London B&B/Hotel??

[pointofnoreturn]

I've been looking through the hostels in London and it doesn't really look that great. I'm not into dorms so I would pretty much forget about that.

My aunt mailed me a business card for Hyde Park Rooms which advertises twins/doubles for 45-58 pounds (45 for shared bathroom, 58 for ensuite).

Does anyone have suggestions for a cheap B&B/hotel no more than 60 pounds a room (double or twin) and also is within Zone 1 or 2 in London.

Also, my friend and I were thinking about staying at Appihotel in Paris even though it's kind of in the red-light district but it's about 36 pounds for a shared twin and the reviews are optimistic and it's one of the better rated Paris hostels/hotels. Would you recommend this or do you have a better place?

[WillTravel]

You can see my previous posts about Priceline in London - you could probably match the 45 pounds price and get a standard chain hotel room. However, if you don't like the risk involved, there are other options. For example - the Palmer Lodge hostel has a twin private room with breakfast for 50 pounds, and has good reviews. If you are going at the right time (I can't remember when now), you might be able to get student accommodations:
www.venuemasters.co.uk/shortbreaks.asp

There were some other posts about Mary's Hotel on rue Malte (as compared to a Mary's hotel in another location) in Paris. I think the price is about the same, but the area would be better.

[pointofnoreturn]

Could you explain to me the concept of Priceline? Is it like a standard booking site or something more complicated?

[WillTravel]

The three basic things to keep in mind when you do a Priceline bid (Name Your Own Price) are:
1) You can't choose which hotel. You can say you want a 2* or a 3* or a 4* hotel within a specified zone. You have to research carefully to be ensure that you are okay with that geographical zone. Also, because you can generally get good deals with a 3* or 4* hotel, that's what I choose, because the 2* hotels don't generally have great reviews.
2) The purchase is nonrefundable. So you have to be absolutely sure you get it right before you buy. I have heard of a rare case of a hard-luck refund, but it's definitely not something to count on.
3) The bedding is guaranteed to be for two adults. Theoretically they could give you a double bed and there would be nothing you could do. However, with all the Priceline bids I've done in London, I've always gotten twin rooms on request.

My bid prices have been between $55 and $77 USD (plus taxes and fees) in central London, and about $40 USD near Heathrow airport. But another thing to keep in mind is that there's no way to know if any hotels have put themselves on offer for your dates, or for what price. So sometimes you have to keep trying.
More at www.betterbidding.com .
I just have to reemphasize that you must research carefully and be sure what you are agreeing to before you try to buy.

[pointofnoreturn]

In response to your reply, which area of London would you recommend for Priceline in terms of $$$/per night? I'd much prefer an area with an underground station (walking distance) so I'm leaning towards the Bloomsbury, Bayswater and Kensington area.

We would be checking in late on May 30th and checking out on June 4th so basically about 5 nights...

P.S. Would you really think this site would work for me? I honestly don't want to spend more than $100 CAD per room because as we both know - London is horribly expensive LOL. And what amount should I bid for (pertaining to regions)?

[WillTravel]

My favorite area with Priceline is the Bloomsbury zone, because it would be just about impossible to get poor transit connections there. But sadly, this zone (at the moment, but this can change) seems to be more expensive right now. Note you might get a hotel in the Kings Cross area - I'm fine with that, as it's a lot nicer than it used to be, and it's very well-positioned for general transit and getting to/from airports.

The cheapest zones right now seem to be the Kensington - Earls Court - Knightsbridge
zone and the Notting Hill - Bayswater zones. The possible disadvantage of the Kensington zone is that you might get the Hilton Olympia, which is on good bus lines, but isn't really near a central tube station (I think a 15 minute walk). There's a similar situation for the Hilton Kensington (which confusingly is in the Notting Hill - Bayswater zone). Some hotels in the Kensington zone are super-central and near Gloucester Road station - so it is the luck of the draw with Priceline.

The Westminster zone would work very well, but I think it's more expensive. The Mayfair zone is super-central, but of course the most expensive. The other zones are obviously a little further out - it's highly unlikely any of the hotels would be very far from a bus, and most would be close to a tube. (Except Docklands would be a bad idea generally.)

So in your case, because you have plenty of time, I'd start with Bloomsbury, because I do think that's most central, even if your odds are lower. Try for a 3* bid at $60. I doubt it will work, but you might get a counteroffer to pay more. If you do, post back here, and I'll give my suggestions (there are ways to pay less than the counteroffer).

I'll then give suggestions for Kensington and other zones.

If you had asked in November, with the exchange rate then, I think $100 CAD total per night would have been possible with Priceline. Now that the exchange rate is much worse, I think about $110-115 CAD total with Priceline is more likely.

Also take a look at www.travelodge.co.uk - sometimes they have SuperSaver specials for London. However, I looked for August dates and didn't find any, so I wouldn't hold my breath.

Feel free to ask any more questions - because Priceline is nonrefundable, you do want to be extra sure you are comfortable making the purchase.

[pointofnoreturn]

Thank you so much WT. Yes, I was aware that PL.com was non-refundable. I hate buying things without knowing what I bought tee-hee. I'll have to call up my travel partner and see if she's comfortable with me doing this. After all, she's 1/2 of this trip. If she agrees, I will give you a PM if I need any more help or have any questions.

And you are right about the price exchange. I was ecstatic was the CAD-US exchange was doing so well but lately, it's been dropping. Still, when you compare it to past years, it's still A LOT better now. I'm going to New Smyrna Beach, FL in February for 10 days to stay with my grandparents. So I probably wouldn't exchange too much money - have already got some with me at the moment.

I'll keep your zone suggestions and as well check into the link you gave me.

You don't realize what a help you've been. After all, I'd much rather stay in a comfy hotel at the end of my trip instead of a crowded, noisy stinky dorm!!

[littlehope]

hola.. regarding accommodation in london.. I do really find cheaper prices.. about 50-70 euros ( not pounds) for a double room with breakfats and quite centric B&B...
try to see the windsor house B&B
and the Hanover Hotel3*
...it was actually quite cheap
www.flashbooking.com/showhostel.do?idh=706&hanover_.html
and super centric.... I found it on the link above.. but you can find it in other places I bet...
have a lok and let me know.. other possibilities in Hostels... but they usually have hotel prices when it comes to private rooms...
Interesting priceline.. I'll ;D check it out!! besos

[pointofnoreturn]

Update to London accomodations:

Will likely stay in Hyde Park Rooms for duration of stay or spend 2nd half of London stay at a Travelodge since it has an ensuite whereas it's 58 pounds for a Twin Ensuite at the B&B (48 pounds for shared).

littlehope, thanks for the link. I'll keep that for future consideration. Nothing has been booked yet!

[WillTravel]

PONR, thanks for the update. If the Travelodge is available for that cheap right now and you want it, you should probably book it - because those cheaper rates disappear quickly. However, that too is prepaid.

[pointofnoreturn]

WT, I'm going to wait for a reply from my aunt re: Hyde Park Rooms. If she's not up for coming down to London, we'll be booking the Travelodge for the duration of our stay. It's a risk I'm going to take so hopefully the rates won't disappear.

There's several Travelodge places in London so it should be okay for now but I'm not going to solely depend on that. If they're all booked, looks like it's back to HPR!

[WillTravel]

So will there be three of you in the room? If so, definitely don't use Priceline - that's for two people only. With Travelodge, they often have family rooms, which are a double bed and a sofabed, for the same price as the "regular" rooms - but again, the best prices do sell out quickly.

[pointofnoreturn]

willtravel said:

So will there be three of you in the room? If so, definitely don't use Priceline - that's for two people only. With Travelodge, they often have family rooms, which are a double bed and a sofabed, for the same price as the "regular" rooms - but again, the best prices do sell out quickly.

Hyde Park has family rooms for 20-24 pounds per person, including a big hearty breakfast. It'd be 20 pounds for shared bathroom, 24 pounds for ensuite. Not a bad deal. Close to Paddington station.

I'll probably book my UK accomodations in mid-February or earlier.

And concerning Travelodge, we are definitely going to take up the family room offer if available. We'd be doing that in Bath for sure. As for London, it just really depends if my aunt is coming down or not. If she doesn't come down, we'd have to pick between HPR (45 for twin private shared, 58 for twin private ensuite, both with breakfast) or Travelodge (49 for double/twin ensuite, but no breakfast)