Accommodation
Accommodation in Britain ranges from corporate chain hotels to crumbling castles, from budget backpacker hostels to chic boutique hotels. Often they’re in interesting old buildings – former coaching inns, converted mansions and manor houses – which offer heaps of historic atmosphere. Accommodation does tend to be quite expensive, but there are bargains to be had.
A nationwide grading system, annually upgraded, awards stars to hotels, guesthouses and B&Bs. There’s no hard and fast correlation between rank and price, but the system does lay down minimum levels of standards and service. However, not every establishment participates, and you shouldn’t assume that a particular place is no good simply because it doesn’t. In the rural backwaters in particular some of the best accommodation is to be found in farmhouses and other simple properties whose facilities may technically fall short of official standards.
When it comes to costs, single occupancy rates vary widely: though they’re typically around three-quarters of the price of a double, some places charge almost the full double rate and others charge only a little over half that. Rates in hotels and B&Bs may well drop between Sunday and Thursday, or if you stay more than one night, and some places will require a minimum stay of two or more nights at the weekend and/or in high season; we indicate in the Guide when an establishment has a general rule on this.
Breakfast is generally included in rates –except in pricer places – and free wi-fi is usually available. Reviews in the Guide note when that isn’t the case.
Hotels
British hotels vary wildly in size, style, comfort and price. The starting price for a basic hotel is around £80 per night for a double or twin room, breakfast usually included; anything more upmarket, or with a bit of boutique style, will be around £100 a night, while at the top-end properties the sky’s the limit, especially in London or in resort or country-house hotels. Note that in comparison to the cheaper places, many of the pricier hotels – especially those in the cities – may charge extra for breakfast.
ACCOMMODATION PRICES
Throughout this Guide we give a headline price for every accommodation reviewed, which indicates the lowest price you could expect to pay per night for a double or twin room in high season (prices fluctuate a lot depending on demand, with high-season rates generally guaranteed in July and August, plus during school holidays between Easter and the end of September, though local variations apply). We also give the high-season price for a dorm bed, and double rooms where they exist, in hostels – note that for YHA hostels, prices quoted are for non-members (members get a £3/night discount). Prices given for self-catering options indicate the minimum per-night price in high season. For campsites we quote the cost of a pitch for two people bringing their own tent, unless otherwise stated.
Budget hotel chains – including Premier Inn (
premierinn.com) and its cooler offshoot Hub by Premier Inn (currently in London and Edinburgh only; hubhotels.co.uk), Holiday Inn Express (hiexpress.com), Jurys Inn (jurysinns.com), Travelodge (travelodge.co.uk), Ibis (ibishotel.com) and Comfort/Quality/Sleep Inns (choicehotelsuk.co.uk) – have properties across the country. With no frills (and with breakfast charged extra), they are not always automatically the cheapest option, but they can be a good deal for families and small groups, and rates can get down to a bargain £40–50 per night if booked ahead. Point A Hotels (London and Glasgow; pointahotels.com) and easyHotel (London, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and Edinburgh; easyhotel.com) can be even cheaper, offering a simple “add-on” system whereby you book a minimal room online with the option of adding niceties including cleaning, windows, TVs, wi-fi and baggage storage.
B&Bs, guesthouses and pubs
At its most basic, the typical English bed-and-breakfast (B&B) is an ordinary private house with a couple of bedrooms set aside for paying guests. Larger establishments with more rooms, particularly in resorts, style themselves as guesthouses, but they are pretty much the same thing.
At the extreme budget end of the scale – basic B&Bs under £70 a night, a little less in Wales – you’ll normally experience small rooms, fairly spartan facilities and shared bathrooms (though there are some fantastic exceptions). Many top-notch B&Bs – say around £100–120 or more per night – offer more luxury and far better value pound for pound than more impersonal hotels. In this category you can also count pubs (or inns), and the increasingly popular “restaurants with rooms”.
Hostels
Between them, the Youth Hostels Association (yha.org.uk) of England and Wales, and the Scottish Youth Hostels Association (syha.org.uk), have hundreds of hostels across Britain, ranging from lakeside mansions to thatched country cottages. There are still shared bathrooms and traditional single-sex bunk-bed dormitories in most, though the majority now also offer smaller rooms (sometimes en-suite) of two to six beds for couples, families and groups. Some hostels have been purpose-built, or have had expensive refurbishments, and in cities, resorts and National Park areas the facilities are often as good as budget hotels. Most offer kitchens, laundry facilities and lounges, while wi-fi access, cafés, bars, tour bookings and bike rental and storage are common. The hostel will usually provide bed linen, pillows and duvet; towels and other necessities can often be rented.
You don’t have to be a member to stay at a YHA hostel but non-members are charged an extra £3 a night. One year’s membership, which is open only to residents of the EU, costs £15 per year (for either YHA or SYHA membership) and can be bought online or at any YHA or SYHA hostel. Members gain automatic membership of the hostelling associations of the ninety countries affiliated to Hostelling International (HI; hihostels.com).
Prices are calculated according to season, location and demand, with adult dorm beds usually £15–30 per night – rates can get higher than that in London and at peak holiday periods. A private twin room in a hostel goes for around £40–80, and family rooms sleeping four start from around £75 (much more in London). Meals are good value – breakfast or a packed lunch for around £5–7, or £9–13 for dinner. Advance booking is recommended, and essential at Easter, Christmas and from May to August.
A large number of independent hostels offer similar prices. With no membership fees, more relaxed rules, mixed dorms and no curfew, many of them, in the cities at least, tend to attract a predominantly young, keen-to-party crowd, but there are family-friendly options, too. For news and reviews, check independenthostelguide.co.uk or hostel-scotland.co.uk, which also lists primitive bunkhouses, bunk barns and camping barns in the most rural locations.
Camping
England has hundreds of campsites, ranging from small, family-run places to large sites with laundries, shops and sports facilities. Prices start at around £5 per adult in the simplest sites, though at larger, more popular locations you can pay far more, and sometimes there are separate charges per car and tent. Many campsites also have accommodation in permanently fixed, fully equipped caravans, or in wooden cabins or similar. Perhaps in part due to the unreliable weather, Brits have taken glamping to their hearts, with more tipis, yurts, bell tents and camping pods than you can shake a billycan at. coolcamping.co.uk, campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk and ukcampsite.co.uk are useful online resources.
In Britain’s wilder places you will find camping barns and bunkhouses (known as bothies in Scotland), many administered by the YHA and SYHA, though with plenty of others operated by individual farmers and families. They are pretty basic – often in converted agricultural buildings, old crofters’ cottages and the like – but they are weatherproof and cheap (from around £8 a night). Farmers may offer field-and-tap pitches for around £3 per night, but setting up a tent without asking first is counted as trespassing and not recommended. In England and Wales camping wild is illegal even in in most National Parks and nature reserves, though Dartmoor is one exception; check nationalparks.gov.uk/visiting/camping for more information. There are also places in Scotland where you can camp wild; check outdooraccess-scotland.com.
Self-catering
Holiday self-catering properties range from city penthouses to secluded cottages. Studios and apartments, available by the night in an increasing number of cities, offer an attractive alternative to hotels, with prices from around £90 a night (more in London). Rural cottages and houses work out cheaper, though the minimum rental period may be a week. Depending on the season and location, expect to pay from around £350 for a week in a small cottage.
ACCOMMODATION CONTACTS
B&Bs, FARMS AND STUDENT ROOMS
Cool Placescoolplaces.co.uk. Good selection of unusual places to stay, from hostels and glamping to farmhouse B&Bs.
Farm Stayfarmstay.co.uk. The UK’s largest network of farm-based accommodation – B&B, self-catering and camping.
University rooms universityrooms.co.uk. Student halls of residence in university towns from Cornwall to Aberdeen, offering good-value rooms (mostly single) or apartments over the summer (July–Sept), Easter and Christmas holidays.
Wolsey Lodgeswolseylodges.com. Superior B&B in grand properties throughout Britain, from Elizabethan manor houses to Victorian rectories.
SELF-CATERING
Airbnbairbnb.com. A huge variety of properties – seaside cottages to farmhouses, canal barges to warehouse apartments, and rooms in private houses.
Landmark Trust landmarktrust.org.uk. A preservation charity that lists pricey, rather special accommodation in distinctive historic properties – castles, ruins, follies, towers and cottages.
National Trust Holiday Cottages nationaltrustcottages.co.uk and nts.org.uk. Self-catering holiday cottages, houses and farmhouses, most of which are set in the gardens or grounds of National Trust (in England and Wales) and National Trust for Scotland properties.
Rural Retreats ruralretreats.co.uk. Upmarket accommodation in restored historic buildings.
Scottish Country Cottagesscottish-country-cottages.co.uk. Superior cottages with character scattered across Scotland.
Under the Thatch underthethatch.co.uk. A select choice of self-catering cottages and cabins, many beautifully restored, from traditional thatched cottages to Romany caravans and yurts; particularly focused on Wales.
Wales Cottage Holidayswalescottageholidays.co.uk. A varied selection of hundreds of properties all over Wales.
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