Priceline Hotel: 4* London (Finsbury-Islington) Hilton Islington

[gimme4starbaby]

I have business in SOHO/Westminster through Tuesday and tried (unsuccessfully) up to $105 for areas surrounding, starting at $80 and moving to $105 and 5 total areas immediately around SOHO. After looking on Hotwire, they have LHR 4* hotels for $69 a night, but according to that forum, it's the Crowne Plaza, which means I'll spend $15 a day just getting to/from the rail station by paying for a shuttle. Nice hotel but...

Anyone have experience in this? Could I likely get a hotel closer than LHR for $70 a night if I try again using all areas in the city on Friday? Or even by calling all the hotels since this is a slow-ish season and weekends generally are dead? I'm only requiring a Friday-Tuesday stay, so I'd imagine most hotels would LOVE to book me for the equivalent of $50 a night Fri-Sun and $110 for one night Monday. And when I say most, I would include ones closer to SOHO.

All I'm really interested in is:

1) having a hotel that has immediate access to a tube -- my new office in London is convenient to Piccadilly Circus and Oxford Circus stations

2) the closer to those stations the better

3) nice bonus would be close to tourist attractions, restaurants and shopping

Do most LHR hotels offer free internet? Do many in-city 4* hotels offer free internet?

[thereuare]

Exactly which zones have you bid and/or are acceptable to you?

Have you considered SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID?

[WillTravel]

I think $50/night in central London is an impossible dream for any night, even for a 2* on Priceline. Travelodge UK sometimes has deals in that price range, but probably not at this late date.

Also, would you consider bidding for a 3*?

I'd include the Baker's Street-Regents Park and City areas, which are further out than the most central zones, but much better than the Crowne Plaza near Heathrow.

[gimme4starbaby]

Had to expand many times in the $70-80 ballpark, was initially trying for just Friday-Sunday but when I expanded to all areas except the airport I included my 4th night (Monday). Per the moderator's suggestion of splitting my bids to ensure better odds I figured I wouldn't get a Friday-Tuesday stay for $70-80 as I was having very little luck. THRILLED with the bid and the hotel. Location is incredible, excellent access to tubes, restaurants, SOHO, etc. My business is on Oxford Street and is a nice 2 mile walk or just a short tube or bus ride away. Hilton is clean and service is excellent, although I'll admit the bed is incredibly stiff.

I wish the hotel also had better choices on internet. In-room access is something like 15 pounds per day, and BT's per-day price is 10 pounds for wireless access (only visible in the lobby so I'm stuck working in smoke or trying to work at a Starbucks or Borders which are both very busy in this area). If you're on holiday, you'll be THRILLED with the location. I'm just having a hard time working as much as I'd like, which in most circumstances would hardly be a complaint.

I'm a huge fan of Brazilian restaurants and should note there's one within about a dozen shops of the hotel. If you want to eat there, get reservations -- I couldn't get in my first night as a walk-in, they're booked as I'm sure many others are on Fridays and Saturdays here. This area has excellent night life.

[gimme4starbaby]

Not sure why mod isn't seeing my link usage but I have clicked through the HOTWIRE link when checking prices with them, and clicked the betterchecker.com link as well. Thanks to the mod and all contribs to this board, very useful. To support the board let's all be sure and use the links provided here to support the growth as well as spreading the word. Cheers. And to mod -- sorry if I somehow didn't properly use the links. I use tabbed browsers that may or may not have used the right tab to show a click-through or placed the right cookie. I'll try to use no other tab than the one I follow through your site in the future and appreciate your tireless efforts :)

[Newbie2006]

just out of the curiousity, did you bid 81 for the first time and got accepted right away? I think this is a nice hotel too so I am trying to score this hotel as well. As I notice hotwire has this hotel for 99/night so 81 bucks is a really, really good price! Enjoy your stay