Hey guys,

It's me again- was thinking that if i return to my studies then I will definitely have to go to the British Library in London for a few days every month for research. I'm from Glasgow and trying to find accommodation near the Library is a bit of a nightmare. Anyone, have any ideas or suggestions?- did look on the internet but its so expensive!! I'm too scared to ask my supervisor for advice over this...

Have you tried looking at the university accomadation website?

They certainly let rooms on a B&B basis during vacation. Not sure about the rest of the year.

Have you thought about youth hostels/YMCAs? Also, if you look online and book far enough in advance you can sometimes get really cheap deals for hotels.

Might be worth asking the Library themselves if there's anywhere they can recommend. They might have been asked this sort of question by others in the past.

The nearest hotel to the BL is the Novotel next door. Unfortunately, since the St Pancreas re-opened it's really expensive. The cheapest near the BL is probably the Ibis. There is Holiday Inn in King's X up the road that is not too bad...you'll get a mid-week room for around £70. There's lots of B&Bs but I really don't know which is good or not, and many are priced as high as chain hotels.

All the student accommodation around the Bloomsbury areas is very shoddy - so I wouldn't bother even looking. However, KCL and QM have accommodation during the summer that you can rent for about 35-70 a night (these prices may be a bit out of date now) - the best place at KCL is Great Dover St apartments, and for QM their new student village (both offer ensuite rooms in shared apartments) - you'll need to use the Tube in both cases.

The hotel I often recommend is the Holiday Inn in Brent Cross. If you book really early, you can get rooms for about £50 (this may have gone up since I last looked). Obviously, you have to travel into London on the Northern Line - but it's not too far for the BL.

The other decent hotel option is Travel Lodge - I think they have one in Southwark that's quite cheap.

Occasionally, the Hoxton Hotel have a promotion offering rooms for £1.

I know you've had time off, Angie. So you may not be aware that the BL is a pretty awful place to research now as they have opened the doors to undergraduate students (arrrrhhh). So if you don't choose a hotel close by, like I suggest above, be careful not to arrive at the library late, as there is often queues and the books take ages to arrive. Antonia Fraser and a few other authors were banging on in The Times the other week about how awful it was (boohoo for them).

With travelling and staying in London being v. expensive...have you considered ordering your books to the reading room at Boston Spa in Yorkshire. You can order something like 16 books in advance. Since I moved out of London, I am thinking of using this option in future, rather than London.

If you can wait until the Summer to go to London, why not stay in Uni of London halls. Try www.lsevacations.co.uk, as these are a lot more reasonably priced than hotels.

I went to a conference at the British Libray last year and luckily a colleague who had a friend in London offered me accommodation. BUT - before that I was going to book at the London School of Economics - their Passfield Hall was very reasonable - I think less than £40. I stayed there many years ago as a 15-year-old when I first visited London with friends. Plus I think it is in walking distance, depending on abilities and how heavy your bags are!

Also Travelodge is great. I have ben travelling round the country on research visits and have been staying at many for £19 a night. If you are lucky and book well in advance you can get good rates at some of the London ones. I have booked to stay in Farringdon for a conference I am going to in September for £29. Normally they can be nearly £100 a night. If you can visit the BL any time it might be worth going on the travelodge website and checking for deals then fitting your visit round when the cheap accommodation is.

Some of the University of London's intercollgiate halls of residence are in walking distance - International, Connaught, Commenwealth, are all in/around Russell Square (forgot the rest). UCL has halls quite close too. They probably have rooms during the summer.

It depends on the type of accommodation you want--but if you look at Smoothound.co.uk for hotels in the area, it lists them by price and has some reviews. I have used this a few times and have never really gone wrong trying to find something in the King's Cross/St Pancras area--which is where I am understanding you want to find a place. Try the European Hotel--its a basic B and B, but you can get en suite rooms, and a very good breakfast included in the price. Its not fancy, but clean and OK.

Very very close to Kings Cross is Argyle Square, and it seems to be nothing up B and Bs offering rooms in redone old Georgian or Victorian type townhomes. Tons of these are listed on Smoothound, and again, not fancy, but very close to the BL. Lots of travellingstudents, sometimes workers, backpackers, budget tourists etc seem to populate these.

thanks so much for your suggestions guys, they are really helpful...will definitely look them up. Thanks once again.

I stay in the Hotel Euro nearby, about 80quid a night.

My friend stays in a Christian lodgings near Kings Cross: although she's Christian, apparantly it's not compulsory and it's 30quid a night with breakfast. I'll get the name later.

Juno, I'd like to know about this last place for £30.