Britain on the Cheap

For Valentine’s on a budget, check out Premier Inn. The UK’s biggest budget hotel chain has released 70,000 room nights for just $48/£29 throughout February.

The Colonnade boutique hotel, a converted Victorian mansion in London’s Little Venice, has a Valentine’s weekend special that includes a luxury room, champagne on ice, fresh roses, chocolate-dipped strawberries, bubble bath and breakfast in bed. From $349/£215 per night.

London’s Threadneedles boutique hotel was voted by Condé Nast Traveller as one of the top 50 places to stay in the world. For Valentine’s, guests discover champagne on ice, rose petals, chocolates and bubble bath upon arrival. The package, $389/£240 on Valentine’s Day weekend and $570/£350 midweek, includes breakfast in bed. Threadneedles is  close to the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, St Paul’s Cathedral, River Thames and Spitalfields Market.

Save 50% on Valentine’s Sunday night when you book a SACO serviced apartment on Feb. 12 and 13 in Bath, Derby or Manchester. A studio or one-bed apartment in Bath starts at $107/£65 per night, Manchester at $126/£79 and Derby at $166/£101.

Don’t miss East London’s free Great Spitalfields Pancake Race for charity, Feb. 16 at the Old Truman Brewery, 91 Brick Lane. Teams of four race up and down Dray Walk, hoping not to drop their Shrove Tuesday pancakes.

The Copthorne Tara Hotel in London’s Kensington has created two Valentine’s in-room packages: Roses, sparkling wine with strawberries and chocolate are $71/£43.95; Champagne with strawberries and chocolates is $97/£59.95. Or enjoy a three-course dinner in the Brasserie Restaurant with a glass of sparkling wine for $53/£32.99 per person.

Save 25% when you step back three centuries and book a historic cottage near Salisbury in Wiltshire.

• Thatched 17th-century Cosy Cot is next to the Norman church in a village seven miles from the cathedral city. Restored and modernized, it has a Visit Britain gold award for exceptional quality. Cosy Cot is a short walk from the village pub and surrounded by a network of footpaths. It can sleep up to six people, but when two share it now costs $558/£344, saving $188/£115 for three nights, and $782/£492 per week,  saving $261/£164 per week, until Feb. 28.

• The Moat Cottage, a 300-year-old home in a village three miles from Salisbury, is the former gardener’s cottage to an ancient moat house. The same rates and savings apply through February.

The new Park Plaza Westminster Bridge London will be offering a special soft-opening rate of only $162/£99, good Feb. 4 through March. The hotel will be completing its full-service spa, swimming pool and gym. The £350 million hotel is at the foot of Westminster Bridge in the South Bank.

Continental Airlines will increase its flights between its New York hub at Newark Liberty International Airport and London/Heathrow.  The airline will add a fourth daily service to the route in March and a fifth in October, bringing the total of Continental daily departures to Heathrow to seven, including its twice-daily service from Houston. For example, a round-trip ticket between Newark and Heathrow for March 2, returning March 9, starts on the web at $418.

Swissotel, The Howard and the Lalique boutique plan an exclusive evening for Feb. 14, starting with a horse-drawn carriage ride from The Howard to the Lalique boutique on Conduit Street. Lalique will be closed for you to enjoy a five-course dinner with wine pairings, served by a private butler, with harpist to accompany. A Jaguar limousine will return you to The Howard for an overnight stay in a luxury room. The rate, $3,258/£2010 per person, includes champagne and in-room breakfast.