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Hotwire Hotel: London Hotels on Hotwire


like2cruise
By like2cruise,
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My husband and I are planning to join our daughter at the end of June and part of July in Europe as she is studying Spanish in Alicante!! Our kids have so many great opportunities anymore don't they? :) Anyway, After reading hotel after hotel review it seems that in London the Holiday Inn Kensington and Holiday Inn Forum (now called South) see to be the most affordable for us and actually get pretty good reviews. We have never been to Europe so I have tons of questions, but will not try to bombard you with all of them. I am debating between booking directly with the hotel as it will allow 3 in a room or bidding on Hotwire and getting 2 rooms. My biggest question is are all the taxes included in the price shown or will I be paying the 17 1/2 % VAT taxes directly to the hotel at check out? Is it typcial for Hotwire to allow me to only purchase one room at a time? Would it work to use 2 different computers and 2 different charge cards and purchase 2 rooms simultaneously? Any additional information anyone would like to share about hotels they recommend in London and Paris much appreciated. The other option is the Thistle Marble Arch which seems to be a common and cheap win on Priceline. Is there the risk of getting a bad hotel in out attempts to bid on that hotel. We are primarily interested in spending less than $250.00 a night for the 3 of us in an area close to transportation to the tourist sites and having breakfast included is a plus. We do not need lots of amenities as we will not be in the hotel much, just want friendly, clean and air conditioned. Thanks so much for your help!!

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All the taxes are included with the purchase. I'd advise being very careful about phone calls in London hotels, but otherwise there should be no extra charges.

What prices are you seeing on Hotwire? Hotwire should allow you to purchase two rooms at once. There's an option for that. However, you have to be sure you have it selected so there's one adult in each room.

If you are lucky and get one of the $55-60 rates that people have been getting for some 4* hotels on Priceline, I think you might be better off with getting two rooms on Priceline rather than one on Hotwire, so long as your daughter is happy having her own room.

Everyone has a different favorite area of London to stay. The risk with 4* bidding in the Kensington zone is the Hilton Olympia, which is not quite as convenient as the others. Some people do not like all of the 4* hotels in the Bloomsbury - Marble Arch zone. But I think all meet basic acceptability requirements. I think the most convenient, nicest zone is Mayfair-Soho - however, I've been very happy with hotels in several other zones because I didn't want to pay as much.

You can't be sure of getting the same hotel if you purchase two rooms on two computers at once. If you want two rooms, get them in a single purchase.

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Thanks WillTravel for your help. I guess I goofed, but at least I caught my goof before purchasing. I thought the hotel on Hotwire was The Holiday Inn Forum ($88.00) so I was all excited, but when I look at the packages to confirm I realize it would need three icons showing for this property and on Hotwire it is showing only 2 icons. I could not determine the hotel with just the two icons as it didn't match anything in the package section. On Hotwire, I was putting 2 rooms and 3 adults and it would not show anything available in the Kensington area for 2 rooms booked at the same time. At this point I think I would be disappointed with Priceline if I did not get my intended hotel...so I may hold off as the Olympia doesn't seem to get fabulous reviews. So you like the Soho area? I can get the Waldorf Hilton on Hotwire for $110.00. If that included the VAT taxes which you seem to indicate it would, that would be close enough to my budget, which continues to increase each day I research. Any personal experience with this hotel? Location is really, really important. Want a grocery store, tube station and lots of PUBS nearby :) Thanks again and I really appreciate your time and effort!

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Like2Cruise, I meant the final figure you see on the screen is what you will pay. It will be more than $110/night (or whatever). If you see an amount of $110 on Hotwire, follow through for a couple of screens to see the total amount for your stay. My guess is that the $110 will end up being around $127 total (just a rough guess).

It seems that if you do a lowball bid in the Bloomsbury Marble Arch zone, you will *probably* get the Thistle Marble Arch, but at least one other hotel (probably less desirable - the Novotel Euston) has shown up at a similar price point.

I haven't stayed at the Waldorf Hilton, but almost everyone seems to praise it highly.

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