London hotels near Earl's Court?

[DoulaAnn]

A former Londoner recommended staying near Earl's Court during the few days we are sightseeing in London before getting on the ship in Southampton.  Any opinions and/or suggestions?  SO looking forward to seeing London for the first time (other than passing through Heathrow).

 

Ann

[markeb]

What are you wanting to see and do? I'd really explore a lot of areas before settling on an area. I believe I've stayed in Earl's Court a long time ago, and it's fine, and it was in the budget, but I don't recall it being close to anything. I'll defer to the Londoners on that. It looks like you've got the usual Premier Inns (good hotels) and a Marriott. Probably others. Access to the Tube. If it's first time in London, and you can fit the budget, I'd really look at the Waterloo area for comparison.  When will you be there/

 

London is a great city! Enjoy.

[John Bull]

There's nothing wrong with the Earls Court area, and its popular with  Australian ex-pats - hence its nickname "Kangaroo Valley,"

 

But for tourists its main attraction is that by London standards it's inexpensive without being run-down, and its only a few minutes into central London by tube (London's extensive metro). So it's popular with back-packers.

Earls Court tube station has three tube lines, the Piccadiilly, Circle, & District lines. In the opposite direction the Piccadilly line is direct to Heathrow airport.

 http://www.tubemaplondon.org/ 

So if you choose Earls Court, make sure it's in accommodation close to Earls Court tube station  or another nearby tube station.

Earls Court is also only a couple of tube stations from Hammersmith, which is the only London stop for National Express buses between central London''s Victoria coach station and Southampton.

 

Earl's Court has no worthwhile sights close by, and it's just a little too far out of central London for most tourists, a great many more choose Victoria as a compromise between cost & convenience because many of central London's sights are within walking distance. 

 

It all depends on where you draw the line between cost & convenience.

 

JB 🙂

 

 

[tony s]

NH on Cromwell Road,just a short walk from Earls Court tube station. Very nice

[Post Captain]

John Bull (post #3) gives a very clear and accurate summary of Earls Court, so I don't have too much to add.  Also, my experience matches markeb's (post #2), in that I stayed there during some of my first independent trips to London (in the late '70s), but have not stayed there since. There's nothing wrong with Earls Court; it's just that, as you get to know London, you find that there are other neighborhoods that are much more interesting.  (For example, in my case: Bloomsbury, Euston/Kings Cross, Holborn, and Farringdon/ Smithfield, among others--though that's a subjective opinion.)

 

The main advantages to Earls Court are:

 

1.  From Heathrow Airport, it's an easy and relatively short straight shot on the Piccadilly line.  On the Underground, it's closer to Heathrow than are any of the other sections of central London.

 

2.  It has a high concentration of hotels in all budget ranges, from small, independent, budget B&B-type hotels in the western part of Earls Court (around Philbeach Gardens, Nevern, and Trebovir Road) to larger chain hotels on the Cromwell Road (the main east-west thoroughfare) and some upscale options a bit further to the east where Earls Court merges into South Kensington. 

 

3.  Most hotels in this area are a just a short walk from a Tube station (Earls Court, for the Piccadilly line and the District line; or Gloucester Road, for the same two lines plus the Circle line.)  Thus...  although it's not within what most people would consider  walking distance of such major tourist attractions as Buckingham Place, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, the British Museum, St Paul's Cathedral, the Tower of London, you can easily reach these places via the Underground.  Many of the Earls Court/ South Kensington hotels are a fairly short walk from the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Natural History Museum.

 

To find a comprehensive selection of hotels, go the London Hotels section of TripAdvisor and use the "Neighborhoods" menu function to narrow down the possible choices.  But as the previous posters have suggested, I wouldn't necessarily limit yourself to Earls Court.

 

   

[DoulaAnn]

Thanks so much all of you!  You've given me great information and I will definitely follow up on it.