A new wave of London hotels designed with budget travelers in mind has brought some affordable options to the city’s notoriously pricey lodging scene.
If you’ve been in town recently, you know that the expensive tariffs aren’t limited to swanky digs such as Brown’s Hotel. With the dollar taking a thrashing against the pound, the city’s average room price – including the 17.5 percent value-added tax levied on hotels – rose this fall to $253, according to London-based TRI Hospitality Consulting.
In October, we stayed in two of the newcomers and toured a third. Each is geared to a different type of traveler. The prices quoted below for each property include taxes.
Base2stay
25 Courtfield Gardens, Kensington
The Earl’s Court tube station is two blocks away; the Gloucester Road station is four blocks. Either one gets you to the theater district and other major London sights in 20 minutes.
How much? Doubles start at about $195 per night, singles from about $157.
Best for: Independent-minded travelers who like a comfortable landing pad but don’t need their hand held.
The details: This smartly renovated stucco building on a trendy street offered just what we needed after a tiring transatlantic flight and rush-hour ride from Heathrow Airport. A plush bed. Soft cotton sheets. A power shower. A stack of plush towels. A flat-screen television. Free Internet access.
But wait, there’s more! Behind a closet door in each guest room is a kitchenette, complete with a small stove, fridge, coffee pot and microwave. A handy reference list points out the best of everything in the neighborhood, including boutiques, bars and restaurants with delivery service. The desk staff, on duty 24 hours a day, is helpful.
While the room rates aren’t rock-bottom cheap, they’re still an excellent value.
Opened in April, Base2stay was designed to feature the conveniences of a furnished apartment. To keep rates low, the developers left out many features of bigger hotels.
The location offers easy access to all manner of shopping and entertainment. Several full-service supermarkets and a couple of clusters of cafes, restaurants, gyms and music clubs are all within a 10-minute walk.
Plus: Kitchenettes in every room help bring down the high costs of London restaurants.
Minus: Skip the breakfast – mainly a box of cereal, juice and a pastry – that guests can opt to have delivered to the room for $9.40; there are plenty of good breakfast spots nearby.
Info: 800-511-9821, www.base2stay.com.
EasyHotel
14 Lexham Gardens, Kensington
Set on a calm street just off Cromwell Road, it’s three blocks from the Gloucester Road tube stop and a lively few blocks of cafes and restaurants. Kensington High Street, with its boutiques, is a 15-minute walk away, and Hyde Park is a half-mile down the road.
How much? Single or double rooms start at $57 per night. But you have to book months in advance to get that rate.
Best for: Backpackers who want to upgrade from a hostel for a night.
The details: One step inside this 34-room retrofitted Georgian townhouse, and I felt like crouching.
The lobby is a cubbyhole. The narrow stairway is a struggle to navigate with two bags. And our single room – all 50 square feet of it – probably had been a decent-size clothes closet in another life.
EasyHotel spares even many of the basics supplied in other budget hotels. The guest room furnishings consist of a functional bed covered with basic linens and a television hanging on the wall. Our room had no closet, table, dresser, clock, phone or window (only a couple of the rooms do). Two hooks and a tiny bit of floor space were the only provision for clothing, guidebooks, maps and papers. There is no onsite restaurant, no storage space for luggage, no telephone operator to take reservations or answer questions.
The orange bathroom, which consisted of a toilet, small sink and shower, reminded us of pay toilets: It had the same tight fit and sterile look. Soap was the only bathroom amenity provided.
This is what $57 – about as cheap as London hotels come – gets you. But after a full day’s activities, the downsides of the place will seem unimportant.
EasyHotel – brought to you by Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the same budget travel czar who created low-cost airline easyJet and discount cruise line easyCruise – has the compactness and mood of a youth hostel. This property, opened last year, will be joined by two more London easyHotels, scheduled to open by next year.
The room rate, which must be prepaid, starts at $57 for early bookers and ratchets up to around $85 depending on how near to your arrival day you reserve. We reserved five weeks before our trip and paid $67. But that gets you only a room. Optional maid service is $20 extra a day, while the in-room TV is $9.50 per 24-hour period.
But with that location, who needs TV?
Plus: The guests, often adventurous, who congregate on the front stoop.
Minus: The front desk, which seemed reluctant to offer even basic travel tips.
Info: www.easyhotel.com
Hoxton Hotel
81 Great Eastern St., Shoreditch
The nearest tube stop, Old Street Station on the Northern Line, is a couple of blocks from the hotel and a good half-hour’s ride from London’s major theaters, museums and other sights.
How much? Double rooms start at $141, but the average rate is about $195 per night.
Best for: Fans of the East End club and party scene.
The details: Discouraged at first by the Hoxton’s neighborhood – in transition from run-down to bohemian vibrant – we were drawn to the lobby. With its exposed brick walls, two fireplaces, bar and amusing faux taxidermy, it has a certain buzz.
The 205 guest rooms, while small, are bright and inviting, furnished with flat-screen TVs and comfy beds with Frette linen sheets. The bathrooms are large and have showers, tubs, nice towels and toiletries.
Breakfast – a bag with a banana, yogurt and orange juice, hung on guests’ doors in the morning – is included in the rate. Telephone calls, about 10 cents a minute to the United States, are a fraction of what other London hotels charge. The room fridges are stocked with complimentary milk and mineral water. Meals at the hotel restaurant run about $80 for two, though several nearby pubs offer far cheaper fare.
Opened in September, the Hoxton already seems to have a following. When we dropped in, the lobby was packed with travelers in their 20s to 40s from all corners of Europe and North America. The staff was young and eager to help.
Plus: The easy proximity to hot bars, pubs and dance clubs.
Minus: Noise from the corridor and other guest rooms.
Info: 011-44-20-7550-1000, www.hoxtonhotels.com.
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