Hi All,
I’m heading down to The Smoke for a 4 overnights with my wife and 2 sons for a few days in the summer and am looking for a recommendation for accommodation that wont break the bank. Wouldn’t mind staying central(ish) but could compromise if it was on a tube line.
Of course I could explore options myself but I know you guys always come good with such requests.
Also – any recommendations for gigs for the 5th to the 8th July would be gratefully received.
Last time we were in London – some years ago now – my wife managed to book a 5-bed room for two nights in a lovely hostel in the middle of Holland Park. I was taken aback at first but it turned out great. Because we had the entire room we could treat it as a hotel room and the kids were able to be as messy as they were at home. It was ‘our room’ so to speak, with a decent coffee shop just outside and Kensington High Street a short walk in one direction and Notting Hill in the other. I got up early each morning just to ramble around the area and see how the other half lived – think I passed Robbie Williams one day but no sign of Jimmy Page.
https://www.safestay.com/london-kensington-holland-park/?utm_campaign=BRAND+-+LONDON+HOLLAND+PARK+KEN&utm_term=safestay%20holland%20park&utm_medium=ppc&utm_source=adwords&hsa_kw=safestay%20holland%20park&hsa_grp=81019078241&hsa_src=g&hsa_cam=887601069&hsa_ver=3&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_tgt=kwd-141302796283&hsa_mt=p&hsa_ad=561975092778&hsa_acc=2959316893&gclid=Cj0KCQjw_4-SBhCgARIsAAlegrUCj4IbuNvec7DowTHcLPMB4k80VDNmEwL535TkfnL_Yyo3UbDW8hMaAmqAEALw_wcB
Thanks Max, sounds good. I’ll have a look. Love the idea of the possibility of maybe having the outside chance of bumping into JP.
Yeah, it was fine Robbie if you don’t need hotel-level service – just a place to stash your stuff and lay your head down at night. Perhaps you’re familiar with it already but if you’re in the area and you have a couple of hours, I’d recommend the design museum just inside the gates of the park. I didn’t know about it before and we all enjoyed it.
I found somewhere near the British Museum – Great Russell Street, perhaps – through an online discount site. It was years ago, but a proper hotel for about half the price I’d have expected to pay. Max Clifford was at the table next to us at breakfast. I wanted to stab him with a fork – he oozed ‘creepy’.
So choose where you want to be, and hit Google.
We had an apartment in Limehouse for one long weekend stay.
Great price – about half the price of smaller places more central – but not too far from City one way, and Canary Wharf the other (Docklands Light Railway 2 minutes away).
Might not be a hotel, but just as comfortable and plenty of brekkie places nearby.
As Rig says, go looking for an apartment, via apartotels or air bnb.
I normally opt for Premier Inns which are situated all over London, they may not have rooms big enough for your family though
It’s fun to stay at the YMCA. Really cheap, basic, but I guess the kids won’t care.
https://www.yha.org.uk/hostel/yha-london-central?msclkid=a4689089b0c711ec915268d847c1589b
It may not be suitable as family accommodation, but you may want try Imperial College’s student accommodation. During the summer vac their halls of residence in Kensington are used as tourist accommodation. Beit Hall, for example, is right next to the Albert Hall, very handy for the Proms. Breakfast is served in the College’s main refectory, and you have access to the College’s bars and gym. Last time I stayed there, a room plus breakfast was in the region of £60 -£70.
That sounds good, Rod. I might check that out whenever I get the opportunity to visit again…
The manager is a friend, but this is also a good deal and well placed: https://www.lancaster-hall-hotel.co.uk/
Bloody hell. That place looks excellent. Will book next time I’m over
Gig-wise, there are shows over that period by Queen + Adam Lambert (which reminds me, I have tickets and forgot to put it in the diary), Yeah Yeah Yeahs, DJ Shadow, and Catrin Finch & Seckou Keita. On the 5th there’s Crossing the Tracks ‘festival’ with Macy Gray, Khruangbin, Roy Ayers, Patrice Rushen, Romare, Sampa The Great and others.
And on the 8th, Welsh folk band Calan are doing a Campfire Club. Calan are great players if sometimes a bit poppy for my tastes, and the outdoor, unamplified Campfire Clubs have a really special atmosphere.
Oops, scratch that, aside from Calan I was looking at June, not July!