Looking for a good hotel in London can be a daunting task, especially if you have a tight budget. However, the extensive options in terms of price, style, and location, mean that there are always opportunities to find a room to suit your needs, and your budget.
London`s finest hotels often come with eye-watering room-rates, but there are plenty of affordable rooms available in friendly, comfortable hotels in central locations. The key to finding a room at a great price is booking in advance, as there are plenty of great deals available.
London`s famous names, The Ritz, The Savoy, The Dorchester and Claridges to name a few, are not places most people`s budget can stretch to on a trip to London. However, for those looking for some historic splendour at a slightly more affordable price (well under £200 if you get a special online promotion), Hazlitt`s is one of London`s finest hotels.
Located just off Soho Square, the 18th Century building is decorated and furnished in true period style, including wood panelling, oil paintings and some four-poster beds. Fortunately, the step back in time is not applied to everything, and all the mod-cons you`d expect from a top-range hotel, including WiFi and TV with DVD library, are also available.
Any traveller on a tight budget is likely to find London inescapably expensive at times. When selecting an area to stay, although opulence in the West End may not be an option, you do not have to travel far to find a great room at a reasonable price. Just yards from Oxford Street and Hyde Park, the Edward Lear Hotel, named after the Victorian artist and poet, may not offer luxury but it certainly has charm.
At just above or below £100 (depending on the season) for an ensuite double, and significantly less if you forego the ensuite, it certainly represents value for money in such a prime location.
Not far away at Paddington is the clean and comfortable St David`s hotel, renowned for its generous English breakfast.
It offers all sizes of rooms at very affordable prices, and is therefore especially valuable for those requiring a single room (from £40) or family-sized room (quad from £110, or 5/6 person room from £130).
Very central and relatively inexpensive, Bloomsbury is certainly an area that has a lot to offer. Being just north of Covent Garden, it not only contains the vast and various attractions of the British Museum, but is also home to some friendly and reasonably-priced hotels. The Hotel Cavendish on Gower Street, with its Georgian features and lovely walled-garden, offers comfortable and tastefully decorated rooms from £65 (for an ensuite double, if booked online). The family-run Ridgemount Hotel is another reliable option on the same street, at which you could save a few extra pounds by opting to share a bathroom. Bloomsbury is a great base, because getting around is easy: the West End is an easily walkable distance away, and the Goodge Street, Warren Street and Euston Square underground stations are all moments from your door.
Bearing in mind that demand can easily outstrip supply, it may surprise some that there are any travel deals available in London at all. But there are plenty of excellent rooms in London, and not all are prohibitively expensive. The key to getting a bargain, is to always be on the look out for a deal, and to book in advance. That way you can get the best rooms before anybody else does, at a very reasonable price.