Cheap London Lodgings

In London, one of the world's most expensive cities, cheap is relative. In recent years, however, more options have appeared for low-cost stays.
It used to be that student residences associated with the University of London, the London School of Economics and other institutions of higher learning offered some of the best deals around, for those visiting when they were open to short-term visitors. That is generally during the long summer vacation and at Christmas and Easter break.
In 2001 I stayed for a few days at the High Holborn residence of LSE. It was clean and wonderfully situated for West End theatres, the British Museum and Library, Soho and shopping. It is still fairly cheap, but for next year the price for a single room will rise to around $72 at today's exchange rate. This includes a continental breakfast buffet, but rooms have shared baths, and I have never seen such tiny bathrooms. Some other LSE residences are less expensive. The Website is www.lsevacations.co.uk/residences. The Website www.europeforvisitors.com lists contacts for some other student residences.
Budget hotels are another good choice. These are new, modern places that appear to have very small rooms for low prices. I checked the rate for the Easy Hotel in Victoria for a date in January and came up with $51. The Website is www.easyHotel.com.
The Tune Hotel Westminster, which is actually not in Westminster but south of the river in Lambeth, offers rooms for as little as $15 if you book far ahead on their Website, www.TuneHotels.com. A review warns that there may be a lot of extra charges, but the basic price is amazing.
London is a fascinating city, and with lodging prices like this it is almost affordable.