Where to stay in London? (Need ideas)

Invis and I are going to be in London briefly in May for a guild meetup (about four overnights) and I'm looking for ideas on where to stay. I've been before and stayed around Trafalgar Square, which was a decent location as it seemed to be pretty close to everything. However, I'm looking for somewhere different this time. Last time I was there I didn't feel like I got much of a sense of the different areas (zones?) in London and therefore have NO idea where we should stay this time.

Any suggestions?

Cardiff! just so you can hear the accents! lol

I've had several Welsh guildies over the years...

Also, I need to find you and punch you now.

I would also be interested in this kind of advice. Just been looking on Expedia and LastMinute.com for cheap & relatively central hotels (with free wifi) and mostly the ones that come up have been around Kensington and Notting Hill, but I really don't know the first thing about London (sense of scale, for one. Kensington seems a bit off-to-the-west of where most "stuff" is, but I don't know what it's like for distance).

KysenMurrin wrote:but I really don't know the first thing about London (sense of scale, for one. Kensington seems a bit off-to-the-west of where most "stuff" is, but I don't know what it's like for distance).

If you haven't already check out Travel for London's journey planner and the tube map.

Travel For London Journey Planner - http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk/
Standard Tube Map - http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/ ... be-map.pdf

If you go into "Cycling & Walking" tab on the right, you can check "Show walking route if available" box and with your results it will tell you how long to walk.

South Kensington > Leicester Square (somewhere central)

10min tube (doesn't seem to include 3/4 minute wait time for train)
42min fast walk
55min average walk

Nikachelle wrote:Last time I was there I didn't feel like I got much of a sense of the different areas (zones?) in London and therefore have NO idea where we should stay this time.

Any suggestions?

I am off to lunch now but when I return will suggest some places.

Also, what do you want to do for your guild meet? Drinks, some other activity?

Off the top of my head to stay/go out in -

Camden
Soho (nearest stop Tottenham Court Road)

Pub is at the forefront of what we'll probably be doing with the guild. My paintball idea got shot down pretty quickly by people who didn't want to get sweaty. I think bowling is a top contender as well. (I'm also open to other suggestions!)

I'll check out your links when I get a chance at work. Thank you!

*keeps track of for possible weekend with GF*

Nikachelle wrote:I've had several Welsh guildies over the years...

Also, I need to find you and punch you now.

O.o Why?

When I was there we stayed near Earls Court. It was very convenient to everything, but not super expensive.

Aubade wrote:

Nikachelle wrote:I've had several Welsh guildies over the years...

Also, I need to find you and punch you now.

O.o Why?

Every time I ask for suggestions on a place I'm going to, there's always a few people who go "go [insert any place we're not going] here instead!"

Heh. What was it last time, see Denmark while in Paris? At least this one was the same country.

KysenMurrin wrote:Heh. What was it last time, see Denmark while in Paris? At least this one was the same country.

Same island you mean. Not same country!

Bah. Same nation.

Nikachelle wrote:

Aubade wrote:

Nikachelle wrote:I've had several Welsh guildies over the years...

Also, I need to find you and punch you now.

O.o Why?

Every time I ask for suggestions on a place I'm going to, there's always a few people who go "go [insert any place we're not going] here instead!"

O.o I thought Cardiff was a district of london.........O.o I'm dumb, disregard me.

Hahahaha wow.

/facepalm

<sarcasm>

You should really check out Nurnberg or Amberg while you're over there.

</sarcasm>

Nikachoo have you decided on a venue yet or is it just going to be a meet up in a pub?

If so you need to be careful and avoid sports clashes as London pubs get full very quickly. We always used to use the Sherlock Holmes or Princess of Wales at Charing Cross [Central london with good rail links].

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&bav ... =0CLwBELYD

Because it is at Charing Cross you can then stay around London rather than 'in' it if need be, likewise for other Central London Pubs.

Let me know what you are looking for and I can dig some more and check what sporting events are on that weekend etc for you.

We're in London from the 2nd of May until the 6th. Guild meetup is on the 4th.

Venue hasn't been decided yet - so far the best suggestion has been to do the Monopoly pub tour of London. (Not overlllly sure how well this idea will work for any of the non-drinkers in the group.)

Personally, I'd rather stay in the heart of London. I've lived in downtown Toronto for about 10 years now and the idea of being out in the 'burbs isn't all that appealing.

Central London can be a bit expensive, because of all the travellers to the business district.

A lot of the more individual hotels, or boutique hotels, at around the £150-£200 a night range are in Clerkenwell, or the Leadenhall part of the City (meaning the City of London - the central business area). There are others scattered in places like Soho in the centre and the West too.

Chain hotels, like Holiday Inn in Kensington, or the Park Plaza at Westminster, or the Guoman at the Tower are around £160 a night (no coincidence that this is the amount you can have as a business expense for staying in London overnight).

If you're looking for cheaper than that, you could try a Bed & Breakfast in the east for about £60 a night, or the north near Bloomsbury or Camden (more like £80 to £100).

I don't have much experience of staying in the south, because it can be difficult to get to the rail terminals in the north.

http://www.myboutiquehotel.com/en/bouti ... ls-london/

http://www.mrandmrssmith.com/destinatio ... don/hotels

or Late rooms, as a site is pretty decent http://www.laterooms.com/en/k16295585_l ... otels.aspx.

I'll echo the Camden area as a good spot, each tube access at Camden Town and Kings Cross, reasonably cheap (especially compared to much of the rest of central London) and best of all (in my mind) Camden market will be right there, which is a bloody fantastic spot to go shopping and avoid the generic high street crap (although they're slowly creeping in and bit by bit eroding the uniqueness of the area as the years go by). There's also some great pubs around there, lots of which have some good live music.

If you're interested the British Library & the British Museum are both pretty close, as is the Barbican (about 20 mins by tube and well worth a visit if you like art at all, I think they have a James Bond exhibition on at the moment as well!)

Also, you probably know this as you've been there already but rooms in the UK tend to be significantly smaller than US hotel rooms, so try to avoid large luggage if you can!