The average price of a hotel room in the UK dropped to £83 per night in 2010. Before you start planning a travel budget based on that price, remember though that it's just an average - probably brought down by a fair number of doss houses and grim Fawlty Towers-type establishments.
All the rooms on these lists are doubles with private bathrooms for less than £100 per night. When choosing a cheap room remember:
- Breakfast may not be included
- There may be a fee or a slow connection for wi-fi
- Factor in travel costs to attractions
- Beware of super cheap special offers which may be almost impossible to pin down.
1. Ten Cheap Hotels in Birmingham and the Midlands
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The Midlands are reported to have the lowest average hotel price in the whole of the UK. So your money is bound to stretch further in Birmingham, Derbyshire and the Stoke On Trent areas than elsewhere around the country. There's plenty to do and see here as well. Birmingham has excellent shopping the National Exhibition Center, theatres, museums and very good restaurants. Derby is a good base for touring the Peak District and Chatsworth, not to mention the UK's biggest theme park, Alton Towers. With so much to do, it's a good thing rooms are so cheap.
2. Ten Cheap Hotels in the East of England
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East Anglia has just about everything visitors come to England to see. Choose the golden sand beaches of the North Norfolk Coast or the scenic inlets along the South Suffolk Coast. There are castles, Roman ruins and lovely medieval towns, high culture in Cambridge and Aldeburgh, wonderful cathedrals in Norwich and Ely and the UK's earliest recorded town - Colchester. Visitors touring on a budget will find a good selection of cheap rooms.
3. Ten Cheap Hotels in Edinburgh
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Scotland's capital is one of the UK's most beautiful cities. It's also very popular with visitors so rooms are at a premium for most of the year, but especially at Hogmanay and during the festival season in August.
Room rates do go up at these popular times, but good deals are still possible. The hotels and B&Bs on this list are good places to start looking.
4. Ten Cheap Hotels in the Lake District
©Ferne Arfin
With magnificent lakes, mountains, fell walking, coastal walks and parts of Hadrian's Wall to visit, the Lake District is a wonderful area to tour. Accommodations here range from exquisite - and exquisitely expensive country house hotels to farm accommodations and camping. Luckily, the region is rich in atmospheric B&Bs and small, village hotels, where a comfy room with a view and a nice breakfast are available for £100 or a good deal less.
5. Ten Cheap Hotels in Liverpool and Manchester
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Liverpool and Manchester, in England's northwest, are about 30 miles apart, a half hour by train. Both cities have historic and modern appeal as well as a good selection of budget and moderately priced accommodations.
6. Ten Cheap Hotels in London
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Cheap rooms in a city reported to be among most expensive in Europe. Yes - and you won't have to share a bed with creepy crawlies, bunk up in a hostel with teenagers or settle for something two bus rides, a train and a camel ride to the center of town. You might have to sacrifice a little style and character (though not always) but you can find well located, clean, comfortable, relatively modern rooms at budget prices.
7. Ten Cheap Hotels in the Northeast
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Whether you are on your way to the arty, party town that is 21st century Newcastle/Gateshead, want to watch the shipping news in the Catherine Cookson territory of South Shields or plan, like St. Cuthbert, to contemplate wildlife in the Farne Islands and Lindisfarne, the Northeast of England has plenty to offer. If you're touring and heading toward or across the Scottish border, once you leave Newcastle traveling through much of this region is like traveling back in time.
8. Ten Cheap Hotels in the Southeast
Photo courtesy of Britain on View/Martin Brent
Kent is known a the Garden of England and also has some terrific seaside towns and wonderful hoppy beer. Not to mention brilliant stately homes and castles. Head west to Sussex and you're in even more historic territory, leavened by the wit and urban dash of Brighton. And who knew that "suburban" Surrey was so gorgeous, with its rolling hills and small, picturesque farms. The area is rich in Georgian coaching inns and scenic pubs - some of which have affordable and rather nice rooms.
9. Ten Cheap Hotels in the Southwest
courtesy of www.britainonview.com
England's Southwest - including Wiltshire, Dorset and Somerset along with the West Country counties of Devon and Cornwall - is popular with Brits as well as visitors from abroad. Some of the UK's most iconic sites and attractions - Stonehenge, Longleat, Bath, the Cathedral cities of Salisbury, Exeter and Wells - are located here. So are Britain's best surfing beaches, lovely fishing villages and art colonies. All of which makes finding cheap rooms here a bit of a challenge...but not impossible.
10. Ten Cheap Hotels in York
© Ferne Arfin
The lovely walled city of York has fascinating Medieval and Roman attractions as well as great street markets and shopping. Once there, York is a very walkable city. Parking isn't easy so being able to get an affordable room within or near the city walls is important.
