Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
I favor hotels and restaurants that are handy to your sightseeing activities. I've chosen sev-
eral favorite neighborhoods (Victoria Station, South Kensington, Bayswater, Notting Hill,
and Paddington Station, among others) and recommend the best accommodations values
for each, from dorm beds to fancy doubles with all of the comforts. I've also listed big,
good-value, modern hotels scattered throughout London, along with hostels, dorms, and
apartment rentals.
London is an expensive city for lodging. Cheaper rooms are relatively dumpy. Don't
expect
£
130 cheeriness in a
£
70 room. For
£
70, you'll get a double with breakfast in a
safe, cramped, and dreary place with minimal service and the bathroom down the hall. For
£
90, you'll get a basic, clean, reasonably cheery double with a private bath in a usually
cramped, cracked-plaster building, or a soulless but comfortable room without breakfast
in a huge Motel 6-type place. My London splurges, at
£
160-290, are spacious, thought-
fully appointed places good for entertaining or romancing.
A major feature of this topic is its extensive and opinionated listing of good-value
rooms. I like places that are clean, central, relatively quiet at night, reasonably priced,
friendly, small enough to have a hands-on owner and stable staff, run with a respect for
British traditions, and not listed in other guidebooks. (In London, for me, meeting six out
of these eight criteria means it's a keeper.) I'm more impressed by a convenient location
and a fun-loving philosophy than flat-screen TVs and a pricey laundry service.
