Frustrated with finding a room!

[LiseD]

Want to go in a night or two early to London before our July cruise but having sticker shock over price of rooms that would hold the 4 of us. Would it make sense to just get a hotel by Heathrow...finding a lot of good deals there....and go into London for the day.....then back to Heathrow and go to Southampton the next day?

[hapicruisin]

Want to go in a night or two early to London before our July cruise but having sticker shock over price of rooms that would hold the 4 of us. Would it make sense to just get a hotel by Heathrow...finding a lot of good deals there....and go into London for the day.....then back to Heathrow and go to Southampton the next day?

 

Hi LiseD,

 

Google Travelodge or Premier Lodge. Both are basic and ok for a night or 2

and are in most tourist places in UK as well as airports.

 

The rooms are all ensuite. If you have a look at them and google

them on Tripadvisor you will find some are a LOT better than others within

the same chain.

 

Have used Travelodge but not Premier Lodge. Hapicruisin

[LiseD]

Premier and Travelodge won't let 4 stay in one room....my girls are 20 and you have to be under 16! So expensive if we have to get 2 rooms!

[hapicruisin]

Premier and Travelodge won't let 4 stay in one room....my girls are 20 and you have to be under 16! So expensive if we have to get 2 rooms!

 

 

Hi LiseD,

 

Travelodge, a lot of the time, have very inexpensive rooms so it most probably

would be cheaper to have 2 rooms at a T/Lodge. Have you googled B&B's

(bed and breakfast accommodation) in the areas you are hoping to stay in?

 

Good luck! Hapicruisin

[whogo]

What are your dates? What is your budget?

[hapicruisin]

Premier and Travelodge won't let 4 stay in one room....my girls are 20 and you have to be under 16! So expensive if we have to get 2 rooms!

 

Hi LiseD,

 

You mentioned possibly staying at Heathrow and going to London from there.

I have just looked on T/Lodge site for dates throughout July. At London

Heathrow Terminal 5 Travelodge, the price throughout the month is anything from 21GBP per room per night to 28GBP. Most are 22GBP per night. I have

stayed in that T/Lodge and it is fine. But some are not very good!

 

Hapicruisin

[Alaskanb]

Have you looked at this website for hotels http://www.londontown.com

We have stayed here before and I recently bumped into a friend who still stays here when they are in the UK. It is an old-fashioned clean hotel close to the British Museum. http://www.ridgemounthotel.co.uk http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g186338-d187680-Reviews-Ridgemount_Hotel-London_England.html They do have quads and quins

Edited January 20, 2014 by Alaskanb

[LiseD]

We are looking at July 18 and 19 OR maybe just one night the 19th. Would like to spend less than $150 a night for a quad room. There are many hotels that come up in the lower price range but then you start reading the horrible reviews!! I know you get what you pay for....but we will be leaving on a 2 week cruise and spending a lot on that also....so budget just gets tight. I hate to not see London even if just a short bus tour around the city!

 

Then I have not even looked at how to get from London to Southhampton and being convenient to some kind of bus/train that would take us there!!

Edited January 20, 2014 by LiseD

[calmac]

We are looking at July 18 and 19 OR maybe just one night the 19th. Would like to spend less than $150 a night for a quad room. There are many hotels that come up in the lower price range but then you start reading the horrible reviews!! I know you get what you pay for....but we will be leaving on a 2 week cruise and spending a lot on that also....so budget just gets tight. I hate to not see London even if just a short bus tour around the city!

 

Then I have not even looked at how to get from London to Southhampton and being convenient to some kind of bus/train that would take us there!!

 

I think your budget is unrealistic for London. Most decent rooms are £150+ (pounds not dollars). There are unlikely to be deals available in July as that is during the main tourist season. Some of the larger chains have rooms which will sleep 4 - Marriott, Crowne Plaza etc.

 

As you have found, you would need 2 rooms in a Premier Inn. Personally, I avoid Travelodge if at all possible.

 

Options for London to Southampton are private transfer, train or bus. One option is the Megabus which actually uses the train although available times are restricted. Last week we used this option for Southampton to London for 3 adults at the cost of £3.50. If we had just turned up and caught a train it would have been about £90.

[Twickenham]

We are looking at July 18 and 19 OR maybe just one night the 19th. Would like to spend less than $150 a night for a quad room. There are many hotels that come up in the lower price range but then you start reading the horrible reviews!! I know you get what you pay for....but we will be leaving on a 2 week cruise and spending a lot on that also....so budget just gets tight. I hate to not see London even if just a short bus tour around the city!

 

Then I have not even looked at how to get from London to Southhampton and being convenient to some kind of bus/train that would take us there!!

 

I used to travel all the time with my parents to London, and it was tough enough getting a triple room, let alone a quad, for a decent price in Central London. We stayed at small B&Bs and some chains, but mostly started opting for self-catering apartments. Now, we would stay usually a week, so it does make a difference, but if you could find a place willing to rent for a couple of nights, it might end up being the best option.

 

Another possibility is seeing if you have any hotel points you can use for one or two free nights.

 

Travel between LHR hotels and Central London will usually take 45-60 minutes each way; doable, but far from ideal.

 

I hear you about budgets; this is the time to look at the overall trip budget, and look at perhaps some 'resource reallocation'. For instance, in other threads you talked about taking private tours in some of your ports of call - could you perhaps find cheaper DIY options? I'm just throwing out ideas, as really it's up to you what you want to prioritize, but the hard reality is that your allocated budget for your London hotel is tight enough as is, even besides the added restriction of the 4-to-a-room requirement.

For transport to Southampton, look if there are any Megatrain tickets for your dates - you can get them as cheap as 1 pound/person if available, a hugh savings on transport.

[Alaskanb]

Wow! Your budget is incredibly limited for what you want to do. You need to think of London as you would going to any international capital/large city like New York or Washington DC. You are in high season also so no deals!

Why don't you just take the bus from Heathrow to Southampton and then have a day exploring Stonehenge and Salisbury. You would need to spend two nights in Southampton. Easy to get to Stonehenge etc via train. Details are in the Europe forum.

[Janice Wildermuth]

Try Crowne Plaza Kensington. Stayed 4 days w/4 women in August. Great location reasonably priced.

 

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[RJHNorthyorks]

Hilton hotels have double double rooms and will take bookings for 4 adults. They are however very expensive in London although the Docklands Hilton looks cheaper.

[Alaskanb]

Have you looked at this website for hotels http://www.londontown.com

We have stayed here before and I recently bumped into a friend who still stays here when they are in the UK. It is an old-fashioned clean hotel close to the British Museum. http://www.ridgemounthotel.co.uk http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g186338-d187680-Reviews-Ridgemount_Hotel-London_England.html They do have quads and quins

Just wanted to add that this hotel includes a full English breakfast. A meal like that keeps us going most of the day. Eating out in London is also expensive --even McDonalds! We tell folks to plan on spending in GBP the same as in USD. So if a hamburger is $1 in the US it will cost at least £1.

[whogo]

Check out TexScott-II's link in this post on Cruise Critic's sister site TripAdvisor: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g186338-i17-k6893778-Budget_hotels_in_london-London_England.html#53247339

 

TexScott-II has done a fantastic job on this. Note that hotels with quad rooms are identified.

[LiseD]

Thanks for all the great advice....especially about setting up a budget and deciding where to spend $ and at which ports! It would be a shame to fly into London and not spend a day or two there. I have been before but my girls and husband have not. I also thought it would be great to have a few days to get over jet lag before getting on ship!

 

I think I found a good place.....Arosfa.... http://www.arosfalondon.com/ based on a recommendation and good trip adviser reviews. It is going to be $250 per night...but includes breakfast and we get 3 beds....one double and 2 twins. AND they let 4 of us stay in the same room....issue with other hotels was the girls needed to be 16 and under.

[Twickenham]

Thanks for all the great advice....especially about setting up a budget and deciding where to spend $ and at which ports! It would be a shame to fly into London and not spend a day or two there. I have been before but my girls and husband have not. I also thought it would be great to have a few days to get over jet lag before getting on ship!

 

Those 2 nights in London are absolutely necessary, IMO, for the jetlag, and also... for London! Heck, I spent a night in London after my last cruise, and I was sailing out of Civitavecchia!

 

I think I found a good place.....Arosfa.... http://www.arosfalondon.com/ based on a recommendation and good trip adviser reviews. It is going to be $250 per night...but includes breakfast and we get 3 beds....one double and 2 twins. AND they let 4 of us stay in the same room....issue with other hotels was the girls needed to be 16 and under.

 

That looks really nice. I really like this type of private B&B for budget stays in London. And you cannot underestimate the value of having a full English breakfast... Like the location too - in the heart of Bloomsbury, walking distance to the British Museum. If you go up near Euston station, on Drummond St. there's a good and quite inexpensive Indian restaurant called Chutneys - went to the lunchtime buffet, very good as I recall. If you want more info on eating on the cheap in London, I'll tell you about Marks & Spencer's sandwiches next... :D

Edited January 20, 2014 by Twickenham

[LiseD]

Bring on the cheep eating!! :) OK....let me just say this is our twins 3rd year in college.....need I say more about why we are on a budget? We would not even be going on this trip except my parents are taking us to celebrate the twins 21st b-day!!! :)

[orchestrapal]

Bring on the cheep eating!! :) OK....let me just say this is our twins 3rd year in college.....need I say more about why we are on a budget? We would not even be going on this trip except my parents are taking us to celebrate the twins 21st b-day!!! :)

 

Check out Bistro 1 - there is one in Covent Garden and two in Soho also

almost anywhere in Chinatown our favorite being Mr Kong on Lisle street.

All are walkable from your hotel and have great food at good, for London, prices.

[Post Captain]

Thanks for all the great advice....especially about setting up a budget and deciding where to spend $ and at which ports! It would be a shame to fly into London and not spend a day or two there. I have been before but my girls and husband have not. I also thought it would be great to have a few days to get over jet lag before getting on ship!

 

I think I found a good place.....Arosfa.... http://www.arosfalondon.com/ based on a recommendation and good trip adviser reviews. It is going to be $250 per night...but includes breakfast and we get 3 beds....one double and 2 twins. AND they let 4 of us stay in the same room....issue with other hotels was the girls needed to be 16 and under.

From everything I've read, the Arofsa is a very good choice--and it's in my favorite part of London, Bloomsbury. I've stayed in other similar hotels right along the same row on Gower Street many times over the years; I was in the neighborhood a couple of weeks ago and walked past the Arofsa on my way to the British Museum, just a 10-minute walk away.

 

The English breakfasts are substantial and will keep you going through a good part of the day. For a reasonably priced lunch, you might want to try the Pret a Manger chain; they're all over London (and all over New York City too) and do good sandwiches and snacks. Or buy pre-made sandwiches, snacks, and drinks at a supermarket such as Sainsbury.

 

For getting to Southampton, I too would recommend Megatrain, already mentioned by some other posters. You can purchase an e-ticket six weeks (I think it is) in advance; print it out at home and bring it with you. The train leaves from Waterloo Station and takes just over an hour and a half. Check the Megatrain website. National Express also offers very cheap fares (if you book ahead) on some coach (bus) services from Victoria Coach Station to Southampton.

 

London is a very expensive city; but with careful planning, it is possible to stay and to get around at less cost than one might otherwise pay.

[milolii]

We stayed at this flat in August. Great location, room for 4. Try airnub or Homeaway.com for.other options besides hotels.

 

Airfare is too high to not spend time in London. Savings at Heathrow may be negated out by tube fare for 4 into the city.

 

http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/Articles/2014/01/13/46608/norwegian+mega-ship+epic+to+sail+year-round+in+europe.html

 

 

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[Post Captain]

That looks really nice. I really like this type of private B&B for budget stays in London. And you cannot underestimate the value of having a full English breakfast... Like the location too - in the heart of Bloomsbury, walking distance to the British Museum. If you go up near Euston station, on Drummond St. there's a good and quite inexpensive Indian restaurant called Chutneys - went to the lunchtime buffet, very good as I recall.:D

 

Exactly!

 

There are several Indian restaurants on Drummond Street; we recently had a lunchtime all-you-can-eat vegetarian buffet at the Diwana Bhel Poori House at 121-123 Drummond Street for £6.95 per person (plus a couple of pounds for drinks).

 

And just around the corner (and up the street from the Arofsa) is Speedy's Sandwich Bar & Cafe, at 187 North Gower Street, featured in the current BBC (and PBS Mystery) series Sherlock:

 

 

 

 

[Alaskanb]

Thanks for all the great advice....especially about setting up a budget and deciding where to spend $ and at which ports! It would be a shame to fly into London and not spend a day or two there. I have been before but my girls and husband have not. I also thought it would be great to have a few days to get over jet lag before getting on ship!

 

I think I found a good place.....Arosfa.... http://www.arosfalondon.com/ based on a recommendation and good trip adviser reviews. It is going to be $250 per night...but includes breakfast and we get 3 beds....one double and 2 twins. AND they let 4 of us stay in the same room....issue with other hotels was the girls needed to be 16 and under.

Looks like a good choice. Gower Street is our go to place to stay in London. Let us know how it is after your trip.

[skisteamboat]

I have used airbnb and VBRO in a few countries and always been satisfied.

 

Cheers

[travelshy]

Want to go in a night or two early to London before our July cruise but having sticker shock over price of rooms that would hold the 4 of us. Would it make sense to just get a hotel by Heathrow...finding a lot of good deals there....and go into London for the day.....then back to Heathrow and go to Southampton the next day?

 

Consider applying for a Hyatt Credit Card -- you can get two nights free if you charge $1000 in first three months (not a problem if paying for a cruise.) We did -- and are getting free rooms at the Hyatt Regency in London this summer! Have your girls apply too -- and you can each get a room! Kathy

 

https://creditcards.chase.com/lp9/hyatt/search?CELL=6RRW&jp_cmp=cc/05BRHyattExact/sea/na/Hyatt&MSC=IQ30266646&ev_sid=3&ev_ltx=&ev_pl=