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HOW TO FIND AN APARTMENT OR LONDON B&B

If you'd rather stay away from the madding crowd, apartments or bed and breakfasts may be your best bet. Neither are the cheapest option around but they offer (in theory at least) a level of personal service in your stay which you just don't get anywhere else.

I adore Bed and Breakfasts (B&Bs) elsewhere in the UK, which can be big rambling country houses let out to visitors or quaint little cottages with eccentric owners, but for reasons stated below I don't particularly rate them in London. It's a great shame. More on that in a bit, but first, all about apartment - how good are they? How much are they, and are they worth it?

RENTING AN APARTMENT FOR YOUR STAY

Fact: if you're a family or big group apartments can by far and away be your cheapest option in London.

It can also give you true insight into how us Brits live, and (with cooking facilities) you can save yourself a fortune rustling up your own meals. But it's far from the easiest option, and it does take some legwork. There are two different ways to go about renting an apartment, each of which has its pros and cons:

Renting from the owner (cheaper and more personal but perhaps less comeback if things go wrong)

Renting through an agency (more expensive, but in theory more support)

Renting from the owner - get your own apartment

There’s only really one major site to go to: Homeaway. This huge resource is THE place to come for renting from owners pretty much anywhere in the world and if you click to the London section there are more than 300 properties around, ranging from the hugely swish to the pedestrian to the downright odd.

It's the same company as owns 'Vacation Rentals by Owner' - and hence has the same properties on it - but here you can search by date more easily across the properties. It is by far the most extensive list of options to rent from the owner direct.

Not all will be available all year round, and prices vary substantially - there's little logic, with larger, better places sometimes priced for less than those that are clearly inferior, so it's definitely search a good few options. Nonetheless you could end up with a massive house in the swankiest of areas for less than £100 a head, which by London standards is an absolute bargain.

At its best, renting direct can be an amazing way to see London: you get to live like a local for a bit, you get to interact with real Londoners, and you get to save money doing so.

If you'd rather rent through an agency (more expensive, but in theory more support)...

Much of what holds true for renting from the owner also stands for renting from an agency. There are though two BIG advantages to working through an agency:

You have more backup if things go wrong. They're more used to dealing with travelers and their needs, and treat them accordingly; and
They take credit cards. You have some level of consumer protection if you book on your credit card and things go wrong.

So getting the backup of an actual company, so they should be more used to dealing with vacationers needs: they’re doing it for a full-time business, not a hobby; many have out of hours services in case there’s a problem outside normal working times. And the credit card thing is REALLY important, though you need to check how much it will cost you and perhaps change cards to save yourself heaps. You can get round this if you want to book direct with the owner with proper travel insurance, which will pay out if anything goes wrong: everyone should have travel insurance anyway in my opinion.

There are downsides to booking through an agency too though:

Service won't be as personal as with a property’s owner.
You pay a premium for using their services.

Which company should I use?

Now there is a confounding array of companies out there offering London apartments, so let’s cut through the internet noise a little. There’s been some good talk about Think Apartments near Tower Bridge (a good location) – prices start at around £80 a night. For a wider range Refresh Accommodation is good, though slightly geared to corporate or professional travelers in places. Finally, one of the biggest 'small' operators is Coach House London which offers a more personal, less corporate alternative, letting out houses of real Londoners who are on vacation (with their permission, of course!) Their website’s awful but the properties are nice.

Vital tips for renting a London apartment

No matter how you choose to do it, you need to keep your head about you in this process. These are my top tips - gained through years of experience of dealing with people renting apartments. Read carefully and note!

Where, exactly, is it? If there's not a postal code, email and ask for one so you can put it in Google Maps and see where it is. Use the street view function to check out the neighborhood. Some of the descriptions are pretty vague and you need to know how long it will take you to get to the sites. Don't discount the ones that seem a long way from the center out of hand; you may be able to commute to the center of London quickly and efficiently on the train and still be able to stay in semi-countryside, offering the best of both worlds.
Ask, ask, ask. Don't be afraid to bug people. This is your single biggest expense while you're over here so it pays dividends to be a bit pushy. Email in the first instance but phone is also a good way of finding out the real situation: we all speak English here too, you know! If you're worried about the cost you could use a service like Skype to use the internet for very cheap international calls to phones - this could save you a lot if you're making a number of calls. If you're using a more traditional phone number just remember (a) calling this way isn't cheap (b) put 44 as the international dial code in front of the English number and drop the 0 if it starts with a 0, and (c) be sure that it's not an unsociable hour!
In terms of distance from the center again, a good question to use would be: How long would it take me to get to Trafalgar Square using public transport? (London's sites are pretty spread out, albeit within a small area; Trafalgar Square is about as central as you can get so is a good 'yardstick'). You can do this easily using Transport for London's journey planner, though you do need the full address of where you're thinking about staying for it to work properly.
Length of stay: Some require a week minimum. Read each description carefully.
Photographs: Are there pictures? Are they recent? I’d never rent anywhere without pictures, and if you email the owner ask them how recent the pictures were. It's fine to ask for extra photos if you're not sure. You're about to part with a lot of money!
Read the reviews carefully: They should be recent, mostly positive (you can never please everyone), and seem to be from a number of different travelers. If they don’t tick all three of these boxes, think long and hard about staying there.
Ask how they want to be paid: it's likely that they may only be able to take cash, so you may have to transport a large amount with you. Is sterling best or would they accept dollars?
You can ask additional questions: Don’t be afraid to ask about anything that’s not clear: it’s better sorted now then once you arrive and find it’s not what you were after.
Ask about breakages policy, especially if you have kids! You don't want to be paying for an priceless antique vase!
Be honest yourself and expect it in return.
If it seems to good to be true, beware!
Finally, if it doesn't 'feel' right, walk away. Your instincts are rarely wrong.

If you take these basic precautions and communicate well, then it should be a great way to see London, many thousands of people do this every year with few problems.

If all that seems like a lot of work, then you might prefer a hotel. I've got a general guide to finding the best price and another which uses the website priceline to save you heaps and heaps of cash. Don't worry, it may sound complicated and for experts but it's not. It talks you through it step by step and really can save you money - even my elderly grandmother could follow it and she's 92!

BED AND BREAKFASTS IN LONDON

Outside of London, Bed and Breakfasts tend to be excellent value with a certain 'rough and ready' and often quaint charm to them. Sadly, the same can’t be said for those in the capital. Most are either very far from the city centre or pretty grotty, and with so many hotels here and property so expensive there’s little incentive to develop the sector further.

It's rather depressing to admit that, but there you go. That said, there are (obviously) a few lovely B&Bs, if you look hard enough. But you won't be saving big money by staying there, unlike in the rest of the country. If you're interested the Bed and Breakfast Club (which used to be called the Bulldog Club) has some classy-looking properties and are among the nicer around but I can’t vouch for them personally.

This guide is updated every six months. Last updated Summer 2010.

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