I was directed here from the brits_americans community on Livejournal--one of the people who responded to me there thought you guys might have some hints for me. Here's my plight:
I'm traveling with a group of three other women in their early 20s to London from March 16-30. We're stuck on trying to find somewhere to stay for a reasonable price. We looked at hostels, but between the four of us, that could run around £80/night if we want to stay somewhere with good reviews. For that much money, we'd really like our own bathroom. And maybe a kitchen.
So I started looking at short lets on craigslist and Gumtree and sublets.com, but this isn't something I have much experience with, so I'm not sure what a reasonable transaction should entail. I mean, a £500 damage deposit on a £180/week studio flat doesn't sound right. Someone on Gumtree inflexibly insisting on a bank transfer instead of a method of payment that would offer fraud protection doesn't sound right, either.
We're all getting pretty frustrated. Will I ever find someone willing to sublet who'll answer my questions instead of copying and pasting their prepared spiel about amenities to me? Where should I be looking? Does anyone know a guy who knows a guy who's got a flat to let? Or have a better idea? Anything?
In a perfect world, we'd find somewhere clean and not-creepy in zones 1-4 to stay for no more than £300 a week. Couchsurfing is pretty hard to do with a group of four, though. I'm up for hostel suggestions, but sharing a dorm and shower facility with strangers might be hard on some of the more neurotic members of our posse, so it'd be awesome if we could find an ensuite.
Thank you! Gahhh!
Right, I've been looking into this recently, because my DB's family are coming to stay, so I've been scouring Gumtree and have checked a few places out (I'm in London).
Basically, if you're looking at studios for £180 a week the reason why you're getting nothing but dodgy responses is because those ads are fake and you're just hitting scammers, which as you've discovered will just cut and paste you random "fee internet, gym! Sauna bath!" stuff and wont let you pay cash on arrival or through Paypal.
A studio in zone 1-3 will cost you around £400-£550 a week to sublet, but everywhere I'm looking at (decent locations, not a hell hole) costs around £500 a week.
A studio in zone 1-3 will cost around £180 to LIVE in, therefore they're going to cost much more than that at (actually if I could find a studio in zone 1 for £180 to live in, I'd probably move in, my studio in zone 2 is £225 a week).
In conclusion, you may want to up your budget
Otherwise it's youth hostels (although you still may struggle on that budget) couch-surfing or staying somewhere not in London and just visiting London for a couple of days (could get expensive on the trains/tubes).
It's one of the most expensive cities in the world and notoriously expensive for accommodation so a budget of about £10 a night each just isn't going to get you very much, It should (just about) get you a bed in a dorm style room in a Youth hostel (10-15 people sharing).
I don't know if that's what you wanted to hear, but hope it helps!
