Best London Hotels, Pound for Pound

Looking for a really good price on a hotel room? Try Arizona in August, Alaska in February, New York in about 1962. But if it’s London you want to see, brace yourself.

The city, humming these days with post-recession liveliness, is a wonder. But in the way of New York, Paris, Rome and other world capitals in 1996, its hotel rooms are costly. Last month I spent a solid week inspecting smallish (fewer than 100 rooms) London hotels between $80 and $250 a night.

Fifty hotels later, I have come up with 20 of the best for value and style, along with a few broad conclusions.

One: Even London tourism officials admit they have a shortage of mid-range hotels. But if a traveler is determined and willing to lay out $150 to $250 per night, he or she can find comfort and all sorts of stylish touches.

Two: Those who pay less than $100 nightly have many hotels to choose from, but just about all of those hotels have small, frumpy rooms. These rooms often lie within converted row houses from centuries past, frequently four-story buildings with narrow stairwells and no elevators (when booking rooms, remember that in England, a first-floor room is one story up). In these budget hotels, most of which are grouped around the city’s main rail stations, there’s a good chance that your bathroom is a shared facility down the hall.

Three: Even if you’re spending $100 to $150 and have a private bathroom, it is likely to be tiny, cheaply made and outfitted with a shower but no tub. (That odd contraption on the wall in just about every room, the trousers press, may not be much comfort.) If you want even a little style, you’re almost certain to spend $150 nightly or more.

For those ideologically opposed to spending $150 for a place to sleep, a small, frumpy hotel room is not the end of the world. And for the American who hasn’t traveled much in England, there may be unexpected comforts. For instance, many small hotels offer free continental, buffet or even full English breakfast for free, which amounts to a value of $10 to $20 per day.

Among the 20 hotels that follow (listed alphabetically), I chose 10 for value--those that charge under $150 a night for at least some of their double rooms--and 10 for style--those that charge between $150 and $250 per double.

Rates quoted here are for a room for two with private toilet and shower or bath. (Prices were computed at $1.55 per British pound.) Unless otherwise noted, room rates include the VAT. Most hotels offer single rooms (which can be astonishingly tiny) for about 20% less than double rooms. All rates are subject to change. To reach London from the U.S., the phone and fax numbers below must be preceded by the digits 011-44-171.

Top 10 for Value

Arran House Hotel, 77-79 Gower St., WC1; telephone 636-2186; fax 436-5328. Tube stop: Goodge St. 28 rooms (16 of them with shared bathrooms). Stands in a converted 200-year-old Georgian home on a hotel-lined street in Bloomsbury near the British Museum. Four stories, no elevator. Garden-facing rooms in back are quieter. Rooms utterly glamourless, but clean. About $95 nightly; MasterCard and Visa accepted, but not American Express. Full English breakfast included.

Bryanston Court Hotel, 58 Great Cumberland Place, Marble Arch, W1; tel. 262-3141, fax 262-7248. Tube stop: Marble Arch. 55 rooms. Smallish rooms, not much character and lackluster location--but it’s got elevators and a handsome lobby and public rooms, which are rare at this price. Back rooms quieter. About $140 nightly; major credit cards accepted. Continental breakfast included.

Delmere Hotel, 130 Sussex Gardens, Hyde Park, W2; tel. 706-3344, fax 262-1863. Tube stop: Paddington. 39 rooms. Among perhaps three-dozen budget-oriented hotels on Sussex Gardens, two blocks from Paddington station, this is the standout. It gets lots of business travelers (hence weekend discounts aimed at filling rooms on weekends). Compact lobby, but bright, clean, professional. An elevator serves its five stories. About $145 nightly, reduced to $125 on weekends; major credit cards accepted. Continental breakfast included.

Fielding Hotel, 4 Broad Court, Bow St., W2; tel. 836-8305, fax 497-0064. Tube stop: Covent Garden. 24 rooms. For the unfussy theater hound. You’re steps from the Covent Garden opera house and blocks from the theater district. Four stories, no elevators, with budget furnishings. Night life nearby. About $125; major credit cards accepted. Breakfast excluded.

Gresham Hotel, 116 Sussex Gardens, W2; tel. 402-2920, fax 402-3137. Tube stop: Paddington. 38 rooms. Five floors, served by elevator. Compact, tidy, with many rooms done up in bold colors. The second-place finisher in my Sussex Garden sweepstakes. About $120; major credit cards accepted. Continental breakfast included.

James House/Cartref House, 108 and 129 Ebury St., SW1; tel./fax 730-7338 (James) and 730-6176 (Cartref). Tube stop: Victoria. 10 rooms in the James (nine sharing baths), 11 in the Cartref (three sharing baths). Nominally two different hotels, but they stand across the street from each other and are operated by the same couple. Each has four floors, no elevator. Very clean, very professionally run. If I had a college-age child visiting London for the first time, this is where I’d send him or her. About $95; major credit cards accepted. English breakfast included.

Jenkins Hotel, 45 Cartwright Gardens, WC1; tel. 387-2067, fax 383-3139. Tube stop: Russell Square. 14 rooms (six sharing baths). A modest building (a Georgian home converted in the 1920s) in care of conscientious on-site owner-managers. New carpets, drapes, interior redecoration to be finished in coming weeks. Four floors, no elevator. About $95; MasterCard and Visa accepted, but not American Express. English breakfast included.

Mabledon Court Hotel, 10-11 Mabledon Place, WC1; tel. 388-3866, fax 387-5686. Tube stop: Russell Square. 31 rooms. A bland 20th century building, formerly affiliated with neighboring University of London. But it has elevators and stands next to a pub on an otherwise quiet block. Popular with business travelers. About $100; major credit cards accepted. English breakfast included.

Swiss House, 171 Old Brompton Road, SW5; tel. 373-2769, fax 373-4983. Tube stop: Gloucester Road. 16 rooms (three sharing toilets). Warm and inviting, despite its location on busy Old Brompton Road. Garden-facing rooms in back likely to be quieter than those up front. No. 205 has a nice view of greenery. Five floors, no elevator. About $105; major credit cards accepted. Continental breakfast included.

The Willett, 32 Sloane Gardens, SW1; tel. 824-8415, fax 730-4830. Tube stop: Sloane Square. 19 rooms. Handsomely furnished rooms in an elegant, leafy residential neighborhood near trendy Sloane Square. About $125 to $180, VAT excluded; major credit cards accepted. English breakfast included.

Runners-up: St. Margaret’s Hotel (26 Bedford Place, Bloomsbury; tel. 636-4277, fax 323-3066) has 64 rooms (only seven with private baths), clean rooms, pleasant management and rates of about $100 for double rooms with private toilet, about $80 for those without; English breakfast included. But St. Margaret’s takes no credit cards. Nor does the nearby Morgan Hotel (24 Bloomsbury St.; tel. 636-3735, no fax), which has 14 small, tidy rooms (each with private bathroom) and rates at about $110, English breakfast included. The Mornington Hotel (12 Lancaster Gate, W2, near Marble Arch; tel. 262-7361, fax 706-1028), with 68 rooms (all with private bath) and a Swedish-flavored management, clientele and breakfast menu, comes in at about $155 nightly (buffet breakfast included), just a shade beyond my arbitrary best-value limit.

Top 10 for Style

Academy Hotel, 17-21 Gower St., WC1; tel. 631-4115, fax 636-3442. Tube stop: Russell Square or Goodge St. 36 rooms, with 12 more to be added by December. A block from the British Museum, and a cut above most lodgings in bookish Bloomsbury. Handsome modern interiors, youthful, lively atmosphere, occasionally undercut by uneven service, including sluggish phone work. Most rooms air-conditioned. About $155 to $220; major credit cards accepted. Breakfast excluded.

The Cranley, 10-12 Bina Gardens, SW5; for U.S. reservations tel. 800-553-2582, or in London tel. 373-0123, fax 373-9497. Tube stop: South Kensington. 37 rooms. Distinguished decor behind a nondescript exterior, good location near lively Old Brompton Road. The kitchenettes are an unheard of option in a London hotel. About $185 to $220; major credit cards accepted. Breakfast excluded.

Dorset Square Hotel, 39-40 Dorset Square, NW1; tel. 723-7874, fax 724-3328. Tube stop: Marylebone. 37 rooms. An agreeable marriage of old-fashioned and newfangled design (one room’s wallpaper features pink pigs against a field of yellow) in a new-feeling hotel, though it’s actually several years old. A two-acre park is handy, but the immediate neighborhood is dull when it comes to restaurants or shopping. Some rooms air-conditioned. About $180 to $210, excluding VAT. Breakfast also excluded.

Durrants Hotel, 26-32 George St., W1; tel. 935-8131, fax 487-3510. Tube stop: Bond Street. 92 rooms. Wood-paneled, old-fashioned hotel that dates back to 1790. Some rooms air-conditioned. Large and numerous public rooms. Immediate neighborhood quiet, but bustling Oxford Street is a few blocks away. About $165; major credit cards accepted. Breakfast excluded.

Five Sumner Place, 5 Sumner Place, SW7; tel. 584-7586, fax 823-9962. Tube stop: South Kensington. 13 rooms. Calm surroundings in South Kensington, with a cheery skylighted breakfast room. Five floors, served by an elevator. About $155, VAT excluded. Continental breakfast included.

Hazlitt’s, 6 Frith St. W1; tel. 434-1771, fax 439-1524. Tube stop: Leicester Square or Tottenham Court Road. 23 rooms. An upscale writerly redoubt, once the 18th century home of essayist William Hazlitt. Close to theater district and popular with publishing and entertainment types, enlivened by whimsical design details. Five floors, no elevator. Sitting-room bookcase includes autographed volumes from past guests including Roddy Doyle, Susan Sontag, Marianne Faithfull. About $215, excluding VAT. Breakfast excluded.

L’Hotel, 28 Basil St. SW3; tel. 589-6286, fax 225-0011. Tube stop: Knightsbridge. 12 rooms. Hidden elegance, French Country design and a sleek restaurant (Le Metro) adjoining. L’Hotel is the quieter, more affordable sibling of the neighboring Diplomat hotel and just the place for someone launching a shopping expedition to Harrods, about 300 yards away. About $195, excluding VAT. Continental breakfast included.

Number Sixteen, 16 Sumner Place, SW7; tel. 589-5232, fax 584-8615. Tube stop: South Kensington. 36 rooms. Made up of four Victorian townhomes, which have been rehabilitated with an elevator and sophisticated, bold interior colors, including a very red reading room and a modest garden in back. About $220 to $265; major credit cards accepted. Continental breakfast included.

Portobello Hotel, 22 Stanley Gardens, W11; tel. 727-2777, fax 792-9641. Tube stop: Notting Hill Gate. 22 rooms. Quirky furnishings gathered from all over, including the nearby Portobello Road antique trail. Nine “special” rooms with claw-foot tubs and other striking features (including one above-bed mirror). Air-conditioning in most rooms. About $210 to $220, with special rooms beginning around $275. Major credit cards accepted. Continental breakfast included.

White Hall Hotel, 2-5 Montague St., WC1; tel. 580-2224, fax 580-5554. Tube stop: Russell Square. 60 rooms. A block’s walk from the British Museum. Opened in June after an eight-month renovation. Public and private rooms all brightly hued and spotless. Pleasant private garden with cafe tables. Outfitted with elevators, air-conditioning, round-the-clock room service. About $230 to $265; major credit cards accepted. Breakfast excluded.

Runners-up: The Pembridge Court Hotel (34 Pembridge Gardens near Notting Hill Gate; tel. 229-9977, fax 727-4982) has 20 rooms, two house cats (Spencer and Churchill), a family-friendly atmosphere, and a site handy for Portobello Road antique-seeking. Its rates run about $185 to $250, English breakfast included. The 27 rooms of Blooms Hotel (7 Montague St. in Bloomsbury; tel. 323-1717, fax 636-6498) are upscale, colorful and convenient to the British Museum. They fetch $230 to $280, English breakfast included. Tophams Ebury Court (28 Ebury St. near Victoria station; tel. 730-8147, fax 823-5966) has 40 well-kept, traditionally decorated rooms (20 sharing baths) and rates of $180 to $195.

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How These Hotels Were Chosen In choosing my 20 favorite London hotels for value and style, I leaned toward lodgings whose rooms included private baths, even if they cost a bit more.

I also limited myself to hotels within the London Underground system’s Circle Line, which encloses the core of the city and most of its visitor attractions.

I chose 50 hotels to inspect after talking to travel agents, tourism officials, hotel professionals and frequent travelers to London, including Jennifer Dorn, whose New York-based company, “Oh, To Be in England,” (telephone [212] 255-8739) offers itinerary planning for $200 to $300.

Among the more than a dozen London guidebooks I scanned, the most useful and detailed lodging information was in Sandra A. Gustafson’s “Cheap Sleeps in London” (Chronicle Books, 1994, $10.95; updated edition due in January).

Of course, there are dozens of perfectly good lodgings that go for between $80 and $250 a night but are not listed here because they didn’t stand out as appealingly as my favorites or because I didn’t get a chance to see them.

More information on London is available from the British Tourist Authority; tel. (800) 462-2748.

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Top 10 for Style

1. Academy Hotel

2. The Cranley

3. Dorset Square Hotel

4. Durrants Hotel

5. Five Summer Place

6. Hazlitt’s

7. L’Hotel

8. Number Sixteen

9. Portobello Hotel

10. White Hall Hotel

Top 10 for Value

11. Arran House Hotel

12. Bryanston Court Hotel

13. The Delmere Hotel

14. The Fielding Hotel

15. The Gresham Hotel

16. James House / Cartref House

17. The Jenkins Hotel

18. Mabledon Court Hotel

19. Swiss House

20. The Willett

* MORE HOTELS: Three of London’s newest luxury lodgings. Page L14