The 16 best cheap hotels in London

Get slap bang in the middle of town without forking out extortionate prices. The Generator is a vibrant hostel with dorms and private rooms on offer. There's quirky lighting everywhere, a games room, a bar and a graffiti-painted piano. Add to your culture intake with a short stroll to the British Museum, Piccadilly Circus and other prime sightseeing spots nearby.

As far as locations go, you can't beat a stay in Soho. The theatre district, major museums, shops, restaurants and bars are all within walking distance. Usually, this convenience comes at a (high) price, but Z Hotel has some super affordable rooms available. Unsurprisingly, you won't get a lot of space for your money, but you do get all the essentials: en suite, toiletries, flat-screen TV and free Wi-Fi.

The Dutch invasion of stylish budget hotels continues with this Brick Lane offering focused on community and sustainability: the hotel works with local cycling charity Bikeworks and with Food Cycle. Rooms that are individually styled in bright tones and determinedly youthful, but all have TVs, rain-shower bathrooms, free tea and coffee, even free bikes, and Wi-Fi throughout.

Whatever you think you know about the Youth Hostels Association, forget it. This is YHA like you've never seen it before. Think stylised colour-block furniture, a sleek bar/pizza joint and foosball. The 100-odd beds are a bit more basic, but you'd be getting an absolute bargain. Especially considering the Fitzrovia location.

Virtually opposite The Savoy and so at the heart of Covent Garden and Theatreland, the grand old Strand Palace, in business since 1909, is a bargain for the area, and comes with modern, comfortable rooms. Free Wi-Fi, a gym, a gin palace and an Indian restaurant all add to the appeal.

For a chance to explore west London without paying west London prices, try this independent, family-run hotel on a pretty Victorian street, a stroll from Notting Hill and Hyde Park. Rooms in this grand terraced house have a bright, modern feel and (other than the small ones) plenty of space. The lounge, with its wood floor and leather furniture, is a great place to kick back after a trek through the park after a West End matinee or shopping spree.

From booking the room to dimming its lights, to working out what to do in the area, everything at Hub is controlled via an app on your phone or tablet, and it’s clearly working as Hub now has five branches in London. Rooms at this branch on Brick Lane are mini but well designed, with beds high enough to fit your suitcase underneath and a little desk and en suite shower. Prices are very reasonable for the location.

This family-run hotel has José Radio to thank for its attractive and original craftsmanship. He’s responsible for the brightly coloured décor and he made the bedframes himself. A good breakfast is included in some rooms and there’s an honesty bar too, not to mention plenty of local buzzing options to whet your appetite.

On the touristy side of Paddington and a brisk walk from the appealing Merchant Square development, this small-budget hotel is a retro-futurist dream, with metal panelling, and lots of royal blue and pod bathrooms. Rooms are fit for two in a double, or the Stylosuites can sleep up to three people, and include breakfast.

A new addition to London’s affordable hotel scene is always good news for London’s visitors, especially when it’s in the heart of lively Soho. Mimi’s contemporary rooms cram everything you need into a range of rooms – beginning with ‘minis’ which squeeze in a double bed with Frette linen, a rainforest shower and Molton Brown products in the bathroom, plus free newspapers and bottled water. The hotel has its own stylish bar that morphs from the breakfast area to the cocktail lounge, and beyond all that, Soho beckons. 

Wombat’s 120 rooms – including dorms, twins and doubles – are all en suite. There’s a bar, a terrace with hammocks and free wifi throughout. Its location is great, both for the galleries, shopping and bars of the East End, but also for the river and sights to the south like the Tower of London and Borough Market and South Bank. You’re stumbling distance from the excellent curry houses south of Brick Lane, though there is a communal kitchen on site as well.

Despite the corporate-sounding name, Safestay Holland Park is, in fact, one of the city’s leafiest hostel options, with beautiful gardens and a terrace partly built in a Jacobean mansion within Holland Park. Accommodation options run from twin rooms to 33-bed dormitories (think bunk beds with reading lights and privacy curtains), there’s a 24-hour reception and even a cash machine on site. Elephant and Castle have another branch.

At just a short walk from King's Cross & St Pancras International, this sunny-sounding stay is incredibly conveniently located. In fact, you can walk to many desirable attractions from this B&B and if you'd prefer to take public transport, there's the Tube, buses, Overground and national rail to be utilised. Hotel-wise, there are 60 en suite rooms spread throughout four Georgian townhouses that brim with character, paintings and art deco features. Plus, you get the novelty of telling your mates you're staying at 'Hotel California'.

This family-run bed and breakfast is set in a converted factory in the conservation area of De Beauvoir in Islington and has four en suite rooms that surround a stylish loft space. A self-service breakfast in a shared dining room-lounge area, free run of the kitchen, and a courtyard garden make it feel homely, though if you want to explore, you have a whole of Dalston’s cafés and restaurants around the corner.

Forget cabbing it to Gatwick at an ungodly hour, book a room here instead. Bloc opened at Gatwick’s South Terminal in 2014 and offers 245 rooms that are pitched halfway between a Japanese pod hotel and a design hotel, but at prices far below normal airport prices. There’s free Wi-Fi, king-size beds, Smart TVs and monsoon showers, and while there’s no restaurant on site, discounts are available from eateries in the terminal. Plane nerds (and honeymooners) should plump for the Runway Suite.

Granted, it’s not quite the Langham, and you’re more likely to bump into BBC bods down from Salford than the celebs who’ve flown in to appear on the telly, but the Langham Grange Court is almost as close to Broadcasting House as its more famous namesake. Doubles are super economical, rendering this gorgeous hotel perfect for a weekend of shopping and sightseeing. The modern, airy rooms feature luxury marble bathrooms, there’s a stylish French restaurant, and the distinctive black-and-white exterior makes it very easy to find.