Inexpensive accommodations in London
 

Looking for accommodations in London with access to some major sights (downtown - close to Tube)for 40 to 60 Pounds (approx $150 Canadian) per night for two people. Any insights and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Small hotels and/or B&B's are a bonus.

Balmoral House Hotel, 156 & 157 Sussex Gardens, clean, very convenient to Paddington tube and rail.<BR>good english breakfast and all taxes for 60gbp double. Website www.balmoralhousehotel.co.uk<BR>always stay there. owners nice & helpful. Lots of budget hotels are dumps..this is so much better than most in that price range. plenty of inexpensive places to eat nearby..italian, indian, greek, pizza, pubs, fish & chip & burgers. It is as nice as the website shows. Have fun.

I am not sure what you have in mind when asking for a "downtown" location, but I HIGHLY recommend the Victoria Inn off Belgrave Road. Within walking distance to Victoria Station (10-15 minutes), 5 minutes to Pimlico Station, it was about $90/double, breakfast included. Very clean rooms, nice staff, quiet, the street is lined with B&B's and within a residential area. My sister and I walked back at night many nights and never felt unsafe. Nice stroll to Buckingham Palace. Good restaurants within walking distance. Have fun!!

Thanks Kah and Maira. The information is very helpful. Maira, I try not to make any assumptions, but is the $90 you quote in Canadian dollars? Once again Thanks.

Check Londontown.com,there are some good deals. I have just booked Tristle Victoria for 45 pounds.

mike-- The $90/double is in dollars. Their site is http://www.victoriainn.co.uk/<BR><BR>My first time in London I stayed in the Bloomsbury area. It was quite central and within walking distance to the British Museum and other sights. We do NOT recommend The Londsdale Hotel, though.<BR><BR>Have fun!

Just published:<BR><BR>10 London Hotels to Call Home <BR><BR>By Tamsin Todd<BR>Special to The Washington Post<BR>Sunday, October 20, 2002; Page E01 <BR><BR>A clean, well-lighted room is hard enough to find in London, let alone one with a private bathroom in a central location that costs less than a transatlantic flight for one night's stay. While there are plenty of hotels to choose from, it's all too easy to find yourself booked into a bed-and-breakfast with the bathroom five floors away, or at an overpriced, soulless chain hotel. Still, with some research and advance booking, it's possible to find good quality, inexpensive yet charming accommodations in central London. <BR><BR>Read the remainder of this article at:<BR><BR>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47040-2002Oct18.html<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

Washington Post ran an article about lodging in London in the Sunday travel section (10/20) - should be available on line. Good luck!

Friends recently stayed at The Victoria, a small place near Richmond. They loved it and said the food was great, room small but clean and bathroom private. She said it was under $100 US.

I have booked a single suite at Imperial college in early April for a conference there. The universities let out their dorm rooms during college holiday and breaks and you can't find a better deal in a better location. I will be at the college in South Kensington for 43 pound a night and with that comes all of the campus activities and facilities that the students have. The rooms seem spacious and very comfortable. If you would like the e-mail for Imperial College write to me. I don't know if other universities offer the same lodging, but they might. If you are flexible plan your stay around their vacation schedule.

I'll endorse the Balmoral House Hotel, near Paddington Station. We stayed there from 10/10-15; current rates for a double with WC, shower and full breakfast are 65 pounds. The location is great - convenient via Tube to all sights, and near some great restaurants, a laundromat, internet cafes and pubs.

To the e-mail version of this message I am attaching notes on what Fodors readers have said about hotels near Victoria, plus notes on hotels on the Strand. Please write if I can help further. Welcome to London.<BR><BR>Ben Haines

My wife and I stayed at the Arosfa is Bloomsbury last year and loved it. We payed 50 GBP per night for a large, clean room with bath down the hall. We were the only ones on the floor using the bathroom. The location was excellent, with two tube stops very close by. We could walk to the West end to see plays we bought tickets to. The Arosfa is listed in Let's Go and some other guidebooks. I highly recommend it! (We are fellow Canadians and too were on a tighter budget).<BR>

Hi,<BR>I'm topping this as I'm a teacher on a tight budget. I too am looking for a cheap, safe and clean place to stay over New Year's.<BR><BR>How are the hostels in London? I'm in my mid-30's and have never stayed in a backpackers place. <BR><BR>Thanks,<BR>Debbie<BR><BR>

Check on www.activehotels.com

Debbie. There are many inexpensive B&amp;Bs in good areas of London. Places for &pound;30-&pound;40 or less per person per night. London Hostels will not be much cheaper. There are some good hostels in London - but there are also some TERRIBLE ones where you'll share facilities with homeless and asylum seekers. The good ones are VERY popular and usually fully booked.<BR><BR>I often recommend hostels in places like Scotland, or the West Country - but not in London. You can get almost as cheap and much more comfortable accomodations in a Victoria, Bayswater, Russell Sq. or Earls Court B&amp;B.

Has anyone stayed at the Grenville House Hotel in the Bloomsbury area? A double is 54pounds - any input?<BR><BR>http://www.grenvillehotel.co.uk/

Agree with Maira, Bloomsbury/Russell Square are is very good (of course there is no “down town” London, unless you mean the City…and it would hardly be a place to stay) and also agree to avoid the Lonsdale like the plague. A friend of mine always stays at St. Margaret’s and we always stay at the Celtic, both within your budget and both threadbare but very clean and plenty of atmosphere.

I've stayed in Bankside House which is a university hall of residence for the London School of Economics. It is in an excellent position just behind the Tate Modern and within walking distance of the Globe, the Millenium Bridge and St Pauls. It is very inexpensive, but perfectly adequate with an en suite shower room. The breakfast in the morning was good and the service friendly. See http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/vacations/

Could anybody tell me what's wrong with the Lonsdale? We booked it for a trip next year -- should we change it?? Thanks!

My experience with the Lonsdale was that it seemed the management was always trying to screw us. They showed us a room and we booked it. When we returned later with our bags they took us to a room up 3 flights of stairs which had none of the amenities of the room they’d originally showed us. When we pointed this out they told us that suddenly the hotel was “full”. I told them it would do for the night but if they didn’t do better by the second day we would move on. Getting any help, information, etc. was like pulling teeth. The second night the room was better but still nothing like the “sample” that had lured us in. Breakfast was a “buffet” and most of the food was far from being either fresh or piping hot. The fact is, there are just too many places to stay in that neighborhood that want your business so why put up with such nonsense. I’m a pretty cordial guest and not demanding but generally got the vibe that the management was experiencing a bad life and wanted to pass it along to everyone who stayed in the hotel. Who needs it? By the by, I've talked to others who felt exactly the same way. One was a friend of mine who’d booked two weeks there a moved out after the second day. Went to the afore mentioned St. Margaret’s and liked it very much. I've also heard good things about the Celtic, though it’s a pretty basic place to stay, it is supposedly very clean, good breakfast and a super helpful staff. Also the Aaran House in that neighborhood. Again, there are just so many good places, why burden yourself with the Lonsdale? Of course you might choose to go there and have a fabulous stay, however that certainly doesn’t seem to be the general consensus as I've seen negative threads about the Lonsdale many times before on several different travel sites.

Stayed at the London School of Economics<BR>residence(Roseberry residence) this Sept. Very clean, 10 min walk to Angel tube, bus stops near residence, good English breakfast included, small kitchen to prepare light snacks (kettle,<BR>toaster, small stove and oven). Ensuites (double) available. Staff very friendly. Check website given by Sam. Hope this helps. Actually, I am taking my family next summer to London and will stay there again.

Tilly-- I'll tell you what MY experience with The Londsdale was like; horrendous.<BR><BR>We got a good idea what was coming when upon checking in, we asked the Hotel Manager where could we parked. He shrugged his shoulders and said he had no idea. We found a large paid parking lot area about three blocks away. I knew there were no elevators, so when I made the reservations I asked for a room no higher than third floor (my husband had difficulty walking even back then). We got the farthest room from the exit doors on the fifth floor. As England hotel rooms go, our room was tiny, but that is the norm; no surprises there. The next day my husband got up early and went for a walk around the block. An hour later he hadn't come back. I grew concerned and walked downstairs to check. The door bell was ringing like crazy and the guy behind the counter was busy on an animated chat on the phone. I interrupted him to asked if he could ring the person in. He stretched his hand and pressed the ring button. The person came in; it was my husband who had been ringing the bell for half hour (no notices whatsoever of door hours). We then wanted to check some brochures in the small room to the right that serves as the lobby. No place to seat as the kitchen help was sleeping in the couches, seats and floor. We had made reservations for four days, but talked to the Manager about leaving immediately. He said he would charged us for two nights anyway. We stayed the other night and afterwards could not get out of London fast enough. That was my first time in London (1998). We spent the rest of the time touring Scotland and I could not had been happier.<BR><BR>I learned from that experience that lodging can make a tremendous difference on how enjoyable a vacation can be, specially in London. If I were you I would definitely keep reading this forum and looking for another hotel. <BR><BR>This last February my sister and I went to London and Paris and was glad I gave London a second try. The Victoria Inn was a great value B&amp;B, we got to enjoyed the sights and the weather, surpringsingly enough, was great (I am from Upstate NY). Hope you have a great time in London!

Hi,<BR><BR>This was actually forwarded to me by one of my colleagues who has used this site before.<BR><BR>If you do want affordable accommodation in Central London please do consider Imperial College. We are able to offer rooms single from &pound;21.50 per night with shared bathroom facilities inclusive of a Full English Breakfast and local taxes and operate a 24 hour reception / concierge service. Should you wish to, we can actually arrange theatre tickets for you, and a taxi to pick you up from the airport and drop you off again at the end of your stay.<BR><BR>Local attractions on our doorstep include the Royal Albert Hall, Science Museum, Natural History Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum, whilst Harrods, Hyde Park and Kensington Palace the former home of the late Diana, Princess of Wales are at most a 10 minute walk from our Halls of Residence.<BR><BR>Thanks to South Kensington Tube station the West End, London's theatre and entertainment district is 4 stops away (Leicester Square, Piccadilly Line) and Buckingham Palace 3 stops away(Green Park, Piccadilly Line) from our Halls of Residence.<BR><BR>This accommodation is available from 23rd March 2003 - 23rd April 2003 and 30th June - 28th September 2003.<BR><BR>If you would like any further details please call 0044 20 7594 9507, email [email protected] or view our website at www.imperialcollege-conferencelink.com.<BR><BR>Paul Hudson<BR><BR>

I've actually stayed in Imperial College housing before, and been generally pleased -- be sure, though, to get either a room in one of the newer, purpose-built halls or one of the self-service mews near the IC offices. And ask about where breakfast is served; the first time I stayed at IC I had to walk three blocks and cross a busy thoroughfare to get to breakfast. Just precautions, and don't let them discourage you -- Imperial College, like several other London schools, has gone into the tourist accomodations business in a big way in the last couple of years and is aggressively pursuing the budget traveller, so there are some excellent deals on offer.<BR><BR>Q.P.

All the ideas for accomodations are great. Has anyone heard of Barkston Gardens? I'm booked there through a package deal and it isn't in any of the books. It's in Earl's Court.

Kerry: Barkston Gardens is a street. What is the name of your B&amp;B?

I know, it's a bit confusing. Our confirmation letter says &quot;three nights at Barkston Gardens&quot;. They have a website, www.Barkstongardens.com and it looks okay, but I keep hearing mixed reviews about the hotels in the area. Just wanted to know if anyone had heard of the place.