Last updated: August 2026
This article contains affiliate links. If you book through them, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend hotels we would genuinely stay in ourselves, and the commission does not change what makes this list.
Picking the best hotels in London is harder than it should be. The city has over 1,500 of them, prices swing from £60 to £1,000 a night, and the star ratings tell you almost nothing useful — a four-star in Bayswater and a four-star in Mayfair are not remotely the same experience.
Here is the good news, and it genuinely surprises most American visitors: London’s budget and mid-range hotels are properly good. This is not a city where “budget” is code for “avoid.” A £90 Premier Inn room in London will be cleaner and better maintained than plenty of £180 hotels in US cities.
As a born and raised Englishman who has watched friends and family visit London for decades — and fielded the panicked “is this hotel okay?” texts — I have organized the best hotels in London by budget level, with the trade-offs spelled out honestly at each price point.
For help choosing the right area first, read our Where to Stay in London neighborhood guide. Area matters more than hotel.
Best Hotels in London at a Glance
| Hotel | Price/night | Area | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| easyHotel Victoria | £45-80 | Victoria | Absolute cheapest |
| Travelodge London Bridge | £60-100 | London Bridge | Bare-bones value |
| Point A Shoreditch | £70-120 | Shoreditch | Budget with style |
| Premier Inn King’s Cross | £80-130 | King’s Cross | Transport links |
| Premier Inn County Hall | £90-150 | South Bank | Best budget location |
| Hub by Premier Inn Covent Garden | £100-150 | Covent Garden | Solo travelers |
| Z Hotel Soho | £110-160 | Soho | Nightlife access |
| CitizenM Bankside | £130-180 | South Bank | Design on a budget |
| H10 London Waterloo | £130-200 | Waterloo | Rooftop bar |
| The Hoxton, Southwark | £200-320 | South Bank | Trendy, social |
| The Pilgrm | £200-280 | Paddington | Boutique character |
| Treehouse London | £250-350 | Marylebone | Playful design |
| Shangri-La at The Shard | £400-700 | London Bridge | The views |
| The Savoy | £450-800 | Strand | Iconic history |
| Claridge’s | £500-900 | Mayfair | Peak British luxury |
| The Ritz London | £500-1,000 | Piccadilly | Old-world formality |
Prices move considerably by season and how early you book. Compare live rates across London hotels for your specific dates.
How Much Should You Expect to Pay?
Before looking at the best hotels in London by name, it helps to calibrate. American visitors routinely arrive expecting either bargains or extortion, and the reality sits in between.
| Budget | What you get | Room size |
|---|---|---|
| £60-120 | Clean, functional, en-suite, central-ish | 12-18 sq m |
| £120-250 | Design, air conditioning, decent location | 15-22 sq m |
| £250-400 | Character, good restaurant, prime area | 20-30 sq m |
| £400+ | Full luxury, service, landmark building | 30-50 sq m |
Two things to internalize. First, London rooms are genuinely smaller than American ones — 15 to 20 square metres against a US average north of 30. That is not a bad hotel, that is a Victorian building. Second, September, January and February are markedly cheaper than June through August, and Sunday nights are the cheapest night of the week in central London.
Best Budget Hotels in London (£45 to £120)
Premier Inn — the Reliable Default
Premier Inn is Britain’s biggest budget chain and the one I recommend most often. The appeal is total predictability: consistently clean rooms, genuinely excellent Hypnos mattresses, en-suite bathrooms, tea and coffee facilities, and blackout curtains that work. No surprises in either direction.
| Hotel | Location | Price | Why stay here |
|---|---|---|---|
| Premier Inn County Hall | South Bank, by the London Eye | £90-150 | Walk to the London Eye, Tate Modern, Westminster — check rates |
| Premier Inn Covent Garden | Drury Lane | £100-160 | Theatre district, walk to the British Museum — check rates |
| Premier Inn King’s Cross | King’s Cross | £80-130 | Six Tube lines, direct train from Gatwick — check rates |
| Premier Inn Paddington | Paddington | £80-130 | Heathrow Express arrives here in 15 min — check rates |
| Premier Inn London Bridge | London Bridge | £90-140 | Tower Bridge, Borough Market, Tate Modern — check rates |
Honest tip: Premier Inn frequently has cheaper rates on their own site than anywhere else, particularly the non-refundable Saver rates. Check both before you book. I would rather you save £40 than send me a commission.
Premier Inn County Hall is, for my money, the single best budget location in London. You walk out of the door and the London Eye is right there.
Travelodge — Cheapest of the Big Chains
Cheaper than Premier Inn and noticeably more basic. Thin walls, minimal toiletries, no frills whatsoever. Perfectly fine for two or three nights when you will barely be in the room.
| Hotel | Location | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Travelodge London Bridge | London Bridge | £60-100 |
| Travelodge Central London City | Tower Hill | £60-110 |
| Travelodge Covent Garden | Covent Garden | £70-120 |
| Travelodge Marylebone | Marylebone | £70-110 |
Compare Travelodge rates, and again, check travelodge.co.uk directly too — they undercut third parties regularly.
Point A Hotels — Budget with Design
A clear step up in feel from Premier Inn and Travelodge without a step up in price. Compact, modern, well-designed rooms with good showers and a boutique sensibility. Ideal for solo travelers and couples who care how a room looks.
Locations: Westminster (£80-130), Shoreditch (£70-120), King’s Cross (£70-120). See current rates.
easyHotel — Cheapest Bed in Zone 1
Run by the easyJet people, and it shows. Rooms are tiny, orange, and windowless in some cases. Wi-Fi and television cost extra. But you can sleep in Victoria for £45.
Book it only if price genuinely outranks everything else. Check availability.
Best Mid-Range Hotels in London (£120 to £250)
This is the sweet spot, and where most of the best hotels in London for value sit.
CitizenM — Small Rooms, Big Design
Rooms are compact but beautifully done: wall-to-wall king beds, iPad-controlled lighting and blinds, rainfall showers, free films. The lobby functions as a living room with a 24-hour canteen and a good bar. Air conditioning throughout, which matters more than Americans expect in a July heatwave.
Locations: Tower of London (£140-200), Bankside (£130-180), Shoreditch (£120-170). See current rates.
Hub by Premier Inn — Compact and Central
Premier Inn’s small-room concept, and a genuine bargain given the postcodes. Rooms run about 11 square metres with smart TVs, air conditioning and app-controlled everything. Too small for a family, excellent for one or two people who want Covent Garden at £120.
Locations: Covent Garden, Westminster, Tower Bridge, Goodge Street. £90-150. See current rates.
Z Hotels — Prime Locations, Tiny Rooms
The Z chain buys prime central buildings and fits small rooms into them. The locations are genuinely unbeatable at the price.
One warning: some Z Hotel rooms have no window at all. This is disclosed at booking but easy to miss, and waking up in a windowless box after a transatlantic flight does nothing for jet lag. Filter for a window.
Locations: Soho (£110-160), Covent Garden (£100-150), Tower Bridge (£90-140), Victoria (£90-130). Check availability.
H10 London Waterloo
A reliable, comfortable mid-range hotel with a rooftop bar and a five-minute walk to the London Eye. Rooms are a normal size by London standards, which at this price is close to remarkable.
£130-200. See current rates.
Best Upper Mid-Range Hotels in London (£250 to £400)
The Hoxton — Where Londoners Actually Go
The Hoxton’s lobbies work as co-working spaces and its restaurants draw locals rather than only guests, which makes it feel like part of the city instead of a bubble. Rooms are stylish without being precious.
Locations: Holborn (£200-300), Southwark (£200-320), Shoreditch (£180-280). See current rates.
The Pilgrm — Best Boutique Value
A restored Victorian townhouse in Paddington with 73 rooms, vintage furniture, marble bathrooms and one of the loveliest hotel lobbies in London. Walking distance to Hyde Park, and the Heathrow Express platform is minutes away.
£200-280. Check availability.
Treehouse London
Design-forward and deliberately playful, just off Oxford Street, with a very good rooftop bar and restaurant. Choose it for personality rather than polish.
£250-350. See current rates.
Best Luxury Hotels in London (£400+)
The Savoy
London’s most famous hotel, open on the Strand since 1889. Art Deco interiors, a rooftop pool, and the American Bar, where the White Lady cocktail was invented. Even if you never stay, the bar is worth one expensive drink.
£450-800+. Check availability.
Claridge’s
The most quintessentially British of the grand hotels, in Mayfair, favoured by royalty since the 1850s. The service is the product here — quiet, anticipatory, unshowy. Afternoon tea in the Foyer is the single best formal tea in London.
£500-900+. See current rates.
The Ritz London
Open since 1906 and unapologetically formal — jackets and ties for gentlemen in the dining room. Palm Court afternoon tea is legendary and books out weeks ahead. Choose The Ritz if you want the London of the films.
£500-1,000+. Check availability.
Shangri-La at The Shard
Floors 34 to 52 of The Shard, making it the highest hotel in Western Europe. Every room has floor-to-ceiling windows and a view that no other London hotel can match. The infinity pool on level 52 is the photograph everyone takes.
£400-700+. See current rates.
Best Hotels in London by Traveler Type
First trip, want to walk everywhere: Premier Inn County Hall — South Bank puts you inside walking distance of most of the landmarks.
Couples on a budget: CitizenM Bankside — the design punches far above the price.
Solo travelers: Hub by Premier Inn Covent Garden — small room, superb location, low price.
Families: H10 London Waterloo — larger rooms and family options, which are scarce in central London.
Theatre trip: Premier Inn Covent Garden — walk home after the curtain.
Special occasion: Shangri-La at The Shard — the view does the work.
Arriving from Heathrow, leaving early: Premier Inn Paddington — 15 minutes from the airport on the Heathrow Express. See our Heathrow to Central London guide, or our hotels near Heathrow roundup if you need an airport night.
How to Get the Best Hotel Rates in London
Compare, Then Check Direct
Use a comparison site to see the whole market at once, then check the hotel’s own website. For the British chains — Premier Inn, Travelodge, Hub — direct is often cheaper. For international brands and independents, third-party rates are usually competitive or better.
Compare rates across London hotels to establish the going rate before you commit.
Time It Properly
- Book two to three months ahead for the best combination of price and choice
- Avoid school holidays — late July to early September, Christmas, and Easter, when rates spike hardest
- Sunday nights are cheapest in central London; Friday and Saturday are dearest
- January and February are the cheapest months, and London is perfectly good in the cold
Understand What Is Not Included
British hotel rates include VAT and there is no resort fee culture, so the quoted price is close to the real price. But breakfast is usually extra at budget chains — £6 to £12 — and it is rarely worth it. A Pret or Caffè Nero breakfast costs £5 to £8 and is better.
Mistakes Americans Make Booking London Hotels
Having talked a lot of visitors through this, the same five errors come up again and again.
1. Booking on price alone and ending up in Zone 3. A £70 room in Wembley costs you 90 minutes of Tube time a day. Filter by zone, not just price. 2. Assuming air conditioning is standard. In converted Victorian buildings it often is not. If you are coming in July or August, check explicitly. 3. Expecting American room sizes. You will be disappointed unless you recalibrate. Newer builds — CitizenM, Hub, Point A — are more space-efficient than old townhouse conversions. 4. Ignoring the walk to the Tube. Anything beyond ten minutes from a station will grind you down by day three. Check on a map, not on the hotel’s description. 5. Booking a windowless room without realising. Common at Z Hotels and easyHotel, disclosed but easy to skim past.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the cheapest decent hotel in central London? Travelodge London Bridge or Premier Inn County Hall, both from around £60-90 a night booked in advance. Neither is fancy, both are clean, comfortable and genuinely central. easyHotel Victoria goes lower still at £45 if you can tolerate a very small room.
Which area has the best hotels in London for first-time visitors? South Bank and Westminster. You can walk to Big Ben, the London Eye, Westminster Abbey, Tate Modern and Borough Market, which removes most of your transport friction. Covent Garden is the other strong choice if theatre and restaurants matter more than landmarks.
Is breakfast usually included? Not at budget chains, where it runs £6-12 extra. Often included at mid-range and luxury hotels. Always check the rate details, because “room only” and “bed and breakfast” rates can appear within a few pounds of each other.
Do London hotels have air conditioning? Most modern ones do. Converted period buildings in Covent Garden, Marylebone and Bloomsbury frequently do not. July and August can hit 30°C, so if you are heat-sensitive, treat air conditioning as a filter rather than a bonus.
Are London hotel rooms really smaller than American ones? Yes, substantially. London averages 15-20 square metres against 30-plus in the US. It is a function of building age and land value, not hotel quality.
Should I stay near an Underground station? Yes, and treat it as non-negotiable. Within a five-minute walk is ideal, ten is the outer limit. Check the actual walking distance on a map — hotels describe themselves as “moments from” stations that are half a mile away.
Do I need to tip at London hotels? Far less than in the US. £1-2 for a porter, nothing for housekeeping unless you want to, and service is usually included in restaurant bills. See our London for Americans guide for the full tipping picture.
Is it cheaper to book a hotel or an apartment? For stays of four nights or more with a group, an apartment usually wins on cost per person. For one to three nights, or solo and couple travel, hotels are generally cheaper once cleaning fees are counted.
Next steps: pick your area with our Where to Stay in London neighborhood guide, plan your days with our 3 Days in London itinerary, and read First Time in London before you fly.