Where to stay in London..

[Largepiecesofcrookedwood]

If we are going up to see Wicked?
Two nights, Friday and Saturday, the added snag being it's London marathon weekend
A quick google has quite given me a fit of the vapours, and quite put me off "central and convenient"

You didn't specify where about's you need to be but, Citizen M and The Hoxton both in Shoreditch have availability and reasonably priced- via booking.com

So does The Montague on the Gardens near Russel Sq.
Not sure what your budget is though 😬

If you’re going to Wicked you want to access Victoria. It kind of depends what you want from the weekend though... if you’re just looking for affordable and quick to get to Victoria I’m full of praise for the East Croydon Premier Inn, where I’ve had some of the best service of my life (it’s cheap and 2 stops to Victoria) but that’s not exactly a London experience I’ll grant you

What else are you looking to do in London? Victoria is pretty central so you’re not really tied to a location. If it’s marathon weekend I’d avoid anywhere on the route as it can be a ball ache finding a place to cross the road and the tubes are rammed, but it’s easy enough to avoid the route.

Croydon would be fine I think.
It's DS's 15th birthday and also DH's eldest son and DiL are running in the marathon, so we will be spectating on Sunday too.

I'd normally say you should stay right on top of Wicked in Victoria or Pimlico but marathon weekend is probably going to be booked up already.

I've had a google of Belgrave Road hotels in case you want to try. It is the main road for hotels round there. There are others branching off it.

I haven't spotted any horrifying ones on there - there are some literal flea pits and bed bug traps . But not so many any more.

DollyWilde's suggestion of Croydon sounds good because it won't take long to get into Victoria if you don't mind a bit of a train journey.

If you're coming on Friday or Saturday there are lots of nice restaurants within five mins walk either way of Wicked which is right opposite the side entrance to Victoria. More of them towards the Pimlico end.

If you're around earlier you can look at Buckingham Palace, Houses of Parliament and the Embankment which are all easily walkable.

A lot of the restaurants will be closed on Sunday but I imagine the runners will probably just want a wash and a lie down. Have a good time

Thank you limited that's really helpful too. I actually grew up in London but moved to the country twenty odd years ago, so am a bit out of touch!
We'll be on the train home back to the countryside on Sunday so no worries about restaurants etc being closed

You don't have to go as far out as Croydon - not that it's that far!

There are Travelodges next to both Clapham Junction and Balham stations.

The premier inn hubs at either st James Park or Westminster are both good. 10 minute walk from Victoria

Totally, @HankNPat, but it’s 32 mins door to door if coming from Balham and 39 from Croydon - but £170 per room that weekend in Balham travelodge v £120 at Croydon Premier Inn. So £50 for the benefit of 7 mins travelling

Sorry, I feel like I spend far too much time on here talking about how well connected Croydon is!!

Of the places Rockhoppperd mentioned I’d pick SJP over Wesminster, you’ll be at the finish line of the marathon and it’ll be absolutely rammed if you’re trying to leave on Sunday afternoon.

Dolly, it's about 12 minutes on the train from Balham mainline station to Victoria

And approx 7 minutes from Clapham Junction to Victoria by mainline train!!

Clapham Junction. 6 mins to Victoria by train. Travelodge is next to the station. There are plenty of shops and restaurants around there too

Yeah - I said most of that!!

Dolly seems to be under the impression that a 39 train journey to Croydon is probably better than a 32 minute journey from Balham - I'm guessing she's only checked out the tube journey and hasn't realised that the Travelodge is right next to the station ... which also has a very efficient and swift (all things being equal) mainline service directly into Victoria

Premier Inn Victoria is a few mins walk from Victoria station. Nice enough for a couple of nights.

I think the OP's concern here is that the weekend they're planning on going is London Marathon weekend - hence the more central London hotels are either already booked or having big price hikes!