The missus and I are considering spending a few days in London with the family, 5 of us in total, to see the sights. Can anyone suggest suitable accomodation? Decent standard but good value preferably.
It all depends on budget really, and how you are planning to get around - Are you planning to drive over with your car or fly in and then use public transport? If you are coming over during the holiday season then if your family of 5 consists of 2 Adults and 3 kids sharing then it is often difficult to get a single room without them trying to flog you a suite. Also beware the well known "chain" hotels in the centre of town because they often will offer poky sized rooms for the money. If you are planning on relying on public transport then my advice would be to look at hotels in the outer suburbs and check out the ratings on TripAdvisor etc as the public transport in the London area will mean that you are only 30-40mins from the centre of town no matter where you stay and you will probably get better value than trying to book a hotel in and around the West End.
Problem is they can sometimes be strict on the 2 adults and 2 kids in a family room and we often struggle to get one which will allow a third child without them insisting on a 2nd room>
Trip advisor is a good bet. You can search by numbers in your party or type of accommodation including speciality lodgings and apartments even for a few days. That might work out cheaper and breakfast in local cafes (avoid the chains) is invariably going to be more reasonable than the overpriced mass-produced junk they serve up in the hotels.
Yes, we would be flying in, probably Stansted, and using the tube to get around. Looking for somewhere reasonably priced. A room to accomodate 5 is proving a challenge to find.
I thought it was only me that was finding that its a nightmare having 3 kids and a Mrs to take on holiday. Trying to find somewhere that you can fit 5 into a room is getting me mightily peed off.
http://www.grangehotels.com/hotels-london/grange-tower-bridge-hotel/grange-tower-bridge-hotel.aspx?Is=1&gclid=CP2k-qf8vLUCFePHtAodMEcAlw Walk along south bank to Waterloo Get into the Tate Modern its always superb forthcoming Roy Lichtenstein about to start . Bowie at the V&A Cheap eating at Giraffe next to the National ... go at night lights are nice Used to skate there The wheel Best city in the world a country within a country
Dave, did you REALLY enjoy Tate Modern ?? Personally I found it a but like 'The Emperors new clothes', all these so called art lovers cooing about how great and meaningful certain bits of art were when in fact they were just.......****. For example 'Soap on a Rope'........What the f*** is the hidden meaningful reason behind that load of garbage ? Would honestly be interested if you could tell me what I'm missing.
The marylebone hotel, wellbeck street. Dave is right grange is good but location not so great. Marylebone high street on your door step, 2 min walk to bond street and Oxford street but hotel itself is nice and quiet. Pool and steam room on site.
I love the Tate but I am there a lot ... **** the art or the people that isn't it for me ... to the untrained eye the building looks empty it's isn't I am very comfortable just with tate font and how well they use it ... always trying to find an imbalance. Both the Grange hotels in the area Tower and St Paul i have stayed in on nights out on the weekend i have got good deals its a massive question where to stay I shop in borough market so i have always liked the area and the way its growing and we are all creatures of habit. Off to my roots now lunch in Sussex ... no football is very refreshing lads have a great day
If you are coming into Stansted, I would suggest somewhere near Epping. It is just down the M11 from the airport and is also on the Central Line that would get you into the city/west end in about 30 minutes. Epping has a few decent hotels, a couple of decent pubs and restaurants too. Another advantage is Epping is on the same tube line as White City (!!!!).
Thank you to one and all for all the suggestions. I will start checking out the various options. The kids range from 5 to 17 and finding a room to accomodate all 5 of us seriously limits our options.
At one point, me and Mrs Rangercol had 6 between us to try to take away............absolute nightmare! Thankfully, 4 of them are now grown up, leaving us with a 15 year old and 13 year old to take away. If we ever try to put a holiday together for the 6 of us it is a logistical horror story.
Ciarrai, I am not too sure what your options are in terms of flights from Kerry (I presume) to London but I would suggest you look at flights to Gatwick as opposed to Stansted if possible. Transport to and from Stansted into Central London is quite expensive. I think the Stansted Express is £29 per adult return and the National Express bus cost me £17. Occasionally, I fly to Gatwick. Transport from there to Victoria is much cheaper than Stansted. You can get a one day travelcard for £12.70. This ticket allows you to use the train from Gatwick to Victoria (not Gatwick Express) and then the tubes and buses all over London for the rest of the day. If you have kids under 16, you get your one day travelcard for £11.30 and then £1 each for the kids. Your two kids under 16 would only cost you £2 for transport from the airport and travel all around London that day. As regards somewhere to stay, if I was you I would look for an apartment to rent as you would be able to cook meals rather than spend fortunes on eating out. Enjoy your trip.
Finding it a real struggle this year Col. With 3 kids its crazy. We're looking at Caribbean, Thailand, Greek and Spanish islands but hardly any offer rooms for 5. Got yet more brochures today for some possible more ideas.
Well, I can outdo that, we have 5 (all girls with 9 year age difference) so any long trips away (Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City) were often a rather traumatic experience with kids always bickering over nothing, and of course expensive. Generally in these larger cities, since we obviously didn't fit into a single hotel room, we tried to find a suite with preferably two beds in each bedroom - advantages also include a couple of TV's and fridge, stove & microwave to help cut down on meal expenses. This is one of the reasons why for the past 25 years, for our main summer vacation (2-3 weeks), we have gone to the same cottage location by the ocean, only a 4 hour drive from home. The packing up, the drive, then the unpacking was often a stressful experience, but at least once you settled into the cottage, you could enjoy the ocean, good seafood and ice cream & fries from the beach canteen. Grandparents are also nearby to help share the pain on rainy days etc.
