Recommendation for a hotel in London please

Bean_Counter

Hi,

I am planning on bringing the family to London in the summer to see the main tourist attractions. Before I start randomly trawling through Tripadvisor etc, and there are no doubt a lot of hotels / B&Bs in London, I was wondering if anyone had a recommendation based on the following criteria.

• 2 adults and 2 kids aged 13 & 14
• Preferably a family bedroom (one child with special needs) but two twin rooms would do
• Within say ten minute walk of a tube station
• Tube ride of say 30 mins or less to the city centre
• Free parking
• Free wifi
• Somewhere to sit in an evening and chill other than just in the bedroom
• A gym and or pool would be great but unlikely I guess but no harm in asking
• Price - no fixed budget but looking at mid range and comfortable
• Easy to drive to in order to minimise the time spent in the London traffic (will be coming from the north)

Thanks in advance.

EycplUK

Take a look at the Ibis Euston/Kings X , should be suitable

susancs

EycplUK wrote: »

Take a look at the Ibis Euston/Kings X , should be suitable

Parking is chargeable at this hotel and OP wants free parking, which will be hard to find in London. Most of the other specifications OP will probably find, but car parking is either not available or chargeable at most London hotels. OP, you could look at hotels outside of London which may have free parking, but your travel time and travel expenses will increase. Another option you might want to consider is to park up at a tube station and get the tube in, while staying at a hotel in London.

You could look at this post as the Copthorne Hotels in LOndon are having a half price sale that includes July dates and they are mid range rather than budget hotels such as Travelodge and Premier Inn, so have restaurants, bars etc.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4870452

You could also have a look at the HOliday Inn 2 nightsfor 1 link and see if any of the LOndon hotels meet your spec. If you look at the HI Express hotels they include breakfast.
http://www.ihg.com/hotels/us/en/global/offers/emea/guestmarketing_241

If you are coming from the North you could look at hotels near say Watford or Edgware etc as they may have free parking and not too far from the tube station. Although you do not want a budget hotel for example the Premier Inn at Edgware has free parking and is only a few minutes from the tube station. The PI at Croxley green Watford is only 10 minutes walk from the tube station and beside a Brewers Fayre pub. You have the bonus that in PI children are aged 16 and under for a family room, whereas some hotels it is under 14 only. For each adult paying you also get a free breakfast.

Bean_Counter

Thanks for the replies so far. It looks like free parking might need to be taken off the wish list.

googler

If you're travelling from Scotland, taking the car is madness. You'll end up leaving the car at the hotel and it won't move the whole time. Don't forget the congestion charge, which is payable on entry to and exit from the centre.

Take a train to Kings Cross or Euston. If it's within your budget, book into the Pullman on Euston Road. It's within 5 min walk of each station. That way, you tumble out of the station into the hotel on arrival day, and you tumble out of the hotel onto the train on departure day. If the Pullman is too rich for you, there's a Premier Inn across the road, Jurys Inn within 10mins of Kings Cross, etc. etc.

The Pullman has plenty of lounging areas around reception and the bar/restaurant, and if you go to the upper floors, there's a cracking view over the British Library and to the East from full-height windows in the lift lobbies.

It's EASY to get from KX/Euston to any of the main attractions in the centre. Get Oyster cards in advance, they work on buses and tubes.

Bean_Counter

googler wrote: »

If you're travelling from Scotland, taking the car is madness. You'll end up leaving the car at the hotel and it won't move the whole time. Don't forget the congestion charge, which is payable on entry to and exit from the centre.

Take a train to Kings Cross or Euston. If it's within your budget, book into the Pullman on Euston Road. It's within 5 min walk of each station. That way, you tumble out of the station into the hotel on arrival day, and you tumble out of the hotel onto the train on departure day. If the Pullman is too rich for you, there's a Premier Inn across the road, Jurys Inn within 10mins of Kings Cross, etc. etc.

The Pullman has plenty of lounging areas around reception and the bar/restaurant, and if you go to the upper floors, there's a cracking view over the British Library and to the East from full-height windows in the lift lobbies.

It's EASY to get from KX/Euston to any of the main attractions in the centre. Get Oyster cards in advance, they work on buses and tubes.

Thanks for the recommendations. The main reason for bringing the car was that we had planned to do some other stops on the way up and down and the car just seemed easier. However I am no looking forward to the prospect of driving in and around London so will have a look at the train route.

kirstypark

Hi beancounter, we stayed in an apartment in stafford which was next to a tube and had free parking included, so we drove down to london, parked and used the tube everyday whilst there to get to the sights - booked it through h0seseasons. compared to hotel was comfortable, affordable and can recommend it - had a kitchen so could eat in or out.

Bean_Counter

kirstypark wrote: »

Hi beancounter, we stayed in an apartment in stafford which was next to a tube and had free parking included, so we drove down to london, parked and used the tube everyday whilst there to get to the sights - booked it through h0seseasons. compared to hotel was comfortable, affordable and can recommend it - had a kitchen so could eat in or out.

Thanks Kirsty, another interesting idea. What was the name of the apartment if you don't mind?

zagubov

googler wrote: »

If you're travelling from Scotland, taking the car is madness. You'll end up leaving the car at the hotel and it won't move the whole time. Don't forget the congestion charge, which is payable on entry to and exit from the centre.

Take a train to Kings Cross or Euston. If it's within your budget, book into the Pullman on Euston Road. It's within 5 min walk of each station. That way, you tumble out of the station into the hotel on arrival day, and you tumble out of the hotel onto the train on departure day. If the Pullman is too rich for you, there's a Premier Inn across the road, Jurys Inn within 10mins of Kings Cross, etc. etc.

The Pullman has plenty of lounging areas around reception and the bar/restaurant, and if you go to the upper floors, there's a cracking view over the British Library and to the East from full-height windows in the lift lobbies.

It's EASY to get from KX/Euston to any of the main attractions in the centre. Get Oyster cards in advance, they work on buses and tubes.

Make sure you travel by bus if time allows. Looking from the top deck of a bus is far more interesting than standing in a crowded tube train.

If you take the underground, it's easy to lose your bearings when you resurface (many major London streets took their signs down as a wartime anti-spy measure and never returned them). An A-Z or map is a must (also remember to get your bearings by looking for satellite dishes which always point south). If you have to use the underground, the Victoria line is by far the speediest.

Look for rooms here if the timing's suitable.
http://www.londonuniversityrooms.co.uk/ No parking though.

For cheap dining in the evening try 5pm.co.uk ( I know it's a Scottish site but it does cover London) The Stockpot restaurant chain runs cosy restaurants in Chelsea and the West End, and do good cheap basic meals at normal prices, unlike almost everywhere else in the centre (or even outskirts) of London - their addresses are on the internet. Chinatown does good affordable grub.

The underground maps miss out overground lines so for example if you need to get from Trafalgar Square to London Bridge/ Tower of London area get any overground train from Charing Cross and you're there in a couple of minutes. Maybe a third of London is off the tube map especially most of the SW and all of the SE, although most of the touristy areas are north of the river anyway.

Enjoy your visit- the natives are friendly!

Kathy535

I'd also suggest considering using an apartment. I stay at the Think Apartments in Earls Court sometimes (they also have sites at Bermondsey, Tower Hill and London Bridge). I've not seen the two bed apartments but the one bed open plan appts have a double bedroom, shower room, kitchen area with two hot plates, a microwave with grill and oven, kettle, sink, dishwasher, fridge freezer and washing machine. There's a living area with a sofa (poss sofa bed) and table and chairs and TV. The Earls Court ones are about 8mins walk from the tube and next to a 24hr tesco with parking for £10 per 24 hrs. Apartments give you more freedom and allow you to make cheap choices for meals.

I'd also second the tip on getting an Oyster card, by far the cheapest way to get around London (apart from walking).

If you want to make stops on the way down why not drive to somewhere like Stevenage and pick up the train there - it's only 30 mins or so journey to London and stops the hassle of London driving, congestion charge etc.

For cheap meals you might want to look at websites like bookatable or toptable. They offer deals (less good ones at weekends) on food and I use them a lot when I'm in London. Or maybe sign up for loyalty cards and vouchers to reduce the cost at chain restaurants such as Zizzi, Pizza Express.

The Millennium hotels that Susancs mentioned are generally good, the Copthorne slightly less so. I've stayed at the Baileys (very well located for the tube and a lovely hotel); the Gloucester (next door to the Baileys and very good), the Knightsbridge (another well located hotel) and the one at the Chelsea football ground (nice big rooms). I've also stayed at the Copthorne Tara which is well located but I didn't like it. I found that their website didn't seem to have any dates for the special deals but that comparison websites did, I've booked two nights at the Baileys for March through Trivago which directed me to the Millennium site and where dates were suddenly available.

I find Premier Inns are really good value. I'd especially recommend the one in Tower Hill, spacious rooms and good staff. Some travelodges are ok too, the Covent Garden one is well located (although very basic) and close to a public swimming pool if you are desperate for the exercise, and the Southwark one is newly refurbished and quite comfortable.

Bean_Counter

I have been thinking about it and I think an apartment is the way to go, so will do some research into those - thanks.