Staying in London
Right, I have to spend one night a week in London from now til Christmas. Work does not pay for this as I should be living in London in the first place instead of in my smugly chilled-out, much cheaper West Country home.

Normally if I stay over in the Big Smoke I kip at either my friend's house (but she has a family crisis at the mo and I don't want to intrude) or on another mate's sofa (but I don't want to push his hospitality too far) and they get a nice dinner in return.

So, I've seen schemes before where people find Monday-Friday lodgings in London. Does anyone know if single night lodging schemes exist? My other option is the youth hostel near my office but that's currently filled with students as Halls are packed to capacity, so if anyone knows of cheap, safe accommodation in East/SE London then I'm all ears.

(The only reason I don't simply commute each day for two days is that a peak-time return ticket costs near £150 for the pleasure of sitting on a broken down train somewhere outside Wootton Bassett.)
( crackhouseceilidhband Fuck off back to Mumsnet, Tue 23 Sep 2008, 9:22, 14 replies, latest was 16 years ago)

Hmmm...
You can't sleep in the office?
( Cawl, Tue 23 Sep 2008, 9:57, Reply)

I had thought of that
but apparently security shut the building down late at night. Don't they understand the concept of the academic all-nighter?
( crackhouseceilidhband Fuck off back to Mumsnet, Tue 23 Sep 2008, 11:06, Reply)

That's not a problem though
as you'll be sleeping!

Provided you can hide your sleeping bag from the security people you should be fine.

We had a student who slept in his office here once. His work lasted a week longer than his accommodation, so he moved his stuff into the lab and slept on his office floor for a week.

Against all the rules, of course.
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Tue 23 Sep 2008, 11:12, Reply)

Might be worth
Having a look on Gumtree, I'm sure i've seen similar listings or you could even post a 'wanted' ad for your needs and see if anyone can help..
(gin'll fix it, Tue 23 Sep 2008, 11:12, Reply)

Single night lodging schemes....
do exist. I believe they are called hotels.
(The Archduke of South London I'm in your Girlfriend eating her organs, Tue 23 Sep 2008, 13:08, Reply)

the ones that are called hotels
tend to be very, very expensive in London. Not the sort of thing I want to be paying for each and every week between now and Christmas.
( crackhouseceilidhband Fuck off back to Mumsnet, Tue 23 Sep 2008, 13:36, Reply)

True.
I organised a meeting in London for some people not long ago and they all paid about £130 a night for a holiday inn express (and apparently it was rubbish).

Maybe try: www.flatshare.com/ .
(The Archduke of South London I'm in your Girlfriend eating her organs, Tue 23 Sep 2008, 14:48, Reply)

CHCB
Not one offer from your B3TA mates?

What is the world coming to?
(Set your faces to Stunned Bigly, Tue 23 Sep 2008, 15:08, Reply)

you
could try priceline.
( ascorbate, Tue 23 Sep 2008, 17:40, Reply)

Um
A Bed and Breakfast perhaps?

Tend to be cheaper than Hotels....
( whenanimalsattackhumans clad in global hypercolour, Tue 23 Sep 2008, 18:56, Reply)

Here's one b3ta-mate
who'd offer you a place to crash, but I don't move to London until next month and still don't know where I'll live when I get there.

In the meantime, try www.hostelworld.com/
( mistaspakkaman and the inedible shifting caterpillars, Tue 23 Sep 2008, 23:02, Reply)

Robbing London
You can get Travelodge rooms for 59/69 a night as long as you are not smack in the centre of London.

Ibis are also "reasonable" or to go for filth cheap try Formel 1.
(Set your faces to Stunned Bigly, Wed 24 Sep 2008, 10:12, Reply)

craigslist
has a london bit and sometimes has things like this on it as well
( kitsune-tsuki tankeløst hode får lettest sove, Wed 24 Sep 2008, 14:28, Reply)

cheers guys
Fortunately it's only for about 20 nights a year. I'd sleep in my office if they'd let me. I'd sleep in my car if it was safe (i.e. not near my office).

Maybe we should start some kind of stayover car park where people can safely sleep in their cars without getting killed or stolen. If it was Russia then I could just stop in a corn field and sleep til dawn. But it isn't Russia, more's the pity.
( crackhouseceilidhband Fuck off back to Mumsnet, Wed 24 Sep 2008, 23:29, Reply)