London help please

[Essexlass2]

Follow this link

 

http://www.premierinn.com/en/hotel/LONCOU/london-county-hall?CID=TRA_US_BL_LONCOU

 

It will take you to London County Hall Hotel, a Premier Inn Hotel

 

Been to London many times and this hotel beats all others hands down for great room sizes... and location location location -- it is right next to the London Eye... a short walk to Big Ben... and several tube stations! You won't be disappointed with this location and hotel! And it is a great price.

 

I second that too! We always book Premier Inns wherever we go in England, good hotels, good locations and great prices.

 

A train from nearby Waterloo station will take you down to Southampton.

 

Enjoy your stay in London and your cruise! :D

[DragonOfTheSeas]

I also recommend checking out the British Isles port of call forum. there are many threads that address transportation and hotels. When you are traveling makes a difference. We are on a TA next fall. so, I do not have experience in the city, yet. But, we were able to book the Tower of London Doubletree hotel for 111 GBP per night.

 

In our research on the above mentioned CC board we learned that your hotel should consider the follow. . . 1.if you are only staying in the city overnight stay near the transportation from LHR or to the port the next day. 2. If you are staying several days stay near a convenient tube station and an added bonus is to stay within walking distance of something you will visit.

 

That is why we are staying where we are. The price is pretty good for London, it has safes, hair dryers, etc that I felt i wanted and not all of the Premier Inns had these. An added benefit is that the Tower area is the business section of town and weekends in August are cheaper. [got a 3-night rate 20% off]

 

Finally, the Tower of London is one of the most crowded sites to visit. By staying there we felt we could get in line before it opened and save ourselves time. Time is our most precious resource in the 3 nights we are there.

 

Sorry--long answer, but selecting a hotel turned out to be a complicated process and we had lots to consider.

Edited May 25, 2014 by DragonOfTheSeas

[Ashland]

It has been a while since I took a cruise from England but here are some of my memories. Firstly I want to limit my exposure in public with all my money and important documents so I took the cab to town. We stayed near a hotel near the Victoria Train Station. Staying at a hotel near the tube is a real asset. We booked transfers though RCI from Victoria COACH Station (the Victoria Coach station is a few blocks from the Victoria Train station).

 

Another idea is to stay near the airport and commute to town via public transportation and purchase transfers from RCI from the airport to the ship. You may find hotels far cheaper near the airport.

 

RCI also offers hotel packages that include transportation to the hotel and cruise. This can be very expensive but takes the stress out of it. I also read of people booking the cruise line hotel for the night before the cruise after staying at another hotel beforehand. You will have to find your own way to town and cruise line hotel for this method.

 

Lastly you may be able to put together a group from your Roll Call to share in the expense of travel.

 

Shak

Hmmm....With "all your money & documents" and wishing to limit your" public exposure"..wouldn't a private limo have worked out better than a "public" taxi :confused::confused: Sorry couldn't resist ;)

[Shak]

Hmmm....With "all your money & documents" and wishing to limit your" public exposure"..wouldn't a private limo have worked out better than a "public" taxi :confused::confused: Sorry couldn't resist ;)

 

There is, at least in my view a great difference between carrying your luggage on public streets, trains, or busses then a public taxi with only you and your driver, but I have chosen private limo service in the past. I feel one is most venerable when you have all your important items on you at one time. If you don't feel the same I am ok with it.

 

Shak

[BARNET]

This is the cost of a taxi around London and average travel time for each trip you may wish to take. This is using a London black cab.

 

1 mile 6 - 13 mins £5.60 - £8.80

2 miles 10 - 20 mins £8.60 - £13.80

4 miles 16 - 30 mins £15 - £22

6 miles 28 - 40 mins £23 - £29

Between Heathrow and Central London 30 - 60 mins £45 - £85

[westcoasttech]

A cab from LHR will cost a fortune. Why dont you get the Heathrow Express to Paddington, then get a cab to your hotel?

 

I had always thought this too, however, I have just returned from London last week and used http://www.justairports.com/ (booked minicab service) for pick up from hotel (Doubletree by Hilton -Westminster - highly recommend this hotel). It was 26 pounds from hotel to LHR - this was for one person and luggage. Their website provides quotes for the number of people and size of car required. Service was terrific. Picked up promptly from the hotel lobby and took less than 45 minutes door to door. Car was clean and driver was helpful and polite. I got the recommendation from the TripAdvisor site were several people have posted information.

 

When you take into account that the Heathrow Express train is 20+ pounds per person and then add in a blackcab or similar to get to Paddington, I consider the "luxury" of a direct cab ride a bargain.

 

On a London trip last year, I used the Underground (Tube) to get to and from LHR, and it is do-able, but depending on the amount of luggage you are trying to wrangle, it can be very hard work. Even trying to find an elevator on the small amount of stations that have them can be difficult and involve walking quite a distance in order avoid stairs or escalators. Then add in that certain tube lines (the Circle line) may not be in service (or on limited service) on weekends and holidays.

 

For hotels I recommend the Doubletree by Hilton chain - I've used both the Westminster one and the Tower of London locations. The Westminster one is about 10 mins walk from the nearest tube but in a great location for the sights of Parliament and Big Ben. The Tower of London is just a stone's throw from the Tower and Tower Bridge - the only drawback with this one is it's on the Circle line so service can be slow-ish to get to the West End for theatres and tourist locations.

 

[i'm an ex-Brit who now lives in Canada.]

[jletsgo]

I had always thought this too, however, I have just returned from London last week and used http://www.justairports.com/ (booked minicab service) for pick up from hotel (Doubletree by Hilton -Westminster - highly recommend this hotel). It was 26 pounds from hotel to LHR - this was for one person and luggage. Their website provides quotes for the number of people and size of car required. Service was terrific. Picked up promptly from the hotel lobby and took less than 45 minutes door to door. Car was clean and driver was helpful and polite. I got the recommendation from the TripAdvisor site were several people have posted information.

 

When you take into account that the Heathrow Express train is 20+ pounds per person and then add in a blackcab or similar to get to Paddington, I consider the "luxury" of a direct cab ride a bargain.

 

On a London trip last year, I used the Underground (Tube) to get to and from LHR, and it is do-able, but depending on the amount of luggage you are trying to wrangle, it can be very hard work. Even trying to find an elevator on the small amount of stations that have them can be difficult and involve walking quite a distance in order avoid stairs or escalators. Then add in that certain tube lines (the Circle line) may not be in service (or on limited service) on weekends and holidays.

 

For hotels I recommend the Doubletree by Hilton chain - I've used both the Westminster one and the Tower of London locations. The Westminster one is about 10 mins walk from the nearest tube but in a great location for the sights of Parliament and Big Ben. The Tower of London is just a stone's throw from the Tower and Tower Bridge - the only drawback with this one is it's on the Circle line so service can be slow-ish to get to the West End for theatres and tourist locations.

 

[i'm an ex-Brit who now lives in Canada.]

thanks for the info...its greatly appreciated. we really like the doubletree hotels and leaning toward either westminster or tower.

[jletsgo]

I am overwhelmed with all the great suggestions and glad I have some time to sort it out....we unfortunately will only have one full day in London and really enjoy doing the hop off/hop on buses to get the most out of visiting a city in a short period of time. For those of you who have stayed in Doubletree Westminster and Doubletree Tower which do you feel would be best for the hoho option? Am I also correct that the Doubletree Westminster is closer to the airport??...thanks again.

Edited May 25, 2014 by jletsgo