Renting a flat in London

Hi Sue, We recently did this using airbnb.com and had a good experience. I plan on using the other sites you mentioned in the future as well. We were really pleased with our flat, it was in Notting Hill and was great to have all the extra space, kitchen with cookware and dishes, a deck out back and washer and dryer! I don't mind making my own bed, would rather do that than have a tiny little hotel room that costs twice as much! Good luck!

Susan, my experience in looking for an apartment Christmas week vs. Rembrandt Hotel was that there was little, if any, savings. Admittedly, there would be much more room. However, in this case, we opted for the festive atmosphere of a quality hotel. If you want room, go apartment. I'm not convinced that there is much savings in London.

The London School of Economics rents out apartments as well as spare dorm rooms. They have multiple central London locations. www.lsetopfloor.co.uk/ You could also check with other universities.

Ivy Lettings and Coach House are two that I have considered. http://www.ivylettings.com/
http://rentals.chslondon.com/

A few years ago we stayed in this apartment in South Kensington:
http://www.regentssuites.com/london_properties/wetherby.htm. It was very well located in a charming neighborhood with lots of eating and shopping options nearby, a couple of blocks from the Gloucester Road tube station. We were there nearly two weeks and I'd recommend an apartment for any stay longer than a few nights. This place now costs more than we paid, and seems to be through a different agency, but homeaway and vrbo should have lots of choices. A flat gives you room to spread out, lets you save time and money by eating in when you want to, and (in this case) lets you do laundry easily.

We have used Coach House Rentals (see Miranda's link above) and were very pleased. One good thing about them: their quoted prices are all-inclusive. Other sites will quote you a price but then add 20% VAT. ouch!
Just want you to be sure you're comparing apples to apples when you shop. I agree that a rental flat is the way to go. And, with just two of you, you should have lots of choices in the central city. Have fun!!

We, too, have made great experiences with apartments we found on AirBnB.com.

We are going to London in the spring and are also going to rent a flat. Here are the pros and cons we found in deciding. Pros kitchen and laundry facilities: making our own food will be cheaper than eating in a restaurant every night.more privacyunique decor and larger bedspromotes self-sufficiencyquieter than hotels Cons no friendly landlady or hotelier from whom to get recommendationsa bit lonelier: won't meet many fellow travellerssafety will depend on where you choose to rent and how careful you arehotels can be closer to Tube/Bus depotsmay not be able to cancel booking or change dates if you have an emergency and can't go when you had booked for (I have a 95-year old grandfather looking after his 94-year old Alzheimer's patient wife: anything can happen) It's like anything else, you have to weigh out what you want versus what you can have, and make the best decision FOR YOU. Good luck! BTW, apparently, apartment rentals is the new trend, especially in the big cities.