Recommendations for cheap hotels for seven in London & Scotland?

I have myself, my wife, four kids (ages 9 to 17), and a friend of the
family who are all planning a 12 day (or so) trip to England &
Scotland. It's our fourth time going over, but the most we've had is
six, which was *VERY* tough to get rooms where we could be
accomodated. I'm sure I'll have to go with two rooms on this trip,
but I'm DESPERATELY trying to keep the cost down. Any suggestions on
how I might be able to work this out? We've stayed in Travel Inn's,
and they're fine (you spend so little time in your room anyway, so who
cares if they're small?) But I don't want to plunk down 100-120
pounds per night for two rooms. Any ideas on deals I might find?
B&B's that might be "kid-friendly"? Coupons? I'm willing to try
anything!

Any suggestions would be very much appreciated!!!
Thanks!
Steve

Since you are keen on saving costs, I would consider hostels.
YHA is often a good option (although expensive in London).
In many instances, kids are only half-price.
A group booking might even work out.
Those family members who needed to be together in one room could be,
and others could go in the dorms (or possibly you could get two family
rooms).
If you do this, definitely plan and book ahead.
I don't think this option will be terribly cheap, but perhaps cheaper than
any other alternatives.

Start by looking he http://www.hihostels.com

Other than that, the only suggestion I can think of is camping.

Traveler


"Steve" wrote in message
om...
I have myself, my wife, four kids (ages 9 to 17), and a friend of the
family who are all planning a 12 day (or so) trip to England &
Scotland. It's our fourth time going over, but the most we've had is
six, which was *VERY* tough to get rooms where we could be
accomodated. I'm sure I'll have to go with two rooms on this trip,
but I'm DESPERATELY trying to keep the cost down. Any suggestions on
how I might be able to work this out? We've stayed in Travel Inn's,
and they're fine (you spend so little time in your room anyway, so who
cares if they're small?) But I don't want to plunk down 100-120
pounds per night for two rooms. Any ideas on deals I might find?
B&B's that might be "kid-friendly"? Coupons? I'm willing to try
anything!

Any suggestions would be very much appreciated!!!
Thanks!
Steve

In article , Steve
wrote:

I have myself, my wife, four kids (ages 9 to 17), and a friend of the
family who are all planning a 12 day (or so) trip to England &
Scotland. It's our fourth time going over, but the most we've had is
six, which was *VERY* tough to get rooms where we could be
accomodated. I'm sure I'll have to go with two rooms on this trip,
but I'm DESPERATELY trying to keep the cost down. Any suggestions on
how I might be able to work this out? We've stayed in Travel Inn's,
and they're fine (you spend so little time in your room anyway, so who
cares if they're small?) But I don't want to plunk down 100-120
pounds per night for two rooms. Any ideas on deals I might find?
B&B's that might be "kid-friendly"? Coupons? I'm willing to try
anything!


Well, that's quite tough - especially for London. I am not familiar
with Scotland, but for London, the only way you can pay less than 100
pounds per night for 7 people is to stay outside of zone 1. If you are
there for a few days, a weekly rental rate on apartments in zone 2 or 3
(or 4 even) would be my only suggestion. If you stay close to the tube
station in these areas, it should be convenient anyway.

Otherwise, hostels may be an option. Depending on the area and the
dates of your travel, you can probably find some places with 7-bed
dorms under 14 pounds a night. It'll take some research, but not
impossible if you're flexible enough. Do a search on www.hotels.com
and see what you can find (some of them are ensuite even...).

Hope this helps...

-Vicky

In article , Vicky
wrote:


Otherwise, hostels may be an option. Depending on the area and the
dates of your travel, you can probably find some places with 7-bed
dorms under 14 pounds a night.

Ugh...surely I meant 14 pounds per person, per night...

Cheers,
Vicky

Has it crossed your mind to hire a Motor Home (RV to Americans)? Solve
transportation and hotel problems in one go.

"nobody760" wrote in message
...
Has it crossed your mind to hire a Motor Home (RV to Americans)? Solve
transportation and hotel problems in one go.



Its hardly likley to be cheaper though

Not only is motorhome rental considerably more expensive
than car rental but you spend a lot more on petrol and
unless you stay on primitive sites there are site fees to
pay as well.

Unless you are planning to get out into the woods
its generally not a great idea.

Keith

Steve wrote:

I have myself, my wife, four kids (ages 9 to 17), and a friend of the
family who are all planning a 12 day (or so) trip to England &
Scotland. It's our fourth time going over, but the most we've had is
six, which was *VERY* tough to get rooms where we could be
accomodated. I'm sure I'll have to go with two rooms on this trip,
but I'm DESPERATELY trying to keep the cost down. Any suggestions on
how I might be able to work this out?

Where in Scotland?

Thank you both for the replies. We don't need to stay in "London".
As long as we're close to the tube, that'd be fine. As a matter of
fact, the last time we went, we stayed with friends who live in
Chesham (about 40 miles from London?). We just trained in and it was
fine. Actually, the great thing was: we didn't actually "Stay with
them", because they rented a flat. Literally two doors down, there
was a vacant & empty flat (with heat/electricity/water) that we rented
for a week for 100 pounds. So that was a steal!

Anyway, I'll look into the sites mentioned. I'm not too keen on the
idea of a hostel, only because it's a bit rough for kids and not
necessarily the funnest way to stay over there. I wonder if we could
pre-book B&B's that might give us some sort of discounts for two
rooms? Wondering if anyone else out there might have had such luck...

Thanks!
Steve

Vicky wrote in message ...
In article , Vicky
wrote:


Otherwise, hostels may be an option. Depending on the area and the
dates of your travel, you can probably find some places with 7-bed
dorms under 14 pounds a night.

Ugh...surely I meant 14 pounds per person, per night...

Cheers,
Vicky

"Steve" wrote
| Anyway, I'll look into the sites mentioned. I'm not too keen
| on the idea of a hostel, only because it's a bit rough for kids
| and not necessarily the funnest way to stay over there.
| I wonder if we could pre-book B&B's that might give us some
| sort of discounts for two rooms?

You can always ask. However most B&Bs will only have twin rooms with the
possibility of a triple, so you'll still be paying for 3 rooms.

Depending on *when* and *where* you are going (which you haven't said) your
cheapest (and you did that that was important) is probably either going to
be hostelling - with an extended family group of 7 you stand a good chance
of getting a dorm to your group in many hostels - or possibly university
campus accommodation with 6-8 single bedrooms in a student flat. However the
district tourist boards have comprehensive lists of B&B and self-catering
accommodation and others on this group have asked the TIC to suggest
accommodation to meet desired criteria and been happy with the results.

www.syha.org.uk has details of the SYHA youth hostels, including Carisbrook,
a haunted castle
for university accommodation try Googling for holiday accommodation (and
variants) .ac.uk to get sites in the UK Academic domain or
http://www.external.stir.ac.uk/visit...eaks/index.php

Owain

--
www.stirlingcity.org.uk

Not too far up into the highlands. Likely, we'd only go to Edinburgh,
Stirling, and the surrounding areas. We would probably only stay in
Scotland for a few days - 3 or 4.

I guess in general, I'm trying think of ways I might get discounts
(for example, if I stay in Travel Inn's every night, could I get some
sort of break? I'm asssuming they're independantly owned, so I doubt
it).

I'd like to hire a car as well, but with seven people, we're looking
at a large passenger van. I've been to the UK enough times to know
that passenger vans + tiny roads = scary drive + expensive.

I'm not trying to be insanely cheap, I should mention. I was just
hoping to keep my hotel costs down to $100 to $150 USD per night.

Viemeister wrote in message ...
Steve wrote:

I have myself, my wife, four kids (ages 9 to 17), and a friend of the
family who are all planning a 12 day (or so) trip to England &
Scotland. It's our fourth time going over, but the most we've had is
six, which was *VERY* tough to get rooms where we could be
accomodated. I'm sure I'll have to go with two rooms on this trip,
but I'm DESPERATELY trying to keep the cost down. Any suggestions on
how I might be able to work this out?

Where in Scotland?