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Accommodation in London

London has hundreds of options for accommodations - from 4 star hotels, through apartments, to historic B&Bs and hostel beds. You can end up paying anything from £20-200 per person, per night, with most hotels anywhere near the centre charging £50 per person and up. Expect smaller than average rooms, especially at the lower end of the price range. London's most prestigious hotels can charge literally thousands of pounds per night for their top suites!! Your budget will have a lot to do with what part of London you will want to stay in. With the excellent Tube available, where you stay won't limit what you see, but be sure to check where the closest tube station is to your hotel.

Staying further out will be cheaper, but when travelling in allow 1-2 minutes per tube stop (near the centre), around 2-3 minutes per stop (further out), and 5 minutes per line change. This can easily total up to a 1 hour journey if there is a walk at each end. The extra cost of more zones on a travel card is probably not significant compared to hotel savings further out.

Capsule-style crash spaces are just arriving, but currently these are only in central locations. (does anyone know of cheaper capsule-style crash space further out?)

Some nice, convenient areas to stay in London include:

• Bloomsbury - relatively quiet area with a wide range of accommodations, gets a little seedy towards and beyond King's Cross station. Many budget options are located on Argyle Street. Cartwright Gardens features a dozen small B&Bs in historic homes.

• Kensington - the Earl's Court area of Kensington has many budget and modest accommodations as well as good 4 star hotels and some good restaurants as well.

• Paddington/Hyde Park - an area that has undergone a lot of change recently, largely resulting from the Heathrow Express coming into Paddington Station. Good hotels can be found in the immediate area of the station and in quieter spots a short walk away.

• Westminster - lots of small B&B hotels (many used to be brothels but are much nicer now) around the back of Victoria station, in the Pimlico area.

Hostels are not necessarily as unpleasant as you may think, and as long as you don't mind sharing with others, they can be the most cost effective option, and also offer breakfast as well as kitchens for self catering. The Youth Hostel Association of England and Wales operates four hostels in Central London:

• St Pancras (Euston Road, opposite the British Library and St Pancras railway station) The largest and newest of the four, minutes walk from Kings Cross/St Pancras and Euston Tube stations)

• St. Pauls (In the City, a short walk from St. Paul's Cathedral) A small hostel converted from one of the Square Mile's oldest buildings.

• Holland Park (Off Kensington High Street, near High St. Kensington on the Circle Line) Situated in a spectacular location in one of London's most prestigious areas.

• Oxford Street (Located in the middle of the shopping district)

As of 2006, the YHA's prices were £24.80 for Bed and Breakfast per night for Hostelling International members, a £1 supplement per person per night for non-members. Like everything else, you should book online well in advance - the hostels usually fill up on Friday and Saturday nights about 14 days before. A top tip is don't be put off if there are no beds left online, phone the hostel in question to see if there are still beds available or if there has been a cancellation. Some of the YHA's properties also offer a limited number of private family rooms - expect to pay £61 per night.

The Generator Hostel in Russell Square (Zone 1) provides dorm-style accommodation starting at £10 in the low season. There are a number of hostels all through the city but this is probably the cheapest one that's close to the Tube and some attractions - an easy walk to the British Museum and a few minutes further to Kings Cross Station.

In the summer season, many of the colleges and universities in Central London open up their student Halls of Residence as hotels during the summer vacation, at usually much lower rates than "proper" hotels, but expect very basic facilities and no catering. University College London is based in the King's Cross/Bloomsbury area and offers such a service.

In an emergency, should you get stranded in London with nowhere to stay, call the Shelter 24-hour helpline on 0808 800 4444 (Shelter is a UK national charity that provides advice on housing and homelessness).

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