Finding a good hotel in London is not an easy task. You can, of course, easily find a decent hotel if you are a lottery millionaire, but for the rest of us, it can be a real struggle to find anything more than a fleapit for less than a hundred pounds. The budget hotel chains have not really made any in roads into the London accommodation scene, with only a sprinkling of Travel Inns here and there. The worst part about the Travel Inns in London is that they now charge around £80 per night, for what is a very basic level of accommodation. Fortunately, there are much better deals to be had out there, without spending millions, and being the good corporate citizen that I am, I have made it my quest to seek them out and appraise them for your information.

The Aquarius Waverley House occupies a prime site, across seven floors in the heart of Central London. Based on Southampton Row in Bloomsbury, the hotel is well situated for a host of major attractions, primarily the British Museum, which is just across the road. Oxford Street is not far away and the hotel is approximately five minutes’ away from its nearest Tube station at Russell Square. Loads of different buses go past the hotel and it is extremely well connected to all the major mainline railway stations. I travel down to London to Euston station and tend therefore to stay in hotels in the immediate area – a taxi ride to the Aquarius Waverley House costs no more than £4.00 from Euston station.

The Waverley House has a fairly innocuous little entrance that opens straight out onto the busy street outside. At peak times, the taxis struggle to find somewhere to stop without having abuse hurled at them, as the road immediately in front of the hotel is a bus stop. A couple of steps lead up to the main front door – apply caution if you approach from the left or right-hand sides as there is a drop of about 2 feet down to street level. I’m sure this could catch out anyone who has had more than a few beers.

THE ROOMS

It has to be said that the rooms of the Waverley House could never be described as plush. The fixtures and fittings are very dated, and the flowery wallpaper and curtains make you feel like you are visiting Grandma. The rooms are also quite small – but I have to say that they are strangely cosy. You get all the basics – bed, wardrobe, desk and portable television set – and all the rooms have their own telephone. The last time I stayed here I had a room on the top floor, which felt as though it was part of a converted attic. The ceiling was very low at the sides, and the en-suite bathroom was positively claustrophobic.

The televisions are those portable ones that sit on a trolley on the floor. This is all very well providing you are sat on one side of the bed, but if you happen to be on the other side then you can’t see a thing. It also means that the remote control doesn’t work if you are sat in bed, and you have to lean out the bed and aim before you can change channels. The hotel has three different satellite movies showing each day, for the princely sum of £6.00. You would be better off walking to Leicester Square and going to the cinema.

NOSH AND DRINKIES

Breakfast in the morning is served buffet style, which means that only a continental breakfast can be brought to your room. I was quite pleasantly surprised by the breakfast buffet, which includes juice, cereal, toast, fruit and meat as well as all the hot breakfast items such as sausages, eggs and beans. The food is hot and fresh – and the scrambled eggs are made with real eggs. Woohoo! The waitresses scurry around serving tea and coffee and cleaning tables and there is a constant bustle that I found quite welcoming after a night alone in my room. The diner itself is bright, clean and modern and has a licensed bar at street level.

It is only fair to review this hotel within its environment. If I were to stay in this hotel elsewhere in the UK I would not expect to pay more than £40 per night, because the quality of accommodation doesn’t merit it. In fact, I actually pay £70 per night here, but because it’s in London, I think that is probably good value. The normal room rates are higher – about £115 I think – but a good travel agent or discount web site will secure you a discount. The standard of accommodation is roughly the same as a Travel Inn, but you have the benefit of things like room service, a concierge and a good breakfast. It’s also worth noting that the £70 room rate included the breakfast. Coupled with the fact that my Internet access wouldn’t be free in a Travel Inn, this means that the Aquarius cost me about 34% less than a night at the Travel Inn Capital in Euston would have done. I don’t know about you, but I think that’s pretty good!