Look beyond hotels
From B&Bs and farm stays to cottages, castles, and campgrounds, here are lodging alternatives to the traditional hotel
Alternative Accommodations
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.
Serviced flats, residence hotels, Aparthotels, and other townhouse suite lodging in the U.K.
Stay on a working farm and experience the best of British hospitality and countryside tradition
Stay in a real castle and live happily ever after (temporarily) as King and Queen of the castle
Couchsurfing and other hospitality networks allow you to sleep for free in other member's homes
A place to call your own for the night or the week—renting a cottage, house, or villa in the U.K.
Camping is a great way to see Britain, but you needn't be tied down to tent pegs; RV rentals are as easy in Europe as they are here at home
Hostels, B&B's, apartments, farm stays, castles, university dorms, campgrounds...there are so many of these budget options I needed to create a whole separate section on this website just to fit them all in
Sleep in a religious guesthouse or retreat at abbeys, monasteries, priories, and convents across the U.K. from just £45
Sleep for free on vacation by watching someone's house (and, often, watering their plants and feeding their cat)
Trading spaces isn't just a show on basic cable anymore. It's a way to live life like a local on your travels absolutely for free—so long as you let the local borrow your life (and home) in return.
Programs like WWOOF and Helpx let you barter your services for a free place to stay
If you love sailing, or just have an unquenchable taste for adventure and new experiences, you can sign on to help crew a boat just about anywhere in the world, including the U.K.
A network of free stone cabins where you can sleep off the beaten path in the U.K.
- 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.
- 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. Thre 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 - A whopping 10,200 cottages, villas, and rental homes across the U.K.Partner
- Cottages.com - Premier organization (part of the Wyndham family) with more than 11,000 temporary homes on tap in England, 2,200 in Scotland, and 1,500 in Wales.
- English-country-cottages.co.uk - Premier organization with more than 3,000 temporary homes on tap in England (think: Lake District or Cotswolds), Scotland, and Wales
- 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
- Nationaltrust.org.uk - Some 417 properties throughout England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, almost all of them of historic or architectural import or in terribly scenic areas that the National Trust is helping preserve. This is the very highest quality stuff, folks, but you do pay for such selectivity. Still, there are some great deals.
- Living-architecture.com - A non-profit with the quriky mission of commissioning top architects to design bold new living spaces across Britain—and then renting them out. A balancing barn cantilevered over a ridge near the Suffolk Coast? Check. A houseboat moored to the roof of the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London? Also check. Just seven properties currently, but some stunners.
- Belvilla.com - 386 holiday cottages across the U.K., with the preponderence in Kent.Partner
- Scottish-country-cottages.co.uk - Sister site to the "English Country Cottages," with nearly 400 options whether you want a house on the outskirts of Edinburgh or a cottage lost in the Highlands.
- 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.
- Homeexchange.com - The outfit the characters in "The Holiday" used is one of the biggest, with more than 65,000 listings worldwide, including 2,000 in England (800+ in London)—though I have noticed that includes some regular rentals, not swaps. Membership: $150 per year.Partner
- invented-city.com - This web-only service has the cheapest membership rates out there, listing a taggaring 1,071 in Great Britain, of which 234 in London. Membership: $25 for three months, $35 for six months, $59 per year.
- Homelink.org - Listing more than 900 home swaps in the U.K., including 116 in London. Membership: $95 for one year, $152 for two years.
- intervac-homeexchange.com - Intervac is one of the older ones (founded in 1953), with a focus on Europe, listing 323 in the U.K., of which 64 in London. Membership: $99 per year.
- Trustedhousesitters.com - By far the biggest, with thousands of house-sitting opportunities in 130 countries around the world, of which—at press time—752 in Britain, and 35 in London alone. This one is upfront that it is primarily a pet-sitting service. Fee: $99 a year.
- Luxuryhousesitting.com - Several hundred listings, and mostly in the U.S.—though there were 37 in the U.K. at press time. Fee: $25 a year.
- Mindmyhouse.com - Currently lists around 240 houses, including 57 in the U.K. Fee: $20 a year.
- Housecarers.com - Currently lists around 300 houses, including nine in the U.K. Fee: $50 a year.Partner
- Caretaker.org - It's a newsletter (physically and online), not an online database, with around 150 listings per bi-monthly issue. As you can tell from the name, many are for caretaking or staff positions rather than simple house-sitting. Still, lots of intriguing opportunities. Fee: $29.95 annual subscription ($49.95 for two years).
- Couchsurfing.com - The largest free hospitality network, with mroe than 12 million users in 200,000 cities, including more than 130,000 hosts in London, more than 10,000 hosts in Edinburgh, and nearly 5,000 in Oxford.
- Hospitalityclub.org - Nearly 25,000 users in the U.K., including nearly 7,000 in London, 780 in Edinburgh, and 292 in Oxford.
- Globalfreeloaders.com - More than 9,000 users in the U.K., including 2,600 in London and 258 in Edinburgh.
