How to find a cheap hotel or hostel in London?

When I need to find a place to sleep in London I head to the various hostel and hotel search engines. These services help me find a value for money accommodation at a bargain rate. In most situations these search engines help me secure a rate which is much lower than if I book directly through the hotel.

Why cheaper?
The reason that these hotel search engines can sell the rooms at a cheaper price than if you book directly with your chosen hotel is twofold:

1) They tend to block-book many of the hotel rooms at a favourable rate and therefore are able to sell then cheap.

2) The hotels themselves unload their rooms through these search engines in order to fill up the hotel. There's no money to be made by having empty rooms so they decide to sell them cheap to get occupants. By not doing this directly on their own website they are able to still charge high prices from guests who book directly, while at the same time selling rooms cheaper to other customer groups. Especially bu

Peak prices
You are likely to pay most for your accommodation in the summer months of July and August. Less tourists and cheaper prices can be expected in the October-March period.

Where to search?
I recommend you to have a look at these three hotel search engines when searching for your accommodation in London:

Hostelbookers: Helps you find a bargain hostel in London.

Hotels: This service guarantees to find you the best price for your selected hotel in London.

Alpha Rooms: Alpha has a very useful hotel search which also shows you the Tripadvisor rating.