How early to book rooms in London?

I visit London every year and I don't think I've ever booked more than 2 months out. However, I travel solo and I've never tried to book any of the hotels listed in the Rick Steves book. There are so many hotels that I can't imagine not being able to find something suitable. If you want to book this far in advance, I'd just suggest that you make sure to find out the hotel's cancellation policy.

3 months is fine. March for June.

Thanks for the replies. I certainly don't want to book so far in advance. I was just doing a little looking for fun and put in our travel dates for the rate calculators. I found that 4 different places I looked showed no rooms available and assumed that they were booked. I have since learned that they most likely haven't released the rooms as it is too far in advance. I feel so much better. February or March is when we were thinking of making reservations. Thanks, again. I love this forum. What a wealth of knowledge.

My husband is a very 'far in advance' planner. But he doesn't usually reserve rooms unitl 6 months ahead. Sometimes as late as 3 months. As previously stated, many hotels don't list their openings unitl that time.

If you are looking at hotel websites, you may be running into "too far in advance" issues, not full bookings. Some hotels, esp. smaller or family run, don't post their availablity this far in advance, so everything just comes up as "no accommodation available." If you you try again closer to your travel date, you may have more success.

I tend to book REALLY early. I do look at cancellation policies but it has never caused me a problem to book even earlier than 6 months out. Last September when I was trying to book B&B's in the countryside (way in advance) I could hardly find a place. Turned out there was a special horse show and people had booked most of the rooms. But, this is the countryside - not London.

Kris - I suspect what others have said is correct. You are not running into full bookings, you are running into the 'too far in advance' booking. Many hotels (for that matter, even airlines) only allow bookings up to 6 months early. As Claudia said - three months is plenty. March for June works just fine.