London hotel advice requested

[disneyholic family]

I wonder if it's ok to post a question about london rather than WDW....

i have to be in Reading and London in October (the high-tech company i work for has offices there)

I've been told that the hotels in Reading are pretty awful, so i guess i'll go for London....
does anyone know of a really nice hotel in London that won't cost a king's ransom?
I'm sort of spoiled when it comes to hotel accomodations, so i'd really like something very nice.....but i'd prefer something with less than stratospheric prices, if at all possible..

does anyone know of anything that might match this?..

 

[Frances999]

Hi Beth!

I haven't been over on the GF thread for ages (I should go and post an update!) - how was your last trip? Did the GF IPO get in contact in the end?

For a trip to London a good place to look for accommodation is www.superbreaks.com - they have a really good deal at the moment for Marriot West India Quay (at Canary Wharf) which is five star and the rate is just £49.50/night. The rooms are huge and you are just 15 minutes from West End. I know you are overseas but I *think* they will still accept the reservation.

We usually stay at a Hilton (you can always trust a 'chain'!) - if you have some HHonours points take a look at the Hilton website - they often do some good deals and there are a selection to choose from all over London. The Park Lane branch is my particular favourite! Another good place is Holiday Inn Kensington (there are two - the one at 100 Cromwell Rd is much smaller and nicer IMO).

Also check www.hotelsengland.com - this is a good site as they have a whole selection of currency rates that can be displayed.

EDIT to add: Be aware though, as unlike in the USA, most hotels/companies over here will charge a "per person, per night" fee rather than per room per night. there might be a single person supplement.

 

[TraceyL]

Just returned from London myself - stayed at Jurys Islington. They charge per room not per person and if you can get a promotional rate are pretty reasonably priced for a centrally located hotel (not far from Kings Cross). Don't know if you're going on your own but I felt safe walking around there after dark on my own. They have several London Hotels at various prices

 

[peter r]

I wouldn't totally 'write off' all of Reading's hotels as awful as there is this newish 4 star hotel based very close to all of the main high tech companies, Oracle, Microsoft etc etc on the Valley Park

Madejski Hotel

May be worth a look, mind you, I think I'd stay in London for the night life.

Peter

 

[disneyholic family]

wow!!
thanks for the responses!!!

Peter -- a colleague of mine did mention the Madjeski to me....but if i only need to be in Reading for one day, i think i'd rather suffer the commute on that one day....but i'm going to check their website....

TraceyL - thanks - i'll check into that hotel...

Frances999 - Hi!...how ARE you?...if i remember correctly, you're going to the GF (to a 2 BR suite) around december....but maybe i'm not remembering the date right..
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edit --i just noticed your signature -- so yes, i did remember correctly - and i'm embarrassed that i didn't notice your signature before...and i see you've stayed at the GF before, so all my info about the elevator etc, probably is old news for you....anyway...suffice to say, we loved the RPC....and GF is still my favorite)...
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first of all, thanks for those recommendations....i'll look into them....
as for the GF....FANTASTIC!!!!!.....i ended up calling them and making some arrangements with them by phone...
however, one thing they did that was wonderful for us...
part of our stay was part of the Land/Sea cruise package....(we stayed in the walt disney suite on the Disney Wonder...another big wow deserved)..
but getting back to the GF......as part of the cruise package, we were staying at the GF RPC concierge on thursday, friday and saturday....so i made a seperate reservation for wednesday night at the RPC as well...
so then i called the GF IPO and told them that we were arriving on wednesday and also had the seperate cruise reservation..
i asked if they could please try to keep us in the same room..
well they did....which was great....because even though we had to check in a second time, we didn't have to change rooms....
as for our stay....i LOVE the GF....LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE....so....did you get the impression i like the GF????
our stay was fantastic....everyone in the GF was as nice as can be....including the CMs in the RPC....i don't know why people complain about it....they do act very "proper"....and maybe that puts people off......but they're very very very nice....
and everyone at the GF was nice....every time we walked through the front door of the hotel, someone immediately asked if they could help us...
one time i had just dropped the car with the valet and was walking into the hotel...there was a group of about 4 clearly senior people ('suits')....they looked as if they had just come from a meeting and were just covering a few extra things before they each went their own way....as i walked up, one of them turned to me and asked if i was checking in and if he could be of assistance..
i said, no thank you...just coming back to the hotel for lunch...
so he asked how our stay is...if everything is ok...if there's anything he can do for us....so i said everything is wonderful and he gave a very happy thumbs up back....
every CM at the GF was like that...
it was without a doubt, our best stay at WDW ever...and that's saying a lot, since we always have great stays at all the resorts..

by the way, there is a back elevator to get down to the pool so that you don't have to go through the lobby...it's just for concierge guests, so you need the key when you're coming back in (that elevator only works with the key)..
the elevator is right next to the Gasparillo fast food court....the CMs there were also really nice....we bought food there a few times....(yummy baked potatos and frozen yogurt)...
actually, the gasparillo food court is another reason i prefer the GF to the Yacht club (which doesn't have anything like it)....

so that was a kind of rambling jumble...

thanks again everyone!!

 

[Sian]

I recently stayed at the Holiday Inn Kensington Forum (the bigger of the two mentioned above) and it was very nice and very reasonable. I just Googled the hotel and picked the best price (I think it was an American company as the rate was in dollars)

 

[disneyholic family]

thanks...i'll check on the holiday inn...
there are two other hotels in kensington i've been told are nice...
the kensington hilton and the....the...i can't recall the name...it was a weird name....just one letter i think....the....hmmm....

 

[Frances999]

Wow Beth!! It sounds like you had an amazing time! Thanks for the elevator tip. It really sounds magical. I have a few more questions that I will PM to you later!

Back to London hotels - Beth, I would not recommend the Hilton Kensington. In my opinion it is way too far out. The Holiday Inn's are much closer to the centre of London (and are actually in Kensington) but the Hilton is right out on the outskirts of Kensington. There is no tube station particularly near (I don't think anyway) and taxi's will cost more because of the longer journey. Also, the rooms are much smaller than other Hilton's and Holiday Inn's.

 

[Halo]

I would go for the Travel Inn at County Hall http://www.travelinn.co.uk/TI/index.jsp?page=inn&id=128 its the best for value and in the best location in London - on the banks of the Thames, next to The London Eye.

You can commute to Reading by train from Waterloo station which is 5-mins walk from the hotel.

 

[disneyholic family]

Frances999 - yes we did have a wonderful time..
thanks for the warning about the kensington hilton....i really am terribly spoiled when it comes to hotels (funny, since i tend to be overly thrifty about everything else)....it's one of my weird idiosyncracies....i just have to stay in a really nice hotel (on the concierge floor)........

Halo - thanks....i guess i'm going to have to study the train service....at least everyone speaks english so i'll be able to ask for help if i need it.....of course i could take a taxi and expense it.....but it probably takes a lot longer besides being more expensive...

the one thing that makes me nervous when i'm in a city i don't know, is accidentally going into an area that's not particularly safe...

 

[Halo]

I understand what you mean however whilst I would hesitate to recommend any area as "safe" the location of the Travel Inn is the equivalent of staying near say the Capitol in Washington DC. It is diagonally opposite the Houses of Parliament and 5 minutes walk from Downing Street, the home of the Prime Minister and the centre (US = center ) of UK government.

There is a Marriott in the same building (6x more expensive) but its website will give you some photos and more location details.

http://marriott.com/property/propertyPage.mi?marshaCode=LONCH

The write-ups on the two hotel sites (Travel Inn & Marriott) say:-
Once home to London's government, the historic County Hall now serves the River Thames' fashionable South Bank as a grand hotel. Here amid galleries, concert halls and theatres, the London Marriott Hotel County Hall provides the perfect way to experience London from the heart.

Located opposite Big Ben and Houses of Parliament
Walk to fashionable South Bank shopping, galleries and theatre
Historic setting for high-impact meetings

Situated in the magificent County Hall building, next to the London Eye, opposite the Houses of Parliament.

The link below is a map of the area. You can click on the map to see the surrounding areas. The much better ones are to the left.

http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.s...se1+7pb&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf

A journey to Reading by rail should take just under an hour (including tube to Paddington if you go from there instead). By taxi from say, Kensington, it would be closer to two and approx. 10x the cost. The average speed of traffic in London in 1900 was 9mph (when it was horsedrawn): the average speed in 2000 was, yep you guessed it, 9mph - due to congestion.

Whatever you decide, have a great trip

Have fun

 

[disneyholic family]

Halo -- thanks for all that info....that sounds like a really interesting area to stay...
and i love that traffic speed report....i guess the train is the only way to go...should be interesting....

 

[chunkster20uk]

I work for one of the largest high tech companies in Reading, which one do you work for? I could help with what buses go to which sites etc.

 

[littlegreydonkey]

Hi there - just to stick in my two penneth. I'd recommend lastminute.com. I managed to get the 5* Westbury Hotel in Mayfair for £125 a night last year (it was more expensive this year) and that's a lovely hotel in a very safe area. This year (due to the Westbury price being a bit too high when I booked) I stayed at Jurys Clifton Ford Hotel which is in Welbeck Street, 5 minutes walk from Oxford Street. Again an incredibly safe area and it has a full gym and a swimming pool - they were doing a deal when I booked of £99 a night with full breakfast - I don't have the website address but it's easily searched. They weren't the absolute poshest hotel I've ever stayed in (Im not quite up to concierge but give me a nice 4* and I'm happy!) but it was clean, the room was big - and they gave me free biscuits every night! And having the pool and gym was great. Last minute also do 'secret hotels' for very cheap prices - and with a little searching on the internet for key phrases in the advert you can work out which ones they are. Re the Travel Inn - I used to work in that area and while it's not South Central, I wouldn't be as happy walking south of there at night as I would around the W1 area.

 

[disneyholic family]

littlegreydonkey (love that name)....thanks for the information!! i'll check it out...