Hey Londoners, Advise Please!
So I'm traveling to London this summer for about 3 weeks, and I'm looking for a reasonable place for my wife and I to stay. Preferably, I'd like to split the difference between Euston Station and King's Cross (I suppose this means somewhere around Great Russell Square, but I may be wrong about this).
Here's the deal:
I can easily stay in the dorms at King's College down on Stamford Road (in Southwark between The Cut and the Imax theater *very* near Waterloo Station) for about £30 a night. The problem is that a) we have to have two rooms because the dorms are so small (you damned Europeans and your small living quarters!) and b) the dorms are unbelievably hot. So that's £60 a night for an uncomfortable room with a good local pub and really, really good proximity to most of the things I need (e.g. Waterloo station).
I'll be spending most of my time either at Guildhall (the St. James stop, I believe) or the British Library (either Euston or King's Cross, depending upon where I'm coming from), but we'll need to take a couple of short (2-day) trips to Oxford and Cambridge, so proximity to a serious train station would be a boon. But for the most part, I'll only need Zone 1.
We can manage around £100 a night. Air conditioning would be nice, but I realize it's London, so I'm not keeping my fingers crossed?and I'm praying there won't be another damnable heat wave. I also know that £100/night in Grt. Russell Square is likely impossible.
So. Any ideas? Anyone want to meet for a pint?
Cheers
Scott
Here's the deal:
I can easily stay in the dorms at King's College down on Stamford Road (in Southwark between The Cut and the Imax theater *very* near Waterloo Station) for about £30 a night. The problem is that a) we have to have two rooms because the dorms are so small (you damned Europeans and your small living quarters!) and b) the dorms are unbelievably hot. So that's £60 a night for an uncomfortable room with a good local pub and really, really good proximity to most of the things I need (e.g. Waterloo station).
I'll be spending most of my time either at Guildhall (the St. James stop, I believe) or the British Library (either Euston or King's Cross, depending upon where I'm coming from), but we'll need to take a couple of short (2-day) trips to Oxford and Cambridge, so proximity to a serious train station would be a boon. But for the most part, I'll only need Zone 1.
We can manage around £100 a night. Air conditioning would be nice, but I realize it's London, so I'm not keeping my fingers crossed?and I'm praying there won't be another damnable heat wave. I also know that £100/night in Grt. Russell Square is likely impossible.
So. Any ideas? Anyone want to meet for a pint?
Cheers
Scott
Comments
There's a Hilday Inn in Coram Street, right near to Russle Square tube station. It's very convenient for Euston / Kings Cross, and some of the museums. I doubt it will be very cheap though, probably towards the £100 / night, but it could be worth checking them out.
King's College dorms on Stamford Street, eh? I'm quite familiar with that area, as I used to work in the building that is now the James Clerk Maxwell Building, before it became part of King's College
As for meeting up for a pint, I might be up for that
Hope that helps, but if there's anything else I can help with, let me know and I'll see what I can do
Originally posted by Dave Abrey
Scott,
There's a Hilday Inn in Coram Street, right near to Russle Square tube station. It's very convenient for Euston / Kings Cross, and some of the museums. I doubt it will be very cheap though, probably towards the £100 / night, but it could be worth checking them out.
King's College dorms on Stamford Street, eh? I'm quite familiar with that area, as I used to work in the building that is now the James Clerk Maxwell Building, before it became part of King's College
As for meeting up for a pint, I might be up for that
Hope that helps, but if there's anything else I can help with, let me know and I'll see what I can do
Dave: It looks like that HI is about £120 a night for a double, which is a little pricey. I do like the location, though, so maybe the wife and I can scrounge up an extra £10 each a night...
And I know *exactly* where the JCMB. Never knew what it was, but I know where it is. The dorms I can stay at are the Stamford Street Apts.
Originally posted by Zarathustra
Do you need room service? Had you considered a short term let? Gotta be less than £120 per night to rent an apartment for three weeks.
You know, I hadn't even thought about that.
Ran a few quick rate checks on random summer dates to see price ranges. If you plan to stay for 3 weeks, you could try haggling for a better deal
Scruffy...
Travel Inn (I think) at Euston station - on the road up the side of the station - did have a big sign outside saying £50 a night. Looks a bit dingy though, and the back of Euston is not pretty. Good curry houses on Drummond St though (try Zamzama's lamb or chicken in a clay pot).
Travel Lodge at Kings Cross. Double room £65. Nice, clean looking hotel (friend stayed there at the weekend), but the area it's in is particularly rundown and filth. As is true of King's Cross in general.
Euston Square Hotel at Euston Square. Small rooms - even smaller then they look in the pics - but recently refurbished. £60 a night
Nice...
Grafton Hotel at the top of Tottenham Court Road. Plush. Double room £104 a night.
http://www.radisson.com/londonuk_grafton
Grange Fitzrovia - appears to be £105 a night for double ensuite
http://www.grangehotels.com/fitzrovia/fitzrovia.htm
Grange Langham Court - £95 for double ensuite. Probably a nicer area than the Fitzrovia one
http://www.grangehotels.com/langhamcourt/langham.htm
Ridiculous
Sanderson Hotel - starts at £270 a night (which is actually less than I expected). But worth going to for a cocktail to see the decor and for lush, but expensive dinner in their Spoon restaurant.
http://www.sandersonhotel.com
Various others here . Of unknown quality, but some interesting prices
So how well do you know London? If not well, I'm sure we can point you to some interesting beer/food/entertainment locations.
Hang loose
BNFB
So how well do you know London? If not well, I'm sure we can point you to some interesting beer/food/entertainment locations.
Fairly well, or at least well enough that when American tourists ask me for directions I have never failed to know the answer. This will be my third trip. The first was 5 weeks (just down from Sloane Square in between Fulham and the King's Road). The second was 4 (in Southwark down from Waterloo Station). This will be 3 (location TBA but I'll spend most of my time around Euston at the British Library). The problem is that I really don't know much about anything *but* London, although I've traveled around a bit. The bulk of my time is in the city.
On a related note, I was also able to refrain from killing an American tourist who, standing behind me across the street from Parliament right at the end of the bridge, pointed to the clocktower/Big Ben and said to his wife "Well look there, honey! It's the tower of London! I had no idea it was so close to Parliament!"
Thanks for the info. I'll look into it.
Cheers
Scott