Londoners knowledge please

[edinburgher]

And yes, I do know there is a large, very large, "pinned" thread re London hotels at the top of this forum, but a friend has sent me this request and my knowledge of London is close to nil as we have not stayed there in over 25 years. 

 

As I know a few of you reply to similar questions in detail, thought I might ask for your time as you may already have the info in your heads.

 

Here is the actual question.

Will have a couple of nights in London after the Transatlantic in November.   Coming into St. Pancras on the Eurostar and going out of  Victoria Coach station on a Princess transfer.  I’m leaning towards staying closer to Victoria Station but don’t really know that much about the different areas of London - what would your thoughts be between the area around King’s Cross/St. Pancras and Victoria Station?  There look to be nice hotels in both areas, and I’ll really only have one full day to explore around, as I’ll arrive on the 26th, probably fairly late in the day, and leave on the 28th, most likely either in the mid-morning or at worst by noonish. Will have luggage of course but could take a cab if that would be the easiest option.

 

Thank you for any advice and/or info. Actual hotel names are not necessarily needed, but areas, or street names where to look would be helpful.

.

[d9704011]

I don't know much about London but it may help others who do to provide advice if you indicated the sort of thing(s) you may want to do for the day.  If your interests run to British Museum or Imperial War Museum you're likely to get very different suggestions.

[Thejuggler]

Have a look at Imperial Hotels group.  They have a number of hotels all near British Museum, Russell Square so handy for St Pancras and access to the rest of the sights.

[Harters]

Your friend has left the question quite vague. As mentioned, area of the city may well depend on what they intend doing with their time. And budget may well come into it.

 

On my trips to the central area of the capital, I usually stay in Premier Inns, most often the one at Euston as that's handy for the train.And I get about on the Underground.  I know there is also one down the road at St Pancras, which may suit. I've never stayed near Victoria so have no info on that immediate area. 

[Globaliser]

6 hours ago, d9704011 said:

I don't know much about London but it may help others who do to provide advice if you indicated the sort of thing(s) you may want to do for the day.

 

4 hours ago, Harters said:

As mentioned, area of the city may well depend on what they intend doing with their time.

 

This really is the key question, and it's impossible to give decent advice without knowing the answer.

[edinburgher]

5 hours ago, Harters said:

As mentioned, area of the city may well depend on what they intend doing with their time. And budget may well come into it.

 

1 hour ago, Globaliser said:

This really is the key question, and it's impossible to give decent advice without knowing the answer.

apologies for not being more clear.

 

Given travel timings, friend will only have one full day in London and has visited a good number of times in the past so is used to public transport of all types and getting around so that will not be an issue.Of more interest is convenience (with luggage) for either arrival at St Pancras or departure from Victoria, although Victoria would be more convenient for the Princess shuttle which will likely be morning.

 

Budget is fairly high but not at Savoy/Ritz level.  As mentioned in my post #1 an actual hotel name not really necessary, but area or even better, certain streets would be much appreciated.

 

Thannking you all for your efforts even at this stage.

Edited June 2 by edinburgher

[gumshoe958]

The Clermont, right next to Victoria station, is a favourite with many cruisers. Nearby there’s also the Goring (very pricey), the Doubletree Victoria or the Park Plaza Victoria.

[edinburgher]

10 hours ago, gumshoe958 said:

The Clermont, right next to Victoria station, is a favourite with many cruisers. Nearby there’s also the Goring (very pricey), the Doubletree Victoria or the Park Plaza Victoria.

Thank you for taking the time to reply.  I have forwarded your hotel suggestions to our friend, although I think the Goring will fall into the Ritz/Savoy price range.

 

I assume by "station" you mean the train station rather than the coach station?  If so, no worries as I  do  know that Victoria train and coach stations are only a few minutes walk from each other.

[Globaliser]

17 hours ago, edinburgher said:

Given travel timings, friend will only have one full day in London and has visited a good number of times in the past so is used to public transport of all types and getting around so that will not be an issue. Of more interest is convenience (with luggage) for either arrival at St Pancras or departure from Victoria, although Victoria would be more convenient for the Princess shuttle which will likely be morning.

 

As they will have to make at least one journey from the St Pancras area to the Victoria area, I wouldn't have thought that convenience with luggage is going to be much of a criterion for choosing between them. It's either arrive at St Pancras, stay there, then transfer to Victoria, and depart; or it's arrive at St Pancras, transfer to Victoria, stay there, and depart. And being used to public transport doesn't help with the choice either.

 

Knowing what they'd want to do would still be much more important in a choice. If they want to spend their full day mooching around the South Kensington museums, then that's an argument for staying at Victoria. But if they're more interested in exploring Coal Drops Yard and Kings Place, then it would be faintly ridiculous to stay anywhere other than at St Pancras.

 

Of course, if the answer is "I [they] dunno", then their question is really no different from the undifferentiated "Where's the best area to stay in London?" question that gets asked here about twice a day.

[d9704011]

1 hour ago, Globaliser said:

Of course, if the answer is "I [they] dunno", then their question is really no different from the undifferentiated "Where's the best area to stay in London?" question that gets asked here about twice a day.

Let's say they're ambivalent on their activities for the day.  In that case, I'd suggest toughing out the travel experience and end up in the Victoria station area for the night rather than St. Pancras.

[edinburgher]

6 hours ago, Globaliser said:

Of course, if the answer is "I [they] dunno", then their question is really no different from the undifferentiated "Where's the best area to stay in London?" question that gets asked here about twice a day.

 

5 hours ago, d9704011 said:

Let's say they're ambivalent on their activities for the day.  In that case, I'd suggest toughing out the travel experience and end up in the Victoria station area for the night

gumshoe958, have forwarded your helpful info to friend, who, per my post #1 is leaning towards 2 nights in Victoria as the Princess shuttle will most likely be morning and friend thinks would be better to be closer to the coach station, have a more leisurely start to the day, and not need to travel from St Pancras to Vctoria with luggage at a busy time of day.

 

globaliser I am aware of the "best area to stay in London FAQS", which is why I noted  only 2 areas together with the practical reasons for each (and sightseeing was not a consideration) as my/our London knowledge is close to zero these days as we have neither visited nor stayed there in around 25 years..Embarassingly, could actually tell you "best areas to stay in" in some European cities which we visited a number of times more recently. and where we have notched up as many as 13/14 days in at least three of them  .as we enjoyed them so much. (and Edinburgh too of course)

 

Thanks to all who took the time to respond.

Edited June 3 by edinburgher