LONDON ACCOMMODATION: HOSTELS & UNIVERSITY ROOMS

If you want something different - and often better value - than a budget hotel for your trip to London, then there are still two great options to consider: Hostels and University Accommodation. Between them they offer thousands of rooms and if you plan it right you can end up staying in Central London for as little as £20 a night. How so?

Well by researching and reading this completely impartial guide! You should know that hostels are better for young people, but bizarrely, uni accommodation (in the holidays at least) is better if you're a bit older and less keen to party.

HOSTELS

Despite the name youth hostels aren’t just for youths – in fact people of all ages can stay there. There are reams of reviews on Hostelworld - make sure you check each hostel out before you decide to book in a particular one. I've decided to list some here that I know personally are clean, tidy and in most you don’t have to sleep in a dormitory – double rooms are sometimes available for around £40 a night for two people, though in peak season it’ll be more than that:

St Christophers Inn, London Bridge - well located a few hundred yards from Borough Market, it’s good for families as well as single travelers – a sister hostel a short walk away, St Christopher’s Village is for young party animals who want to laugh the night away.
The Generator is a relatively new, trendy, giant hostel in Bloomsbury not far from the British Museum which caters mostly for the party crowd who don’t mind crashing in cheap dorms. It also has doubles for around £65.
The Astor Victoria is friendly and convenient for those coming in from Heathrow, and while they don’t have that many doubles they do consistently rate pretty highly.
The Palmers Lodge hostel is in genteel Swiss Cottage – they offer cheap rooms a very short tube ride away from the city center and just a short distance from hip Camden – the building has more character than most hostels. It’s not party-crazy but seems friendly and clean.
One of the best for families – and older travelers in general - is the grand new YHA London Central, in hip Fitzrovia just a stone’s throw from Oxford street – they have ensuite rooms for four for less than £100, which is a total bargain by London standards.

Do remember though that hostels can change rapidly and make sure you read the reviews before committing to somewhere. Of course, if you’re really desperate to see London for nearly no money at all you could try couchsurfing…. though you’d have to be braver than I am.

UNIVERSITY ACCOMMODATION

Clean, basic and extremely cheap, these really are ‘no frills’. Most have tea/coffee facilities and a shared kitchen but no TV, bar, or concierge. Particularly good for the summer visitor.

Ok you may be long past your school days – or even studying at another university – but you should totally consider university accommodation for your trip. They’re generally well-located, comfortable and clean, if extremely basic, and most have access to a shared kitchen – good enough for you to rustle up some breakfast or a simple meal. Some rooms are available year-round but the real bargains come as summer arrives; university term finishes and tens of thousands of students go home for the holidays. Many of those rooms are up for grabs to clever travelers – like you. University term dates vary but in general if you’re traveling between the middle of June and September these could be the perfect option for you.

And don’t worry: the universities do this every summer so it won’t be weird to be in institutional accommodation or like being ‘in college’ – perhaps bizarrely many younger travelers prefer to go to party hostels and many ‘normal’ people who just like the more basic places to stay enjoy resting their heads in these places.

You can book either search and book through each individual university one at a time but it's easier to go through Travelstay – the agent which handles the booking for almost all of them, especially as the price is the same either way.

London School of Economics

The main player is the London School of Economics – the highly-respected university where half of Obama’s cabinet studied. They sell rooms all the year round but have more available in the summer. The exact offering varies from location to location but offer double rooms in the very heart of London for around £99 a night, while ones marginally further out are as cheap as £60.

King’s College London/City University/Westminster University

Some of the universities only have rooms available during the summer – that’s mid-June to mid-September. They therefore offer slightly cheaper rates than the LSE – around £50 a night for a double. King’s College is the biggest while City and Westminster Universities also have some rooms Again, check direct or do a search covering the lot through travelstay.

And the rest

For the sake of completeness there are a few more options you could consider. Queen Mary Westfield – essentially, a liberal arts college – has nice rooms in nice places, and is also open during the summer. You can book direct of search through LondonHotelSite.

University College London is one of the capital’s bigger – and better – universities: all of which makes it even more irritating how difficult they make it for you to book the relatively abundant vacation accommodation (available summer only: June to September). Not only can you only go to their site direct but you also need to contact each individual ‘residence’ by email or phone to see if they’ve got any rooms. Rates are good though and locations central and with all the hassle it’s likely many people don’t bother and therefore it may be easier to get a room here in the summer than in Kings or LSE.

Goldsmiths – well, it’s cheap and the rooms are nice but frankly I can’t recommend it because the area – New Cross is pretty scary. One for the very experienced traveler. Summer only.

Final thoughts on cheap university accommodation

Book early if you can, these deals do go fast
Remember to check that they'll be able to accommodate you if you arrive very early in the morning or late at night: most don't have 24 hour receptions.
One final point: if you’re a large group of 5 or 6, university accommodation is sometimes in group apartments. These can be a real steal – they can work out as cheap as £30 a night per person. Worth considering seriously if you're in a group.
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