Premier inn or Travelodge in London - where?

[dafsortulips]

I am planning a solo trip in May. Friday to Sunday so 2 nights. I am meeting some friends on the Saturday night for dinner and theatre. Beyond that I plan on shopping mixed with some tourist spots/walking.

Premier Inn and TL seem to be reasonable but I am not sure where to base myself. I’ll likely come in from Heathrow. Possibly by train though which would be Kings Cross but I am 90% sure I’ll fly. Where would you base yourself?

Also, just out of curiosity, why is air b and b cheap in London. I did have a look as DH said he might come down but he can’t get away from work so isn’t now. I did look at air b and b and it’s cheap.

I like the TL in Covent Garden.

from Heathrow you can do the Piccadilly line to Covent Gardnen or the Elizabeth line to Tottenham Court Road. Easy peasy.

(Decent Airbnbs in London are never cheap when I look!)

I've been to the Travelodge in Covent Garden it's a bit nightmare. There's a premier Inn in Soho. That's nice.
Also don't discount the Thistle Hotel on Leicester Square, do you think it'll be noisy because you directly overlook Legoland or whatever the shop is called, but it's just incredibly quiet and often quite reasonably priced as well

Which theatre are you going to. Pi and tl are not cheap anymore, kings Cross has both but there are so many nicer places to stay, what's your budget, what attractions would you like to visit.

https://www.thistle.com/trafalgar-square/
don't bother with the breakfast it's crap, instead go have brunch at fallow. Even if it's a few pounds more than a Premier Inn in Westminster Kings Cross or whatever, it means you can go back to your hotel and dump stuff in the middle of the day

Where have you found an Airbnb in London and what do you think of as cheap?

Have stayed at the TL in Covent Garden upwards of 50 times and never had any issues? Much quieter than Soho too.

Oh. It's a hub. It's cool
https://www.premierinn.com/gb/en/hotels/england/greater-london/london/hub-london-soho.html?cid=KNC_G_Hotel:UKC_User:UKC_Lang:EN_Cat:BRD-DestinationT1%7CLondonZone1&adgroupID=175429955231&keyword=premier%20inn%20soho&matchtype=e&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22055908781&gclid=Cj0KCQiA18DMBhDeARIsABtYwT0fzFh87Wy6eUWqFipR9iapMn8qxZoLCcWrwTZq7vIwPfxsGvCDk6QaAndbEALw_wcB&BRAND=HUB

Yeah, I just didn't like it full out of northerners very busy not generous with early check-in

I stayed in TL covent garden this week and whilst the staff were lovely, I had the two worst nights sleep of my life. The noise was horrendous and went on all night! As a solo female traveller I didn't feel hugely safe in my room, I definitely would take a door wedge and some earplugs if I had to stay there again.

A relative does some law work for Premier Inn and their executives always stay at the one in the city because it's their flagship one in Farringdon.
but that's not very central for you.

Yeah, the Soho Hub is up some really quiet streets, but really easy to get back into the melee

Z Hotels are pretty reasonable and some are very handy for the theatres. Plus if you sign up for their free membership you get cheese and wine!

Paddington has 2 Premier Inns, easy to get to everywhere by bus or tube from there. Kensington Gardens an easy stroll, the canal area is modern and also a nice walk/ trip by canal boat through Little Venice to Camden. Plenty of places in the station to get food if it’s late/early.

Yes, totally agree about Z hotels, there's one called Tottenham Court Road that's an a brilliant location. Do they still do the free wine and cheese?

The problem with staying in Paddington as you have to keep getting buses and tubes where if you spend a little bit more money and stay right in the centre you don't

Don’t agree, unless you are spending the entire time in Soho it’s a nicer area to spend time in and be based in as it’s more central to the Parks. You will be on the tube or bus anyway. It’s 1 stop to Bond Street. It’s more central not less.

Thanks for all of the replies. I will scroll back and read them all.

Theatre is not a definite. It’s just something we are talking about doing at the moment. Shopping is Oxford Street. Attractions wise I am more than happy to take off on foot and see where I end up. Last time I headed out and ended up walking up the Mall, Buckingham Palace, Horse Guards, Downing Street and ended up having a coffee in St James Park and then fortnums for opening on a Sunday. It’s was lovely. I think I would enjoy seeing the Tower of London this time.

Budget ideally £200 or so a night. It’s not fixed and I could go higher but I don’t was £300/£400 a night type places.

On a side note: please don't go shopping on Oxford Street, it's not a good experience. You'd have a much nicer experience on The Kings Road starting at Sloane Square tube and the lovely Peter Jones department store.

Staying around the city and the tower is fun, there's so much to see, St pauls, the barbican, tate modern, the city of london, so much to just wander around you can take a uber river boat along the Thames and it can be quieter than the west end. What dates are you going.

I’ve paid £160 a night for a Hilton for my daughter and I for a long weekend in a few weeks. I wouldn’t be looking at TLs with that sort of budget!

Stayed at St Pancras Premier Inn which was lovely and I’m very picky. It was a few years ago though.

Youth Hostel in Earl’s Court is lovely.

Loads of Z hotels in central locations near to the tube etc.
I have stayed in several. Join as a member (free) for 10% off any time. Free coffee/hot drinks.
24 hour staff and access to food/drink (limited menu such as pizza, free cheese and wine)
the rooms are mainly small but you still get kettle and hairdryer which TL skimp on now which is a pain.

Not northerners! 😱

TL Covent Garden & King's Cross both perfectly ok. Ibis Styles near Borough Market v nice (and I think you get breakfast there too). Premier inn near County Hall/ London eye also ok.