Wigmore Court Hotel

Okay, a lot of people warned me that my hotels weren’t going to be everything I ever wanted, but I had a plan. Find affordable hotels in fairly central locations, at least to public transportation, with at least decent online ratings. I figure I’ll be lucky sometimes and unlucky sometimes. I’ll let you know as I go along.

First up, five nights at the Wigmore Court Hotel in London. I have a room with a twin bed for 68 pounds (around $111) a night. If you’re familiar with London, then you know that the price is hard to beat. How’s the hotel? I’ll rate by category:

Affordability: $111/night in London. I’d call that pretty damn affordable.

Location: The hotel is about halfway between Regents Park and Hyde Park in the western part of town. It’s a short walking distance to shops on Oxford Street and walking distance to several tube stops on several lines. This morning, I was able to walk to the British Museum in about 25 minutes and could have subwayed there much quicker if I wanted to save some time. All-in-all, I’m pretty happy with it.

Convenience: Well, I do have a bathroom and shower with my room, which I fear I may not have in every hotel on my trip. There is also a free English breakfast every morning from 8 am to 9:30 am and I do love the sausages and tomatoes. There’s an alleged wifi network, but I can only get it to work in spurts. It is free, though, so that’s a plus. Not fancy by any means, but if it’s true that you get what you pay for, I’m pretty happy with what I’m getting for the price. One big problem is that there is no elevator. Wouldn’t be a problem if I didn’t have 75 pounds of stuff to bring up four flights of stairs (my room is actually on the top floor, beyond the fire escape exit – so if there’s a fire, I guess I’m safe unless I start it myself), but I do. Oh, well. I’m only bringing it upstairs once and bringing it down should be quite a bit easier.

Cleanliness: Now, those of you who know me well know that I’m not really all that picky. Even with my, let’s call it tolerance, I find the bedding to be a little sketchy. Beyond that, though, the room is rather clean, though the rest of the hotel seems to be in various states of repair and improvement. I’d give it a passing grade, though not through the roof.

Staff: I haven’t had much interaction, but they seem friendly and helpful.

Overall: I would never dream of recommending this hotel to a couple on a honeymoon or any other type of romantic getaway. If you are just looking an inexpensive and convenient place to store your stuff and get some sleep while you’re in London, though, I think this fits the bill very well.

Lucky or Unlucky: I think it’s about what I expected from what I read and I’m happy with that. I’ll call it good choice.