All the rooms on this list 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 the cost of travel to key attractions
- Beware super cheap special offers which may be almost impossible to pin down.
1. Captain Bligh Guest House
Right across from grounds of the Imperial War Museum, this unsual guest house is where the notorious Captain Bligh lived when he returned to England after the famous mutiny on HMS Bounty. The house is South of the Thames,just a few minutes from the London Eye and all the entertainment and arts facilities of the South Bank. Accomodations range from a studio room, a suite and an apartment that sleeps four. All have cooking facilities - even the studio has a microwave, kettle and toaster - and the prices in 2010 were all under £100.
2. Umi Hotel London
Converted from a row of Victorian townhouses, this hotel promises 5-star service in a 3-star hotel. Since it caters to budget travelers, backpackers, families, retired travelers, that may be an exaggerated claim. But we've heard this is clean and well managed, with better service than you might expect at the price. The location, on the Notting Hill side of Bayswater, is ideal for visitors.
3. Twenty Nevern Square
A budget boutique with breakfast, this hotel in an Earls Court residential square, is a real find. The 20 small rooms are individually decorated with a somewhat theatrical flair that's more amusing than deluxe. The restored Victorian townhouse overlooks a private garden square near the Earl's Court, a cosmopolitan area, popular with students, budget conscious visitors and business people. It has great London Underground connections, merely two stops to the museums of South Kensington.
4. Travelodge Docklands
You get what you pay for at Travelodge hotels and motels - and since you don't pay much, you don't get very much. About 20 branches of this budget chain are scattered in and around London and there have been some troubling reports of bed bugs, noise and lack of cleanliness in some of them. But the Docklands branch is relatively new and a good choice for after the concert at the O2 Arena or for making your Olympic 2012 plans. It's right next to the East India DLR station and, since its outside the London Congestion Charge Zone (£8 - £10 a day for driving into the CC Zone, not counting parking), so you can drive in from outside London, park and have easy access to public transportation.
5. Express by Holiday Inn Stratford
I've found that Express by Holiday Inn is usually a good bet when you are traveling on your own dime, so to speak. They are usually well located, close to public transportation, clean and reliable. They are also not always under £100. But the branch in Stratford is and it's handy for the O2, for the Theatre Royal Stratford East and, evenually, for the London 2012 Olympics. They're expanding the hotel for the Olympic games, adding 39 rooms. So before you book, ask about where your room is in relation to the construction and renovations.
6. Jurys Inn Islington
The Irish based Jurys Inn group has remarkable rates for bed and breakfast - particularly when you consider that all their rooms accommodate three adults or two adults and two children sharing.
Rooms are clean and fresh with high speed internet access, though the breakfast buffet can be a bit on the basic side. In the summer of 2010, a rolling program of updating was going on so it's a good idea to ask for one of the newer rooms.
Jurys also has hotels in Fulham, near Imperial Wharf; Croyden, and Heathrow. The Pentonville Road branch in Islington is probably the best placed for public transportation, close to both Kings Cross and Angel tube station in a trendy part of town.
7. London Kensington Premier Inn
Get past the corporate sameness of this big budget chain and you'll find a comfortable night in a clean, quiet hotel noted for its good service. The Kensington branch is tucked down a quiet side street off the Earl's Court Road, convenient for restaurants, pubs, London Underground and the museums of South Kensington, yet far enough away from all the action for a respite. Plenty of family rooms for four are available and if one of the adults orders a full English breakfast, two under 16s can eat free.
8. Tommy Miah's Raj Hotel
Tommy Miah's Raj Hotel, on Essex Road, Highbury in Islington is more than a bit out of the way for the average London visitor, but, if you are heading for Sadler's Wells, The London Design Centre or the Almeida Theatre, it's just a few bus stops or a twenty minute walk away.
Think of it more as a bed and breakfast than a hotel and you'll have the right frame of mind to enjoy this slightly quirky, Asian themed and very cheap hotel. It's clean and has character.Too bath the restaurant isn't more interesting - since Tommy Miah has owned a leading Edinburgh Indian restaurant for more than 20 years.
9. Barkston Gardens
This is an old fashioned, but clean and comfortable hotel in a red brick, residential Victorian Square of the Earl's Court Road. And despite the cliche, this really is a leafy square; in summer and autumn, rooms on the front of the hotel have bosky view. The hotel has long been popular with business people visiting the Earls Court Exhibition Centre and tourists on moderate budgets. You can't beat the location for access to public transportation - including a direct London Underground line to Heathrow - museums, restaurants, pubs and clubs.
10. The Copthorne Tara Hotel
Location, location, location. This one is just round the corner from Kensington High Street and lots of great shops - plus a buses and tube lines that will take you into Knightsbridge, up Notting Hill, or over to Kensington Gardens and Kensington Palace. So well placed yet far enough off the beaten path to knock the price down some. The Copthorne hotels are a reliable, well appointed mid-price group and, because they are popular with business people, you could benefit from weekend deals. Just be thankful that the London Underground doesn't run much beyond about midnight because parts of this hotel are right beside the tracks.
