I couldn't help but notice how many FOG members are from the UK - my husband and I are traveling to England to see an exhibition at the V&A (http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/p/postmodernism-style-and-subversion-1970-1990/) and wondered if anyone can recommend a reasonably priced hotel, inn or b&b in London?  I also wanted to know if the distance between London and the Lake District is prohibitively far by train? And where to stay in the Lake District?  Please let me know. 

I used to live in Buckinhamshire as a Fulbright Scholar LONG ago so am excited to be returning. 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Wendy

or email me at wendy@wendymaruyama.com

i dont know about others but i stayed in the hilton in london. not sure where exactly it is . they were the smallest rooms i saw in any hotel ever . for the same price per person etc we stayed in a 4 star room in a converted villa in italy

Wendy, here is Guy's profile page:

http://festoolownersgroup.com/profile/?u=7941

London hotels are generally very expensive for what you get, and rooms are small.. the law of diminishing returns applies for sure, so to avoid disappointment I would go for something basic and functional, paying to try and get something nice will probably lead to disappointment. Am sad to say this BTW, bust having lived in London for 15 yrs that has been my experience. If possible I would recommend trying to stay around an area called the Southbank, it run along the Thames south of the river from the house of parliament up to Tower Bridge. It’s a lovely walk along the Thames, loads of bars and restaurants along the way, you have the London Eye, Southbank Centre, Gabriels Wharf, Tate Modern, Shakespeare Globe theatre, Borough Market, Hayes Galleria, London Assembly, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, Butlers Wharf etc all within a nice 30mins walk.

You have place like the following.. expect to pay about £120-150 a night if booked in advance
http://www.premierinn.com/en/hotel/LONCOU/london-county-hall which is right by the London eye, opposite the House of Parliament, 10 mins walk to Trafalgar square over the bridge at Charing Cross station, a further 5 to Leicester square or Covent Garden
http://www.premierinn.com/en/checkHotel/SOUANC/london-southwark a bit further along
http://www.premierinn.com/en/checkHotel/LONTOW/london-tower-bridge near Tower Bridge
http://www.novotel.com/gb/hotel-3269-novotel-london-city-south/index.shtml half way along

As far as B&B, they can be a mixed bag, and have never stayed at one in London.. but would check trip advisor travellers reviews and photos first! Note that people tend to review things because they either love or hate them.. so you miss out on all those who were content

As far as the Lake District goes, trains leave hourly from London Euston to Kendall, take about 3 hours and cost from about £80 per person return

Hope this helps

Thanks everyone, I have found a B&B through Alistair Sawday website. I think we may not go to the Lake District afterall, at least not this trip.  I had not realized how far North it is.  Since we want to avoid renting a car this time, I think we will just take trains outward from London.

Thanks again,

Wendy

These are the   Premier inns  I steady in and the one Holliday In when I was working in London! Holliday In was the best one because it had a Gym which was good instead of going out drinking waisting money I just earned!! 12 hours a day


Premier Inns I stayed in and they where all fine the hammersmith one wasn't as good as the others

http://www.premierinn.com/en/hotel/LONOLY/london-kensington-olympia

http://www.premierinn.com/en/hotel/LONKEN/london-kensington-earls-court

http://www.premierinn.com/en/hotel/LONHAM/london-hammersmith


The Holliday In is a little more upmarket from the Premier inns i stayed in in london
I cnt find the hotel at the moment Holliday Inn web site is RUBBISH!  but its the one near the Olympia  on the same road just next to Waitross

  


This was one of the jobs we was working on in London  the Guy with the Bag them two house behind him we knocked them together  and another floor added below ground level so it  had massive steels put in to hold the building up temp so the entire building was floating for a while the job was crazy but da is another story!   any way I think the houses are worth a few million

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=SW5+9QJ&hl=en&ll=51.491698,-0.164323&spn=0.00668,0.017295&sll=51.496775,-0.20462&sspn=0.427478,1.106873&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=51.491561,-0.16406&panoid=sRuQqhMZj7-xXFRSwoRY4A&cbp=12,208.88,,0,17.18


This job is just up the road from the other job cnt remember how much it was but I can remember it being something near 25million I think.    The white house on the right and the  brown house on the left they look like separate  houses and suppose they are but they are together he owns both
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=SW5+9QJ&hl=en&ll=51.488425,-0.174816&spn=0.006681,0.017295&sll=51.496775,-0.20462&sspn=0.427478,1.106873&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=51.488333,-0.174734&panoid=EvyMHx-Ani3R6TAIIjLKMg&cbp=12,241.21,,0,4.7

Holy crap, control yourselves!  There will be enough Centrotec sets to go around.