Accommodation for Tourists in London is Apalling

Posted on 2007/06/07 22:33:22 (June 2007).

[Tuesday 5th June]
Chie made burgers (served in bagels) for dinner, which were very nice indeed.

The majority of the evening was then wasted in a futile pursuit of trying to find some reasonable accommodation in London. Chie's family are coming to visit in a few weeks' time and we can't quite fit everyone in our flat, so need to find a hotel room or something. Trying to find one is a really frustrating experience though - the "economy" places are still actually really expensive, and you know they're going to be a complete fleapit. Anything other than "economy" is stupidly expensive. I guess if you're all excited at the prospect of coming to London you don't care where you stay, and I think the fact that London hoteliers take advantage of this is precisely what annoys me. For us, we already live here, and Chie's family have already been before, so it really winds me up that we have to pay a silly amount of money for a crappy hotel "because it's in London".

It surprises me that London is still such a popular tourist destination, given this. Whilst I really like the city - there is a certainly lot to do - I don't feel like any of the attractions here are so breathtakingly fantastic that someone from another country should feel they absolutely must see them. Given that just about every other city in the world is significantly cheaper, it does make one wonder what keeps all those people visiting in their droves every year.

Hmmm. This is sad because it seems to imply that "we" think people from other countries are "dumb" or "stupid" and will not notice they're being completely ripped-off and treated so badly. No wonder the fact we are "British" doesn't seem to mean much, worldwide, as it used to...

Posted by Nigel at 2007/06/08 06:54:03.

Guys it's the same all over the world. In Florence it's even worse under certain points of view, being used to live in a very touristic place you get used to "tourists traps" and the like. London is the same with the addition that the economy has been stable/good in recent years so prices have risen constantly...

Posted by Lox at 2007/06/08 07:24:29.

Doesn't the Dolphin hotel do a discount as you have one of the flats? Worth asking. Or even if you can use one of the flats undergoing refurbishment. After all, I think the Moriwaki's would only be sleeping there, they are likely to spend their waking hours with you, aren't they?

And you should NEVER pay the rack rate, you should always try some blag. After all, look at your success in airplanes...

Try the Youth Hostel Association - they have gone upmarket and changed all previous policies.

Posted by Mum at 2007/06/08 09:19:36.

how many people do you think live in london

Posted by nigel at 2007/07/09 11:39:32.

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