Earlier this evening I went along for a chat with the people from Tune Hotels, the Malaysian and Indonesian chain who have just opened their first British location in a modern building just across the bridge from Westminster, and down the street from Waterloo station.
Their concept, which to my knowledge is unique, is to provide some luxury features at a very good price, while charging for the extras that you tend to get in hotel rooms but which you might not need, such as replacement towels, TV, using a hairdryer and so on. They boast that their beds and showers are of a five star quality, while their prices are rock bottom, and rooms do start at £35 a night if you book far enough in advance, rising to about £80 or so if there are only a few days to go before you’re planning on arriving. That is, if you can get a room at all as although they’ve only been open a few months, apparently the hotel is very popular. Every once in a while there’ll be a promotion, where prices start at around £9, which you can find out about by following @tunehotelsUK on Twitter or keeping an eye on their Facebook page here.
It certainly sounds like an interesting approach to hotel accommodation, and although I can’t say that I’ve bounced up and down on one of them they assure me that the beds are indeed very high quality (which would be a first – the budget Etap hotel chain which I’ve stayed at on occasion has beds that resemble wooden boards with a bit of padding on top of them). Checking Tripadvisor they seem to do pretty well with the reviews too, so perhaps the Tune Hotel just across the street from Lambeth North tube station is worth considering if you’re coming down to London but would prefer to spend your money on a good dinner, a night out at a musical or whatever, rather than on the cost of the hotel room! I’m also told that they have quite big plans for London and the South East, so you may see Tune Hotels popping all over the place in the near future. I’ll certainly be keeping an eye on developments.
About Pete Stean
