What are your thoughts about the neighborhood around KGX? I know when we were there in 2012, our daughters got an unexpected education about phone booths being used as public toilets and hookers leaving postcards with their contact info (and some rather shocking photos, too). Staying near KGX would make a lot of sense, but I just wasn't sure about the safety of the area.

After hunting around for a cheap hotel or hostel, I'm leaning toward just getting an apartment for a couple days ... once you have two people traveling instead of one, the costs take a huge jump.

It's a good thing I have a bit of time to plan this. Thank you for your tips and suggestions.

Kandace

Kings cross used to be a dump but it is mostly much better now - though some parts are still a bit sketchy. But honestly - you'll find those sorts of photos in phone booths in most parts of London.

Didn't realize there still WERE phone booths....

This is a great hostel is you want to be central in London: http://www.famoushostels.com/hostels/london-hostel/. Decent neighbourhood and easy to get everywhere on the Underground from here.

There still are phone booths in central London, and they still smell like piss.

Since hostels tend to charge per bed and hotels tend to charge per room, it's often cheaper for two people to share a cheap hotel room. This is true almost anywhere in the world.

Most apartments won't rent for less than three days. Some require a week during busy periods. Apartments require a lot of research and advance preparation. If you're moving around a lot, it becomes quite a chore to get everything organized. I also question whether they'd be cost-efficient for two people, although with larger groups who aren't sofa-bed adverse, they can certainly save money.

I use www.booking.com to find inexpensive lodging. You can select a neighorhood, or just something like "central London", and then you can sort the list by guest rating or by price. The guest ratings are from certified guests only, so they're quite reliable. Make sure to read the guest reviews before making a final choice. I'm a little wary of hotels with less than a 7.0 rating.

We stayed in this hotel for a few nights in December, prior to our week-long stay in an apartment with the extended family. I don't know if it's within your budget, but it was clean and conveniently located.

My go to cheap but clean and In good location hotel chain is premier inn.

Www.premierinn.com

Yes, there are red phone booths everywhere in central London...

I forgot to paste in the link for the hotel:

http://www.booking.com/hotel/gb/lidoshotel.it.html

The apartment we stayed in sleeps six, and certainly would be overpriced for two people.