Solo to London -- B&Bs or Hotels

If you want to meet people all over the world. I'd stay at a hostel. you can get your own room for about $80-125 a night for more privacy or you can dorm. Whenever I travel alone, I always rather do hostel to meet new people than a lonely hotel or romantic B&B where most people only focus on themselves.

btw, here is a good link for good hostels:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2011/may/06/top-10-budget-hostels-london

We stayed at a B & B in Bayswater which is between Nottinghill and Wellington Station. It was a townhouse on a quiet courtyard street. It was near shopping restaurants, pubs and winebars. It was easy access to everywhere. We met people from the UK and South Africa at breakfast during our stay there. Bed & Breakfasts usuallly have a common room where you can sit and chat and compare notes. A lot of B & Bs have regular clients who are glad to make reccomendations for the best local eats. Ours was on Kildare Court or Garden. There are many more on the London Bed & Breakfast Association list. It was a nice quiet atmosphere with a little class in your price range.

My daughter and I have had good luck at two B&B networks - London Home to Home, and At Home in London. In our Home to Home stay, we were out in Chiswick (a bit too far since we were seeing a lot of evening plays), with a very pleasant landlady in a fairly large townhouse. The At Home stay was in Zone 1, Cornwall Gardens, a 2BR apartment and the bath shared with the owner. Very nice, and I really enjoyed talking with her over breakfast. In both networks, I let them know my dates and gave a couple of preferred locations, and got what I was looking for.
I do run around to see a bunch of tourist sights, so it's important for me to be close in; you could probably save money and get a pleasant neighborhood by moving farther out. Also check B&Bs in TripAdvisor; Bay Tree is their top-rated B&B in London and is part of the Home to Home network.

I found using "google maps" and the "search nearby" for hotels in a location you like is very helpful. Then used RS guides and tripadvisor to look at the ratings of a hotel or B&B before selecting. Good luck!

If you stay in Zone 5, you'll be more traveling on the Tube. WHile I enjoy the people watching, it can make for a longer day, and harder/impossible to go home for a break. I usually stay at Morgan House B&B near Victoria Station, single with BR in hall is 58 pounds. Book now tho as they're popular (in Rick's book). The area is quieter but so close to Victoria. The rooms are small (like all in London) but not excessively so, a couple good restaurants nearby, a library you pass from Victori (sign up for guest membership and can use the internet for free), breakfast is great, and I feel safe in the areahave walked there from Victoria at 1AM.

I booked my stay through londonbb.com. I would recommend them. Since they are private homes, I don't want to go into too much detail re location, but feel free to PM me!

Here is a list of London budget hotels (most of which will be B&B) drawn up by a Tripadvisor regular https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HeA7aE16Ocbq89n5Fxjxx0v61kLlsU3j8S4mk8Uqfeo/edit?hl=en_US&pli=1#