London Hotels - Family of 4

[MPS516]

Any recommendations for hotels pre cruise. DCL using Hyatt which has no rooms large enough for 4, two rooms are $2,850. Found a few about 1/2 that price in different areas. Is one part of town better than others?

 

[dcassetta]

How long are you planning to stay in London and what are you planning to do while there? That would help in advising you where to stay.

 

[KayR]

If you just want a room to sleep in, take a look at Premier Inn. They are a nationwide chain and you will have to book online at their site, but the rooms are clean and the beds are comfy and the price is right. We have had family rooms with them that had plenty of space, but the one we had in London was tight - however it is worth checking out (and you can always look at getting connecting rooms if you wanted).

If you want more space, take a look at Marlin Apartments - we had one on a trip in 2010 - it was close to a tube station, close to a grocery store and great for a family trip.

HTH

 

[GeneMachine]

This may not be ideal for you, but we have stayed at Charing Cross (now an amba hotel) and loved the location. Central to just about everything you would want to see and right above a Tube station. They don't have one bedrooms, but you could get two rooms around 240$ pounds per room (at the current exchange, that's about 360 US$ per room, or 720$. Amba Charing Cross

Of course, that is nuts, but everything about London prices is nuts.

If you just want to sleep before boarding the cruise, I second the Premier Inn recommendation. It's about 150$ pounds, and bills itself as Family Friendly. Not luxury at all, but does the job. Some of the premiers around London are very well located, like Kings Cross, St Pancras, just to name two.

Have fun!

 

[small6no0]

I agree, we spent a week in London before our Med cruise in a Premiere Inn. It's nothing fancy but very clean, reasonable, and does have rooms for 4. We stayed at the Waterloo/Westminster Bridge location which had just opened. The room was tiny by US standards but the location was unbeatable for touring and we could see Big Ben from our window...kind of amazing for the price! The size was not an issue for us since we literally just slept there.

Happy cruising!

 

[bumbershoot]

We stayed at the DoubleTree by Hilton-Westminster (on John Islip Street) for a night. Our rate included a very decent breakfast in their large dining room. Big, modern hotel with nice rooms.

It's so hard to book when you have no idea where things are or what things are like! But it turns out that London all seems very small when you're right there, and everything is all connected by the Underground. I agonized over the hotel decision (and it was just one night!) and it was totally fine.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Avoid any hotel on the route of the Crossrail construction due to noise and building work these include Paddington Bond Street Tottenham Court Road Farringdon. Also avoid London Bridge re other construction . Good places are Kensington Tower Hill. Holborn .

 

[lolainkent]

Another one for the Premier Inn. I've stayed at the Gatwick location a couple times and out in Cardiff, plus friends and family have stayed in them across the country - rarely hear anything negative. If anything, I've found the service better than some "nicer" hotels. I'm not sure if they do it anymore but the Novotel used to offer a deal where if you had 2 kids over age 8 you could book a second room for 50% off...that might be worth looking into?

If you're near a tube station in zone 1 then you'll be close to something most of the time. I'm trying to think of any areas I would steer clear of in zone 1 and I'm not coming up with anywhere at the moment!

 

[Scillycruisers]

We live in the UK and use Premier Inn whenever we are looking for a "hotel" type room. They are clean, safe and reasonably priced. I don't know how far in advance you are booking but they often have some good deals on prepaid rooms - even in the London ones at times. They also have somewhere to eat on site. You can easily book on line.

 

[LisDH]

We stayed last summer at the Park Plaza County Hall and it was perfect for a family of 4. There are two rooms - one with a bed and one with a large pullout sofa that they pull out and make for you permanently if you are a family. Good size and great location for a London hotel - steps from the London Eye and across the bridge from Big Ben.

 

[bibbidibobbidibecky]

Any recommendations for hotels pre cruise. DCL using Hyatt which has no rooms large enough for 4, two rooms are $2,850. Found a few about 1/2 that price in different areas. Is one part of town better than others?

We stayed at the Holiday Inn London-Kings Cross Bloomsbury and it was very nice and close to the train station if that helps! We are a family of five and were given a HUGE room to fit us. Plus it has a nice pool if that interests you.

We used the bus, which stops right at the hotel, but we also walked to The Eye from there. It looks far on a map, but it was a very pleasant walk.

 

[holula]

How long are you planning to stay in London and what are you planning to do while there? That would help in advising you where to stay.

Exactly this.

I used to live in London. I have never felt unsafe there. Anywhere in Central London is fairly safe. The sketchier parts of the city are outside of the Circle line on a Tube map. The Kensington, Chelsea and Gloucester Road areas are very nice if you were looking for somewhere a little outside of the main attractions but still close.

 

[Stressedmom2]

I agree, we spent a week in London before our Med cruise in a Premiere Inn. It's nothing fancy but very clean, reasonable, and does have rooms for 4. We stayed at the Waterloo/Westminster Bridge location which had just opened. The room was tiny by US standards but the location was unbeatable for touring and we could see Big Ben from our window...kind of amazing for the price! The size was not an issue for us since we literally just slept there.

Happy cruising!

I second this - if staying in premier inn Westminster - ask for room with a view 13th floor - we (family of 4) stayed there start of this month and had fab views of Big Ben & London eye - unfortunately can't upload pics here

 

[princesspwrhr]

We stayed at the Holiday Inn London-Kings Cross Bloomsbury and it was very nice and close to the train station if that helps! We are a family of five and were given a HUGE room to fit us. Plus it has a nice pool if that interests you.

We used the bus, which stops right at the hotel, but we also walked to The Eye from there. It looks far on a map, but it was a very pleasant walk.

This gives me some hope- there will be 5 of us when we travel to Europe next year and I have been getting so depressed trying to find "room at the inn". We five are fine for a week in a single DCL cabin, so we're fine in smaller rooms, but I would really like to not have to pay for two rooms.

 

[bibbidibobbidibecky]

This gives me some hope- there will be 5 of us when we travel to Europe next year and I have been getting so depressed trying to find "room at the inn". We five are fine for a week in a single DCL cabin, so we're fine in smaller rooms, but I would really like to not have to pay for two rooms.

We like to use VRBO and rent an apartment while in Europe because of the space, the ability to make our own food and it saves us money in the end since we would usually need two rooms. We are members of the IHG rewards program and were able to stay at the aforementioned Holiday Inn for free for two nights and they upgraded us to the corner room suite since we are members. It was a fantastic deal. Even if we had not gotten it free, I still feel it's a great price for the location and how nice the hotel is. If you are going to be in any one city for more than two nights, I do suggest, as a family of five, to look into vrbo.com though!

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

I also would advise book now, I live in London and work all around London, as a tourist destination it's No 1 in the world and busy with visitors 24/7 all year. Prices can only go up now. I would remind everyone as prior post do not book near Crossrail construction sites and London Bridge and Victoria re on going heavy construction.

 

[MPS516]

Those using Premier, are there locations that allow 4 in a room where the kids are over 6yo ?

We are thinking that if we are near a subway station we will be able to get to a majority of the sights on our 2 day stay pre cruise.

Then not to sound stereotypical, but we really want to find something close to the best fish and chips in the city.

 

[holula]

There is an amazing fish and chip shop in Chiswick. I still dream of their chips! Chiswick is a bit out of the way though.

 

[KayR]

Those using Premier, are there locations that allow 4 in a room where the kids are over 6yo ?

We are thinking that if we are near a subway station we will be able to get to a majority of the sights on our 2 day stay pre cruise.

Then not to sound stereotypical, but we really want to find something close to the best fish and chips in the city.

We stayed Jan 2014 and our kids were 9 and 13 at the time. No problem with age.

If you want to see the main sights, I would suggest one of the hop on hop off sightseeing buses - they take you round the city and provide a recorded audio commentary. You can hop off at any stop and hop back on again later. They are great for getting the lay of the land and seeing (from the outside) lots of places. They also have a special kids audio tour (so they don't have to listen to the boring adult version!). We have used them all over England and Italy too.

If your kids are into Harry Potter and you have time - I highly recommend the Warner Bros Studio Tour - located in the stages where HP was recorded. Tons of props, sets, memorabilia. Best thing we did on our last trip back to the UK.

Maybe someone local can recommend a good chippy. You could try somewhere on this list - http://youngandfoodish.com/london/top-10-fish-and-chips-in-london/

 

[mytripsandraces]

I try to stay at the Celtic in Bloomsbury whenever I can. It's right behind Russell Square Tube Station, walking distance to Covent Garden and Leicester Square and lots of other nice neighborhoods, too. It's not very expensive and they do have rooms that fit 4 people. Have a great time!