i am bringing 18 year old dd over to London for a week and am looking for accommodations. Obviously we would like to be somewhere safe, close to tube that will take us to tourist sites and not too spendy. I was hoping for a room at under $200 a night-so that would be about 129 pounds. Am I dreaming? You can get a pretty nice room in most cities except New York here for that amount? Does anybody have any recommendations?

If you want a reasonable room that's clean I would look at www2.travelodge.co.uk

It really does depend on which part of London you're looking at staying in, central London can be around 50 pounds a day just to park in.

Have a look at the Thistle Hotels in London, there's one walking distance from Trafalgar square and it's £149 a night.... a little more but walking distance to a lot of the tourism stuff... and they are lovely hotels.

There are also Holiday Inn hotels that are a bit less (around what you said) but as far as I am aware tend to be further out of the city. There is one in King's Cross but that isn't a very nice area, and a bus or tube away from the centre.

try laterooms.com, hotwire.com etc (google for last minute or cheap london hotels and pop your dates in)

london has a LOT of options but obviously prices and location will vary.
If you are looking for a hotel IN the city then expect to pay more (particularly if you're coming during peak seasons) but it is quite possible to get rooms fairly cheaply if you find a deal.

Cheaper options will be outside central london i.e. not walking distance to attractions... however, london is very well connected by buses, rail and underground so wherever you stay you will be able to get where you want to go. you may just sacrifice the view and surroundings in doing so.

deals can be found for lovely hotels though.... for example... the Strand Palace hotel have an offer for £144 including a daily off peak (not before 9:30am or during work leaving hours in the evening) travel card for zones 1 and 2 per person which covers most attractions and allows you to use any mode of transport.

The travelcard itself would be worth £7 each so you may consider it worth the little bit extra....it really is a gorgeous hotel and is right on the strand which is a great spot to be, lots in a walkable distance its a couple of minutes walk from covent garden, trafalgar and leicester square with lovely old style buses to st pauls etc and other routes to oxford st etc... its also a few minutes from the thames its really lovely and well priced enough that i almost stayed there when i couldnt be bothered to make the half hour tube journey home after some epic christmas shopping haha

good luck with your search!

This is a little bit more than what you wanted to spend, but not much. I'm an American and when I travel I prefer not to stay in chain hotels that make me feel like I might as well be back home. We've stayed at the Lime Tree Hotel in Belgravia.www.limetreehotel.co.uk which is cute, a little quirky, and was a good base for our explorations.

As well as Travelodge, take a look at Holiday Inn and Premier Inn - chains, but usually nice enough and might have breakfast included too.

As someone else said, as long as you're not too far from a tube station, wherever you stay you won't be far from central London. You can check journey times on tfl.gov.uk if you think somewhere might be too far out.

As far as "safe" goes - I've never had any issues anywhere in London. Obviously use common sense and try not to stand out too much as tourists. But if you're sticking in tourist areas, you should be fine wherever you are.

Hi All.
I think I am going to do the Strand Palace-it looks like great location and some easy dining nearby. I like that its staff got good reviews too. Now I'm just trying to figure out Oyster or travel card?

i'm glad you liked the look of it. i went in and asked about staying before and the receptionists were LOVELY, ever so helpful and gave me a card so i could call back easily if i needed the room, it looks and feels very luxurious too.

little insider info... if you're after a cheap lunch, or dinner, pop into covent garden and you'll find a little carriage type thing in one corner (near the transport museum) called dinner jackets... they do LOVELY jacket potatoes most people just take a seat by the columns of the central market to eat theirs.. they have loads of toppings
Also, a tesco metro (supermarket) is just off the corner by the apple store if you need anything snack or drink wise for the day, or things for your room suring your stay. along the road towards tesco is a great little shop called Muffinskis, they do gorgeous crispy top muffins in loads of flavours and AMAZING frozen yogurt, blended with a fruit or mix of your choice... i reccomend banana.. its as good as posh ice cream but healthier haha

as i put in my post they have a deal which includes a free travelcard per person per day. zones 1 and 2... which should cover you really. Oyster cards have a daily price cap (i.e. wont charge you above a certain amount) which will cut off at the same £7 that the travelcards cost.... so, it really depends whether you plan to go outside those zones have a look at some attractions and see which zones the nearest underground stations are in so you can get an idea... you could even call or email the hotel and ask for their advice, i'm sure they'd be happy to help.

i should also point out that the strand isnt far from lots of dancewear shops too (freed, bloch, sansha, dancia etc) always a bonus

feel free to PM me if you need any help, i live in london and worked for about 2 years in covent garden so i know my way around the centre of town fairly well