Hotel deals, a guide

Hotel deals that are offered by the theatre breaks agencies vary through the year in a fairly regular pattern. Knowing this can help you plan your theatre break so that you get the best hotel deal possible.
I’m going to explain 5 hotel deals that you might be offered and give a rough idea of when in the year these might be available. If you can take advantage of these special hotel deals by being flexible with your days & dates you can often save quite a bit of money or get more for what you do spend.

Hotel Deals including a hotel restaurant dinner

Hotel deals are sometimes offered that include some meals, this can be as simple as a full cooked breakfast or occasionally a pre-theatre dinner the hotel restaurant. These are usually very good value and worth snapping up as they often have limited availability. These are usually offered in late spring and summer when London hotels have more free restaurant space at weekends.

For example the Friday Dinner, Theatre and Hotel Offer from Show and Stay is an excellent hotel deal. You’ve got the choice of 27 top shows and 4 great *4 hotels, all with good restaurants. It is a limited offer. You have to book tickets and have your pre-show dinner on a Friday on or before June 26th and you must book on or before May 31st 2009

Luxury upgrades

Often in the late spring and summer you can get hotel deals that allow you to upgrade from a 3* to a 4* hotel, from a 4* to a 5* or to a more luxurious room for a small amount or even for free.

For example at the moment (valid for stays up to 29th August 2009) for Friday, Saturday and Sunday overnight stays you can book the 5* Andaz Hotel by Hyatt and receive a free upgrade to a King size room. The Andaz is a mix of Victorian opulence and state-of-the-art technology. The Andaz was the old Great Eastern building near Liverpool St station and it’s been very stylishly updated.

Andaz by Hyat hotel deals

Your upgraded King room is 29-sq.-metre. It features a plush king bed, oversized work desk and bath with ecologically friendly shower, fast-fill tub and hot towel rail, air conditioning, and a gorgeous modern design. Enjoy complimentary amenities such as healthy mini-bar, local phone calls, wired and wireless Internet access, iPod dock and the luxury of yukata robes.
You might think this sort of luxury would be horribly expensive and normally you’d be right! To stay one Friday night in June at full price would cost you £270!

But book it as a hotel deal as part of a theatre break and prices start from just £92 per person including your show ticket (one night stay plus tickets for Woman in Black)
Book your 5* upgraded hotel deal.

Midweek hotel deals

These midweek discount hotel deals are usually offered in the early spring and autumn. You can sometimes save up to 50% on the price of a weekend theatre break. In general, even when there isn’t a special offer on prices tend to be cheaper for certain week nights. However, this can be because some of the leading roles are taken by understudies on a couple of the quieter nights. If this doesn’t bother you, and very often it shouldn’t as many of the understudies or ‘alternates’ are just as good as the ‘stars’, then these hotel deals can be a real bargain.

Hotel Deals with an extra night free or reduced rate.

Hotel deals like these can come up at just about any time of year. It just depends if some of the London hotels have excess capacity. They are often weekend deals giving you 3 or even 3 nights in the city and allowing you to turn a theatre break into a mini holiday in the capital. When you are booking any theatre break if you can manage an extra night or two it’s usually worth checking to see if there’s any rate reduction for extra nights, even if it’s not been advertised. You’ll usually see an option to ‘extend your stay’ once you’ve chosen your hotel.

Hotel Deals with show ticket and one night free

Hotel deals where your hotel room comes free with your ticket sound to good to be true but they are offered at some times of the year, for some shows. This can sometimes be for the less sought after shows or if it is for a popular show it might be for less popular dates and times. They are good value if you can be really flexible about what you want to see and when you want to go. Often these hotel deals peak in July and August.