Posted June 23, 201014 yr Good morning. I have a two week business trip to London coming up and I need help on places to stay. I know we have some world travelers on the UO forum. I am staying one week in the Mayfair area and the second week in a suburb of London called West Ruislip. Can anyone recommend hotels to stay in either two areas. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
June 23, 201014 yr I've always stayed in Central London, and my favorite neighborhood to stay in is the Paddington area. The B&B's are affordable and well run (I always get a B&B that serves breakfast and has wifi, both as part of your room cost), it's a vibrant neighborhood with lots of restaurants and shops, a tolerable amount of grit, and connected to lots of transportation (the tube, city buses, and National Rail trains, including the train to Heathrow). I checked http://www.transportdirect.info/ to see what transportation is available from London Paddington area to West Ruislip and discovered you can take two Underground lines to get there in less than 40 minutes. I believe West Ruislip is on the same line as Mayfair. EDIT: The Royal Norfolk was very basic, very tiny but affordable and clean and it served breakfast. It is only a block from Paddington Station. The Hyde Park Radnor was nicer and also served breakfast. It also had an elevator (many places do not). The Oxford on Craven Terrace was nice, but was longer walk from Paddington. And then there was Quality Crown Hotel London Paddington we stayed at across the street from the Paddington train station yet is a quiet hotel. It was very modern and has a full restaurant. Do not confuse this place with the Quality Crown Hyde Park which is several blocks away, and thus is farther from Paddington Station. I wandered into it by mistake last year. It's a nice hotel, but like I said, farther from transportation services. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
June 23, 201014 yr Thanks so much KJP. That is all very useful information. I am going to look into both the Quality Crown Hotel London Paddington and the Hyde Park Radnor. Also, thank you for giving me an estimate on the time it would take me to get from central London to West Ruislip. If it is that short, then I may stay in the Paddington area for the whole two weeks.
June 28, 201014 yr If you're an urbanist, I think you would be happier staying in the Paddington area of Central London than you would in West Ruislip. Spend some time walking around the Paddington area, such as to the canals area to the north of Paddington Station, the many shops, pubs and restaurants around the station, and to huge Hyde Park that's about a 10-minute walk south of Paddington Station. You can also visit much of Central London using the Circle Line that loops around the center city and hits many attractions and intersecting tube lines and national railway stations. The ride on the Tube to West Ruislip wouldn't be any cheaper than riding on a National Rail line (in this case Chiltern Railways). The reason is that the rail fares are the same on different rail services as long as they are within the same two zones within the jurisdiction of London Transport (called an Oyster Line). So if you get an "Oyster" transit pass for the zones you will be traveling from the Paddington area (Zone 1) to West Ruislip (Zone 6), it doesn't matter which rail line you take -- the fare will be the same. And you will find that there are several different routes you can take but some will have better connections (timing and location-wise) than others. The rail system in London, between the Tube lines, Regional lines and National Rail lines is downright sick. But it looks like your best options are to take the Hammersmith Line (Tube) from the Paddington-Bishop's Bridge Tube station (north end of Paddington railway station) to the Wood Lane station, then walk from there to White City station (it's shown as a dedicated pedestrian connection between the two stations) on the Central Line which has a branch that goes out to West Ruislip. The other option, though not as good, looks like taking the Bakerloo Line (Tube) from the Paddington-Praed Street Tube station (south end of Paddington railway station) to the Marylebone Station then ride the Chiltern Railways. But it doesn't look like their reverse-commute schedules to/from West Ruislip are too frequent (about hourly as most Chiltern trains pass nonstop through West Ruislip): http://www.chilternrailways.co.uk/plan-your-journey/download-our-timetable/ The Metropolitan and Piccadilly Tube lines also run out to the Ruislip area, but I don't know how close these get to your ultimate destination. Looks like taking the Hammersmith to the Central is your best bet. Here's some info on the West Ruislip station: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Ruislip_station Here is a good rail map of London. Notice that I selected a map that shows more than just the London Underground (Tube) lines. It also shows the Regional/National Rail Services too (these are all of the Oyster transit pass area of London Transport) and shows the Oyster zones.... http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/oyster-rail-services-map.pdf I found that map here: http://www.londontoolkit.com/briefing/maps.htm BTW, before I forget, when booking a room, did you know that if you book a room on the first floor it would be on what we call the second floor here in America? In Europe, the first floor is called the ground floor, then they start counting floors above the ground floor. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
June 28, 201014 yr Another option that may involve less walking (at Paddington and at Wood Lane/White City) is to take the First Great Western trains from Paddington railway station to Greenford, then make a cross-platform transfer to the Central Line Tube (which is above ground here) which will take you the rest of the way out to West Ruislip. The First Great Western trains run every 30 minutes throughout the day in both directions.... http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Documents/Custom/May%20TT%202010/GW10M_TT10_WEB_(1).pdf This looks to be the easiest option. But it might be fun to try different routes and explore. You will get on a wrong train or head in the wrong direction, but as long as you have an Oyster pass and don't go beyond your allotted Oyster zones, it's no big deal. Consider it an adventure. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
June 28, 201014 yr I can't remember where I stayed the first time in London, but it was the most I ever paid for a dingy room though! plus the entire world seemed to be taking spring break in the rooms around us. Anyway, I will comment that I agree with KJP staying near Paddington is nice and convenient and I believe more of the affordable areas. Tripadvisor it is an excellent site for hotel reviews. Very user friendly site.
July 7, 201014 yr We stayed at the Darlington Hyde Park: http://www.darlingtonhotel.co.uk/ and I would stay there again. It was affordable, clean, very safe & close to the tube. Rated 65 out of more than 1000 hotels on tripadvisor: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g186338-d214639-Reviews-The_Darlington_Hyde_Park-London_England.html. Have fun!
July 8, 201014 yr Good morning. I have a two week business trip to London coming up and I need help on places to stay. I know we have some world travelers on the UO forum. I am staying one week in the Mayfair area and the second week in a suburb of London called West Ruislip. Can anyone recommend hotels to stay in either two areas. Any help would be greatly appreciated. What is your budget and what are your after work plans?
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