Which Budget Hotel to choose in London?

St James's Park Lake– East from the Blue Bridge - 2012-10-06

Working in the worlds first 5 star floating hotel has its perks! You train yourself in becoming a five star employee but it also has its drawbacks when you visit any other hotel be it leisure or business!  

 Why? It's simple, working in a luxury hotel you get to see how a hotel should be classed and what features it should have! For this same reason I decided to write this post which relates to two Budget hotels located in London!

Photo by DAVID ILIFF. License: CC-BY-SA 3.0

The Battle of these Brands... Travelodge or Premier Inn? 
The Travelodge Convent Garden and the Premier Inn at Gatwick North Terminal! In the last few years I have seen how Travelodge has re-branded themselves to become number one in budget hotels, to be honest they are doing a great job at it! There in room amenities are great for leisure travelers who are on the go and simply use the room to relax after a long day in London Town!  

Premier inn has really outdone themselves at Gatwick Airport! Neighbours with the Sofitel. The budget hotel is wonderful! From check inn to check out! Wow! There is even a guarantee that you will get a good nights sleep or your money back! I doubt they have to repay much with these standards! 

Which Hotel would I chose, if I could only pick one? 
Premier Inn in my opinion is in the lead of budget hotels for these simple but effective reasons! 

1. Free standard WiFi as opposed to Travelodge in Central (£3.00 for 24 hours) 

2. Check in service is 5 star! Everyone is very attentive - they even called us a while later to check all was OK with the room.  

3. Restaurant at Premier Inn is incredible! The offering is superb and was packed on the night we stayed there! Travelodge restaurant is by no way bad, but just not that good! Go for one of the Burgers at Premier Inn. 

4. The new king size beds at Premier Inn are comfortable and pillows have a mix of soft and harder options! 

Why did I choose them both? Because they were both perfect for my needs. 
Travelodge in London cost us £50.00 a night. A Hotel cost us £50.00. In London. A Night. 




You really cannot get much better than that right in the centre of this capital city. The closest station to this hotel is Holborn or Covent Garden and because it is so perfectly situated in the hustle and bustle of the town, we never had to get trains for shopping at Oxford Street or for great food and nightlife at Leicester Square. Superb! 








Premier Inn at Gatwick cost us £49.00 a night, but long gone are those student days when we used to sleep at the airport to get that 07:10hrs flight back to Gibraltar. For £24.50 each, we could relax in the hotel, enjoy those amazing burgers, shower, rest and get up at 05:30hrs for that flight. Yepp, this hotel is literally at the doorstep to Gatwick's North Terminal. Avoid that airport rush! 













How can you get to these hotels?

Travelodge Covent Garden, London 

We arrived to Gatwick North Terminal and got an over ground train into London Victoria. We then got the Underground to Covent Garden and walked about 2 minutes to get to the hotel. 







Trains to and from London are frequent and the system is pretty easy to use. From St Pancras Station it cost us £10.20 each and trains were every 15 minutes. 









Premier Inn North Terminal, Gatwick 

All trains get you to Gatwick South Terminal, so make sure you jump on the free shuttle to the North Terminal. Literally come out of this shuttle and walk towards the terminal, turn right at the end and take the lift one floor down. Cross the road. You're there. Easy!  






Which would you pick?







Even though this is a matter of taste and opinion my sway leans to Premier Inn as an all round budget Hotel both for leisure and business stays! 

Tell us which chain you prefer? We would love to hear your thoughts!!

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