Any real 'home' bed & breakfasts in central London?

Try looking at www.londonbandb.com. A search on Ask.com brought up a bunch of listings, but this one looked most promising.

Last spring my daughter and I stayed in a B&B through London Home to Home; it was in Chiswick, about 40 minutes by the Tube from the theater district, and cost 55 GBP per night with shared bathroom. Our hostess Bridget fixed us hot breakfast every morning and even did laundry for us, at no cost! We could have stayed closer in for about 20 pounds more per night. Check the website at http://www.londonhometohome.com/. Also, friends recommended At Home in London, http://www.athomeinlondon.co.uk/, and had 2 very nice stays. Have a great trip!

In the very centre of London, you actually pay a premium for family run B&B's. The cheap B&B's are just code for cheap one star hotel going for about 60 GBP.

The Luna & Simone in Victoria is a good family run B&B, but its run on a commercial basis, its got more than a handful of rooms. Rates here are not far off 100 GBP and its usually booked far ahead.

If you want cheap and family you will have to go out in the suburbs. Though note if you do this and its cheap do check out with the owner taht the place isn't used as well by the authorities to house homeless people.

If you want to stay cheaply in London within the ethos of Rick & Steve your first port of call should be the Travelodge UK site.
They make rooms available from 26 GBP booked up to 12 months in advance. They have many sites in London, the plum one being Covent Garden. Most availability is at the Kings Cross sites but they've just opened a vast place at City and are opening another at Euston this Spring. You can only book these rates direct off the Travelodge site.
www.travelodge.co.uk/ through the 'savers' link.

Priceline bidding is also good in London. Because of the coverage of the London Underground it doesn't really matter where you're allocated. You should pick up a 4 star for $US120-150.

The best regular rates are at Kings Cross, opposite the station. Out of date tourist guides will tell you its a rough area, but thats history, its not.
Places like the Wardonia, Montana Excel, Crestfield California. Meridiana will put you up in a twin/double with breakfsat for 60 GBP

I was in London in October and used a service called At Home in London [www.athomeinlondon.com]that finds you a room in in a private home. My room was 50 pound sterling a night and included breakfast I had a house key. Bathroom was shared with my host.
The location was in Kensington , just across from the Queens Gate entrance to the park and about a 5 min. walk to the Tube. It was cool as the house , 22 Hyde Park Gate , was the childhood home of the novelist Virginia Woolf!
You are requested to pay your host cash or the service will take your credit card for a 4% fee and pay for you.
It is worth checking out.
This April I am going back and will stay in Cartwright Gardens ,near the British Museum , where there are about 6 budget hotels in the 75 pound range. A Google search of Cartwright Gardens will turn those up if you are interested. Of the 6 the Harlingford,the Jenkins and the Euro seem to be the best bets.

Hope this was helpful!
Jan

Thank you everyone. We ended up booking with Kengsinton Gardens after all. I had forgotten to mention that I was a Rick Steves reader. It came down to 77 pounds per night. I've kept all your tips for our next trip!