If GOSH don't have a room for me and Ds2 when DS1 has his operation next month, I will have to book into a hotel

[SparklyGothKat]

Are all hotels in london expensive? I have been looking here and even the travelodge is expensive..

wine, my son's op is on the 20th May, not april. Will you still be there then?

sorry mis-read that. I am ok i think. I also spoke to the local chartity (only for people in this town) and the lady was very helpful and said that she will try and rush it through and speak to the chairman about it too. Its not something they have ever given a grant for before.

sorry, wasn't clear what I meant - just if I could speak to someone face-to-face for you in the accommodation office to sort out a room for you in May - but perhaps they couldn't promise anything a month in advance.

Hope they can rush through your application

The lady at the chartity said that it would discussed at the meeting on the 14th may, and if we are successful she can let me know on the 15th, but as we are on holiday it wouldn;t be possible. So she is going to see if the chairman can look over it sooner and see what happens

Hi SGK,

I hope that you get a room at the SCT place. We stayed in one in Newcastle for five weeks when DD2 was born (she was in ICU and our hospital has no beds in ICU for parents). It was a really wonderful place.

We only knew the day that I was going to be sent home (midwifery had 'hidden me' for a week!) that a room was available in with the SCT. Make sure that the nursing staff know all of your circumstances and then they will argue your case as strongly as possible. However, I would advise you to go for a backup plan.

Good luck. The last thing you need to be worrying about at a time like this is where to stay. The SCT is a truly marvellous charity, but sadly it's also tiny, little known and one of those ones that you only hear of whe. Their web site is here for anyone interested:

www.sickchildrenstrust.org

Patsy

Thanks PC, I hope that they will be able to 'home' me for a few days in the SCT. I have a backup anyway with the hotels. I don;t know wether to book a room now or wait to see if I can get a room at GOSH, and if not then go to a hotel. I am on the list for a room at GOSH

I've reserved a room at the Avalon for my friend with a credit card number, but they won't take any money from it until the day they turn up.

They've said they just need 24 hours' notice of cancellation and they wouldn't charge.

So if you have a credit card you could give them a call, explain your situation, mention GOSH and I'm sure they would do something similar for you.

St Athans Hotel in Tavistock Place were also very friendly. Do you have the full list from GOSH with all the numbers?

tbh I don't think it's a big deal for any of these hotels if people cancel a few days before, it happens all the time, and they don't charge unless it's literally the day you're supposed to turn up.

I don't have credit card, but have a debit card

a debit card is fine to do phone booking

Give one of the hotels a call in the morning. The nice man at Avalon is called Simon.

The St Athans is family-run and I think I spoke to Lucia. They give a 10% discount to GOSH patients.

Both are very close to the hospital.

have the form for the grant now. I have phoned a few hotels and they are all about £60 a night.

Sparkly, I still think you should book yourself into one of the hotels on the clear understanding that you might have to cancel and that they won't charge anything to your card if you do. As I said, the few I spoke to seemed happy even if we only gave them 24 hrs' notice of cancellation.

Then at least you'll know you have somewhere booked. Then with any luck you'll get either a grant from the Sick Kids' charity, or from social services or even a room at GOSH.

Let us know how you're getting on and if we can do anything to help. I would also be more than happy to meet you at the station and get you to the hotel if you'd like. (Kings X and Euston are v. close to all these hotels and the hospital).

thanks wine. My Dh will be with me the day of the op. but he will have to return home after the op. to look after the girls. I will phone one of the hotels and try and book a room (some were full up in may) I have started filling in the form too.

Great. Hope you hear quickly about all the options. How many nights do you think you'll need to stay?

Great. Hope you hear quickly about all the options. How many nights do you think you'll need to stay?