Priceline Hotel: 4* London (Kensington-Earls Court-Knightsbridge) Holiday Inn Kgn Forum

[echo168]

I'm new to this post.

I need 6 rooms for 12 people in London Kensington area 2 nights April 26 & 27.

Hotwire's 4-star Kensington-Chelsea-Knightsbridge is $69 per night. Hotel's ammenities include fitness centre, restaurant, business centre, high-speed internet access. I researched previous posts and Holiday Inn Express Kensington is consistantly what Hotwire offers for 3.5-star. Would this 4-star be the previously 3.5-star hotel that was offered? Please help!!!

Also we need 2 beds for some of the rooms. What's the best way to guarantee we could get that?

Thanks.

[AaronJB]

Welcome to the site. :)

Unfortunately, HOTWIRE guarantees bedding for the amount of people - 2 people to HOTWIRE = 1 bed. If you searched for 3 or 4 per room, then you would be guaranteed bedding for 3 or 4 (whether it be 2 beds or bed + sofabed, etc.)

Do you absolutely need 2 beds in each room?

[AaronJB]

The 4* in question would be a match for what has been previously reported for the Ramada.

Please use the site's HOTWIRE link if you do decide to book this property.

[echo168]

We need 2 beds in some rooms, not all. If I put say 6 rooms & 14 people (althought there are only 12), then 2 of the rooms would have 2 beds?

I like the location of Holiday Inn Express Kensington. If I go for the 3.5-star Kensington hotel, would I get that?

[AaronJB]

If you indicate that you have 3 people in two of the rooms (6 rooms/14 people), you should be able to negotiate a pair of rooms with two beds with the hotel. If they are not willing to work with you, then you can call HOTWIRE and they should handle the situation.

There is no guarantee of getting a particular hotel on HOTWIRE - the service is best used for finding cheaper prices, it's not optimal when you want a particular hotel.

While there is a 3.5* in the Kensington - Chelsea - Knightsbridge area for these dates with the same amenities that the Holiday Inn Kensington has been reported with (: Restaurant, Fitness, Hi-Speed Internet, Business), there are also two other hotels that have been reported with those same amenities - so the 3.5* Kensington - Chelsea - Knightsbridge very well may be a different hotel than the HI and there is no way of knowing which is showing.

Also, the 3.5* Kensington - Chelsea - Knightsbridge that comes up when searching for 6 rooms, 14 adults for these dates is significantly more expensive than the 4* in the same area. Given that you can't know which hotel the 3.5* is, I'd rather not recommend spending quite a bit more on it when there's no certainty over which hotel it might be.

[echo168]

When I put 6 rooms and 14 people, I get a price of $102 for a 4-star Kensington. That is significantly more than 5 rooms for 12. What would be the next strategy?

I'll check out thelocation of the Ramada in Kensington. Thanks.

[AaronJB]

Unfortunately, the only other strategy would be to book conventionally, which would be more expensive. You could book with 6 rooms/12 people on HOTWIRE (which comes up with a lower price tag), but then you would not be guaranteed rooms w/2 beds; you would have to work that out with the hotel (and possibly the hotel could bring in something like a rollaway bed into one or more of the rooms, but that may be an extra charge.)

If you book 6/12, the hotel *may* be happy to work with you and there *might* be no problem, but unfortunately, there's no way to guarantee 2 beds with HOTWIRE.

[echo168]

Thanks for the all the help and info.

[echo168]

How about contacting the hotel after we purchased the rooms to work out the room configurations? What's the likely chance that the hotel will cooperate?

[AaronJB]

There's not a 100% chance (and you have to keep that in mind), but many people successfully negotiate two beds in different cities *if* the hotel has rooms with two beds available. You may have some leverage given the fact that you are a larger party booking 6 rooms. If rooms w/2 beds are more expensive, they may make you pay the difference between the two bed and single bed rooms. Again, it's definitely a risk, but you can try negotiating after purchase.

[echo168]

Since the saving is quite substantial, we would probably chance it. I'll have to talk to the people in the group. Thanks again.

[AaronJB]

Happy to help! :)

Let us know what you decide and if you have any other questions.

[WillTravel]

I won't guarantee anything, but my experience in London has been that a 2-twin-bed room is the most common configuration. I hope you are able to get that, but I think it's quite likely. Go to the likely hotel websites and see if there is a price difference for different sorts of bedding.

[Rhine-and-Roses]

We prefer two beds and have only had one problem not getting two beds at the same price in London. That was at the Sofitel St. James in late December, and there is NO WAY they could have fit two beds in the "box" they called a 5 star room. So, most of my experience is yes, they'll do it, but then just last month they wanted 50 GBP additional ($75) for twin beds.

I agree that with 6 rooms you SHOULD have some bargaining room, but not guaranteed.

[AaronJB]

I wanted to thank Willtravel and Rhine for their very helpful contributions to this thread. :)

[echo168]

There's a Ramada Hyde Park. Would that be the hotel in question?

The Ramada Hyde Park has twin-bed rooms and double-bed rooms. But when I proceeded with the actual booking, I could not select the twin-bed room. So I couldn't tell whether there's a price difference or not? I certainly would not want to pay 50 GBP more for the extra bed if need to.

I'll be securing the air tickets in a few days and we'll decide then.

[echo168]

Would this 4* Regent Park hotel be the Holiday Inn Camden Lock?

Hotel rate for April 26 is $74. Amenities: smoke-free rooms, business centre, fitness centre, restaurant, high-speed internet access.

Thanks in advance.

[MadFlyer]

The trip advisor rating matches and they show 130/130 non-smoking rooms now, so it should be the HI Camden Lock. I am getting a $52 rate on 26/4 for one night now.

[thereuare]

I have confirmed that the Holiday Inn Camden Lock is now also showing a Smoke Free icon and therefore matches the amenities above.

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

Let us know how it goes or if we can be of further help.

[echo168]

This is an update on our successful bid for the 4* Holiday Inn Kensington Forum in London.

Bid was in January: 6 rooms; 2 nights April 26 & 27; US$64 per room per night.

[thereuare]

Thanks for the follow-up!

Please remember to "close" your threads by posting whatever you end up doing for that stay... it's not only a courtesy to those who took the time to help with your purchase, but the information can also then help future users.

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

Thanks.