Should I book ahead?
How far in advance do you need to reserve a hotel room?
Should you book all your hotels ahead of time to be sure you get exactly what you (think) you want? Or should you wing it and wait to find a place to stay until you actually roll into town.
Both. Neither. (I know: I'm a big help; it'll all make sense shortly.)
Below is my advice, but first ponder this: Until you're actually in the room, you won't know whether it's got a view of the castle...or of the sewage processing plant across the street.
My rule: Always reserve at least the first night's room—especially if you’re arriving on a weekend—but reconsider that tactic if you are booking the room for the whole first week.
To reserve or not to reserve, that is the question
There are three types of travelers, and I have different advice for each:
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Type one: You're happiest making an itinerary and sticking to it, and you want to be sure you get the absolute perfect room every night.
Advice: Go ahead and book rooms for the entire trip now. Seriously. You'll feel better for it. -
Type two: You prefer to play it loose and go with the flow. You have a plan but not a set itinerary, and want to be free to chuck your plans out the window in order to stick around a favorite town longer (or cut out once you realize you're bored), hang out an extra day or two to catch a festival, or just follow that cute guy/girl you just met wherever he/she is going.
Advice: Don't book too many hotels ahead of time. It will cramp your style and make you wistful for all the missed opportunities of spontaneity (and possibly trip you up with possible bad choices). However, I do recommend that you at least reserve the first night(s), then wing it from there. I'd also book a room for the last night as well, because I know that when I'm pulling into London (or wherever) on the final day of a long, tiring trip and know I still have to repack everything for the flight the next day and get up way too early to get to the airport, the last thing I want to have to do is hunt for a hotel.
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Type three (most folks): You're like most people and fall somewhere between the first two types. You truly want to explore, but are also nervous about leaving too much to chance. You have a planned itinerary, but are willing to alter it if some great opportunity comes along (or you discover that the bits of England you are truly enjoying are not the bits you expected).
Advice: Again, reserve at least your first and last nights, plus hotels for any time you plan to spend in the major cities (like London), since the great, cheap, central places sell out fast in those towns. However, give yourself some leeway and leave things open for the rest of your trip, those days you plan to spend exploring the Cotswolds or Lake District, or hitting the less famous cities. I find peace of mind calling ahead (or booking online) from one city to the next a day or two in advance, but have rarely had any trouble simply searching out a room by phone from the train station upon arrival. (More on all this in the "Hotel Hunting Tips" section.)
- Booking.com - We have done extensive testing, and Booking.com is hands-down the single best booking engine, with by far the largest number of hotels (and other lodging options) in all price ranges.Partner
- Agoda.com - This booking engine, once just an Asia specialist, has recently rocketed to second-best all around the world.Partner
- HotelsCombined.com - An aggregator looks at the results of all the booking engines and presents the prices it finds at each side-by-side. It's a great concept (and works well for airfares), however in our tests the actual booking engines themselves often offered better deals on more properties.Partner
- Hostelz.com - A booking engine that specailizes in hostels and cheap hotels.Partner
- Hotels.com - Since Hotels.com absorbed its Venere.com sibling, it has been performing much better in Europe than it once did.Partner
- Priceline.com - Priceline not only offers decent deals on standard hotel bookings, but also "Express Deals" in which you only get to know the hotel's star rating and neighborhood before you pay for it—but the savings can be substantial (usually 18%–20%, though occasionally much higher).Partner
- Hotwire.com - Like its competition Priceline, Hotwire offers both straightforward hotel bookings as well as "Hot Rate" deals that save you 25%–65% on hotels that you book blindly, knowing only the neighborhood and star rating before booking (and paying) for it.Partner
- Trivago.com - Depsite its aggressive advertising camapaigns, in our tests Trivago does not actually perform all that well as an aggregator (and it has gotten worse as time goes on). Still, it can be handy.Partner
- Booking.com - One of the best general booking sites out there, and one of the few that includes B&Bs (filed variously under the categories of "Bed and Breakfasts," "Guesthouses," and "Inns"). By the numbers: 282 B&Bs in London, 151 in Edinburgh, 76 in Bath.Partner
- Bedandbreakfast.com - B&B specialist listing more than 5,500 bed and breakfasts across the U.K., with more than 300 in London alone, 153 in Edinbugh, and 23 in Bath, starting at £19 ($30). User reviews help you make informed decisions.Partner
- Hotels.com - Another generalist lodging booking site with a huge representation of B&Bs: 135 in central London, 130 in Edinburgh, and 37 in Bath.Partner
- Airbnb.com - Famous network of both official and unofficial B&Bs, homestays, room rentals, and apartment and house rentals. So many I can't even post total numbers here, but for an idea: There are more than 300 private room offerings in Central London for under £35 ($54) alone. The idea of someone inflating the old air mattress for you is just a metaphor. Usually, you stay in a guest bedroom, futon, or fold-out couch. Its rates are among the lowest around, averaging £59 ($91), though charging anywhere from £15 to £160 ($24 to $247) per night, with a handful charging more. Airbnb.com is less regulated than most official or online resources, and many of the places to stay are not registered with the local authorities—which helps make them cheaper, but they are not inspected, or subject to official compaints, and certainly do not pay taxes. Buyer beware.
- Bedandbreakfastsguide.com - Online catalog that, depsite its name, lists hotels, self-catering (apartments), and pubs/inns as well. In the striclty B&B category: 118 in London, 206 in Edinburgh, 84 in Bath.
- Wolseylodges.com - A collection of 155 premier B&Bs installed in manor houses, Georgian mansions, Victorian country rectories, and the like across England, Scotland, and Wales (with a smattering in France). Just a handful in any given destination—3 each in London and Edinburgh, 2 in Bath—but all stunning. Even at this level of luxury, prices still range around £95–£140 ($146–$216) for a double (though rates on the site are presented, annoyingly, per person).
- Visitus.co.uk - A mind-boggling array of B&Bs in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland: 210 in central London, 224 in Edinburgh, 86 in Bath. No grouped mapping feature, however, and it is annoyingly database driven, with London sliced into eight geographic sections (for Central London, you'll have to sift through each of London NW, London SE, London SW, and London W; the other four sections are all way outside the center).
- Hostelz.com - Aggregator bringing together from many hostel and cheap hotel booking engines. If you select "Guesthouses" as the Accommodation Type you will find plenty of B&Bs in there.Partner
- Welcomehomes.co.uk - This London B&B agency lists about three dozen budget and value lodgings in London, with per-person rates from £18–£60 per night.
- Uptownres.co.uk - Uptown Reservations is a long-standing agency devoted to, as its name implies, upscale B&Bs in London, about 65 of them, rated at least four stars, and largely in the tonier neighborhoods (Kinghtsbridge, Kensington, South Kensington, Sloan Square, Chelsea, etc.). Frustratingly in the Internet wera, they don't actually give you a selection of B&Bs from which to choose, but rather have you contact them with your requirements. Still, the lodgings are lovely, and charge a flat £125 for a double, which isn't bad.
- Bedandbreakfastnationwide.com - Network of about 550 B&Bs across Brtiain and Ireland, including 43 in London (via a sister agency), 3 in Edinburgh (and another 9 nearby), and 6 in Bath (well, one atually in Bath and five nearby).
- Bedandbreakfast.eu - Massive database of 1.8 million places to stay around the world (more than 1,400 in London alone), but it is more of a classifieds site, with each property submitting and writing its own listing, and many are not, actually, B&Bs in the traditional sense. Still, a good resource for the room hunt.
- Homeaway.com - So many places it doesn't even bother listing rentals past the first 5,000—and that's just in London.Partner
- Vrbo.com -
VRBO stands for "Vacation Rentals By Owner," a worldwide virtual classifieds section devoted to villas, apartments, cottages, houses, and other places to lay your head fromas little as $400 per week in England. There are a stunning 33,761 properties available in England, 4,896 in Scotland, and 5,123 in Wales.
Though designed to allow villa and vacation home owners to rent to the public directly—ostensibly cutting out the extra costs involved in working through a middle-man rental agency—in my experience plenty of small-fry local rental agencies use it as well (not that there's anything wrong with renting through those folks; just wanted to let you know that not every property listed is truly direct from the owner).
Partner - Booking.com - More than 10,800 apartments across the United Kingdom, including more than 4,300 in London.Partner
- Rentalo.com - Another sizeable database for one-stop shopping, with more than 2,600 properties across the U.K. They also handle everything from standard hotels to B&Bs, agriturism, and even castles.Partner
- Hotels.com - Good generalist booking engine with plenty of "Apartments" options in the filter screens for each destination.Partner
- Interhomeusa.com - 966 rentals in the U.K., of which 212 in London. Partner
- Villasintl.com - Around 770 rental homes and flats of all sizes across the U.K., mostly in England (561 in London) with about 100 in Scotland.
- Belvilla.com - 386 holiday cottages across the U.K., inlcuding 15 flats and homes in London.Partner
- Airbnb.com - Tens of thousands of listings—but caveat emptor. Anyone can post a listing, so trust only the ones with lots of reviews.
- Booking.com - More than 120 residence hotels, aparthotels, condo hotels, and townhouse suites in the U.K.Partner
- Hotels.comPartner
- Adagio-city.com - More than 290 residence hotels all across the United Kingdom.Partner
- Sacoapartments.com - Some 80,000 serviced flats in 160 locations around the world, including in 95 cities and town across in the U.K.
- Staybridge.com - Staybridge Suites condos from London to Liverpool, Birmingham to Newcastle-Upon-Tyne.Partner
- Gonative.com - 20 serviced flats in London, and partnerships with aparthotels in other UK cities.
- Farmstay.co.uk - A not-for-profit, farmer-owned umbrella group for local farmstay and agritourism associations that lists nearly 1,000 rural accommodation options—farmhouse B&Bs, self-catering rural cottages, campgrounds, caravans, and rural hostels—across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
- Organicholidays.com - B&Bs, rental cottages, camping slites, or homestays all on working organic farms—including about 200 in England, 47 in Scotland, 73 in Wales, and 1 in Northern Ireland.
- Booking.com - The general booking site lists around 90 farm stays, the luxury tents, and more than 520 "Country House" lodgings across the United Kingdom.Partner
- Featherdown.co.uk - An intriguing glamping ("glamourous camping") experience in wood-floored, cottage-like, multi-room "tents"—think of a higher-end safari tent, only with a rustic-ramshackle British decor—that sleep up to six with all the comforts of a (modest) country home. There around 33 across around England, Scotland, and Wales. Very hobbity. From around £100 per night for three-night midweek stays (higher on weekends).
- Wwoof.net - If you really want to get your hands dirty, sign up to become a temporary farmhand through this volunteer organization. Gigs last from a few weeks to a few months, and while you pay (a mdoest sum) to join, room and board is free in exchange for your work.
- Helpx.net - Similar to Wwoof, but with more varied opportuniites, Helpx is another place where you can volunteer your services—as a farmhand, handyman, or other skill—in exchange for room and (sometimes) board on farms, B&Bs, hostels, and boats. Gigs can last from a few weeks to a few months.
- Booking.com - Booking.com lists more than 350 hostels across the U.K., with nearly 100 in London alone, complete with verified user reviews.Partner
- Hostelz.com - An aggregator shows you the rates its can find at multiple booking engines at once, so you can find the lowest price out there on hostels and other cheap accommodations.Partner
- Independenthostels.co.uk - A guide to about 400 hostels, bunkhouses, and camping barns all across Great Britain, including England, Scotland, and Wales. It is much stronger in the countryside, towns, and smaller cities than in London (which is pretty much ignores, weighing in with less than half a dozen).
- Yha.org.uk - The official hostelling site, linking to all 158 official YHA hostels and bunkhouses in the U.K. This does mean, however, it ignores the many, many excellent private hostels.
- Hostelworld.com - Booking site with hostels, cheap hotels, apartments, and B&Bs in more than 80 destinations across England, including an impressive 184 in London alone. Partner
- Bookhostels.com - A classic hostel booking engine, offering deals on more than 115 hostels in London alone.Partner
- Booking.com - Nearly 400 campgrounds and "Resort village" holiday parks in the U.K.Partner
- Campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk - Lists more than 3,000 member campgrounds in the U.K., including more than 1,600 "Certificated Sites"—small, private camping plots with space for a maximum of only five motorhomes or 10 tents (so lots of lovely farms), open to members only.
- Caravanclub.co.uk - An RV club with around 200 club campgrounds and motorhome parks, another 50 affilaited campgrounds, and more than 2,000 "Certificated Locations"—lovely, small private sites, each with room for no more than five motorhomes (so lots of farms and such) open to members only.
- Eurocampings.co.uk - More than 650 campgrounds in the U.K.
- Nationaltrust.org.uk - Four dozen National Trust locations (under "Holidays") offering tents, yurts, tipis, Berber tents, cabins, pods, bothies, bunkhouses and motorhome parks across the U.K.
Tips
Look into whether your plans happen to land you in a town on a festival day, in which case you're probably in for the highlight of your trip, but should reserve rooms immediately, from your home country, as far in advance as possible.
Same goes for trade fairs (not the trip highlight bit, but definitely the advice about booking ahead).
