I find myself there a fair bit now and the train is silly money for just 5 hours of work – it would make much more sense if I could drive down and stay over to work a decent shift.

The office is in Westminster and options there are understandably spicy for hotels and parking, so I’m thinking there may be places I could stay and park within walking distance of the, office – say 3 miles max. Idea being to drive down, park up for reasonable money or free with accommodation, stroll to the office and return later for sleepy. Then repeat in reverse next day and drive back…..

Is that laughably unfeasible? I know naff all about the lovely capital, so any thoughts welcome 🙂

Which side of London will you be hitting? TBH having worked in the city, Pimlico and Vauxhall I’d avoid driving in central London if at all possible and get the train and that’s with just a seven mile commute in.

From the north, 200 miles away. It takes 3.5 hours door to door on train from home, so even allowing 5 hours+ for driving  it makes much more financial sense (£260 v £40 in fuel + the extra 3 hours time).  It just hinges on  whether I can make the cost of dumping the car for 36 hours work, which I’m prepared to walk for.

In your position I’d be surfing Airbnb for starters.

There is a FB group that offers rooms to rent for short or long periods, normally it’s Mon-Fri with no weekend stay over.. Normally family owned spare room or loft room.. I’ve some (now) ex-collegues that use it and they’ve been very fortunate in that each place they’ve stayed in has been very well appointed and clean and quiet.. you do hear of scare stories but these seem to be banded about by nay-sayers.

I’d avoid AirBnB because its expensive, so maybe the FB group is an option… worth seeking out..

I’ll ask a mate who uses it, he will give the exact name of the group.. unless you fancy searching for it..

You may be better off finding a base further afield – somewhere like Hemel Hempstead which is about 30 minutes by train but accommodation will be somewhat cheaper – £45/50ish for a premier inn if booked far enough ahead. It would take an hour or so to get to westminster but would save many £££

The airport hotels usually have free parking, and fairly quick trains in if you fancy a half/half…

Three miles from Westminster is still zone 2/3 on the tube.

Try Justpark and Hotwire for a cheap parking and no name gamble hotel booking, or FB group mentioned. No mans land area with no tube stop under Southwark / right of Kennington on tube map should be easy to get into Westminster from with a chance of parking.

AirBnB or ring “The Collective” Old Oak lane to see if they will do you a deal for semi regular use of a guestroom. Standard rate is 50 a night and it is LOADS better than a premier inn, closer to a four star hotel. Send me a PM if interesred.

Because you are coming from the north that means your 3 m radius crosses central London. I would bring a commuting bike and increase the radius to 5 miles which would give you much more options. A bit further out still there is a big holiday Inn on the both circular near Golders green. Easy drive from the north then jump on the tube.

Bit of a tangent but i used to do cat sitting in london, best job in the world.  Paid for my london stays for 10 years and i did not really have to do anything.  Cats have now died sadly so i have to stay in hotels….

Have you considered commuting from Luton? East Midlands run a fast train from Luton airport parkway to st Pancras which is 20 minutes. Choice of cheap hotels due to the proximity of the airport.

That FB Group is a closed group so you have to ask to join, it’s called: London/House/Flat/Spare Room to Rent

HTHs.

Stevenage hotels are cheap and 20 min to kings x. Or ,have look at the hotels dotted around the a1/ m1 /a406. Quite a few ~15 min walk to the northern line.

Thanks all – too many suggestions to respond to individually but given me lots of pointers, all of which I’m looking into thanks.

(“The collective” is an amazing deal – food for thought if I consider a permanent post in London in the future!)

There is a car park just behind Victoria (1 Winchester St ?) which is about £25 a day (allegedly if you lose your ticket you are charged for 1 day which is handy if you park there for a week 😉 ). Its outside the C-charge zone and a shortish walk / easy bus ride into Westminster.

Out of holiday season you can find simple (ie a bit crap) hotels for £45-50 a night in that area.

Don’t be put off by the lack of direct parking at the collective, plenty of legal sneaky parking nearby. Let me know if you go for it, you’ll make a lot of mates there in the evenings. It can get like something out of Archer (the cartoon series) when knocking back whiskies…..we even have a barman who was a waiter to Ion Iliescu.

I used to be in a similar position with a once a month to every six weeks trip down to HQ in London. When I couldn’t stay with mates – which was my usual MO –  I’d book a Travel Lodge or similar cheap hotel in North London, drive down from the Peak District and get the tube into town.

It wasn’t a beautiful experience. I did not experience a community of like-minded souls – well, apart from other slightly bored and pissed off commuters – but it had a bed and a bathroom and a lock on the door.

When I stayed with mates I’d occasionally take a cross bike down with me and commute in on that, but never bothered on the hotel front. It never really occurred to me to stay in central London.

I guess it depends on your expectations and how often you have to go down there. If you have friends in London, I’d make some gentle exploratory moves. A nice bottle of wine, food etc go down well and it’s a lot more pleasant than staying in some anonymous hotel. Plus you get to catch up with your mates. Depends on frequency of visit a little I guess and having some friends in the capital.