Easter in London - Hotel ?

[georgemac]

We booked some flights to London for Easter Weekend this morning, thinking (perhaps mistakenly) that it would not be too busy as most people seem to go abroad for Easter break now.

Have not booked a hotel yet, when we were before we stayed in the Hilton Kensington with one of their good dinner/stay packages.

Does anyone have any good hotel recommendations, and would we be better trying to book up now, hang on until some good offers become available, or chance waiting until the last minute and booking.

Is it worth booking a room that could be cancelled in the hope we may find a really good deal?

Any help appreciated.

[Hal]

Good question. If you look at www.marriott.com you can get the Marriott County Hall, next to the London Eye, for £139 per night - "best available weekend deluxe room". I doubt that you would beat this by holding out as the rack rates must be much higher. (If you want to push the boat out you can get the Presidential Suite for £599! ;) )

[georgemac]

Hal, last time we visited we got the Hilton Kensington B & B for 2 nights with dinner free the first night for £169, this offer is on at the moment but ends at end of month, don't know if it will be renewed but this was the deal we got last time. In fact when I called Hilton last night looking at dates for Feb I was offerred this deal.

I will have a good look around today, if I could book a travelodge or something which I could cancel with no loss of deposit etc this may be the way to go

As usual DW will have the last say.

[georgemac]

Hilton website say these offers are good until the end of March!

[ann&les]

We usually stay at the London Bridge Hotel and their website shows promotional weekend breaks for that period starting at £99 for a Standard Double going up to £139 for a de-luxe King, with full english brekkie included. Its right next door to London Bridge Station, is just 2 stops from Waterloo and has Borough Market, ideal for foodies, across the road.
Not sure about their cancellation policy though.

Ann.

[georgemac]

Thanks Ann, no family rooms available :( , DS will be with us, even although he hated our last trip he wants to come again this time :confused2 .

[Hal]

Hal, last time we visited we got the Hilton Kensington B & B for 2 nights with dinner free the first night for £169

Gosh that was a good deal. Prices will vary wildly though based upon location.

[Flo]

Try Thistleauctions.co.uk we used them for a cheap weekend away.

[georgemac]

Thanks Flo, I'll have a look at that site. I spent a lot of the day yesterday looking at sites.

My plan was to book the premier travel inn at the London eye - £307 for 4 nights, and cancel if we got a good hotel deal before the trip. There is also the Docklands travelodge at £26 per night for 4 nights - really cheap.
We had a poor experience once in a travelodge in Manchester (no pool for the kids - younger then) so DW says no way to a travel inn or lodge. We will be very lucky to get a hotel with pool in London anyway.

She also says she is not paying a fortune for a hotel and would rather give up the cost of the 3 flights (£180). Ever feel you cannot win?

Good looking site for late hotel room deals www.laterooms.com

[Hal]

With the Travellodge deal you have to pay upfront and are unable to cancel.

www.lastminute.com is good for London hotel rooms too - available out to end-Feb at the moment it appears.

[lesley1960]

We love the St Giles , its just off Oxford street / Tottenham court rd , its very central , great for getting around

[AndyJ]

I like "The Howard", which has great riverside views of the Tower, London Eye and Big Ben.

Its around £150/night for a riverside view. Request a high floor for best views. Ask for the corner rooms if they are available too.

I took this picture out of the window. Not one of my best due to the double glazing =)

http://diary.andyjpartridge.co.uk/images/2004/04/eye_night_big_ben.jpg

[AndyJ]

Having seen your sendond post, and noting you probably want to save money for drink, food and trinkits *wink* you can get great similar views by riding the London Eye at sunset.

Time it carefully and you get a mix of light and dark as you go round =)

(I was terrified. If it wasn't for the need to take pictures I wouldn't have gone on it lol.)

http://diary.andyjpartridge.co.uk/images/2004/04/eye_parliment.jpg

Sorry to anyone who feels I've bombed this thread with pictures =)

[georgemac]

No Andy, the pictures are great. When we were last in London at Easter 2 years ago, we did not go on the London Eye simply because it was a very murky, drizzly overcast day when we were there, and the view would have been spoiled.

I checked out the Howard - best price £291 per night so will be giving this one a miss!

I am going to hang on and see if Hilton offer any better deals in the next couple of month's, as we use them quite a lot. If not I will try and book a last minute deal with laterooms or lastminute

London was quite busy when we were there at Easter before, but we had an excellent deal with Hilton then, so hopefully can get the same again.

I found a good price at the Park hotel at Heathrow, which has full lesuire facilities, would save taking the luggage into London, and just means a longer tube ride each morning - has anyone stayed here and does the aircraft noise make it difficult to sleep?

[georgemac]

the day we were at the London Eye, Tower of London etc

http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/9606/londoneye4ds.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[Diamonddog]

You can often get great deals on family apartments at the Somerset Roland Gardens in South Kensington. It's wonderfully situated (within 500 yards of South Kensington and/or Gloucester Road underground stations, on the Circle & District lines) and within easy walking distance of Hyde Park and the museums in Exhibition Road, plus Harrods. The rooms have a kitchenette, microwave, CD/radio system, satellite TV and a double bed plus a double sofabed. Staff are excellent, parking outside (free at weekends and nights - most unusual for that part of London) and the area id very pleasant. We've stayed there the past two years and both times we got rates of £84 and £104 per night. Highly recommended.

[georgemac]

Diamonddog, that looks excellent, who did you book it through? I have checked a couple of sites, good review (http://www.expedia.co.uk/pub/agent.dll?qscr=dspv&&itid=&itdx=&itty=&from=f)on Expedia, but it says studio exceeds max adults which I do not understand, quoting just now £111 per night.

[Diamonddog]

I can't remember which site I got those deals with - I don't seem to have the recipt from our last stay either, I'm afraid. i know it was one of the London hotel sites, but can't recall which. I think they do specials quite regularly though. Just type "Somerset Roland Gardens" into Google and you'll probably find something there.

[georgemac]

I will keep that place in mind, I'm not rushing into anything yet. Reviews on trip advisor (http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g186338-d192141-r3527624-Somerset_Roland_Gardens-London_England.html)were more mixed, but nothing unusual there

[AndyJ]

My day was a mixture of grey and blue =)

I see that via Expedia.co.uk you can get the Howard for £115 through March. I'm not sure when Easter is.

A couple of other London tips I have: There is a great sight-seeing bus tour that runs round, it's around £40 but you can stay on as long as you want and see many cool sights around London.

During clement weather, you can sit in the open top area of the bus and get good photo's whilst the bus stops at the many traffic lights.

The picture below was taken with a different tactic. Myself and a friend drove round London on a bank holiday using Sat Nav as our guide, and we jumped out of the car whilst the other drove round and come back to pick the other up once pictures had been taken.

http://diary.andyjpartridge.co.uk/images/2005/06/london_eye_ben.jpg

[georgemac]

I have been waiting for the Hilton spring break offers to appear on the internet and teletext - today I decided I would phone up the teletext Hilton number and see when the April offers start.

I got a pleasant surprise - they offered me the same offer now, so we have 4 nights at the 4* London Olympia, in a double room with an extra bed, full breakfast each morning, and dinner on 2 nights for £358 - we have to pay for our son's meals. Great deal from Hilton once more.

It is of course paid in full up front and non refundable but a really good deal. I tried to book online but it showed no availability but as almost is the case every time I book they have availability by phone. 0845 7888888

I am with Hilton Honors, so you are supposed to get a free upgrade if there is one available but that would just be too good to be true

Does anyone know how much Hilton charge for wi-fi internet access - you used to buy a card for about £5 per hour for PC access but not sure how much for connecting with our own laptop?