to believe in cheap last minute hotels?

[youdroppedthis]

Is it still a thing that you can call up on the day and ask about cheap unsold rooms?

Failing this, I need a place to stay in London early July but don't have £400 for travelodge. I was enjoying post-covid cheap rooms but now it's become very difficult and I wondered if there were any "hacks" or whatnot where you can get cheap rooms, at all?

Following with interest! DH is always seeming a "bargain" last minute holiday!!

July in London? No I don't think so. The days of lastminute.com are long gone.

If you use a booking website e.g booking.com, you can filter by budget. There are hotel rooms available in London for £60-£70 per night in July, also hostels for £50 per night.

Youth hostels can be a good option.

If you get a last minuet deal you will probably find you will get the worst room. I have done it a couple of times in my early 20s (one was in a budget Ibis) when I was a student. Both time the rooms were tiny even for two people. In the Ibis we got also got shocking service, and they were both off season.

At the end of the day you get what you pay for.

Given this is the summer, have you looked at university halls? They’re often rented out pretty reasonably.

If Travelodge are charging £400 that suggests that demand is high and vacancies will be non existent or equally/more expensive. Is there an event on at the time?

But university halls sounds like a good avenue to try.