RCI pre-cruise hotel stay in London

[Sleddogs]

Hope this is the right spot for this question. We are sailing Jewel of the Seas next summer, on a British Isles/Norwegian Fjords cruise. Considering a pre-cruise 2 night stay in London. RCI hotel package includes transfers, but prices seem high to me. For example, the Hilton Metropole is $234 per person, per night, if I book it through the cruiseline. And I would have to be waitlisted as the hotel is booked solid right now.

 

Perhaps the price is high because of the transfers to Harwich?

 

Can I do better booking a hotel on my own, and buying transfers thru RCI separately?

 

First trip to Europe, so any information is greatly appreciated.

 

Happy cruising! Sleddogs

[maxxboy]

Check out the Holiday Inn in Mayfair. Nice hotel and in walking distance to Piccadilly and Buckingham Palace. We've stayed there twice and really like it.

[EJNutz]

I would try booking your hotel independently. You will probably get better deals on www.expedia.com or the uk version www.expedia.co.uk. Also try www.lastminute.com . If you are staying in London I recommend that you stay in a well known brand. Some independent hotels are not up to much.

[KeyOfSea]

We selected a hotel on Expedia last year and were really disappointed. IMO, they don't give you enough information. We were in Kings Cross and had no idea (until we got there) that it was not a good part of town. I would rather pay twice what we paid and stay in a nice part of town.

[Atiya]

I highly recommend checking out reviews of London hotels on the net before you book. My husband and I recently did a trip to London for a conference, and ended up with a hotel we really liked by reading online reviews. I was surprised to see how different the reviews could be for places that cost the same amount--much more so than I've seen for U.S. hotels. From the horror stories of some other conference-goers, those reviews were accurate, too!

 

We used the reviews at http://www.tripadvisor.com and also used Google to search for the names of the hotels we were considering to see what else might have been posted about them.

[Sleddogs]

Will check out the Holiday Inn Mayfair for sure. I do understand and appreciate the comment that was made about sometimes it being better to pay more, as well as booking a well known "brand". We want to be sure we are in a safe part of town as well.

 

Will also check Expedia and the other web sites. Appreciate all of your comments. Thanks!

 

Sleddogs

[norbe37817]

Be sure to take lots of money with you as London is horribly expensive. We found out that even the cab drivers must take 6 months of London history as a guide before they can drive. We took a couple of fantastic tours - one to see the city including changing of the guard, Tower of London, the Crown Jewels, etc. plus hearing all the interesting stories. The next day we took a bus tour up to Stonehenge and Bath. Again, learned so much and would go back in a minute - or at least after we win the Lotto.

 

Peggy

[EJNutz]

As I live not far from London and often work there if you want to know if an area is good or bad just ask. I'll let you know if is best to avoid it or not.

 

I agree London is expensive. Cabbies and the like go tourist hunting and then increase the pound signs. However there are ways to get around town and eat and drink and even visit the theatre on the cheap.

[Sleddogs]

Peggy and Jonty,

 

Thank you for your input. I'm sure I will have questions as the time passes.

So many wonderful things to see and do in and around London, and when you just have a couple of days you try to do as much as possible in a short amount of time. I have noticed that some of the London hotel prices are high (like New York City). That seems to be the case in many big cities.

 

Pre-cruise hotel packages are expensive thru RCI, but include the transfers. Not sure how much transfers to Harwich would be by themselves, will have to ask my TA. That's the thing, we still have to get to Harwich to pick up the cruise.

 

When we go to NYC for example, we stay outside the city and take the commuter train in to Grand Central Station. Hotel prices are much better and don't have to worry about driving into the city and parking the car!

 

Maybe there are some nice places to stay on the outskirts of London that are more affordable and still allow for some great sightseeing?

 

I'll do some more research and will let you know if I have any questions about a particular hotel and neighborhood. I appreciate your willingness to help.

 

Thanks!

Sleddogs

[Globaliser]

Hope it's not too late to add to this, but I wouldn't bust a gut to stay at the Metropole. It's a very large impersonal hotel (the largest in London, I think, largely marketing itself as a conference centre), and there's little of real interest in the area unless you have a real craving for Levantine food - although there are some really good places near the hotel if you do.

 

And although London hotel prices aren't cheap, USD 234 isn't exactly a bargain rate.

 

I have no experience of the following place other than having had lunch in its restaurant recently, but the City Inn Westminster has cropped up in a number of contexts. Although it was obviously designed to be a business hotel, it seems to have a lot of contracts with inbound tour operators (including some cruise lines) and the rates are reportedly quite good. It's new, which may explain some of it. The public area decor looked good - post-modern Ikea-type Scandi - and although reports are that the rooms are on the small side (like many in London), they have apparently got some unusual gizmos as standard like plasma screen TVs and CD players. The location isn't bad - although it's not quite in the middle of the sights, it's a good deal closer to the areas of tourist interest than the Metropole which is a long way out of the centre of town. So one that might be worth your while investigating to see if you can get a good rate at.

[ricko1]

We lived a 30 minute train ride from London proper for 8 years, If you take the tube from (central line) from any of the big stations or Marlybone train station, you can have a choice of clean motels or B&Bs for less than 80.00 dollars.. The Master Brewery Hotel comes to mind at the West Ruislip tube stop. If anyone traveling with you has a Government I.D card you can go to one of 5 bases and book a suite for 40-60 a night. My email for any questions we can help you with is osbornerick1@hotmail.com

[dsarah]

We stayed at the City Inn Westminster in July of this year (booked thru Celebrity as a pre-cruise for the Constellation British Isles/Norwegian Fjords cruise). We booked thru Celebrity for the convenience of being picked up at the hotel and transferred to the Dover pier -- I thought the price was comparable to their normal rates, but I didn't do a lot of checking.

 

We thought the location was great! We were able to easily walk from the hotel to Parliament, Big Ben, Westminister Abbey, Cabinet War Room, St. James Park, the London Eye -- and that was just the first day after arriving in London in the morning! On the other days, we walked from the hotel to Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, Pidadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, the theater district, Oxford St. -- just about everything we wanted to see. The only time we took the Tube was to go to the Tower of London. Of course we love to walk, but we are over 60 years old and we found the walking very doable. -- Great location! If you don't like to walk, there are Tube stops within a 5 to 10 minute walk from the hotel. Have fun on the cruise -- its a wonderful itinerary.

[Sleddogs]

Globaliser, Ricko and dsarah,

 

It's not too late to add any info, haven't booked a hotel yet & I appreciate the feedback. I'm glad to know about the Metropole. Not interested in that one now. The Westminster sounds like a good bet and will see what I can get for rates. Will also check Ricko's suggestion as well.

 

I always like to research as much as possible without going nuts if you know what I mean. It's always best to hear from folks such as you who have actually been to the place your interested in. Nothing like first hand experience. I hope I can be helpful in this way to others too.

 

Thanks for your input!

Sleddogs

[truffles2]

You might also look into Thistle Royal Horseguards. It is a very nice hotel, right next to the Ministry of Defense, close to Buckingham Palace, etc. and they usually have a pounds for $ special.

[cantwaittosail]

i have stayed in london several times for fun trips -- we have found 2 hotels we love

 

1st - Rubens Hotel - right across from buckingham palace - great location

Westminster Hotels London : Rubens Hotel London

Westminster Hotels London at discounted rates. Rubens Hotel London is located in Westminster, close to Buckingham Palace, Tate Gallery, and Green Park ... RUBENS HOTEL LONDON. 39 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 0PS, ... the St James's Park. The Rubens Hotel London is a traditional English hotel, offering superior comfort and ...

http://www.holidaycity.com/rubens-london

 

 

2nd - Jolly hotels - right down from westminster abby - great location also

Jolly Hotel St. Ermin's - London Hotel Discount

... London Hotels * Jolly Hotel St. Ermin's ... Jolly Hotel St. Ermin's ...

http://www.london-hotel-discount.net/hotel/jolly_hotel_st_ermins.shtml

 

good luck and have a wonderful time !!!

[nny92825100]

Having stayed in London quite a few times, our favorite is London Kensington Marriott. It is five minutes from Glouchester and Earls court tube stations. I booked it right through Marriott's web sight and chose an executive level room. The price was 124 pounds for three of us (3rd and 4th are never free and more than likely pay the same as the first two) in May of 2004. This included a full breakfast, 24 hour lounge that had free soda, bottle water, snacks 24 hours, after noon canapes, evening desert, coffee and teas, daily newspapers from around the world. The room was huge with a king bed with down comforter, walk in shower and a seperate tub, double sink, sofa and working area. There is a huge grocery across the street and a laundry about a block away. The area was safe to walk in at night.

 

We booked private transfers from the airport to hotel and then hotel to port and return. We used Londontown. com and were very pleased. With the transfers, we got a mini historical tour which made the price even more reasonable. I would never go through ships transfers again. I do not much care for waiting and the long hot bus ride. This was nice because as soon as we got to the port, we checked in and our luggage arived about 15 minutes later. On the departure day, we were one of the first off, grabbed luggage and hit the road. Again, no waiting. Gatwick to hotel was 22 pounds roundrip and hotel to Harwich roundtrip was 59 pounds. It would have been cheaper if we had more people. This is price is per person for three people.

 

A couple of other really nice hotels near Heathrow are the Sheraton Skyline and the Marriott. Both are very modern, clean and have transportation to the airport and are convenient to the tubes. Prices at these run about 80 pounds including breakfast. Again upgrade to executive level if possible.

[wolfegizmo]

We also stayed at City Inn Westminster last July as part of a precruise package. We would stay there again. Although a little small, the rooms were great - clean and new. The hotel personnel were also very friendly and helpful. As mentioned before, we thought the location was also really good. We were within walking distance of many attractions. We only took a cab to the theatre district to see a play.

[Sleddogs]

Checking into all of your suggestions. Right now it looks as though the City Inn Westminster has nothing available for the dates we want. Checked their online site and RCI.

 

Still working on all the other possibilities. Thanks again for taking the time to reply.

 

Sleddogs