Hotels in London and transfer to Southampton.

[stevenr597]

My wife and I are scheduled to do a Trans-Atlantic on Regal Princess from Southampton to Fort Lauderdale, October, 2023.

We plan to arrive a few days early to see London.

Any recommendations in respect to Hotels in the London area.  In addition, should we go through Princess, or arrange private travel between London and Southampton. 

[dog]

Princess offers transfers from Victoria Coach Station to ship.

I’ve stayed at Rubens by the Palace, Langham and other members have made suggestions on here in past week.

[Tedferg]

We have stayed at Luna SImone on Belgrave Road, Near Victoria Bus station, a couple of times. Probably three stars but clean, comfortable and friendly. Breakfast included. We also enjoyed local, non-touristy restaurants.

[LynnSD]

Ask on your roll call to see if anyone else is doing the same thing.  We shared a car and driver from London to Southampton with another couple (several years ago, and we both happened to be staying at the  Premier Inn.).  It worked out well.  
We even made a stop for some sightseeing - I think it was in Windsor?   Made it an interesting day. 

[Rick&Jeannie]

2 hours ago, dog said:

Princess offers transfers from Victoria Coach Station to ship.

I’ve stayed at Rubens by the Palace, Langham and other members have made suggestions on here in past week.

We, too, have stayed at the Rubens...but not for a cruise.  There are other (small) hotels very near Victoria Coach Station that we have stayed at.  Have never gone all the way to Southampton to stay a night or two prior to cruise...others have had good recs for doing that.  We just really like London and the convenience/location around the Coach Station.

[Essiesmom]

Have stayed at the Doubltree at Victoria Station, took the transfer from Victoria Coach Station.  Used Hilton Honors points.  EM

[LouCoop]

I was told by my TA that to be able to use Princess transfer through Victoria Station I needed to also book hotel through Princess. Is this true or can I choose any hotel and still require a transfer from Victoria Station? TIA

[Rick&Jeannie]

16 minutes ago, LouCoop said:

I was told by my TA that to be able to use Princess transfer through Victoria Station I needed to also book hotel through Princess. Is this true or can I choose any hotel and still require a transfer from Victoria Station? TIA

Not true...we have NEVER booked a hotel in London through Princess but have used Victoria Coach Station at least 5 times now.

[LouCoop]

1 minute ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

Not true...we have NEVER booked a hotel in London through Princess but have used Victoria Coach Station at least 5 times now.

Thanks much appreciated. 

[martinitime1]

We did the TA on the Emerald in November. We stayed at the Conrad London St James Hilton for the week prior and highly recommend. Very central to many attractions and restaurants. We used Viator for the transfer to Southhampton.

Luxury Hotel Westminster London - St James Park - Conrad (hilton.com)

[sunviking90]

This past fall we stayed at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House before our TA. This is the second time we’ve stayed there as we really love it. If you have platinum status with Marriott you can get lounge access. If not, I’d recommend booking a club room which will also get you access. I’ve also heard good things about the Ruebens (and other Red Carnation hotels)
The destinations board probably has recommendations too.

[Paula_MacFan]

2 hours ago, LouCoop said:

I was told by my TA that to be able to use Princess transfer through Victoria Station I needed to also book hotel through Princess. Is this true or can I choose any hotel and still require a transfer from Victoria Station? TIA

Not true.  We have an upcoming cruise from Southampton and here's a screenshot from our Personalizer options under the Travel tab.  We're not using a Princess hotel.  

[LouCoop]

Thank you so much @Rick&Jeannieand @Paula_MacFan we finally were able to get our transfer from Victoria Coach Station without having to book a Princess Hotel.

I had to mention that I received answers from Cruise Critic nation for her to look further in🙄

[georgemoe]

My group of 6 is sailing Regal in August and we booked the bus transfer out of Victoria Coach Station to Southampton with Princess. We were going to book Premier Inn - Waterloo but decided to go with Tophams hotel based on some CC recommendations. This is the first time in London for four of us so this location worked well for our two days in London prior to sailing. We can also walk to the station from this location without taking transportation.

[John Bull]

7 hours ago, georgemoe said:

My group of 6 is sailing Regal in August and we booked the bus transfer out of Victoria Coach Station to Southampton with Princess. We were going to book Premier Inn - Waterloo but decided to go with Tophams hotel based on some CC recommendations. This is the first time in London for four of us so this location worked well for our two days in London prior to sailing. We can also walk to the station from this location without taking transportation.

 

Just in case of confusion............

Victoria train station and Victoria coach station are two different places a few hundred yards apart on Buckingham Palace Road.

But still only a 5 - 6 minute walk.

 

And a heads-up ......................

The regular direct National Express bus service to Southampton also runs from Victoria coach station. At £7. 70 the fare is massively lower than even Princess' cruise line transfer buses, the standard of bus is at least equal to the chartered independent buses used by cruise lines and all of their buses have bathroom, wifi and wheelchair access.

Service is broadly hourly, journey time at about 2hrs 30 is marginally longer because they have 3 to 4 intermediate pick-up points en-route.

Same as ships' transfer buses you need to pre-book https://www.nationalexpress.com/en

A taxi from Southampton coach station to any cruise terminal will cost no more than £10 (six of you will require two), whereas of course the cruise line bus takes you to your cruise terminal.

Net saving of about £300 - but I do realise that some folk do prefer the peace of mind of beingin the cruise line's hands for the journey.

 

JB 🙂

[georgemoe]

Thanks John Bull for the follow up. I do know the stations are different. We went with the Princess transfer mostly due to my wifes mobility issues and handling luggage. Less vehicle transfers is a blessing for me. 

[cruiserking]

The Hyatt Churchill is a lovely hotel in the residential neighborhood of Marylebone very close to Bond Street, Baker Street, Marble Arch and nearby many attractions like the famous department store Selfridges.  I've booked a stay here for next summer. 

 

The Royal Lancaster is another great hotel newly refurbished just opposite Hyde Park and walking distance to Paddington Station, Marble Arch and Bayswater. Breakfast is included in the rate. Very elegant hotel, spotlessly clean and well managed. 

 

Blackberry Car Service Highly recommended. Blackberrycars.com  They are very reliable. We were picked up in a timely fashion at LHR and taken to our pre-cruise hotel in Southampton. They then returned us to LHR from Southampton at the conclusion of our cruise. Excellent service. I plan on using them again next summer. 

 

Happy Cruising. 

 

Jonathan