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Post by kiwigrandma on Sept 18, 2014 7:19:48 GMT
Would love to know people's favourite hotels in london and brussels. Anyone been can they please post. Thanks.
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Post by auselle on Sept 18, 2014 7:59:32 GMT
My favourite hotel in London is Citadines Trafalgar Square. I have stayed there quite a few times and would stay there again. The position is great, it is in Northumberland Ave with Trafalgar Square at one end of the Street and the Thames at the other. Buses are just at the end of the street and cabs cruise past all the time. Charing Cross station and Embankment Station are both 2 mins walk away in opposite directions. Most of the main tourist attractions are within walking distance. The rooms all have a kitchenette with microwave, fridge, hot plates and utensils. There is no restaurant at the hotel but the Sherlock Holmes pub is next door and has great pub meals. There is a coffee machine in the foyer with free coffee, tea and hot chocolate available 24 hours.
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Post by purvis on Sept 18, 2014 21:46:24 GMT
Auselle: This London hotel sounds just great. Can you possibly give an estimate on the cost per nite. Are their suites available with two separate bedrooms.? Purvis |
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Post by purvis on Sept 18, 2014 21:50:48 GMT
Would love to know people's favourite hotels in london and brussels. Anyone been can they please post. Thanks. kiwigrandma: My son and I stayed at the Hilton in Brussels and it was very nice. Really don't know what the cost per nite is as it was a couple of years ago and we were on a Trafalgar tour. Very close to the tourist area but far away enough to be quiet. We walked to the art galleries and other tourist attractions so no need for taxi and that expense. Purvis |
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Post by Tulips on Sept 18, 2014 22:19:18 GMT
I quite liked the Park Plaza County Hall. It is very close to a lot of attractions being right in behind the London Eye. The rooms are quite large and the Westminster and Waterloo tube stations are not far away.
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Post by Oz-T on Sept 18, 2014 22:23:44 GMT
We stayed at the Ibis Hotel in Brussels last June. There's more than one Ibis Hotel and ours was the Ibis Central St. Catherine. The location was very central, the room clean, staff were really good and the price was cheap.
In fact, on our self-tour of western Europe last June we ended up staying in Ibis Hotels for most of the time we were there. I'll have a bit more to report on this hotel group (all favourable) when I find time to write a travel tale.
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Post by auselle on Sept 20, 2014 3:18:11 GMT
Purvis, I usually pay between 200 and 300 AUD per night for Citadines Trafalgar Square. It is my one big extavagance on my trips, my reward for travelling economy for 23 hours. The prices seem to vary depending on time of year and exchange rate etc. I notice at the moment they are quoting over $400 AUD which is way above my budget. Maybe I get it cheaper for booking a long time ahead.
They do have rooms with 2 bedrooms, I have never stayed in one but I have heard that they are on 2 levels ie. you have to go upstairs to the bedrooms. It would be worth checking beforehand if you intended to book one and were not keen on the stairs.
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Post by Oz-T on Sept 20, 2014 5:29:07 GMT
I quite liked the Park Plaza County Hall. It is very close to a lot of attractions being right in behind the London Eye. The rooms are quite large and the Westminster and Waterloo tube stations are not far away. We stayed at Park Plaza County Hall last year to start off our UK tour. Yes, it's a great hotel and I thought it was a very handy location, especially the short walk up York Road to Waterloo Station. We took a train from Heathrow Airport and headed to Waterloo Station to get to the hotel. Because we like to arrive a day early on tours to recover from the 23 hour flight, we paid for the extra night at the Park Plaza. We almost didn't when we saw the price. They wanted A$200 for the night which sounded fine until I discovered that was the twin-share price. I know London is expensive, but $400 was way too costly and I told our travel agent they'd priced themselves out of it. I was keen on a nearby hotel that was less than half price, and planned to check out of there, then walk around the corner and check into Park Plaza for the inclusive part of the tour. Then our TA made some enquiries through Trafalgar and suddenly a better deal materialised. Park Plaza could offer a 2-for-one deal so the extra night cost $200. I snapped it up and was pleased with the result. It pays to actively manage your travel arrangements. |
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Post by kiwigrandma on Sept 20, 2014 6:12:20 GMT
Thanks to everyone who posted. will have a look on internet for them. not going until next april so got time to keep looking. We have also had difficulty with price of hotel before tour being dearer than we thought.
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Post by purvis on Sept 20, 2014 6:13:33 GMT
Two years ago I booked a room at the County Park Plaza and I believe I paid somewhere around $300.00 Canadian per nite but then I also paid that same amount for an extra nite at the Hilton in Berlin. I don't think there are any cheap hotels in the major cities that Trafalgar uses. |
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Post by Tulips on Sept 21, 2014 17:55:53 GMT
I quite liked the Park Plaza County Hall. It is very close to a lot of attractions being right in behind the London Eye. The rooms are quite large and the Westminster and Waterloo tube stations are not far away. We stayed at Park Plaza County Hall last year to start off our UK tour. Yes, it's a great hotel and I thought it was a very handy location, especially the short walk up York Road to Waterloo Station. We took a train from Heathrow Airport and headed to Waterloo Station to get to the hotel. Because we like to arrive a day early on tours to recover from the 23 hour flight, we paid for the extra night at the Park Plaza. We almost didn't when we saw the price. They wanted A$200 for the night which sounded fine until I discovered that was the twin-share price. I know London is expensive, but $400 was way too costly and I told our travel agent they'd priced themselves out of it. I was keen on a nearby hotel that was less than half price, and planned to check out of there, then walk around the corner and check into Park Plaza for the inclusive part of the tour. Then our TA made some enquiries through Trafalgar and suddenly a better deal materialised. Park Plaza could offer a 2-for-one deal so the extra night cost $200. I snapped it up and was pleased with the result. It pays to actively manage your travel arrangements. Oz, I thought the price Trafalgar wanted was excessive as well. My travel agent booked the extra nights through one of her consolidators and then linked the room. So I paid a much lower rate than what Trafalgar wanted and didn't have to change rooms once the tour started. |
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Post by Tulips on Sept 21, 2014 17:57:20 GMT
For my upcoming trip, I got a good deal on the Cumberland, which is right at Marble Arch. I haven't stayed there, so don't know what it will be like, but the location is certainly good.
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Post by californian on Sept 21, 2014 21:09:28 GMT
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Post by Oz-T on Sept 21, 2014 21:51:57 GMT
"Oz, I thought the price Trafalgar wanted was excessive as well. My travel agent booked the extra nights through one of her consolidators and then linked the room. So I paid a much lower rate than what Trafalgar wanted and didn't have to change rooms once the tour started."
Just shows how important it is to be able to compare prices. I rarely use my TA to book hotels because I almost always find a better deal via the internet. There is an affordable Travelodge hotel a short walk away from the Park Plaza County Hall and that's where I was about to book until the TA secured the two-nights-for-one price. I didn't mind paying a little bit more to avoid swapping hotels, but not when it becomes double the price.
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Post by Tulips on Sept 21, 2014 22:06:21 GMT
Oz, I had actually booked that Travelodge after you mentioned it, but I did a little research and found out they didn't do luggage storage. They didn't at that time anyway. That was a deal breaker for me as I was arriving first thing in the morning and did not want to waste the day sitting and babysitting my luggage. So I cancelled the booking.
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Post by purvis on Sept 21, 2014 23:09:06 GMT
For my upcoming trip, I got a good deal on the Cumberland, which is right at Marble Arch. I haven't stayed there, so don't know what it will be like, but the location is certainly good. Oh how I wish that I was staying at the Cumberland. I had planned on taking the Garden tour of England which started with a 3day stay at the Cumberland but due to pneumonia and then a rotator cuff injury I have had to settle with remaining at home for this past spring and summer. The Selfridges dept. store is just a short walk and after having watched "Mr. Selfridge" on PBS TV I was looking forward to visiting the store. Have a wonderful trip Tulips. If all goes well perhaps next spring I will have tea at Selfridges but until then I will have to settle with tea with Mickey Mouse at Disney World this Nov. Purvis |
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Post by tassiedevil on Sept 22, 2014 0:34:05 GMT
The last time I had to use a hotel in London (usually stay with my friend), I stayed at the Cardiff Hotel by Paddington so a little ways out. It was (possibly still is) family owned and operated. It was reasonably priced, don't know if it still is, and friendly. We arrived at 8:30am they stored our bags, sent us to the breakfast room for a free breakfast, showed us a bathroom we could use and pointed out where the free tea and coffee was.
Like Oz, I have also stayed in that Ibis hotel in Brussels and thought it was really good. The only downside was we had a really small room, but would stay there again if ever back in Brussels.
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Post by tassiedevil on Sept 22, 2014 0:36:28 GMT
For my upcoming trip, I got a good deal on the Cumberland, which is right at Marble Arch. I haven't stayed there, so don't know what it will be like, but the location is certainly good. Oh how I wish that I was staying at the Cumberland. I had planned on taking the Garden tour of England which started with a 3day stay at the Cumberland but due to pneumonia and then a rotator cuff injury I have had to settle with remaining at home for this past spring and summer. The Selfridges dept. store is just a short walk and after having watched "Mr. Selfridge" on PBS TV I was looking forward to visiting the store. Have a wonderful trip Tulips. If all goes well perhaps next spring I will have tea at Selfridges but until then I will have to settle with tea with Mickey Mouse at Disney World this Nov. Purvis I've booked Mickey at Disneyland next week (Friday)! |
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Post by purvis on Sept 22, 2014 5:19:36 GMT
Have never been to Disneyland in California but have been many times to Disney World in Florida. Always have a great time and never seem to tire of the 4 theme parks in Florida. Have a wonderful time and say hello to Mickey for me. Purvis
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Post by Oz-T on Sept 22, 2014 7:09:46 GMT
"Like Oz, I have also stayed in that Ibis hotel in Brussels and thought it was really good. The only downside was we had a really small room, but would stay there again if ever back in Brussels."
The room size is fairly typical of Ibis Hotels, Tassie. We don't worry too much about that because we were out for most of the day and just using the room for sleeping. Sometimes we would check into an Ibis hotel in the late afternoon, pop out for dinner, return to check emails or post photos on Mrs Oz's Facebook page (free WiFi), sleep the night, then check out next morning. Ibis was superb for that - their rooms were almost identical in each hotel so we knew exactly what we were getting for the price.
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Post by Oz-T on Sept 22, 2014 7:11:48 GMT
I've been to Disneyland California (14 years ago), but not Florida. We took the kids when they were aged 12 and 10 and had a 3-day pass. They still remember that holiday vividly.  |
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Post by purvis on Sept 22, 2014 18:31:38 GMT
Oz: Your sons are the same age as my grandsons. Boy does that fact make me feel old. Disney World opened in the fall of 1971 and we took our two sons the following March. We stayed at Disney's hotels for the first few trips but at the price they now want it would be very expensive to take a young family. We lived in Ontario at the time so were able to drive down to Florida which was very educational for the boys especially the firecracker outlets in Kentucky.
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Post by Tulips on Sept 22, 2014 21:59:36 GMT
For my upcoming trip, I got a good deal on the Cumberland, which is right at Marble Arch. I haven't stayed there, so don't know what it will be like, but the location is certainly good. Oh how I wish that I was staying at the Cumberland. I had planned on taking the Garden tour of England which started with a 3day stay at the Cumberland but due to pneumonia and then a rotator cuff injury I have had to settle with remaining at home for this past spring and summer. The Selfridges dept. store is just a short walk and after having watched "Mr. Selfridge" on PBS TV I was looking forward to visiting the store. Have a wonderful trip Tulips. If all goes well perhaps next spring I will have tea at Selfridges but until then I will have to settle with tea with Mickey Mouse at Disney World this Nov. Purvis Well Purvis, at least the weather will be better in Florida, than Canada in November. Hopefully, you will be able to take the tour next year. |
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Post by tassiedevil on Sept 22, 2014 22:50:50 GMT
"Like Oz, I have also stayed in that Ibis hotel in Brussels and thought it was really good. The only downside was we had a really small room, but would stay there again if ever back in Brussels."
The room size is fairly typical of Ibis Hotels, Tassie. We don't worry too much about that because we were out for most of the day and just using the room for sleeping. Sometimes we would check into an Ibis hotel in the late afternoon, pop out for dinner, return to check emails or post photos on Mrs Oz's Facebook page (free WiFi), sleep the night, then check out next morning. Ibis was superb for that - their rooms were almost identical in each hotel so we knew exactly what we were getting for the price. I would have to disagree that my room was typical of Ibis Hotels. Like you I have stayed in many through Europe and Australia. The room was the length of a bed plus about 40cm (I had to walk sideways to get between bed and wall). To open a medium sized suitcase you had to put it on a bed as there wasn't enough floor space anywhere in the room to lay it flat. In the bathroom if you were sitting on the toilet your knees were hard up against the wall (I am not a large person, 170cm) and there was definitely no turning room in there. Did this affect my time in Brussels? No, only used the room to sleep in. The location was superb! People need to be aware there is a possibility you could get a really small room. |
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Post by Oz-T on Sept 22, 2014 22:52:07 GMT
Oz: Your sons are the same age as my grandsons. Boy does that fact make me feel old... The fact that my own kids are grown up now makes me feel pretty old, Purvis. Maybe we should sit in adjoining rocking chairs and share anecdotes over a cup of hot milk?  Actually, one of my 'sons' is a daughter. Ever seeking to balance the books, I had a debit, then a credit....  |
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Post by tassiedevil on Sept 22, 2014 23:20:07 GMT
Have never been to Disneyland in California but have been many times to Disney World in Florida. Always have a great time and never seem to tire of the 4 theme parks in Florida. Have a wonderful time and say hello to Mickey for me. Purvis Will do Purvis. I first went to Disneyland (California) last November. Loved it so much had to go back again this year. Would love to get to Orlando at some time. |
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Post by purvis on Sept 23, 2014 2:27:20 GMT
Oz: Your sons are the same age as my grandsons. Boy does that fact make me feel old... The fact that my own kids are grown up now makes me feel pretty old, Purvis. Maybe we should sit in adjoining rocking chairs and share anecdotes over a cup of hot milk? Actually, one of my 'sons' is a daughter. Ever seeking to balance the books, I had a debit, then a credit.... |
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Post by purvis on Sept 23, 2014 2:31:47 GMT
I don't mind sitting in a rocking chair and reminiscing old times over a cup of warm milk just as long as that milk has a good shot of Baileys in it. I am you know Irish.
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expom
New Member
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Post by expom on Sept 23, 2014 3:28:09 GMT
The last time I had to use a hotel in London (usually stay with my friend), I stayed at the Cardiff Hotel by Paddington so a little ways out. It was (possibly still is) family owned and operated. It was reasonably priced, don't know if it still is, and friendly. We arrived at 8:30am they stored our bags, sent us to the breakfast room for a free breakfast, showed us a bathroom we could use and pointed out where the free tea and coffee was. Like Oz, I have also stayed in that Ibis hotel in Brussels and thought it was really good. The only downside was we had a really small room, but would stay there again if ever back in Brussels. I like the Cardiff too, and usually stay there, though it's not that far out, if you are reasonably fit it takes about 15 minutes to walk to Marble Arch through Hyde Park and you can wander up Oxford Street or catch a regular bus to Oxford. As far as I Know, it is still family run.
It is, of course, 2 minutes walk from Paddington Main Line station with routes to the west and south Wales. I have an idea that is why it is called the Cardiff and the Davies who run it have a Welsh sounding name as well
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Post by tassiedevil on Sept 23, 2014 6:56:06 GMT
You're quite right it isn't very far out at all. For me it is a short walk (I am young and fit) to the attractions, but I know for a lot it isn't central enough. We ate at a really nice Italian restaurant just around the corner. There are a lot of other good places to eat in the immediate area.
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