Can anyone recommend decent and economical hotels for a single traveler in central London? My budget is $60 a night (room with bath or shower)for a three day visit in late January.
Since I'd be arriving from Gatwick airport at Victoria Station, I believe, are there plenty of decent hotels nearby?
Does an en-suite description of a hotel room mean you get a private bathroom?
Any comments about getting a good deal (quality & location)via priceline?

We bid on a 3 or 4 star hotel in the kensington area on priceline for an early April visit and it was accepted for $60/night after taxes and fees. We ended up at the Thistle Kensington Palace which we thought was wonderful, especially for that price.

Check out http://www.biddingfortravel.com for info on how to best use priceline. Read their FAQs thoroughly - they're a bit confusing but quite complete and offer good advice. Then, check out what other posters there have received for the time frame you'll be there. You should be able to get a decent deal in January I would think.

Thanks for the advice Jenifer. Is it safe to assume most 2,3,4 star hotel rooms in London have private baths? At least those offered by priceline?
In addition to Kensington area, which others should be considered for quality/price & convenience to tourist sites?

Every hotel offered by Priceline has a private bathroom.

Make that every hotel room.

Priceline breaks London down into these zones:

Bloomsbury - Marble Arch
Hammersmith
Kensington - Earls Court - Knightsbridge
London Bridge
Mayfair - Soho
Notting Hill - Bayswater
Regents Park - Baker Street
South Bank - Vauxhall
The City - Financial District
Westminster

I've personally only stayed in the Kensington and Westminster areas, and both are fine. It depends somewhat on what areas you'll plan to spend the most time in, but I'd choose to stay in Kensington, Westminster, Mayfair, Bloomsbury or London Bridge areas. Regents Park would probably not be a bad choice, though it does extend pretty far north.

The City is a financial district and tends to be pretty quiet at night and weekends which may be fine if you're not looking for lots of nightlife near your hotel. I don't know much about the Bayswater area so I probably wouldn't choose it, and Hammersmith seems a bit too far removed from everything. South Bank might also not be too bad since there are plenty of places to cross the river.

Priceline has the areas outlined very nicely on their web site if you check that out, so determine which sites you're most likely to want to see and choose accordingly. I'd wager that pretty much any hotel you get through priceline in London proper (not airport hotels) will be close enough to the tube that you'll have easy access to whatever you want to do.

Besides Priceline, you might want to try these:
londontown.com
ebookers.com
opodo.com
laterooms.com
lastminute.com
smoothhound.co.uk
www.hotel-discount-prices.com

Yes, you can find decent accomodations in the Victoria Station area. Rick Steves (Europe Through the Back Door) describes the neighborhood in these words: "The streets behind Victoria Station teem with budget B&Bs. It's a safe, surprisingly tidy, and decent area without a hint of the trashy touristy glitz of the streets in front of the station. Decent eateries abound."

Here are a few of the hotels he recommends, all within a five-minute walk of the station. For some, you'll need to go down the hall for a shower or bath. The prices--in pounds--are from his 2001 guidebook. I'm listing them for comparison purposes, but using one of the online agencies above might get you a higher class hotel for not much more money.

In Woodville House the quarters are dollhouse tight, showers are down the hall, and several rooms are on the noisy street (doubles on quiet backside, twins and singles on street). Still, this well-run, well-worn place is a good value, with lots of travel tips and friendly chat from Rachel Joplin (S-42, D-62, bunky family deals-80-110 for up to 5, CC:VM, 107 Ebury Street, SW1W 9QU, tel. 020/7730-1048, fax 020/7730-2574, www.woodvillehouse.co.uk, e-mail: [email protected]).

Elizabeth House feels institutional and a bit bland--as you might expect from a former YMCA--but the rooms are clean and bright and the price is right (S-30, Db-60, T-75, 118 Warwick Way, SW1 4JB, tel. 020/7630-0741, fax 020/7630-0740, e-mail: [email protected]).

Georgian House Hotel has 50 pleasant rooms and a cheaper annex that attracts backpackers (D-40, Db-66, annex Db-55, CC:VM, small breakfast, Internet access, 35 St. George's Drive, SW1V 4DG, tel. 020/834-1438, fax 020/7976-6085, www.georgianhousehotel.co.uk.)

Cherry Court Hotel run by the friendly and industrious Patel family, offers tight, basic rooms for a good value in a central location (S-30, Sb-42, Db-48, T-55, Tb-70, CC:VMA, using CC adds 5 percent extra, fruit-basket breakfast in room, only double beds, nonsmoking, Internet access, TV, phones, 23 Hugh Street, SW1V 1QJ, tel. 020/7828-2840, fax 020/7828-0393, www.cherrycourthotel.co.uk, e-mail: [email protected]).

Again many thanks for all the suggestions. I'll repost when I lock on to something!