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Last week, I wrote an article about Park Plaza’s excellent ‘Merlin’ promotion. Through it, you can book 4* hotels in London from as little as £55.90 per night, and receive additional perks on top. The best thing is that these rates are very flexible – you don’t even need to pay a deposit.

“Book a stay at any of our London hotels and enjoy up to 35%* off our Best Flexible Rates, PLUS an exclusive 2 for 1 offer at some of London’s top attractions! What’s more, our exclusive offer is fully cancellable up until 24 hours before arrival, kid’s eat for free* and you get access to our indoor swimming pools where applicable.

Now is the perfect time to visit London, with less crowds and hundreds of attractions and events to explore. To benefit from the 35% discount, you will need to be a Radisson Rewards Member. Non-members receive up to 20% off. Not a member? Join today.

Simply make your booking, and we will automatically send you the link to claim your 2 for 1 tickets at any of the below Merlin attractions, including: The lastminute.com London Eye, The London Dungeon, Shrek’s Adventure! London, SEA LIFE London Aquarium and Madame Tussauds London.”

You can book between now and 31st December 2021, for stays all the way through to 31st December 2021.

As you can see above, the basic idea is that Radisson Rewards members (sign up here for free) receive 35% off the Best Flex rate, as well as 2 for 1 tickets to a range of popular London attractions. In addition, kids eat free when dining with a full-paying adult.

Why flexibility matters…

I’m a big fan of the fact that no pre-payment is required, and bookings can be cancelled without penalty up until 24 hours before the stay. I think there are 3 main reasons why this such a good thing:

1. You can book as many dates as you want, so you have something ‘locked in’, even if you haven’t settled on a particular date for your trip yet.
2. If something crops up nearer the time and you can’t travel, you can just cancel.
3. If the price goes down (or you find a better deal elsewhere), you can cancel and rebook.

It’s point 3 that I really wanted to bring to your attention here though. I think London is going to be a lot of fun this summer, and have made quite a few speculative bookings – I’ll decide nearer the time which ones I’ll keep. I’ve noticed that the rates can move around a bit as the stay date gets closer, often becoming cheaper.

I have managed to save £10+ per night on a number of different bookings, which isn’t big money, but it all adds up.

Watch out for the prices when searching though – even when I’m signed into my account now, the initial search page presents the higher non-member rates (despite saying they are the member only rates). You need to click through to the specific hotel booking screen to see the accurate, lower, rate. Otherwise, you might think prices are ~20% higher than they are in reality…

I’m convinced that post-lockdown London will be a huge amount of fun this summer, so would recommend having a quick look at the sale now and maybe locking in a few dates.