Priceline Hotel: 4* London (Regents Park - Baker) Hilton Metropole

[titi818an]

$80.00 at 4* Hilton London Metropole. 2/18 - 2/22/05. It was accepted as 1st bid. Wonder if they would take lower.. however, I am happy as the website is 75 pound a night; with the current weak dollar, it is a pretty good deal, I think :)

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Thank you for posting and sharing your winning bid with the rest of the board.

Enjoy your stay.

[LoneStar]

It seems like we've been seeing some reasonable European hotel prices still come up on priceline, despite the obvious weakness in the dollar. Gosh, it almost makes Europe affordable.

Too bad you can't bid for meals, subway rides and museum admissions. :)

[WillTravel]

At least in London the museums are almost all free!

I've known some people to bring all their food with them, but that might be taking economy too far.

[LoneStar]

"I've known some people to bring all their food with them, but that might be taking economy too far."

Good God! :) How much could fish & chips be? I've heard the tube is almost 4 bucks a ride, though.

Frankly, with these priceline rates, I'd be willing to put up with "being poor" if I at least had decent weather. It seems like the airlines have gotten pretty smart, though, and it's hard to find those $200-$250 plus tax fares to Europe after March. I'm not so inclined to pay a $500 airfare if I'm going to be poor upon my arrival. In that case, I think I'd rather spend my foreign vacation dollar in Asia or South America and wait for the dollar to strengthen (and of course domestic US travel is very cheap right now given the combo of VERY low domestic airfares and priceline).

[lwitchel]

Oh, food is very dear in London, but it's not THAT bad (maybe it's because I'm from New York. . .)

The tube is about 1.60 GBP for a ride and less if you buy multiple tickets or day passes.

When I stayed at the Holiday Inn Forum in Kensington there was a minibar in the room with space for your own stuff and I just kept bread, and sandwich fixings (ham, cheese) in the hotel. I don't really like eating all meals out - I wouldn't do it when I was home - it makes me feel more normal to grab a salad and a yogurt for a quick lunch on occasion. Of the supermarkets, Waitrose was a bit more expensive, but the food was also better.

I'm going to London again in June, but also Buenos Aires in April. Hey, with Priceline, my hotel in London will STILL cost about the same as my hotel in BsA! And NYC-EZE is at least $600 and usually a good deal more r/t - I'm going at the end of May and NYC-LHR is still only $525 with taxes.

[LoneStar]

When I stayed at the Holiday Inn Forum in Kensington there was a minibar in the room with space for your own stuff and I just kept bread, and sandwich fixings (ham, cheese) in the hotel. I don't really like eating all meals out - I wouldn't do it when I was home - it makes me feel more normal to grab a salad and a yogurt for a quick lunch on occasion.

Yes, very true. A great way to reduce restaurant costs in Europe is to buy some meals at a market instead of a restaurant. My recollection is that most grocery store food is not subject to the local VAT (usually around 20%), so the price differential can be even more sizeable than in the US.

A number of years ago Rick Steves pointed me towards the Rue Cler on the Left Bank in Paris, and it's a great pedestrian market for foodstuffs. Buying from the local merchants is at least as fun as going to a restaurant, and you get a feel for what it's like to actually live in the city. While Rue Cler is probably one of the best street markets, all European cities seem to have them, at least on certain days.

[kayess]

The current exchange rates really do make eating out prohibitive here (UK) compared to the US. I was dreading my credit card bill after our recent visit to New York & Boston - we'd had quite a few 4* hotel breakfasts and meals in decent restaurants and paid numerous attraction entry fees. When I plucked up courage to open it the amounts everything seemed brilliant value. So I can imagine how it feels the other way round.

But as someone's already said, most of London's wonderful museums & galleries are free and WELL worth visiting. And using the tube isn't bad if you buy travel cards. (