A friend is looking into a few days/week in London but doesn't want to bust the bank. Do any of you know a reasonably decent place to stay and eat without paying royal pounds? Any help would be appreciated.
Cheers,
David

It isn't clear if friend is going solo or with others. If staying a week, he might look into VBRO.com or similar apartment rental service (altho nightly rates are available for some apartments). Since economy seems important, he probably should look at the London subway service map and locate in a lower-cost neighborhood outside central London which has good subway access to downtown.

Similar rentals are found all over the world from VBRO (one of the few with which I've had experience).

There are also B&B services if he wants breakfast included (and smaller accommodations).

Thank you interested. I'll pass this along.
Regards,
David

There are lots of places to stay and eat reasonably and rather well.

It depends on what their itinerary is really.

He will save time and money being based in the bit of London that interests him or her, be careful of booking online as you might end up in a little place an hour and half from anywhere by public transport but still "london" as it were.

A good plan if he is doing the tourist thing is to look at this tube map and use it as a reference for planning.



I strongly suggest that he find a place within "Zone 1" on the map as that is where most of what people think of as "London" is.

As for precise places to stay it depends on budget and expectations; will he just need somewhere to crash or does he want the possibility of room service, concierges etc?

At a pinch the Hilton hotels are usually quite cheap and central and whilst not boutique in the cheaper rooms at least clean.

We then also have things called "travel lodge" and "Holiday inn" etc that are very cheap and do the job if you know what I mean. Book in advance and you can save a lot of money.

As for food tell your friend to get a copy of the Zagat or Harden's guides and go exploring.

I can recommend a few places but in the vastness of London, I would at least need to know what sort of food he likes/doesn't like.

Best,

Amir

Thank you very much G, it is appreciated.
Kind regards,
David

First thing as soon as you can if you have ANY intention of using either the underground OR buses...BUY AN OYSTERCARD!

This is really so, so cheaper than buying single tickets on the underground or the bus AND can be passed to others in your party if you are not using it that day.

You won't regret it and can potentially save a least enough to pay for one day's hotel room cost in tube fares over just a few days use compared to buying tickets.

Oystercard? public transport? mixing with the hoypaloy, gad zooks, I have a driver for that sort of thing.
Seriously though, if I was to visit London, I'd home in on the SW area and gravitate out from the Richmond area. Plenty of pubs and restaurants and a much better class of mugger! (only kidding)

Best part of London I saw was the bit in my rear view mirror as I went home to West Sussex!!

Thanks guys, appreciate the help!

The Travelodge or Hostels cost around £50 per night. Do a quick bedbug check by looking for bloodspots around the headboard before you accept the room.
Food is cheap and if you are hungry, look out for the Chinese Restaurants that offer an all-you-can-eat buffet.
Good food costs more but you generally get what you pay for.
Not sure what you plan to do but most of the Museums, Theatres etc are in the West End of London.
The whole place is about 25 Miles across so chose a location that suits your interests or spend a lot of time travelling.

There are plenty of options in London across the board in terms of price range.

The best bet is to establish what he wants to do while here and then locate accordingly. If he has a location in mind then perhaps one of the board members will have a specific suggestion that works.

K

Thanks for the info guys, appreciated.