad weather that week.
I think that the other two suggestions above are favourite. For now.......

Koncordski

My two recommendations would be One Aldwych http://www.onealdwych.com/home.aspx (also has excellent restaurant!) or Charlotte Street Hotel. http://www.firmdalehotels.com/london/ch ... reet-hotel The benefit with Charlotte St is the Thai restaurant opposite, which is freaking awesome. Nom nom...

mattwood

I've always found a deal on Laterooms.com or similar.

I have stayed in some dives, admittedly, but my go-to options when in London are the Raddisson Edwardian or The Hilton, both on Canary Wharf. I have paid £90 per night tops for either. My favourite was the Raddisson though as it has a wet-room shower, which was simply awesome.

dunnnooo

Another vote for One Aldwych. Kinda have to vote for it, as I work there. But it's all very well thought out, and a LQA company just marked it as the best luxury hotel in London. So there, Lanesborough. And prices start at around 300/night.

daviesee

dunnnooo wrote:

Another vote for One Aldwych. Kinda have to vote for it, as I work there. But it's all very well thought out, and a LQA company just marked it as the best luxury hotel in London. So there, Lanesborough. And prices start at around 300/night.

I will give it 24 hours for the suggestions to come in and then do my research.
Just to be clear though, although the above suggestions are very nice and I may use them for special events in the future, anything over £250 (for a good room) is immediately discounted for this trip.

Applespider

Some of the Grange Hotels can be good value for money. I stayed at the Fitzrovia which is near Great Portland St for about £80 last year in January.

daviesee

Back again,

Initial research says the Zetter is favourite, with the Doubletree an option.
While looking at prices I came up with deals on:-
Sofitel St. James
Montague

Anybody stayed in either of those?

msmancunia

daviesee wrote:

Back again,

Initial research says the Zetter is favourite, with the Doubletree an option.
While looking at prices I came up with deals on:-
Sofitel St. James
Montague

Anybody stayed in either of those?

I haven't, but as a superdooper PA I book hotels for the boss on a regular basis, and his absolute favourite is the Zetter, if we can get a cheap deal. Are doubletree the ones that used to be Mint? If so, he loved those too. When they were Mint, you got a Mac in your room to use.

daviesee

msmancunia wrote:

I haven't, but as a superdooper PA I book hotels for the boss on a regular basis, and his absolute favourite is the Zetter, if we can get a cheap deal. Are doubletree the ones that used to be Mint? If so, he loved those too. When they were Mint, you got a Mac in your room to use.

From my research it looks like the Doubletree was Mint but standards would appear to have dropped since the take over.

New direction. As driving into London and parking will no doubt be a complete nightmare, not to mention expensive, I am thinking of getting the train from my sister's outside Southampton. A bit of a hassle as the next destination is the Cotswolds.
Two questions -
Would the return rail trip and a drive up be less hassle than driving into town and then to the Cotswolds?
What train line/station would I be on from there?

My sister would appear to be having a busy life (can't blame her) so she isn't much help and the above questions may help in selecting hotels by location.

Edit:- Scrub that. £150 return for two. :shock: I'll drive thank you very much. And they wonder why people won't use public transport. :evil:

daviesee

Sod it. Couldn't be bothered researching anymore.

Zetter Townhouse is now booked. :P

Thanks for the pointers & cheers!