Older women will enjoy this hotel... The Windsor House Hotel in Earls Court, London is wonderful for older women travellers. It is a nice budget hotel, not fancy, but very clean. It's not a party house, which is wonderful for people wishing to sleep at night. This place will evict noisy, inconsiderate clients, which makes it a gem, a pearl of a hotel. The location is great, less than a minute's walk from the Earls Court Underground station. The staff is friendly and very accommodating, and the prices for London are wonderful. Around the corner is a store, banks, three great pubs, an incredible pizza place, and the buses from here run everywhere. It is also a short, pleasant walk to Kensington High Street where the best shops and bargains are. My sister, mother and I stayed there this June, and will stay there again. It is such a good price for a clean bed and a hot shower and breakfast in one of my favorite, favorite cities (22-46 pounds per single).  E-mail: bookings@windsor-house-hotel.com Justine, Portland, Oregon, USA Another reader writes... The Windsor Court Hotel should be stricken from the list of London's hotels. It is tacky and shabby looking when you enter, with a broken-down table at the end of a narrow entrance hall serving as "reception." The stairs (no elevator), covered with a dirty looking carpet, are tall and narrow. The hotel does not at all resemble the qualities listed on its website. It is especially crummy in comparison with similarly priced hotels on the same street, one of which -- Mowbray Court Hotel , -- I stayed at instead. I have stayed at spartan places all over the world, but didn't expect a place in London to be so creepy. Website: http://www.windsor-house-hotel.com Norma, Jerusalem, Israel

Mothers Union accommodation... I think this is an interesting money-saving idea. If you are a Christian, Mothers Union members get fabulous discount accommodation in London. We paid 30 pounds for my family per night and it was right in London. I joined in Australia prior to going overseas. It's easy. They have a website where you can check out their accommodations and fill in your registration form. See: http://www.themothersunion.org/ Jodie, Australia

Girl Guides accommodation... Many Girl Guide and Girl Scout members stay at Pax Lodge, a Guiding World Centre in Hampstead (tube: Belsize Park). Members of their families (both male and female), as well as non-members of Guiding may, also stay at Pax Lodge. Accommodation is in single to four-bedded rooms. The building is wheelchair accessible. Facilities at Pax Lodge include a large dining room, lounge lobby, TV room, guest kitchen, laundry room, library/resource centre and shop. Rates currently range from £17.75 per member/£21.50 per non member in a shared room to £51.50 per member/£60.00 per non member in an ensuite single room. All prices are per person per night and include breakfast and VAT at the current rate. Website: http://www.paxlodge.org Joelyn, Ottawa, Canada

Boy Scout accommodation... Another place we stay at while in London is Baden-Powell House which is situated in South Kensington, on the corner of Queens' Gate and Cromwell Road, opposite The Natural History Museum. This is the Scouting Centre in London (tube: Gloucester Road or South Kensington). Although Baden Powell House Hostel was designed to be used by members of the Scout Movement, the facilities are open to family members and Guiding members at Scout prices and to the general public at commercial rates. Accommodation ranges from single rooms to family rooms to dorms (bunk beds). Rates currently range from £24.00 per member/£29.00 per non-member for dorms to £46.00 per member/£69.00 per non-member for single rooms. Website: http://www.scoutbase.org.uk/hq/bph/ Baden-Powell House Hostel is great accommodation, but be prepared for noisy children - many Scouting, Guiding and school groups use the facility. Joelyn, Ottawa, Canada

Kensington B & B... We visited London last year and found a lovely B & B via the Internet - the Avonmore Hotel (winner of the AA National Awards for Best Private Hotel in London). It's located in Kensington near the West Kensington tube station. It was clean and quiet. Margaret, our hostess, was very accommodating and helpful. A double room with private bath was 108 pounds/night/room. Website: http://www.avonmorehotel.co.uk P.S. Ask Margaret at the Avonmore about the Italian restaurant that serves the best Italian food we've ever tasted and the prices were so very reasonable. The night before two of us had eaten at a pricier Italian restaurant in the west end. The food wasn't half as good and was twice as expensive. Maureen, Toronto, Canada

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