The Most Budget-Friendly Hotels in King's Cross, London

The rooms are small, but they’re helped by ubiquitous whites, strategically placed mirrors and mood strip-lighting. What’s more, they’re surprisingly quiet – thanks to thick double-glazing. When you check in, you get a slew of discounts in local bars and restaurants. Breakfast is extra.

This place is quite a looker: garish doubles, triples and dorms look like playrooms decorated by Mondrian. There’s also a busy bar with organised events and a dance floor. The Generator is not a particularly soothing place – so, if you’re over thirty and looking for a serene city break, you might want to pick one of the other hotels from this list. But, if you’re in your twenties and new to London, it’s your ideal base.

The Oyo is a simple Victorian guesthouse with a clean, modern look. Rooms are compact carpeted cubes with a bed, a kettle, a TV and ensuite shower rooms. It’s a quiet place – there are no partying backpackers here – and the price is greasy-spoon cheap. If you’re holidaying with the (young) family, you’ve come to the right place: the hotel can provide you with cots for kids.

The Saco feels luxurious by comparison with the local budget competition: it’s got large balcony windows, bright studios and apartments you can take a leisurely stroll through, all with kitchenettes, circular glass dining tables and lounge chairs or sofas. There’s onsite parking, too, for an extra charge. While the nearest Tube station is a 10-minute walk away – and King’s Cross itself is 20 minutes on foot – Bloomsbury’s hipster-hangout pubs, delicatessens and restaurants are right outside your doorstep.

Euston Square Hotel is a harmonious mix of marble and white-tile bathrooms, workstations in nooks, plenty of natural light and the careful use of muted colours. Rooms here might be small, but they never feel cramped. There’s a bar, a large lobby lounge with club chairs and a late-closing restaurant – which is handy, as it’ll still be doing business when you get back from your night out.

The Gyle feels like a budget boutique hotel designed by Ted Baker: lambent and spotlit rooms (some with balconies) come in modish greys and creams, while beds are draped with taupe tartans and dotted with block-print highland-terrier scatter cushions. Bathrooms are big enough for the most fastidious groomer, with square tubs and mirrors framed in brick-effect tiling or dark marble.

At the upper end of the budget bracket – and on the outer reaches of King’s Cross – this hipster pub has four spruce and modish, modestly furnished rooms, with original Victorian fireplaces, grey pile carpets, brick-effect tile bathrooms, velvety scatter cushions and suites. But, essentially, you’re here for the food – generous comfort cooking and huge weekend roasts – and the proximity to the bars and theatres on the fashionable Upper Street in Islington, which is a 10-minute walk away.

This is an Edwardian Charrington pub reconstituted as a budget hotel, with a whole range of small carpeted rooms decorated in fashionable off-whites and greys. Breakfast is extra, but coffee is complimentary.

The Wesley sits in a large 19th-century brick house, a 5-minute walk from two Tube stations. It was founded 70 years ago for visiting Methodists and is still run as a semi-charitable organisation (profits go to welfare programmes). Rooms are small with light wood fittings and laminate as well as large windows overlooking the adjacent square. Breakfast is included in the price.

The location is a bit further out (it’s a 15-minute walk to the nearest Tube or to a street with good restaurants and pubs), but, when you compare it to the local competition, the Caledonian’s rooms feel cavernous, and the studio, one- and two-bedroom flats cost less than most rooms half their size in the King’s Cross area.