Cost of hotels in London is ridiculous!

[sydneysunset]

I appreciate that costs are going up across the board, but…. Just in the process of booking a weekend stay for me, dh and our youngest dc in London in April. I’ve looked at Booking.com as well as various well-known chains which I stay at fairly frequently.

The price per night for a twin-queen room in most decent looking hotels in the area we need to stay is at least £500 and many are much more! Some really pretty ordinary 4 star hotels charging £800 a night… this is about twice what they cost pre-covid.

Similar hotels in other European capitals or Los Angeles, Sydney etc are much cheaper. What’s going on??

And then the Coronation in May. London will be heaving.

And Liverpool with the Eurovision Song Contest.

What a wonderful time after two/3 years of Covid.....

Everybody out and about again. Enjoying life.

I guess hotels etc. have to recoup their losses during that time.

Travel has definetely gotten more busy since it's all "back to normal".

I’m staying in London on Thurs 27th - 29th 3 nights at park plaza waterloo
728 for 2 adults / inc breakfast

As has been mentioned, it's London marathon time and there will no doubt be other events too around that time. Prices have gone nuts but you are probably looking at a high demand weekend at pretty short notice so it's not surprising it's expensive.

You can’t go wrong with a premier inn for that type of trip imo. Bit basic but you know what you’re getting & easy to get a family room.

Premier Inn is normally a good bet ...always clean and comfortable as a decent base...and can get a family room most of the time ...I know we stayed at the one opposite Kings cross last year and think it was reasonably priced (can remember what it was as DH booked) x

Travelodge gets my vote for sure. There's so much to do in London you'll probably only use the room for sleeping?
We've found it doesn't even need to be central as the transport is fantastic. We've stayed at Walthamstow, Ealing and various outskirts aswell as the City of London (which was very cheap at the weekend) I don't think we've ever paid over £80 per night and the rooms are basic but generally clean.

Premier inns are all booked out, except for Canary Wharf which is too far away

I can recommend the Clayton hotel in Gunnersbury . 2 minutes walk to tube , 4 star and nice big rooms- nice food too- we stay there a lot for work. It's not central but is there a reason that matters? It's very easy in and I've checked last 2 weekends in April on booking.com and it's more normal levels for 3 nights

Try the Thistle Marble Arch - looks like £350 a night for last weekend of April.

Premier Inn London Waterloo is available from 28th to 30th April for £466.50 for 2 nights.

Staggering that a Premier Inn should cos £233 for a night!

Canary Wharf is on the Elizabeth Line now -- it's only 5 stops to Bond Street. I wouldn't discount it (just make sure the line is running that weekend).

Why not stay a little bit out of central london - Ealing Broadway is zone 3 has premier inn, travel lodge, ibis and others and is on the Elizabeth line - Bond Street is 2 stops or you can go on the central line direct to Marble Arch

I’ve booked premier inn family for £175 in October but maybe you’ve left it too late and the best deals have been snapped up already.

In Jan I had a night in Premier Inn in the heart of Hammersmith for about £55. Absolute bargain, great location, couldn't believe it

Look at Premier Inn. They aren't on booking dot com.

Hotel prices have gone up dramatically in the past year. Hotels that we have stayed in previously have doubled in price. I wanted to book at hotel near the Oval when we go to watch a test match. The Holiday Inn Express wanted £600 for one night!

Canary Wharf to Bond Street is very quick now, so I wouldn't discount just on that basis.
Marble Arch is well
Connected to a lot of locations, so definitely try widening your search.

I do agree hotel prices have gone crazy, but are you going on the marathon weekend? That would explain all the premier inns being booked up.

We are going the first weekend in April and have paid £200 for 1 night in a premier inn hub, the same one we stayed in over Christmas that was £200 for 2 nights!

You've just left it too late - as pps have pointed out, the weekend of the 23rd is the marathon, so all us runners booked up the cheap rooms several months ago. Think I paid around £120 for a family room at Premier inn.

And the weekend after is a bank holiday so it's hardly surprising that's booked up either.

The price per night for a twin-queen room in most decent looking hotels in the area we need to stay is at least £500 and many are much more!

Do you really need to be near Marble Arch, or just want to be? A few stops on the Central Line or a short walk to Bond Street and the Elizabeth Line could make all the difference.

We used to go to London for weekends away. Since the pandemic we have not bothered as the cost is ridiculous for rooms.

as pps have pointed out, the weekend of the 23rd is the marathon.... And the weekend after is a bank holiday so it's hardly surprising that's booked up either.

And the weekend after that is the Coronation. People might be coming for a couple of weeks or so around that date.

I feel your pain. I’m looking at mid week in July and even premier inn is £500 for 2 nights!
we thought at one point we might treat ourselves (2 adults + child) and stay somewhere a bit nicer but in top of £350+ per night they then want £75 for breakfast each day!

I often suggest The Good Hotel to people wanting to stay in London for a few nights.

Check it out: goodhotel.co/london

Good luck!

Premier Inns in London are currently about £100 per night more expensive than the same time last year (or even pre-covid) We use them regularly and they’ve gone up dramatically in the last six months.