by ZeldaSue » Sat Jun 17, 2006 5:44 am
Hi,
Hotels in London are relatively high-priced and so a budget hotel will not necessarily be inexpensive depending on your way of looking at things.
London is a pretty safe city and with so many people around, you can feel comfortable walking, taking the bus and underground. (Just watch out for the pickpockets that you'll always find in major cities and tourist centres.)
I recommend a website called TripAdvisor.com. For my most recent trip to London, I found a hotel I really liked through them. You can do a search for hotels and then read the reviews. I also used to use the SmoothHound website to help me research hotels but then would go to the TripAdvisor site to verify by reading the reviews.
Areas I have stayed in that are fine include Bloomsbury (Tavistock Hotel near the Russell Hill station on the Picadilly line of the tube. I hope they finally got around to refurbishing.) I have also stayed at the St. Giles (Tottencourt Rd & Oxford (close to major bus connections). . I've now switched to the Bayswater area because I like the proximity to Paddington Station where the Heathrow Express train (15 minute ride) pulls in. Also, the street is on the south side of Kensington Gardens which connect to Hyde Park and it makes for a nice break in a busy day to sit in or walk through the parks.
My most recent hotel was the London Elizabeth. It has a bus stop outside the front door and is across the street from the underground station. I was lucky enough to travel during off-peak season when they had some good deals.
I hope this is helpful
ZeldaSue
Ontario, Canada