Working in London for a day - venue (cheap/free)?

[UnexpectedItemInShaggingArea]

I'm going to be in central London for a day (9am-5pm) and I need to find a space where I can work/study from. I'm joining tutorials for my brand new masters so will need somewhere quiet with good wifi and (probably) the ability to ask questions / interact with other students online. I've looked at hiring a space but it's £££. Does anyone who knows London have any bright ideas? I don't want to be that annoying person in a cafe...!

TIA

Any local library

A library?

Can I chat to other meeting participants in a library?

The Reading Room at the Wellcome Collection (by Euston) is lovely and you can hang out all day

You could try these guys in Old Street/Hackney
www.seratahall.com/

Some libraries have nooks and crannies where you could talk quietly.

Hotel meeting rooms for 4 to 6 people shouldn’t be £££, try some of the chains like Holiday Inn or Ibis etc

Also what about community centres?

The desks in the open areas of the British Library (not in the reading rooms themselves) were my favourite place to study. They’re quiet enough but not hushed because people are moving around and talking so as long as you’re mainly listening rather than talking I think you’re unlikely to disturb anyone. You do need to be there queueing up before opening time at 9:30 though as the desks are popular!

I’ve never set myself up for an entire day, but for 2-3 hours at a time I find hotel lobbies / bars are great places to work - they’re used to people working.

Hire a day hotel room.
Hire a meeting room.
Buy a cup of tea in a fancy hotel reception and then sit and do your meeting/tutorial - will be quiet but you can't camp all day.
Foyles used to have a cafe that always felt like a co-work space.
Westminster library round the back of covent garden has good wi-fi and big desks to study at but taking calls is a bit antisocial so you can go and do the calls somewhere else - e.g. in a hotel in reception or do wework on demand - a single person meeting room should cost you £15 for an hour.

I heard costa have started hiring g out booths to work in

I'd do cafes do a chain with a large multi level premises - pret, Starbucks etc are generally quite happy to let you stay! Maybe a couple hours with coffee in the morning, find a new one, buy lunch and settle in.

Near Holborn there's a huge Caffè Nero with an upstairs you might like. I've lost track of time and read in there before for hours with my coffee and no one noticed. Shouldn't be too busy upstairs as especially on a weekday morning it will mostly be workers downstairs getting drinks to go.

So I'm here and I'm in Pancras Square library. No coffee/tea but a quiet comfortable space I can join my meeting in. Wi-Fi speed is better than my house!

@UnexpectedItemInShaggingArea what a nice find. I may check that out next week. I usually go to coworking spaces but I also like libraries.

For next time, other places to work in include the Festival Hall and National Theatre on the South Bank - both have good wi-fi and lots of little tables to sit at on higher levels - usually full of people working and/or having meetings. You may get asked to vacate a table on a day where there's a matinee or other daytime event, however.

Ah this takes me back (to before the pandemic and before I moved out of London)

I used to like working in the Concrete Cafe in the Queen Elizabeth Hall. I think it's closed down now though. :-(

The Friends meeting house opposite Euston is lovely when you fancy lunch/ coffee. Have spent a few hours there in between meetings. Space to work and lovely courtyard if you want to sit out

Thanks all, looking forward to getting the chance to explore all these places. Today I needed 100% reliability with a quiet, comfortable space. So far the library has been great but the last 10 minutes there's been a lot of crashing and banging from the lower level (I'm on the first floor).

Almost all the desks are full now, mix of students, workers and others. The "no food or hot drinks" is helping me keep away from mindless snacking as well😊