London hotel with two young children

[FrequentFlyer96]

I’d be really grateful for any recommendations for hotels in London for two adults plus two primary age children. We live overseas and looking to travel home this summer (we’re from another UK city so not familiar with London) and spend 3-4 nights in London at the beginning of our UK trip doing touristy stuff and Harry Potter world etc. Arriving into Heathrow and using public transport. It would be great to have a hotel with spacious or interconnecting rooms, family rooms and with good transport links. All suggestions welcome! Thanks

What s your budget?

Fairly relaxed about budget as we haven’t travelled home for a few years due to the pandemic

Premier Inn in Islington is not fancy but fantastic location, opposite Angel Tube and Upper Street is nice for wandering, you can get to Highbury/London Fields for fresh air and playgrounds, but you can get everywhere quickly. And lots of good restaurants within walking distance, Pret, Sainsbury's etc.

Look for premier inns. They are the best with young kids as they have family rooms and everything you need

Does it have to be a hotel? You could get a flat on Airbnb which might work better.

We stayed in the Copthorne Tara hotel in London last year in one of their interconnected rooms and it worked really well for us. It's in a good location in Kensington and it's really reasonably priced.

Agree re Premier Inn but Central London prices especially if they include a Sat night are expensive. Think circa £150-£200 depending on location. Some of them are booked up months in advance (can you tell I have just tried to book one for a few weeks time!).

Do avoid the Premier Inn Hubs. They are very small. Normal Premier Inn

We've just stayed at the Marlin Waterloo which was a great location and the rooms have kitchenettes with fridge/microwave/toaster etc which came in really handy!

Avoid Euston Premier Inn! We've stayed in lots of premier inns over the years with the dc and never had a bad experience until this one a few weeks ago. Our room obviously wasn't ready because there was lots of whispering but when I asked they just said everything was fine and parked us with two small dc in the closed restaurant while they hurriedly got it ready (1hr) The bedding and towels smelt badly with a sort of burnt smell and the bath was dirty. Good location though 🤣

@pearljamm

Avoid Euston Premier Inn! We've stayed in lots of premier inns over the years with the dc and never had a bad experience until this one a few weeks ago. Our room obviously wasn't ready because there was lots of whispering but when I asked they just said everything was fine and parked us with two small dc in the closed restaurant while they hurriedly got it ready (1hr) The bedding and towels smelt badly with a sort of burnt smell and the bath was dirty. Good location though 🤣

You can't beat a premier Inn with children but I would agree to avoid Euston. The one 3-4 mins walk away at St Pancras is much nicer.

Premier Inn at Blackfriars is nice and rooms quite big. Also handy for tube, attractions and Uber boat. The PIs sometimes offer interconnected rooms if you ring up to book.

We recently stayed at the cleremont which is at Charing Cross. It wasn't cheap 🙈 but we had a lovely family room and the staff couldn't have been nicer to our children. Would definitely recommend.

I love a Premier Inn but once you put 2 kids beds in the rooms you've often got very little floor space left. Fine for one night but i'm not sure I could survive much longer! Holiday Inn and Marriott sometimes have interconnecting rooms or a serviced apartment or AirBnB might suit you better then you'd have some living space for when the kids go to bed in an evening?

Thanks everyone! I’m googling all of these suggestions as we speak

We like the premier inn at county hall - right by the London eye, loads to see at south bank and big playground. There are fancier hotels on south bank too, and you’re right by Waterloo station, sea life centre, there’s even a mini beach if they are little and like mudlarking, carousel, build a bear, loads of restaurants and street food, just masses of atmosphere.

I agree premier inn County hall, great location. We always stay there.

@Newuser82

We recently stayed at the cleremont which is at Charing Cross. It wasn't cheap 🙈 but we had a lovely family room and the staff couldn't have been nicer to our children. Would definitely recommend.

There’s a Clermont at Victoria to, really nice hotel. The premium rooms are slightly more expensive, and so spacious. Just a few mins walk for Buck Palace, Green Park, Houses of Parliament.

@HelloDulling ah that's good to know. Thanks!

We had a great trip in October half term staying at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge. They have fantastic family rooms and a pool, and it's really handy to Southbank.

I like staycity apartments as you get the fully kitted out kitchens and great showers, laundry facilities if you need them but London properties are expensive and only the Heathrow location does double bedrooms of au remember correctly. We stayed several times in Manchester and they were fab for families.

*if I remember correctly

Airbnb a walk from paddington where youd get the Heathrow train into. Then if you're 10 mins from paddington you're 10 mins from lots or central London

If its over the summer holidays then some of the West End clubs allow non members to book. Usually quieter than hotels and quite a few allow children - I know the Lansdowne do this - just on the corner of Berkley Square so a good location.

A place close to Paddington sounds like a good idea taking into account we’ll be arriving on the Heathrow express