Accommodations in the London area
 

I'm just wondering if anyone here can offer a suggestion of a good website for finding accommodations in the London area for the beginning of August. I started looking, and there are about a million websites offering accommodations in London, each with hundreds of options. I have no idea which sites are better (more reliable) than others.

If I could get accommodations close to Heathrow, that would be great, but other areas would be fine too.

But mainly I'm looking for a good reliable site I can explore for options.

Oh yes ... I'm not looking for anything expensive. I'm thinking along the lines of hostels, or inexpensive B&Bs, or small hotels or something.

I can't point you toward a website, but I went at about that time of year in 2003, and because it was university holidays, I stayed in an empty hall of residence near the Old Street tube station. It's a bit more expensive than hostels, but still pretty cheap and you get a room to yourself. There's a list of them in Lonely Planet. Sing out if you want some more details.
James

I stayed at Holland House youth hostel, it's an HI hostel. Nothing fancy, but it was a pretty easy bike ride out to Heathrow to catch my flight the next day. They let you store your bike in their very secure luggage storeroom, which is nice. It's probably the closest hostel to Heathrow and the setting is pretty quiet for London (fronts on Holland Park). I'm assuming you're en route to PBP, will your bike be boxed or will you be riding it around London?

I was looking at that one and trying to place where it was with my rather inadequate maps of London.

My bike will be boxed when I disembark at Heathrow ... but I'll either be cycling from there or from some sort of accommodations near there. And then later I'll be cycling to Heathrow after the PBP.

In May 2004 I cycled out of Heathrow (Terminal 4) into Cranford, then Hayes, then halfway across the Hayes Bull Bridge a bicycle path will lead you down onto the towpath of the Grand Union Canal. I followed the Grand Union Canal into central London, then took a train from Euston Station to Edinburgh, and rode around Scotland. Returning to the US I spent my last night in the Holland Park hostel, cycled to Hammersmith Station, then cycled on bike paths next to the A315 (I think) to where the A315 crossed a branch of the Grand Union Canal. From there I followed the Grand Union Canal back out to Hayes, got back on the Hayes Bull Bridge, and cycled back to Heathrow/Terminal 4. It's kind of a roundabout way to get into and out of Heathrow/London, but I can't think of a more enjoyable way to recover from a transatlantic flight. You can find my approximate route on Google Earth, the locals are very gracious about giving directions (you probably knew that already), and it would take an effort to get lost once you found the Grand Union Canal.

A few warnings: The Grand Union Canal does split shortly after you leave Hayes, know which branch you want. The local punks (yoofs, as they say) think it's funny to switch the signs. There are barriers to keep motorcycles off the towpath, they are a nuisance to negotiate with a fully loaded touring bike (I know this because...). The path passes under a few bridges where kids will hang out at night, drink, and break the empty bottles on the towpath. No problems in daylight or early evening, but I sliced my front tire open on a broken bottle and cycled 1000 miles around Scotland with a wad of duct tape holding my front tire together.

try www.ratestogo.com, I have used them and they have decent hotels at discounted prices.

It will take a while to download but the TFL (transport for london) site does work out cycle routes for you. 96 mins to cycle from Heathrow to Holland park via the Grand Union Canal

http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk/use...LPxx_map=cycle

I found this site to be very useful, and the staff marvelous.

http://www.londontown.com/

Good luck finding anything inexpensive in London, regardless of which site you use. Not only is London a very expensive place to visit, the unfavorable exchange rate of the dollar (either Canadian or US) versus the British pound sterling is shocking. Sort of a double whammy.

I'm not thinking of inexpensive in terms of an Australian hostel in an off-the-beaten-track town, but rather in comparison with the area around London ... in other words, not some posh hotel ... basically the least expensive, yet relatively cockroach-free, place I can find. :)

First off, have u tried the CouchSurfing website?

Second, I'll ask a UK friend of mine who seems to visit London a LOT and he always stays in hostels. Stay tuned. :)

PBP?

Paris-Brest-Paris ... 1200 km Randonnee held every 4 years since the late 1800s.

What about B&Bs?

Ok, my friend recommended that you try http://www.hostelbookers.com and his suggestion is a hostel named The Generator which is well located and has decent facilities.

I was browsing through the 7 million hostels in London, and I actually noticed that one! :D

My one concern, however, would be ... is it noisy? That one looked like a bit of a party place.

I don't know if it's a party place or not but my friend is definitely not the partying sort. He actually does stints as a volunteer hostel keeper.

Well, that's good to know ... thanks!