toopie28

Not sure if this is the right place to post - please move if not.

I am going to be in London for 2 days in Jan. I have not been there in about 15 yrs so I'm out of touch with where to stay/eat/etc.

Any idea where I should stay whilst there? Looking for a place close to center - money is negotiable since I will be paying mostly with points. Nice area.

Also, we (friend and I) are foodies - any place we MUST try while there?

Thanks,
Toop.

ScousePete

http://www.yelp.com/london

joto

We stayed in the Club Quarters just down the road from St Paul's Cathederal about 5 years ago. Can't remember exactly how much it cost, but it was reasonable for London. The rooms are smallish, but very clean and (then) you could get bottles of water on every floor. No breakfast included, but there are a couple of places just along the road. Can't help with dinner places.

Sally Redux

This was always my favourite Indian restaurant when I lived there:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/diwana-bhel-poori-house-london

I haven't been for a long time but my husband has and says it's still good.

GeoffM

I've stayed at the Hotel California (yep!) in King's Cross a couple of times. The rooms are small and very basic but at £70 per night for a single, including a good hot buffet breakfast, it's cheap. http://www.hotelcalifornialondon.com/

As for food, Brick Lane is famous for its curries. Once you get past the hustlers trying to lure you in, the curries are reasonably priced and reasonably good. Some are BYOB. And, of course, plenty of pubs serving traditional British fare all over London.

toopie28

Thanks - will check those out.

Now that I think of it - I'm going to stick to the pubs. I'd love to eat Indian - but traveling back to LA the next day and don't think the other passengers will thank me for it.

GeoffM

Who cares about the other passengers?!

rpjs

I was just over and stayed at the new Club Quarters on Lincoln's Inn Fields. They were still building their restaurant, which meant they were offering complimentary continentsl breakfast. The downside was that the construction noise started up around 8am. Not a problem for me as I was over on business and had to be at the London office by 9.

Alan17

I stayed at the Club Quarters (seems to be popular...) off Trafalger Square last month. Great location.
As for food, I spent a couple of hours walking around central London, as you do, keeping my eye out for a chippie. Pretty much every ethnic food you can imagine but took ages to find seemingly the only one in that area. Co-incidentally also off the Square. Wasn't bad either.

penguinsix

I haven't been back in a few years, but my two 'default' hotels were the Parkcity near Gloucester Road tube (a cozy hotel on a back street, but near a Sainsbury's, Earls Court and the Tube) and the Royal Garden Hotel technically in Hyde Park near the High Street Kensington tube. Both had a bit of life around them, were generally centrally located (my office was in Chelsea) and pleasant enough.

A few others I liked included the Carlton Towers (but now very expensive) and the Radisson SAS Marble Arch. I generally found most of the Radisson 'Edwardians' to be far too small.

Whatever you pick, be sure to check out tripadvisor.com and also Lastminute to see if you can get a bargain.

RICH

FWIW I understand Radisson SAS & Edwardian are now all under the brand "Blu". The old Edwardians have all been highly refurbed in the last 10 years, but I agree they have small rooms, but they are not ALL small. They are almost all converted row houses so you get a variety. Convenient locations, yes. Value for money, your decision. (Yes, I worked for them years ago. Now I don't).

paul32x

You're not by any chance ex-military, are you? I am and I stay at the Union Jack Club near Waterloo.

tonrob

If your intention is to stay with points, can you say which programme these points are in as this will make a huge difference? There are many nice areas to stay in, so this will help narrow it down, as not every chain has a nice property in every nice area. (Otherwise we'll continue firing off hotels that you might not be able to/want to stay at).

GeoffM

Those that stayed in Club Quarters: were you members? I enquired as to the joining fee and it was silly $$$ per year and I think the savings would have meant staying one night a week before breaking even. That said, my recent stay in one in Chicago was somewhat cheaper than the surrounding hotels even without being a member.

toopie28

Well, I was going to use either my Avios points since I can't get my ticket with it anymore (the times I'm traveling they do not offer any point flights). So either Avios OR Worldpoints.