Choosing a Hotel in London

Finding a hotel in London is always a bit of a challenge, especially if you are budget minded as I am. Over the years I've stayed in a variety of places from Hilton Hotels to someone's home via Airbnb.   On my last trip to London, I was going to be there for two full weeks so I wanted to find a place that was economical and still be located in a convenient neighborhood.  I got lucky when I found the Imperial Hotel on Russell Square in Bloomsbury.  I couldn't have picked a better location for walking in every direction.

The Imperial Hotel is located on South Hampton Row directly across the street from the lovely Russell Square park and less than a 10 minute walk from the British Museum.  The entrance to the hotel is off of the busy street and in a sort of courtyard away from the heavy traffic.

While my single room was modest in size, it was comfortable and provided everything that I needed.

When I'm on a trip to a cities like London, I'm only in the room to sleep.  There are too many things to do and places to see to sit around a hotel room.

I was on the eighth floor so I had a great view out the window.  

I could even see the iconic "Shard" piercing the sky off in the distance.

The lobby of the hotel was quite elegant in a 1970's sort of way.

My room was all the way to end of this hall.

The public areas near meeting rooms were nicely decorated and quite bright with those big windows that looked out over the street.

I found the little spiral staircase leading up to the second floor meeting area a charming addition.

The hotel offered a breakfast buffet every morning in a huge dining room and although I'm not a "big breakfast" kind of person, I did eat there several times during my stay.  They had everything I could want.

Probably my only complaint about this place were the hotel bars.  In spite of having two very attractive bars, they didn't have a friendly feel and the wine was of poor quality. On the upside, I was in such a great location that finding a nice, friendly place to indulge in a glass of wine in the evening was a simple task.