hotel suggestions

[mausie777]

Going on a Baltic cruise out of Southampton in June and looking for a 5 day pre-cruise stay in hotel in London, to do some sightseeing - don't know the area, any suggestions welcome! thank you!:)

Also transportation from hotel to Southampton port??

[Bob++]

Hotels in London are relatively expensive but there are bargains to be had. The auction sites like http://www.roomauction.com/ can make good savings, but you need to research the hotel before you bid.

 

Popular Hotels for pre/post Cruise stays are the various Premier Inns. Notably the one in Westminster and the one in Victoria. Both mid priced and convenient. Mostly, you get what you pay for.

 

If you are staying more than a couple of days, consider renting an apartment (flat in English). You might also look at bed and breakfast, although the quality in the big city is highly variable.

 

I would suggest that you put together a bucket list of things you want to see in London and post that for comments. If The Tower of London is a must see, then a hotel nearer there might be the best bet. If Westminster Abbey, The houses of parliament and The London eye are more your thing, then Victoria (which has the benefit of being the bus departure point for Southampton) might be better. London is easy to get around though, by bus, underground (tube) and water bus.

 

If you see somewhere that takes your fancy - come back here for specific advice.

 

Transport to Southampton is a choice (in descending cost order) of private car, train or coach. For the latter two, there are some excellent bargains available for those who book in advance

Edited February 29, 2016 by Bob++

[Keith1010]

Just a suggestion from someone who has stayed in London several times.

 

It's a large city.

 

Start by making a list of what you would like to do and see such as museums, theatre, special sites such as Buckingham Palace, etc. Plot them out on a map.

 

Then start to look at locations where it might make sense to stay.

 

Yes, there is lots of public transpiration available but we have enjoyed many nice walks to and from the hotels we have stayed at.

 

In fact, we change up hotel based on what we want to see.

 

This way you can list areas that you are considering and others can give you recommendations.

 

My other recommendation is to also make use of Cruise Critic's sister site; Travel Advisor.

 

We wil be in London this week and the approach I am recommending is the one we are using for this weeks stay and the ones we have used for our previous stays.

 

Keith

[John Bull]

Most convenient location is within the (badly-composed on the confounded new googlemaps) box on this map.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/Victoria+Coach+Station,+Buckingham+Palace+Road,+London/Waterloo+Station,+Waterloo+Road,+London/@51.4985462,-0.1273926,14z/data=!4m49!4m48!1m40!1m1!1s0x4876051f57c86fc5:0xdf73938e280a7ef6!2m2!1d-0.148278!2d51.492471!3m4!1m2!1d-0.1610551!2d51.5131444!3s0x48760534e483ebc9:0xa9d0321fddc68184!3m4!1m2!1d-0.1185423!2d51.5195034!3s0x48761b35e85e3b2b:0x3d70223046dbf9e1!3m4!1m2!1d-0.0739733!2d51.5088483!3s0x487603497a778087:0xe889354ee389da3b!3m4!1m2!1d-0.1057878!2d51.5051913!3s0x487604b01ca7804f:0xf41ad70abe10630d!3m4!1m2!1d-0.1208178!2d51.494911!3s0x487604c1cf2f256d:0x744cc6ef1bd512e9!3m4!1m2!1d-0.1463695!2d51.4920325!3s0x4876051f323baa2b:0xdfc79297f33333f3!3m4!1m2!1d-0.134525!2d51.491112!3s0x487604e6d67e3ba3:0xb609200fce39770c!1m5!1m1!1s0x487604b9c09f521d:0x1d0598197b5003ba!2m2!1d-0.1123051!2d51.5031653!3e0

Note the locations of the coach station at Victoria and the rail station at Waterloo - those for transportation from Gatwick airport & to Southampton, though with a five-day stay that's not so important.

 

Broadly, the best location is Mayfair, but it's the most expensive property on a Monopoly board for good reason.;)

 

I rate the best compromise of location / price to be around County Hall on the south side of Westminster Bridge, by the London Eye and riverboat trips and easy walking across Westminster Bridge to Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and the sights along Whitehall - Churchill's War Rooms, number 10 Downing Street, Horse Guards Parade, etc - from Big Ben to Trafalgar Square. Riverside walks too along the South Bank to Tate Modern, Shakespeare's Globe, etc. Lots of watering holes along there too.

But hotels in that area are (all?) chain hotels.

 

Going clockwise from Waterloo/County Hall..............

 

Victoria is popular. Less convenient but cheaper & a mix of chain hotels & small privately-run hotels. Near Buckingham Palace & walkable to Big Ben etc.

Beyond Victoria (outside that box on my map) South Kensington has a mix of properties and an excellent complex of museums.

 

Paddington is handy for trains from Heathrow, moderately convenient & good value.

 

North of the box is Kings Cross. Used to be an area of ill-repute but now regenerated & good value though not the most convenient.

 

There's not a lot of accommodation near St Paul's, which is a shame cos it's a convenient area.

 

The east end of the box is Tower Bridge. Popular with some, and handy to the Tower of London. But in the business "city" or "square mile" and a little remote from the rest of "tourist" London.

 

Wherever you choose - even places like Earls Court & Camden Town, well away from tourist-London - do make sure it's handy to a tube station. Nowhere in London is convenient for everything & by the end of your stay you'll be an expert on using the tube.

 

Handy to a ho-ho route is useful too.

And the Yellow Route on this ho-ho map also gives you an indication of where the sights are.

https://www.theoriginaltour.com/media/1799/the_original_tour_map_2016.jpg

 

Once you've narrowed down your selection, come back for comments on your choice/s. That's particularly important with places outside that box because some are great neighbourhoods, some perhaps not so nice.

 

And since you have five days, remember England is more than just London. Some great places to visit from a Southampton base.

A car from central London will cost around £130, train from about £8 to £40 per person, coach from about £5 to £15 per person - note Bob's comment about early-booked bargains.

 

JB :)

Edited February 29, 2016 by John Bull

[Clarea]

Thanks JB, excellent info as always.

[Bob++]

For excursions out of London, there are excellent day trips to Windsor, Stonehenge and Bath to name but a few. Warwick Castle is a great place for a boy.

https://evanevanstours.com/sightseeing-tours/day-tours-from-london/

 

Don't forget the Theatre. The Lion King, Matilda, or Wicked would make a great afternoon when sightseeing begins to pall.

[mausie777]

Most convenient location is within the (badly-composed on the confounded new googlemaps) box on this map.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/Victoria+Coach+Station,+Buckingham+Palace+Road,+London/Waterloo+Station,+Waterloo+Road,+London/@51.4985462,-0.1273926,14z/data=!4m49!4m48!1m40!1m1!1s0x4876051f57c86fc5:0xdf73938e280a7ef6!2m2!1d-0.148278!2d51.492471!3m4!1m2!1d-0.1610551!2d51.5131444!3s0x48760534e483ebc9:0xa9d0321fddc68184!3m4!1m2!1d-0.1185423!2d51.5195034!3s0x48761b35e85e3b2b:0x3d70223046dbf9e1!3m4!1m2!1d-0.0739733!2d51.5088483!3s0x487603497a778087:0xe889354ee389da3b!3m4!1m2!1d-0.1057878!2d51.5051913!3s0x487604b01ca7804f:0xf41ad70abe10630d!3m4!1m2!1d-0.1208178!2d51.494911!3s0x487604c1cf2f256d:0x744cc6ef1bd512e9!3m4!1m2!1d-0.1463695!2d51.4920325!3s0x4876051f323baa2b:0xdfc79297f33333f3!3m4!1m2!1d-0.134525!2d51.491112!3s0x487604e6d67e3ba3:0xb609200fce39770c!1m5!1m1!1s0x487604b9c09f521d:0x1d0598197b5003ba!2m2!1d-0.1123051!2d51.5031653!3e0

Note the locations of the coach station at Victoria and the rail station at Waterloo - those for transportation from Gatwick airport & to Southampton, though with a five-day stay that's not so important.

 

Broadly, the best location is Mayfair, but it's the most expensive property on a Monopoly board for good reason.;)

 

I rate the best compromise of location / price to be around County Hall on the south side of Westminster Bridge, by the London Eye and riverboat trips and easy walking across Westminster Bridge to Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and the sights along Whitehall - Churchill's War Rooms, number 10 Downing Street, Horse Guards Parade, etc - from Big Ben to Trafalgar Square. Riverside walks too along the South Bank to Tate Modern, Shakespeare's Globe, etc. Lots of watering holes along there too.

But hotels in that area are (all?) chain hotels.

 

Going clockwise from Waterloo/County Hall..............

 

Victoria is popular. Less convenient but cheaper & a mix of chain hotels & small privately-run hotels. Near Buckingham Palace & walkable to Big Ben etc.

Beyond Victoria (outside that box on my map) South Kensington has a mix of properties and an excellent complex of museums.

 

Paddington is handy for trains from Heathrow, moderately convenient & good value.

 

North of the box is Kings Cross. Used to be an area of ill-repute but now regenerated & good value though not the most convenient.

 

There's not a lot of accommodation near St Paul's, which is a shame cos it's a convenient area.

 

The east end of the box is Tower Bridge. Popular with some, and handy to the Tower of London. But in the business "city" or "square mile" and a little remote from the rest of "tourist" London.

 

Wherever you choose - even places like Earls Court & Camden Town, well away from tourist-London - do make sure it's handy to a tube station. Nowhere in London is convenient for everything & by the end of your stay you'll be an expert on using the tube.

 

Handy to a ho-ho route is useful too.

And the Yellow Route on this ho-ho map also gives you an indication of where the sights are.

https://www.theoriginaltour.com/media/1799/the_original_tour_map_2016.jpg

 

Once you've narrowed down your selection, come back for comments on your choice/s. That's particularly important with places outside that box because some are great neighbourhoods, some perhaps not so nice.

 

And since you have five days, remember England is more than just London. Some great places to visit from a Southampton base.

A car from central London will cost around £130, train from about £8 to £40 per person, coach from about £5 to £15 per person - note Bob's comment about early-booked bargains.

 

JB :)

 

thank you ALL Very much for all your help, we've narrowed down to the Premier Inn County Hall - will book tomorrow...

[John Bull]

thank you ALL Very much for all your help, we've narrowed down to the Premier Inn County Hall - will book tomorrow...

 

The choice of a lot of Cruise Critic members :)

 

For Southampton, consider taking the train from Waterloo station, just down the road from County Hall. If you pre-book (from about 6 weeks out) on https://uk.megabus.com/megatrain.aspx it can cost as little as about £8 to £10 pp. Those tickets can't be cancelled or amended (you choose a train time & stick to it), and you can book on only a few trains per day but two or three trains will suit a cruise departure from Southampton. No megatrain tickets for travel on a sunday.

Alternatively you can travel on any train (about 3 per hour) if you buy a regular walk-up ticket at the station - but those tickets cost about £40 pp.

 

Both Original & Big Bus ho-ho's in the road behind your hotel - I recommend Original's yellow route, which hits the important places & has a live commentary in English. Other routes have the usual recorded multi-language earphone systems. For Buckingham Palace you have to get off the bus, walk round to the front of the Palace, then back to the bus stop for the next ho-ho, they're not allowed past the Palace.

The river cruise included with your ho-ho ticket runs from in front of your hotel to the Tower of London - use it to return as well if you wish, & as many times as you like during the ticket's validity.

 

JB :)

[phabric]

[QUOT,E=mausie777;49253738]thank you ALL Very much for all your help, we've narrowed down to the Premier Inn County Hall - will book tomorrow...

 

I stayed at Premier Inn Waterloo (Westminster Bridge), it is around the corner from Premier Inn County Hall. The Waterloo hotel has A/C, County Hall does not. I took the Meal Deal for breakfast, good way to start a day. Great location, walking distance to HOHO bus, regular bus, tube, Westminster Abbey, London Eye, Parliament, pubs, restaurants, Westminster bridge, Waterloo Train station. They were helpful with directions.

[mausie777]

The choice of a lot of Cruise Critic members :)

 

For Southampton, consider taking the train from Waterloo station, just down the road from County Hall. If you pre-book (from about 6 weeks out) on https://uk.megabus.com/megatrain.aspx it can cost as little as about £8 to £10 pp. Those tickets can't be cancelled or amended (you choose a train time & stick to it), and you can book on only a few trains per day but two or three trains will suit a cruise departure from Southampton. No megatrain tickets for travel on a sunday.

Alternatively you can travel on any train (about 3 per hour) if you buy a regular walk-up ticket at the station - but those tickets cost about £40 pp.

 

Both Original & Big Bus ho-ho's in the road behind your hotel - I recommend Original's yellow route, which hits the important places & has a live commentary in English. Other routes have the usual recorded multi-language earphone systems. For Buckingham Palace you have to get off the bus, walk round to the front of the Palace, then back to the bus stop for the next ho-ho, they're not allowed past the Palace.

The river cruise included with your ho-ho ticket runs from in front of your hotel to the Tower of London - use it to return as well if you wish, & as many times as you like during the ticket's validity.

 

JB :)

 

Thank you again ALL - got a good deal with a different cruise line today, so cancelled the old one and rebooked, now leaving directly from Airport to cruise in Southampton, then London 5 day post-cruise - and also got a good deal with Hampton by Hilton London Waterloo - Thanks for all your help and great suggestions!!!

[Cotswold Eagle]

Thank you again ALL - got a good deal with a different cruise line today, so cancelled the old one and rebooked, now leaving directly from Airport to cruise in Southampton, then London 5 day post-cruise - and also got a good deal with Hampton by Hilton London Waterloo - Thanks for all your help and great suggestions!!!

 

That hotel is in a different location to the cluster around County Hall including the two Premier Inns - it's the other side of Waterloo Station, so about 15 minutes walk away. Still very convenient for rail and tube from Waterloo, but not as close to the river and Westminster etc if walking. It's fine, though.

[Clarea]

The choice of a lot of Cruise Critic members :)

 

For Southampton, consider taking the train from Waterloo station, just down the road from County Hall. If you pre-book (from about 6 weeks out) on https://uk.megabus.com/megatrain.aspx it can cost as little as about £8 to £10 pp. Those tickets can't be cancelled or amended (you choose a train time & stick to it), and you can book on only a few trains per day but two or three trains will suit a cruise departure from Southampton. No megatrain tickets for travel on a sunday.

Alternatively you can travel on any train (about 3 per hour) if you buy a regular walk-up ticket at the station - but those tickets cost about £40 pp.

 

Both Original & Big Bus ho-ho's in the road behind your hotel - I recommend Original's yellow route, which hits the important places & has a live commentary in English. Other routes have the usual recorded multi-language earphone systems. For Buckingham Palace you have to get off the bus, walk round to the front of the Palace, then back to the bus stop for the next ho-ho, they're not allowed past the Palace.

The river cruise included with your ho-ho ticket runs from in front of your hotel to the Tower of London - use it to return as well if you wish, & as many times as you like during the ticket's validity.

More for my London file, thank-you much.

[John Bull]

Thank you again ALL - got a good deal with a different cruise line today, so cancelled the old one and rebooked, now leaving directly from Airport to cruise in Southampton, then London 5 day post-cruise - and also got a good deal with Hampton by Hilton London Waterloo - Thanks for all your help and great suggestions!!!

 

As per the Eagle's post, this hotel adds a ten to fifteen minute walk to any tourist destination, including tube, rail & ho-hos. But still pretty convenient.

 

..................................................................

 

Switching to post-cruise changes my advice on transportation.

 

Heathrow to Southampton.

 

Cheapest (about £18) and simple (2 hrs, no changes) by

http://www.nationalexpress.com/home.aspx

Do pre-book, you'll need to know your airport terminal to do that. From Ts 1/2/3 its a short walk to central bus station, from Ts 4 & 5 (different corners of the airport) there are bus stops outside the terminals.

 

A car from Heathrow to Southampton will cost you around £90 pre-booked with someone like http://www.smithsforairports.com

 

An un-booked taxi from a Heathrow terminal taxi-rank to Southampton will cost about the same as your cruise :eek:

 

The train from Heathrow isn't a great option. There are no megatrain deals for any airports - passengers have to travel to airports, they don't need to be coaxed with cheap fares. You can get a through ticket at about £40 but the journey starts with an included bus shuttle (from the same places as above) to the nearest station, usually Woking & sometimes Reading, where you switch to a direct train to Southampton. Because of the shuttle, journey time is about the same as National Express. So you're paying more than double the price for a less-convenient arrangement.

But the train is a useful fall-back if your other arrangements go belly-up because the service is frequent & no need to pre-book.

 

Ship's transfer coaches direct from all Heathrow terminals to the ship. Simple, but depending on the cruise line may be poor value (if my info is up-to-date, Princess is reasonable at around 60 USD, RCI not so reasonable at around 100 USD)

 

..........................................................

 

Southampton to central London.

 

There are no megatrain deals until the afternoon, they don't need to offer deals for mornings because mornings are busy with business travellers to London. Two or three trains per hour, but the regular fare is around £40, journey time around 90 minutes.

You can save money by booking an afternoon train via megatrain, but that's a waste of your precious time.

 

Again National Express coach is best value - from as little as £5 if booked well ahead. But journey time is longer, about 2.5 hours.

And the coach takes you to Victoria coach station.From there you'll need to take the tube or, much wiser with luggage, a taxi. About 2.5 miles, 20 to 25 minutes. Don't know what a taxi would cost, anyone care to hazard a guess?

 

Ships usually offer coach transfers to London, but they too tend to drop at Victoria coach station. And even allowing for a £6 to £10 taxi fare from ship to Southampton coach station, ship's transfers are much poorer value.

 

A car from ship to hotel with Smiths etc would take about 2 hours, & cost around £130.

 

One further option well worth considering are a couple of coach tour-transfers from your ship to your London hotel.

https://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/southampton_to_london_shared_bus.html

Gives you an opportunity to see England as well as London, and oh-so-easy with luggage.

If you choose the one which includes Stonehenge, be sure to buy your Stonehenge tickets with your tour-transfer tickets because tickets are for timed admission - buying at the gate may involve a delay or even be impossible in your time-frame (see the Stonehenge website). The one which includes Blenheim Palace includes admission tickets.

They also offer tour-transfers to Southampton, but because of the need to be in Southampton early pm they're nowhere near as comprehensive.

 

JB :)

Edited March 2, 2016 by John Bull