The classic lodging option—generally reliable and familiar, but not always the best bargain

The Savoy is one of London’s grandest hotels, a Thameside Art Deco monument where Monet painted and the Queen was crowned

Of all London's boutique inns, this Chelsea hotel succeeds the best at leaving behind the aura of impersonal hotel to create instead a cozy private home feel—with discreet hotel comforts—in a building from the 1800s

A gloriously funky hotel just off Hyde Park in Knightsbridge, London

This Old World, clubby Mayfair hotel with a residential ambiance is consistently lauded for its service, food, and ambiance

Like staying at your own private upper crust St. James's club

A posh five-star luxury hotel overlooking the Thames in the heart of Westminster's government centre

A five-star, countryside-meets–modern design hotel perfectly sited between the west End, British Museum, and Marylebone

One of London's most bespoke luxury hotels, directly behind Buckingham Palace

The Leonard links four 18C Marlyebone townhouses for a British atmosphere with an Imperial touch

A cozy, moderate hotel in the Little Venice area of Maida Vale

A true old coaching inn, with cozy modern room above an 18th-century Greenwich pub

This classy Mayfair hotel has been popular with writers since 1937 and hosts one of London's most traditional afternoon teas

Just off Brompton Road, near the chicest boutiques and the shopping at Harrods, the red brick townhouse Egerton House, opened in 1990, offers Victorian comfort with a modern touch.

The Pelham is an oasis of tranquility in a busy road hub in South Kensington, mere steps from a Tube stop and blocks from the shopping of Brompton Road

A clubby townhouse hotel in St. James

A modern, four-star hotel on the Strand between the West End and The City

A cheap hotel on a quiet square near Paddington Station

A cheap chain hotel in The City, between St. Paul's and the Tower of London

A cheap, stylish hotel in the heart of the West End

A cozy and friendly moderate Covent Garden hotel on a pedestrian street

Basic, bland motel with a great location—and attached to one of London's most historic pubs where Shakespeare once drank

A cheap (for London) chain hotel bang in the center of London's West End

A moderate hotel in Bayswater, a bit north of Hyde Park

The classic lodging option—How British hotels work and how to book the best hotels at the lowest rates

From hotel savings to better booking engines, alternative accommodations to lodging rip-offs, here is the best lodging advice around

There are dozens of hotel alternatives, from London flats to country cottages, farmhouse B&Bs to university dorms, rental rooms to residences, and campgrounds to castles. Here's how to find the lot of them.