My husband and I are going to London end of September for work, and his company is paying for the first few nights at the Dukes hotel in the St. James area. We'd like to stay at a different, more affordable place the last few nights that will allow us to see another part of London. Any suggestions?
We're not into shopping, we like general sightseeing of historic sights, beautiful scenery. A simple hotel is fine as long as it's clean and we have our own bathroom. Looking for something in the $150-175 range. Any thoughts?

If you're willing to do Priceline you should be able to get quite a good hotel in a central location for that budget. Suggest you look at biddingfortravel.com for detailed info.

Personally I think that you're mad wanting to start messing around with changing hotels in the same city.

It's a complete and utter waste of time. Stay on at the first property.

m_kingdom, have you read the "most affordable" part ? I suppose the Dukes is highly expensive...

Yes - on Priceline you can get a VERY nice central hotel in your price range. Be sure to study biddingfortravel.com first, and then if you still have questions post back here before making your PL bid. London is one of the best cities for PL values.

Yes, the Dukes is around $3-400 a night (paid by the company), and we don't really want to pay that price on our own! We thought it would be nice to have a change of scenery and stay in another neighborhood of London so we get exposure to various areas. I've only started my research, but I'm wondering about other areas like Victoria, Bloomsburg, Kensington.
I'll definitely check out biddingfortravel and priceline.

Check Priceline first. And if it doesn't suit you , look for some offers in www.londontown.com or www.visitlondon.com. I found a good one for me at www.hilton.com some months ago and I think they have better offers now

We had good results with British Hotel Reservation Center : bhrc.co.uk for discount bookings. Stayed steps away from the British Museum at White Hall and really enjoyed the location. Not sure of the rates for your dates, but it may be affordable. Next door is Blooms Hotel at a slightly reduced rate....quite nice as well (sister hotel) but no air conditioning. Late September it was still humid in London. Hope that helps.

Acbrown,
We stay at the Holiday Inn Kensington. We have also stayed at the Holiday Inn Kensington Forum. They are around the corner from each other. We love that area as it is right near a tube station. There are plenty of resturants and many museums are within walking distance. The Natural History Museum, Victoria & Albert and many others are about a 5 minute walk max. Although you said you are not into shopping Harrods is just a bit further past the museums as well. We also like the Waitrose grocery near the hotel.