Budget hotel chains - any tips ?

Gaditano · 23/12/11 - 16:38

I need to book a hotel room for a couple of nights in a part of London where there only seem to be the cheaper hotel chains. I've stayed in Travelodges before and survived (!!) but I haven't tried any of these before, so what comparisons would you make between a Travelodge and these three:

Premier Inn, Ibis, Novotel

Thanks!

DaisyBumbleroot · 23/12/11 - 17:02

Theyre better than Travellodge, but not by much. If its just a bed for the night you might as well thats ok though.

Chizzleface · 23/12/11 - 17:02

Is there an etap nearby? They're pretty good.

[Deleted User] · 23/12/11 - 17:05

Have you looked at booking.com or laterooms.co.uk at hotels in the area, compared the prices and read the reviews for each hotel?

LostFool · 23/12/11 - 17:06

There's nothing wrong with most of these hotels chains as long as all you want it a bed for the night and a shower in the morning. There's no point in paying £150-200 for a hotel in London if you are only going to be in the room for 6-8 hours and they are certainly more reliable than going for an unknown B&B.

I'd rate Premier Inn just above Travellodge but there are good and bad outlets of both. I typically wouldn't put Novotel into the "budget" range as they are more likely to be middle market such as a Holiday Inn or Best Western.

What part of London are you looking at?

[Deleted User] · 23/12/11 - 17:11

Avoid travelodge at kingscross and marlyebone both like hostels, full of idiots roaming the corridors all night. I have had better hospital rooms

Gaditano · 23/12/11 - 17:27

LostFool wrote: »

What part of London are you looking at?

It's Greenwich, and although there are non-chain hotels they're booked up on the nights we need to stay.

Sounds like the Novotel might be the one to go for. Any thoughts on Ibis ?

dids858 · 23/12/11 - 18:33

Never pay full price for Travelodge Farringdon. Trapped in the 70's

If you dont mind 20 mins on the train Croydon or Edminton are cheaper and are fine and close to station.

Docklands & city airport are close to DLR stations.

if your looking central try southwalk or Waterloo

richard cranium · 23/12/11 - 18:45

Days Inn and Ramada have a few London sites, from £45 per night upwards.

TomGrant · 23/12/11 - 20:10

Holiday Inn Express and Hampton By Hilton tend to be the best economy hotels. They may seem a bit more expensive, but you get what you pay for.

[Deleted User] · 24/12/11 - 00:33

look for reviews for the ones you are choosing between. We have stayed at travel lodges and premier inns, all were ok, but some more modern than others -premier inn was better.

LostFool · 24/12/11 - 14:01

fickrick wrote: »

Avoid travelodge at kingscross and marlyebone both like hostels, full of idiots roaming the corridors all night. I have had better hospital rooms

And avoid any hotel near Kings Cross which charges by the hour...

[Deleted User] · 27/12/11 - 21:50

I stayed in the Travelodge next to Euston Station last year. Chose it purely because it was a special offer room, £150 between 2 of us, for 3 nights, would've been mad to turn it down! Highly recommended, not as noisy as expected with main station nearby, and room was everything you'd expect from a travelodge, clean, tidy etc.

Also stayed in an Ibis near Aldgate East earlier this year. Wasn't quite as cheap, but room was a bit nicer but on the downside, the tube was slightly harder to navigate with less lines going through there, although we managed just fine.

pugamo · 27/12/11 - 21:54

Have a look at tripadvisor.com, should be able to help you make an informed judgement.

[Deleted User] · 27/12/11 - 21:58

ibis are ok some better than others but i have stayed in various ones

[Deleted User] · 28/12/11 - 00:46

I've been very happy with Ibis - in the Accor Hotels group with a decent app and website, generally good coverage of hotels from budget on up across Europe

Roger More · 28/12/11 - 01:03

Gaditano wrote: »

Budget hotel chains - any tips ?

Dearest Flower if you really must, I suggest that you take one of these along with you.

Glen · 28/12/11 - 01:42

Travelodge really do take the concept of a budget hotel to extremes. Some of their newer hotels are quite nice and everything is fresh and new, but older buildings are often worn out and tired looking eg rusty shower rails, stained shower curtains, worn furniture and they seem more reluctant to replace worn bedding so flat pillows are all too common a feature of Travelodge.
Also, the standard of housekeeping is a bit hit and miss, sometimes it's fine sometimes things are missed.
And, I don't know if this applies to all their hotels, but certainly in some they are doing no housekeeping on Christmas day and new years day - seriously a hotel with no housekeeping.

Premier Inn are in the same price range yet manage to keep their hotels looking fresh and the housekeeping is usually better and just generally feels like a proper hotel whereas Travelodge just feels like a room and nothing more.

tortfeasor · 28/12/11 - 02:46

LostFool wrote: »

There's nothing wrong with most of these hotels chains as long as all you want it a bed for the night and a shower in the morning. There's no point in paying £150-200 for a hotel in London if you are only going to be in the room for 6-8 hours and they are certainly more reliable than going for an unknown B&B.
... I typically wouldn't put Novotel into the "budget" range as they are more likely to be middle market such as a Holiday Inn or Best Western.

The part in bold is something that's flummoxed one of my really good friends whenever we've gone away to London for a weekend with other mates - he's always spending a fortune on the hotel when the rest of us are at the most paying £40-60 for a stay in a reasonable hotel. Hell I've paid around that to stay in a 4* hotel in London before on one of those last minute websites.

If, as LostFool wrote, you are spending the least amount of time in the hotel room for your trip than the rest of the trip in total, it really doesn't make sense to fork out over £100 a night.

I agree that I would put Novotel into the middle market range of hotels. Personally the Novotels I've stayed in have been great so I'd go for the Novotel. They're also part of the Accor family - Etap and Ibis are two examples of Accor's budget/economy hotels.

Whenever I'm booking hotels in London, I've ended up going through the London Travellers' Toolkit site. They do a very good guaranteed 'mystery/undercover 4* hotel' rate if you ever need to stay around Heathrow or don't mind staying in Heathrow and commuting. I think they do it for some of the other areas of London/Greater London too - worth a check; I can safely say after booking hotels this way for the last 5 trips to London, I'll be doing it again next time. I've never paid more than £58 a night and I've stayed in a 4* hotel every time.

dslrocks · 28/12/11 - 11:47

The Etap is pretty good if you need somewhere to rest your head for a few hours. The mattresses are a little rubbish (and thin) but if you're looking for a place to sleep for the night that's clean and relatively comfortable it'll do, but if you are expecting 4* accommodation and a mini bar then forget it. But it's certainly better than staying in a dodgy B&B.

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Budget hotel chains - any tips ?

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