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You are here: Home / Family Vacations / Family Vacations in London / 5 Reasons Why AirBnB is the Best Lodging Choice for Families in London

5 Reasons Why AirBnB is the Best Lodging Choice for Families in London

August 14, 2017 //  by Cathy Bennett Kopf//  1 Comment

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Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
  • 1. Located Steps from Heathrow Airport via the Tube
  • 2. Staying at an Airbnb - Feel Like a Brit Within Minutes
  • 3. Gathering Places Made Airbnb the Best Family Lodging Choice in London
  • 4. Live like a Local in a London Airbnb
  • 5. Getting Around is Easy for Families in London

Planning a family trip to London? The most important decision you’ll make is where to stay. There are plenty of hotel rooms (over 149,000!), but Optimism TravelingMom suggests you consider booking a flat with Airbnb. She thinks it’s the best lodging choice for families. Your first question may be “Why?” Your second? “What’s a flat?”

Choose an Airbnb in London then start walking to see the sights like Parliament and Big Ben.
Getting some of the best views in London, like this one of Parliament and Big Ben, requires walking. Photo: Cathy Bennett Kopf/Optimism TravelingMom
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you click through and buy, TravelingMom may receive a small commission at no additional charge to you.

My adult children are very lucky. They have jobs. The downside though is that their employers sometimes send them thousands of miles away from Mom and Dad to work. And, while FaceTime is better than no time, it’s still not the same as an in person hug. So we packed up the family to visit my son who was working in a seaside village in England. We decided to meet up in London before heading to the coast.

One of our daughters was joining us too, so I started looking for 2 rooms for 4 adults in Central London.

I began with the chain hotels where I have memberships such as Marriott and Hilton. Of course, I didn’t have enough points for free rooms, but each had a number of properties in prime locations.

Best lodging choice for families in London is an Airbnb near the best sights to see.
The challenge in London is finding a place to stay near the sights, like Westminster Abbey, but not too close to herds of tourists. Photo: Cathy Bennett Kopf/Optimism TravelingMom

I had two problems, though, with booking a hotel in London: price, convenience, and tourists. Room rates at 4-star properties in prime locations were priced at $300 per night and I was going to need 2. For family chit chats, we’d need to gather in one of those rooms or in the hotel lobby. And, chain hotels in London were bound to be full of American tourists. We’ve earned our reputation abroad as “ugly Americans” because of the behavior of large packs of Yankees traveling together.

So I scrapped the hotel option and searched Airbnb. I’ve had wonderful prior bookings with Airbnb in Paris and NY’s Finger Lakes.

I was fortunate to find a 3-bedroom flat in my price range in South Kensington, one of London’s upscale neighborhoods. I booked it and crossed my fingers, hoping that reality would meet my expectations.

Fortunately, our Airbnb rental was perfect. Here’s why I think Airbnb is the best lodging choice for families in London.

1. Located Steps from Heathrow Airport via the Tube

After taking an overnight flight from the States, an American family wants hassle-free, inexpensive transit from the airport to your accommodations. Our Airbnb flat in South Kensington was a 4-minute walk from the Gloucester Road tube station on the Piccadilly Line. The ride was about 35 minutes and cost 6 pounds. The hardest part was remembering to look the opposite way when crossing the street. 

TravelingMom Tip: In addition to the Tube connection from Heathrow to Central London, there’s a 15-minute train option, the Heathrow Express. It’s another option if you’re in a hurry to get touring. But it costs twice as much.

Choose an Airbnb in London, the best lodging choice for families, then explore the city using the Tube.
The London tube system is easy to navigate and an inexpensive option for exploring the city. Photo: Cathy Bennett Kopf/Optimism TravelingMom

2. Staying at an Airbnb – Feel Like a Brit Within Minutes

Nothing will make you feel more like a local than referring to your flat in the mews. For those of you wondering what I’m talking about, a flat is an apartment and a mews is a street of former stables converted to residences. They are charming, with cobbled streets, and quiet nights, since they’re tucked behind the auto roads.


Drool over the gorgeous luxury flats for rent in London, then find one in your budget. An Airbnb is the perfect place to stay for families in London.
Our London Airbnb flat was a converted garage with the coolest front door I’ve ever seen. Photo: Cathy Bennett Kopf/Optimism TravelingMom

3. Gathering Places Made Airbnb the Best Family Lodging Choice in London

When traveling with my family, I prefer to stay in a place that feels like home. And the heart of any home is the kitchen. Having access to one, especially a well-equipped modern one like our Airbnb in London, made it easy for us to plan our touring for the day while enjoying a home-cooked breakfast. That helped reduce trip costs.

The best lodging choice for families in London is Airbnb with a big kitchen and dining area.
With a modern kitchen and large dining table, my family had room to spread out in our London Airbnb. Photo: Cathy Bennett Kopf/Optimism TravelingMom

4. Live like a Local in a London Airbnb

I chose my Airbnb because it was located in a neighborhood. My old neighborhood, to be exact. I’d lived in London for 6 months and part of the excitement about our trip was that I’d get to show my kids the streets I wandered when I was their age. We drank pints in my old pub and ate our meals in small restaurants recommended by our Airbnb host.

Visiting local pubs is a fun part of staying in an Airbnb, the best lodging choice for families in London.
I’d be embarrassed to admit how many pubs I visited during our London stay. The beer is just so darn good. Photo: Cathy Bennett Kopf/Optimism TravelingMom

5. Getting Around is Easy for Families in London

We learned the ins and outs of riding the Tube quickly so we could get where we needed to go on time. Missing the Changing of the Guard in front of Buckingham Palace would have been a drag. We also relied on the cheapest form of transportation around – foot power. Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, the Royal Albert Hall, Natural History Museum and Harrods were all within easy walking distance.

Taking the tube from our Airbnb to Buckingham Palace was easy and made our flat the best lodging choices for our family.
Where are the red coats? Apparently, the Buckingham Palace guards get cold too and wear these grey uniforms in winter. Photo: Cathy Bennett Kopf/Optimism TravelingMom

Perhaps my favorite reason to use Airbnb is to indulge my vice for house porn. Even if I have no intention of using Airbnb for my trip, I still log in and search for high-end residences. I daydream about staying in a manor house and pretending to be Lord and Lady Grantham.

Alternatively, I drool over sleek, contemporary flats with walls of glass. My own home is a comfy (read: dog- and kid-friendly) colonial, brimming with stuff. In my fantasy life, I live like a mod hipster. And that’s what vacations are to me – a chance to live out a dream.

If you could live in a dream house for one night, would you choose a city penthouse, country castle or something else? Tell us in the comments!

Visiting the Tower of London is fun and easy when you stay at an Airbnb in London.
Not smiling today. Or ever. But it was fun trying to break him down. Photo: Cathy Bennett Kopf/Optimism TravelingMom
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Category: Destinations International, Family Vacations, Family Vacations in London

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1 Comment on “5 Reasons Why AirBnB is the Best Lodging Choice for Families in London”

  1. Cathy Bennett Kopf, Optimism TravelingMom says:
    August 16, 2017 at 6:00 am

    5

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