1. Book in advance – Whichever way you decide to go, if possible, book something before you arrive. Not only will your mind be at ease when you get here, but rolling up to a hotel in the rain, laden with luggage, looking jetlagged and pleading for anything resembling a bed, brings out the inner sadist in even the most empathetic hotel desk clerks and you will pay for your indiscretion.

2. Websites – Try searching for discount accommodation rates for thousands of properties on websites all over the internet. Many of them have great deals.

3. Bed & Breakfast – B&b is a very British way of enjoying home-away-from-home accommodation. Agencies such as Bed & Breakfast GB, London Homestead Services, Host & Guest, Uptown Reservations and Welcome Homes offer small guest-houses or rooms in houses with families Some are centrally-located and others in the ?burbs, but all provide a warm welcome to those who stay. Bed & Breakfast GB also offer the benefit of allowing children under 7 to stay for free in any of their properties. Alternatively, if you want to stay somewhere dirt cheap where someone else does the cooking, just turn up on the doorstep of those friends you haven?t spoken with since they arrived unannounced at your place five years ago.

4. Apartments – If you are staying in London for longer than a week, it?s worth looking into renting an apartment. They are generally not as well located as hotels, however, prices can start from around ?250 for week with the added bonus of a small kitchen where you can cook your own meals.

5. Stay outside city center – Accommodation is less expensive if you are prepared to stay outside the city centre. One of London?s most active pieces of real estate, the Docklands, near Canary Wharf, offer a growing number of hotels at amazingly good value to go with the waterside restaurants, concert-hall and shopping outlets. Here and in other easy to reach locations such as Greenwich, Kew and some central locations as well, you can find hotel chains such as Formula 1, Etap, Ibis – all part of the Accor Hotel group; Travel Inn, Travelodge and Holiday Inn Express. Many of these en-suite rooms sleep up to four from ?27.50 to ?83 a night. You might find that you can?t have breakfast slid under the door (not really recommended unless you are having pancakes anyway), but there is usually something available in the caf? next door, or from the hotel bar. Either way, they make for a rather attractive option for the budget conscious slumberer.

6. Top End ? It may be that splendor, opulence and hedonism are at the top of your accommodation agenda. In which case, London?s duchesses of luxury such as The Ritz, The Connaught, Claridge?s, and The Dorchester will serve your needs handsomely. These hotels epitomize the elegance, grandeur, and snobbery that you would demand from a place where the front desk clerk looks down his nose upon anyone that dares to ask what the cost of the suite might be, wondering how on earth such a vile creature made it past the doorman. Although eye-poppingly expensive to the frugal tourist, even these properties bow to the age of technology on occasion, so check the latest deals available through online vendors before you book – you could save hundreds of pounds without having to face the wrath of that snooty concierge.

7. Backpackers – If you enjoy sleeping with groups of people, London has a swath of backpacker options – some great, some not so flash. The Piccadilly Hotel, near Piccadilly Circus, is a backpackers? dream, with dormitory beds available at ?12 per night, including breakfast and linen. There are also twin and family rooms, too; a lounge with 100-channel TV, an internet suite, and the chance to mingle with a stream of fascinating people who have seen more countries than hot showers ? often quite literally. Others include the St. Christopher?s Inns group with its flagship hostel on the South Bank, The Generator near the British Museum and is definitely a fun place to stay – its bar offering nightly entertainment.

8. Check the room size ? Someone once said (not sure who, but more than likely they were small and male), it?s the quality not quantity that counts. Maybe so, but at some point lack of endowment begins to get laughable, especially when the quality is nothing to write home about. This can be the case with some cheaper London hotels. Whereas a 3 star hotel room in many countries will usually be large enough for two double beds, some of London?s older basic hotel rooms look like they were prototypes for jail cells with little light, a small monitor into the upper corner of the room pretending to be a TV, and barely enough room to click a mouse let alone swing a cat.

9. Bathroom situation – Most rooms will feature an en-suite bathroom or shower with WC (which stands for ?water closet?, an English term created to avoid the embarrassment of having to say ?toilet?). However, check before you book as some smaller B&B?s only have shared bathrooms, which means you have to run down the hallway ? of course you might find that an exciting option.

Gareth Owen is the owner and co-ordinator of the London Vacation Guide. For further information and resources on planning your trip to london go to http://www.londonvacationguide.com

If you?re accustomed to traveling within the United States on vacation, you can traditionally expect a hotel to ask you to choose your bed size (a king, a queen, or two doubles) and whether or not you want smoking or non-smoking. Things aren?t necessarily the same when visiting the U.K., and you need to know some of the differences before you make your room reservations in order to avoid disappointment.

First of all, en suite bathrooms are not always customary in London. If you?re visiting an upscale hotel or a chain, you can feel confident that there will be a bathroom with either a tub or shower accessible in your room. However, since bed-and-breakfast options are affordable and popular with tourists, you need to ask and confirm that you?ll have your own bathroom when you arrive. Otherwise, you may find yourself sharing a communal restroom ? just like in a college dorm.

Air conditioning is not always available either, so it?s best to inquire in advance if you?re traveling to London in the summer months. Many smaller hotels and B&Bs will offer fans in their rooms. Otherwise, you?ll be opening the window and hoping for the best. Smoking and non-smoking options are becoming more widely available in England?s capital city. You?ll need to make your request in advance, not upon check-in.

Finally, room types are very different. While it?s nearly impossible to find a hotel or motel in the U.S. with a single twin bed in the room, it?s very likely you will be given just such a room if traveling alone and ask for the wrong thing. A single room is for one person, with a single bed. A double room is for two people, with one double bed. (Many advertise queen-size beds in their double rooms, but they certainly don?t feel as large as American-sized mattresses.) A twin room is for two people, with two single beds. A triple is for three people, usually with one double bed and one single but sometimes just three single beds. Finally, a quad is for four people, with two double beds, four single beds, or one double and two singles. You can see how it gets confusing!

Avoid a surprise at checkout and ask if breakfast and especially VAT (value added tax) are included or not in the price of your nightly room rate. If breakfast is included, it?s a great way to save money each day of your vacation. Tax is 17.5% and can add a considerable amount to your final bill.

London Vacation Experts look forward to providing you with accurate, up-to-the-minute information about planning your London travel! Our website contains the most helpful tips, reviews, and resources for air travel, accommodations, ground transportation, sightseeing, restaurants, and entertainment. Visit us at online: http://www.londonvacationexperts.com.

Few cities of the world can truly stir the emotions – romantic dreams, adventurous spirit, waves of excitement, even twinges of envy. Over time, they have become the inspiration for novels and films, the obsessions of ravenous warmongers, and the marketing tools of TV producers who flash their images across our screens to make us gush, Oh, this must be an important, credible international news program that covers the big stories as they happen and Smashing! This travel show really has been to the cool places, let’s see where they venture tonight.

However, you can only really say you’ve made it as a truly great city when they write a nursery rhyme about one of your bridges, even when it’s falling down. London is the ultimate survivor. It has endured and overcome conquests, wars, fires, plagues, terrorism, youth movements, repeated sporting defeats clutched from the hand of victory, even Chris De Burgh singing Lady in Red at the top of the charts for three weeks.

Through it all, Londoners have stood proud and defiant as they adapt and continue to build their fair city. One of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, this enormous city offers the traveler a blend of old and new worlds like nowhere else. On one hand London is innovative, energetic, dynamic, and outrageous; on the other, historic, conservative and frustratingly established. A bangers and mash of the anticipated and unexpected, but rarely the disappointing – and those who live here wouldn’t have it any other way.

Most people know a little about London even before they have been formally introduced. It may be the familiar symbols of Royals, bowler hats, well mannered cricketing gents, well heeled ladies, majestic castles, the flowing Thames, tennis at Wimbledon, afternoon tea and scones, monopoly board landmarks, West End theatre and East End humour that spring to mind. It could be the cobble-stoned streets of Dickens, passionate football fans, fish n chips drowning in vinegar, the labyrinth of the Underground, or the cultural phenomena and festivals celebrating music over decades starting in the swinging 60′s, through punk of the 70′s, new romantic hairdo’s of the 80′s, and pop, indie rock, dance and hip hop of the 90′s and beyond.

More than this, the city is renowned for its wealth of history and culture. As home to Britain’s national art collections, striking architecture, over 200 museums, the worlds premier theatre productions, 5 major orchestras, 2 major opera companies; there is something for visitors of all historic and artistic persuasions. Anyone familiar with television shows and films set in the city might be forgiven for thinking we spend all our time in our local pub telling jokes and hard luck stories, or doing deals on goods that conveniently fell off the back of a truck.

In fact, there are more parks and green space in London than in any city of its size in the world, where we wander, picnic, and play, away from the bustle of big city living – before the pub opens anyway. The city is a shop-a-holics nirvana – just ask any female armed with a credit card and the lamest of excuses for a spending spree. From major department stores to designer boutiques and street markets, if you can’t find it in London, it probably doesn’t exist. And once you’ve lugged all that booty back to your hotel, there are hundreds of restaurants, pubs, cinemas, nightclubs, live music and comedy venues to keep you entertained well into the early hours. London has also embraced multiculturalism like very few places in the world. It has become a cultural melting pot with over 10 million people from all over the world now calling it home.

The integration of western cultures with people from Africa, West Indies, and all over Asia has transformed the city into one of the most diverse destinations for first time travelers, and the hundreds of thousands who return year after year. Just stop right there, old chap I hear you say. This is all rather charming, stirring and patriotic, but you’ve failed to even mention how damn expensive the place is! Actually, we were just getting to that part.

It’s true. London is one of the most expensive cities in the world, painfully so for some. In fact, it’s rumored that instead of using whips and chains, London dominatrix now just stand about looking very stern while converting international clients travel expenses from the merciless English Pound into their submissive local currency with a leather-bound calculator. Ouch! London is great fun so if you are visiting or planning to visit you will have a wonderful time.

Gareth Owen is the Owner and originator of London Vacation Guide. For more information and resources on visiting London please go to http://www.londonvacationguide.com