A friend of mine will be visiting London in late August. He's looking for a decent but inexpensive place to stay in the range of $100 US dollars. Is it possible in a city where pizza for 4 runs $70 to find inexpensive accomodatoins? Any help would be great appreciated!

A good hotel in London for up to GBP 62.00 a night? Are you kidding??

One place I did stay once that was of a quite good standard and was very new, was the Travelodge at East India Docks in Docklands. See
www.travelodge.co.uk/inside.htp?area=o&page=o-search&keywords=london

Now this is far from the best location, but at GBP 60.00 a night for a very modern, comfortable, fresh and new hotel, it's hard to beat. The Docklands Light Rail is just a few minutes walk away for connections to central London. If your friend will have a car, then parking is at the door.

I don't think however that the Docklands has too much to offer the tourist. It's perhaps interesting to see. Staying in central London is much better but it's much more expensive.

This hotel was extremely popular and may be hard to book. This is a hotel that if it were in central London would cost over GBP 100 a night. It's of a high standard.


[This message has been edited by Austman (edited 05-05-99).]

London hotel prices are notoriously expensive like NYC. However, if you're there on a weekend - try calling Hilton on their UK number not in the US - they have special weekend offers. I've stayed at the Plaza on the Park hotel in Bayswater for 35GBP a night over the weekend. For some reason, I can never get the US reservations dept. to find these weekend specials. Also, there are many cheaper hotels in the South Kensington / Cromwell Road area. I've tryed Kensington Manor Hotel which is 40GBP throughout the week. Do NOT expect anything special at these prices - normal hotel rates at Hiltons, Marriotts, etc. in London run between $250 and $300 a night.

There are many small, sparse, clean hotels along Belgrave Road southeast from Victoria Station in the direction of Vauxhall Bridge. Wish I remembered some names. (The Vegas comes to mind - just off Belgrave Road on one of the side streets.) I suspect he'd do fine just showing up and walking down Belgrave Road until he sees one he likes, but some people like to be a bit more confident that they won't have to sleep in a park. A travel agent, a London classified phone book or a London hotel directory may be able to help.

I know I'm going to get blasted from all the UK folks here for this, but...
The Regent Palace, right on Picadilly Circus is cheap. It can be noisy (tour groups book here quite often) but, you can't beat the location and if you get one of the recently refurbished rooms it is not a bad place to stay on a budget if all your going to do is sleep. Some call it "tourist hell" but if your friend truly wants to sleep cheap in London, well...

Another suggestion: www.travelweb.com lists 'Click-it' weekend rates every weekend. There is always a huge list of London hotels, including the Intercontinental hotels at GBP 99 per night, and some Sheraton hotels below that.

These rates are only published in the week before they become available, so really targetted at last minute travellers.

If your friend is staying over the weekend, this might be something to look into. (You could always book a cheap hotel as a back-up, then cancel it if a better hotel at affordable rate becomes available.)


[This message has been edited by DutchBoy (edited 05-05-99).]

If you're just looking for a clean place for the night in a central location, then there's a square in Paddington with about 15-20 hotels all private independent hotels that include breakfast for between 20 - 60 pounds.

The square is called Norfolk Square. Do a search on UK hotels in Norfolk square using ASKJEEVES or some hotel search site.

Paddington is very central in London and the walk from the tube is 1 minute.

The Regent's Palace is a dive!

yes - that Norfolk Square and more hotels at Sussex Gardens just at the corner was my cheap place in 1963 and 64 for months!

There is a 'cute' little hotel off Victoria bus station in Victoria called the Lime Tree Hotel. The rates there are in the region of 70 Pounds (2 years ago anyway). August is not really peak , so you might get a good rate.

Friends of mine are going to London for a week in August and are renting a flat - I think for a little more than the little Paddinton hotels cost - they sent a friend from the UK to check the flat before they agreed - and he said it was nice - a kitchenette, TV, separate lounge and bedroom and one bath. Might be worth a try.

If you dont mind staying at the Airport, The Heathrow Marriott which is brand new has weekend rates as low as 80GBP which includes Tax and breakfast. Well worth it if you are leaving from there the next morning.

Hopr this helps

I've actually found a number of good places in London that can be fairly reasonable. Mostly in the Earl's Court area. They are not of the Sheraton/Hyatt/Marriott standard, but they are fairly good and are around $100 or less and some a little more.

Also check out the rates of the following:

Albany Hotel (South Kensington)
Phone 0171-370 6116
Fax 0171-244 8024

Sometimes the Entertainment book also gets you a good rate (50% off rack). It is a $35-$40 investment, but it pays for itself in one night. Used it at the Ritz Hotel in Barcelona last year, $85/night.