I’m sending my Mother to London - Please help!!

[Dsdans]

Hello,

Hoping to gain some local / well travelled knowledge of central London. I’ve been looking around on Google and not getting very far!!

It’s a big birthday for my Mother this year and as such I’m trying to put together a nice, all expenses paid, trip to London - the highlight will be to see “We will rock you” at the London Theatre. She’s a huge Queen fan so hopefully this will go down a treat.

I am however slightly stumped as to which hotel to pick and where to send her for a bit of grub.

She has less knowledge of London than myself (I’ve only passed through) and has slight mobility issues so somewhere easy to get to via Taxi / Tube is preferred.
Can anyone please recommend any restaurants on the way? She loves things that are a little bit quirky. A 10 course taster menu would probably not be up her alley and would likely leave her peckish.

I’m looking for the hotel to be located near to Kings Cross as this is where her train will arrive to. I don’t want her to have to travel too far with bags etc. again, loves quirky places, google is only really returning my a range of premier inn’s / Travelodges etc.

Sorry for the wall of text, any advice appreciated. Budget for her and partner is around £500.

[BenjiA]

Slightly pricey option, but if you need a really nice hotel near Kings cross, try this.
https://www.marriott.co.uk/hotels/travel/lonpr-st-...

Spectacular building, right over the station, starts at £267 a night.

As for restaurants, for something special, you'll be looking for service rather than busy/Instagrammable, so a bit more old school I'd suspect.

Old school British;
https://rules.co.uk/

Trad French;
https://www.maisonfrancois.london/home/#menus

International bistro;
https://www.bobbobricard.com/soho/

One of the better things to do in London restaurants, is the Lunchtime set menu, all these have decent value ones, often half the price of evening..

Near the top of the Shard, amazing views
https://www.hot-dinners.com/Restaurant-Reviews/Sou...

Fantastic old church in the city.
https://www.hot-dinners.com/Restaurant-Reviews/The...

And 3 Celeb cheff offerings.
https://www.hot-dinners.com/Restaurant-Reviews/Wes...

https://www.hot-dinners.com/Restaurant-Reviews/Che...

https://www.hot-dinners.com/Restaurant-Reviews/Wes...

[BenjiA]

Two slightly cheaper hotels near Kings X

https://www.pullmanlondonstpancras.com/?y_source=1...

https://www.thegyle.co.uk/

[eps]

If you want quirky, then this place is great https://www.sarastro-restaurant.com

[Dsdans]

Thanks for all the responses so far.

The St. Pancras Renaissance looks absolutely fantastic, but the Tripadvisor reviews don’t paint it in the best picture. I think I’ll enquiry further however The Gyle does look like a nice back up. Has anybody stayed in either?

As for the food, cheers for the options.
I think Rules and Sarastro look more up her alley, so I’ll make a couple of enquiries.
She does love hearty Italian food however, so any recommendations there will help.


I’m in two minds whether to plan the whole day out for her, after departing the train around 10am. Any pointers on “must do’s” outside of the usual Madame Tussaud’s etc would be appreciated.

[eps]

Italian? Caldesi near Marylebone is good, but might not be a great location.

[sociopath]

Dsdans said:

Thanks for all the responses so far.

The St. Pancras Renaissance looks absolutely fantastic, but the Tripadvisor reviews don’t paint it in the best picture. I think I’ll enquiry further however The Gyle does look like a nice back up. Has anybody stayed in either?

As for the food, cheers for the options.
I think Rules and Sarastro look more up her alley, so I’ll make a couple of enquiries.
She does love hearty Italian food however, so any recommendations there will help.


I’m in two minds whether to plan the whole day out for her, after departing the train around 10am. Any pointers on “must do’s” outside of the usual Madame Tussaud’s etc would be appreciated

Anywhere other than Madame Tussauds would be my recommendation, it can also have huge queues which may be a challenge if she has mobility issues.

[unrepentant]

Dsdans said:

I’m in two minds whether to plan the whole day out for her, after departing the train around 10am. Any pointers on “must do’s” outside of the usual Madame Tussaud’s etc would be appreciated.

If she doesn't know London and is going when the weather is nice (and her mobility issues are minor) you might consider doing the open top bus tours. Some of them also include a boat trip from Westminster to Greenwich.

My wife is American and on a trip to the UK we bought a couple of tickets and spent the day hopping on and off the buses and did the boat tour. I was born in London but I really enjoyed it and found it very informative.

If she likes Art the National Gallery is fantastic and remarkably still free.

I always stay at the Langham or the Landmark. Both are handy for Kings Cross and the West End but they are not cheap.

[12TS]

If she can’t walk too we’ll be careful about trying to do too much. It can be tiring walking and catching tubes.

Personally the last place I’d want to go is Tussauds, it’s a bit of a dump around there, but it’s easy to get to Kings Cross on the tube if you do do it. Covent Garden may be a better bet, but YMMV.

Watch out for the strikes and engineering works.

This Italian I like. https://www.bancone.co.uk/ Soho is much bigger than Covent Garden.

[craigjm]

There is a five star hotel right next to the theatre on St Martins Lane. You might be able to get a deal on that. If she really wants to stay near King’s Cross then the great northern on the station is good. In terms of eating there are 1000s of places so need more info on budget and likes