Peter

Planning a 10 day trip to London next Oct. Looking for hotel suggestions.<BR>Criteria:<BR>Quiet, well kept<BR>Large room/suite<BR>Private bath/WC<BR>Full English breakfast<BR>Close to Tube<BR>and now, the hard part:<BR>150GBP/night or less (inc. VAT.)<BR>First time trip. Middle aged couple.

curt

Peter<BR>I can suggest one that meets most of your criteria. The Morgan Hotel in Bloomsbury, on Bloomsbury Street. The only thing that it might be a bit short on from your list is the large room, although they do offer some full flats as well in addition to regular rooms. The rooms are quite nice, but can be a bit small. They vary a lot so if you requested a larger room when you book maybe that will help. Full breakfast here is a treat. The access to tube is close. Very clean. Very secure. Family owned and operated. Well under 150GBP for regular room, flats might approach that rate. Check them out. Unless they have started one quite recently no web site but this hotel is mentioned in many books and on this board a lot. It is very popular so you have to book WAY in advance. Months ahead will not hurt.<BR><BR>You may contact them via:<BR><BR>Morgan Hotel <BR>24 Bloomsbury Street, 5/,<BR>Bloomsbury, London,<BR>England, WC1B 3QJ <BR><BR>Tel: (uk+44) 01775 841184<BR>Fax: (uk+44) 01775 840623<BR>E-Mail: [email protected]

Laurie

Try the Lime Tree Hotel (www.limetreehotel.co.uk/) It's a b&amp;b in Belgravia. We stayed there several years ago because it happened to be near where some friends of ours lived. It's not fancy but clean &amp; well run. There was a wine bar right next door that was great for lunch or dinner. It's an elegant part of town (better &amp; more centrally located in my opinion than the Bloomsbury.) Not sure what the prices are like now. Good luck!

belinda

Try the London Elizabeth Hotel. www.londonelizabethhotel.com It's about half a block from the Lancaster Gate tube station. Stayed there in May and loved it. Has a wonderful little pub. Room service. Restaurant. Nice staff. Have a great trip.

Rachel

Message: Recently returned from London where we stayed at the K-West Hotel in Shepherd's Bush. Very convenient to Shepherd's Bush tube station. Hotel was very nice and a real steal at $99/night through hoteldisounts.com. Wonderful amenities - Large air-conditioned room with king-sized bed, couch with coffee table, desk, small bar area with minibar refrigerator and an assortment of glasses (wine, champagne, high-ball, etc). One of the most comfortable beds/pillows I have ever had in a hotel room anywhere. The bathrooms are very large and lovely with full-tub and shower complete with glass door (and wash cloths!). The area is a bit off-the-beaten track, but with the tube so accessible it was really only inconvenient a couple of times when we wanted to drop things off in the room. Wouldn't hesitate to stay there again, however this would not be a good hotel for first time visitors who rely on information and help from the front desk. The staff was very young, and though gracious, frequently unable to answer questions that other 4-star hotel front desks answer routinely. But if you are self-sufficient and don't use the front desk as an information portal, you will be fine. The surrounding area is a bit run-down, but seemed very safe. There is a fabulous winebar down a few blocks called Albertine's-great atmosphere, lovely wines, helpful staff, terrific owner. Across the street from the winebar is a small French bistro (Balzac restaurant) which was fabulous and offered a very reasonable fixed price dinner at L12 for 2 courses and and terrific house wine. Highly recommend! <BR><BR><BR><BR>

Jamila

I strongly recommend the Hilton London Metropole. It's across the street from the Edgware Road tube station AND a 7 minute walk from Paddington Station. <BR><BR>The Club level rooms are very spacious and have great bathrooms. I was originally book for a standard room, which was ok, but smaller than what we're use to in the US. I told the front desk, and they immediately upgraded me with no questions or change in room rate. <BR><BR>The customer service at this hotel is the best I've ever experienced in my life. The workout room is free to use and the full breakfast is awesome!<BR><BR>Check www.hilton.com and look up special deals on the London Hilton Metropole hotel page.<BR>

Peter

I'm getting good ideas. Thanks

Mike

The only place I've stayed was the Marriott County Hall. It doesn't meet your requirements of full breakfast and probably the cost. But it was a great view, very nice room, and the walk across the river to the tube was a great way to start/end the day. You might consider getting a Marriott Rewards Visa and also looking at their current promotion that allows you to earn two free weekend nights. That might help bring your average cost to the number you need to hit.

sonia

Just back from London. We booked through londontown.com, got a great rate at the Millennium Baileys in Gloucester Road (our second stay there). Can't beat the location for convenience -- very close to Gloucester Rd tube, so a direct run to Paddington for H'row Express, or Piccadilly line to Heathrow. It's a real neighborhood with shops, cafes, a wonderful Waitrose supermarket. We decided the hotel buffet breakfast (not included in our rate) was too expensive, so on recommendation from concierge went to the corner Italian cafe across the street, had a great English breakfast there, very reasonable. Hotel staff helpful, too. We'll be staying there again. <BR><BR>If a larger room/suite/apt is essential, check out Dolphin Square in Pimlico for studios and apartments -- we loved that too, when we had the whole family with us and needed more room.

starspinners

Hello Peter,<BR>I am in your general age range.<BR>I, as is Curt, am a Morgan Hotel groupie . *S*<BR>In fact I am staying there at the moment , have been there since Oct 9 and will return to the US tomorrow morning. <BR>I believe it meets your criteria quite nicely.<BR>I come to London almost every October to go to the theater and since my husband and I 'discovered' the Morgan about 6 years ago, it is my preferred home-away-from-home. I feel very safe in this area.( The October trips are solo for me, but my husband and also I stay at The Morgan when we are traveling together.)<BR>Previously I stayed in other sections of town but have decided that Bloomsbury is the most comfortable for me. I am near 3 Tube stations, or if the weather is nice, I can walk to many of the West End theaters. There are many places to eat nearby, plus a grocer and several small markets,&amp; a couple of drugstores.<BR>All the Oxford &amp; Regent Street shopping is within walking distance ( or is one or two Tube stops away). <BR>Depending on which Tube Station I start out from I can directly access the Central, Northern, or Picadilly line..and can easily make a transfer to any other line when I go exploring other sections of town or want to go to a mainline rail station to explore outside of London.<BR>Covent Garden and Soho are walkable from Bloomsbury.. restaurants, cafes, French pastery and coffee shops abound there. *S*<BR>And if you like to listen to live jazz in the evenings, you will find several venues in Soho that you can easily walk to.<BR>There is a an internet cafe ( where I am now sitting )on Tottenham Court Road, about a 3 minute walk from the hotel... very handy for keeping in touch with home.<BR>As for the Morgan Hotel..well, I always book one of the flats . I have 3 rooms plus bathrooms in my flat ( a sitting room, a nice sized bedroom that overlooks the rear garden, a kitchen , a large bathtub and sink in one room and a smallish shower, sink and toilet in another room. ) The current rate for my flat is &pound;120 per night and that includes the VAT and a full English breakfast that is served in a cozy breakfast room in the main building of the hotel.<BR> All the Morgan's rooms and flats are currently being redecorated ,the top floor of the main building is just about finished and all the work should be completed by March.<BR>The Morgan has many return visitors, we appreciate the very friendly and helpful Ward family who own and operate the hotel. They take pride in their hotel and they value their guests.<BR>Hope this information is useful for you when you are making your plans.. I think you are going to love London!

ajs

Peter, the following meets all your requirements:<BR><BR>We stayed at the Chelsea Green for five nights over two weekends. This place should be sold out every night, for the value alone. It is in a quiet neighborhood of Chelsea (really So Ken), less than five minutes walk from the So Ken tube. There are outstanding restaurants everywhere within a 10-15 minute walk. It is a 4****, with A/C and lift. We had a suite reserved for 150 GBP per night(which would have been a good deal), but then found the same room on laterooms.com for 110, a week before we left. They honored the rate! It is practically new inside, a beautiful conservatory for breakfast, free paper in the morning, and the suite was very nice sized for two. We arrived on my wife's birthday, and at my request, they had balloons strung up and flowers on the bed. Value like this in London is nearly impossible to find. Can't recommend it enough. <BR><BR>

elaine

I stopped being lazy and found many sources of info on the Chelsea Green, which seems to have become part of the Golden Tulip chain<BR>www.chelseagreenhotel.com/<BR>www.londonby.com/cgreen/pages/reach.htm<BR>also at<BR>www.londonhotels-discount.com/<BR>www.book-a-hotel-in-the-uk.com/<BR>

gkitash

I stayed at Russell Hotel across from Russell Square whilst renovations were being done last year (only minor inconveniences, but got an excellent rate 79 GBP w/ full breakfast). Room was rather small by American standards, but though breakfast was excellent and Russell tube stop, small grocery store and post office are within 100 yards of hotel. Nice area, had no problems walking towards Thames on Southampton Row to pub/restaurants for evening meal.<BR>I understand rates are higher now that renovations have been completed. I made reservations through a London travel agency.

kate

I recently stayed at the Holiday Inn on Welbeck St in London. It's just north of Oxford St (one of the main shopping areas) and very close to the Bond Street and Oxford Circus tubes in a very central, quiet (for central London), safe neighbourhood. If you can get a non-smoking room on the 5th floor (recently renovated), you'll be quite pleased. The unrenovated floors aren't quite so nice but are still pleasant enough. Some of the rooms are very large, the others medium-sized. I got a rate of about 95-100 pounds a night, and would definitely go back. The hotel doesn't have a lot of character (as compared with some of others listed here) but it's location is very hard to beat.

jm

topping for today's query about The Morgan hotel in Bloomsbury...here is some good info

ttt

topping once more for question about the Morgan Hotel

ttt

topping for today's question about the Morgan Hotel