Sep 20, 2007
More tactics for overcoming the high prices of London
On the continent of Europe, prices are high but manageable. The American tourist will often discover that they are no worse than the rates of America's priciest cities: New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C.
The tabs in England are a different matter altogether -- they're positively depressing (which means, considerably higher than on the continent). A friend of mine, traveling with his partner and her parents, decided to rent an apartment in London after figuring out that a week in a flat for the four of them would cost about half of what two double rooms would have been at a Premier Inn (a reliably inexpensive, but bland, hotel chain).
He found a high-quality, extremely-comfortable and well-furnished "flat" (apartment) through VRBO.com (www.vrbo.com), though Rentalo (www.rentalo.com) and Coach House London (www.chslondon.com) also provided good leads. What's more, the apartment came with a free laundry room, one and ½ baths, a perfect location in the center of London half a block from a Tube (subway) station, and a full kitchen. This last feature, he found, was the key to avoiding pricey restaurant bills. They ate about half their dinners at home -- either take-out or home-cooked after a relatively inexpensive trip to a nearby grocery store.
In all, the four of them paid a total of £1,276 ($2,552) for a 9-night rental, which works out to £141.78 ($284) per night -- the equivalent of paying £70.89 or $142 per two people in a standard double room. The comparable price was that of the Premier Travel Inn Southwark (www.premiertravelinn.com) which, for the time period when they wanted the booking (July high season), was charging £125 ($250) per night for a double room. (For this autumn, Premier Inn charges around £95-£99 -- but apartment rates will have dropped as well.) In addition to the convenience of a kitchen and free laundry and such in the apartment, their total, meal-included expenses were at least 50% less -- and they found that even cheaper apartments were available.
If you're a group of three or four traveling together, consider an apartment rental in London.
Write and read comments about this post.
The tabs in England are a different matter altogether -- they're positively depressing (which means, considerably higher than on the continent). A friend of mine, traveling with his partner and her parents, decided to rent an apartment in London after figuring out that a week in a flat for the four of them would cost about half of what two double rooms would have been at a Premier Inn (a reliably inexpensive, but bland, hotel chain).
He found a high-quality, extremely-comfortable and well-furnished "flat" (apartment) through VRBO.com (www.vrbo.com), though Rentalo (www.rentalo.com) and Coach House London (www.chslondon.com) also provided good leads. What's more, the apartment came with a free laundry room, one and ½ baths, a perfect location in the center of London half a block from a Tube (subway) station, and a full kitchen. This last feature, he found, was the key to avoiding pricey restaurant bills. They ate about half their dinners at home -- either take-out or home-cooked after a relatively inexpensive trip to a nearby grocery store.
In all, the four of them paid a total of £1,276 ($2,552) for a 9-night rental, which works out to £141.78 ($284) per night -- the equivalent of paying £70.89 or $142 per two people in a standard double room. The comparable price was that of the Premier Travel Inn Southwark (www.premiertravelinn.com) which, for the time period when they wanted the booking (July high season), was charging £125 ($250) per night for a double room. (For this autumn, Premier Inn charges around £95-£99 -- but apartment rates will have dropped as well.) In addition to the convenience of a kitchen and free laundry and such in the apartment, their total, meal-included expenses were at least 50% less -- and they found that even cheaper apartments were available.
If you're a group of three or four traveling together, consider an apartment rental in London.
Write and read comments about this post.
Labels: accommodations, london
Fifty years ago, 
Arthur Frommer is generally acknowledged to be the nation's foremost travel authority. He is the founder of the
