Inexpensive Serviced Apartments in London?
 

Can anyone recommend serviced apartments in London that would be good for poor American college students who will be staying there for two or three weeks? We don't need leather couches, granite counter tops, or any other luxury features. A spartan kitchenette, two or three twin beds, a toilet and a shower would be ideal.

A location in central London, like South Kensington or Earls Court, would be wonderful.

I've never found anything inexpensive in London. I think your best be would be hostels or student housing if the timing is right. Of course it depends on just how "poor" you are. So, what's the budget???

Inexpensive is entirely relative. I have stayed in what I consider inexpensive apartments. So what is your actual budget?

I've only stayed in one or two really posh flats in London - most of the rest have been from 'middle brow' mid-ish priced to basic/barebones for very little - at least by London standards. But we need to know if you have a realistic budget . . .

If you want something so cheap, and are just young students, why do you require serviced apartments? Can't you manage without service for a couple weeks, I've never rented serviced apartments when booking vacation apartments in Europe.
Serviced means they clean it, most likely daily, and change the sheets and towels every couple days. You can't be that serious if you need maid service.

We didn't use YHA hostels in London (sadly), but we stayed in their properties elsewhere in the UK. Here's a link for London:
http://www.yha.org.uk/places-to-stay/london

Lee Ann

You might check into London colleges, which often rent dormitory space outside term time.

It's no wonder we see so many first time posters never return . . Why the venomous responses to a fairly innocuous question???

Venomous? What did I miss?

Thank you for your ideas.

We were hoping to find lodging at a rate of about 500-600 pounds a week for a double room, or 700-800 pounds a week for a triple room.

London universities, like the London School of Economics, would be terrific if we were planning to make the trip when classes there are not in session. Unfortunately, we will be visiting in May 2014. Student housing at London universities will already be occupied by other students.

"Serviced apartments" may not be quite the right term. Searching for "London flats" seemed to lead to real estate. I assumed that I was coming up short because I don't know the British term for what I am looking for. We don't need a maid to clean the room every day, but we were not planning to bring our own sheets and towels. What do Britons call an apartment that has basic furniture, a small kitchen, cooking and eating utensils, and a set of sheets and towels for each occupant?

The kitchenette is important, since we can't afford to eat in a restaurant every night. And unfortunately the more central YHA Hostels that accept groups in London (Thameside and Holland Park) don't seem to have self-catering facilities.

I hope those pieces of information are helpful. If you know of any places that would work for us, we would love to know about them! Thank you!

If you look at London holiday or vacation flats here you will find a ton of threads listing reliable companies.

Nor sure you will find an apt with 3 twin beds - but yuo can try. Or a 1 BR with 2 twin beds and a pull-put bed in the LR (in London apt rooms tend to be smaller then in the US and many would not hold 3 twin beds, esp at the lower price ranges).

And you might get a discount for 2 or 3 weeks.

Try here, 3 people, apartments, look for the weekly rates in the listings (I've put in $150 a night or less). Change any criteria you like, something for everyone:

https://www.airbnb.com/s/London--Uni...&price_max=150

Oh heck -- that isn't even that low a budget :)

Here are full one bedroomed apartments that sleep 4 next to the Tower of London that are around £700 a week (a little less or a little more depending on the season)

http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~hamlet_uk/index.htm

Full kitchens, balconies or patios, close to Tower Hill tube station, on a yacht marina w/ tons of pubs/cafes/restaurants and a supermarket in the complex. No need to live like starving students :D

I'm confused how many are traveling. Is it an actual group? Because several London YHA hostels have rooms that sleep 4 or 5, and with the $$ you save you could eat simply, buy sandwiches etc.
Otherwise many travelers here stay in apartments, but many of them may not be in your budget.

mosey -- "holiday" or "self-catering" flats are the terms you are looking for. Good luck.

I'm looking myself now for early spring. I am confident you could find something suitable on airbnb.com. We've had good luck with them in Paris, Nice, and across the US, on short notice and otherwise.

The hitch with airbnb is the need to pay upfront, in full, to book. The landlords have three levels of cancelation refund tolerance, so take that into account along with positive reviews. One problem with relatively impoverished student friends is getting them to step up and put their money down in advance, confident that they wouldn't leave you holding the credit card bill in case plans change.