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How big are London hotel rooms? We priced 86 of them by the square metre

London hotel rooms have a reputation for being small, and some are tiny. We took the official size of every room type at nine of our London hotels, priced them all on the same night and worked out what your money actually buys.

By The Better Trip Editorial TeamPublished 20 October 2026Last checked: October 20264 min read

Studio Room at Sea Containers London: the bed with a red headboard, a narrower second bed by the window and a desk

The short answer

Smaller than most people expect. The entry rooms at our nine hotels run from 7 m² (The Pilgrm's Bunk) to 35 m² (Claridge's Superior Room), and five of the nine start below 25 m². For comparison, most of the entry rooms at our New York hotels are 24 m² or more.

Space and price do not move together. On Tuesday 9 February 2027, the most space per pound was at Town Hall Hotel in Bethnal Green, where a 51 to 60 m² suite cost £295 including taxes; in central London, Sea Containers' 40 to 50 m² Studio cost £369. The dearest space was at Claridge's, up to £44 a square metre.

What only this guide tells you

Official sizes, one night's prices, 86 rooms

Hotels love the word "spacious" and rarely say what it means. We took the size each hotel publishes for every room type, from its own website, and priced every room type on Expedia for the same night, Tuesday 9 February 2027, all at the lowest rate including taxes and fees. Then we divided price by size.

That turns up things you cannot see on a booking page. At four of the nine hotels, a bigger room cost less than a smaller one that night, and the cheapest bed in our edit, The Pilgrm's Bunk, costs more per square metre than any room at Shangri-La The Shard. Artist Residence London publishes no room sizes, so it is not in the maths.

The cheapest room at each hotel, and how big it is

How big is a standard hotel room in London?

This is the room you get if you book the lowest price at each hotel. Sizes are each hotel's own figures; where a hotel quotes a range, the room you get could be at either end of it.

The spread is huge. A night in The Pilgrm's Bunk costs about a sixth of Claridge's Superior Room, but per square metre the two are not far apart: £22.70 against £27. The real value is in the middle, at Sea Containers, The Standard and Town Hall, where the entry room is around 25 m² or more for well under £400.

Entry room size and price at nine London hotels, Tuesday 9 February 2027
Hotel	Cheapest room	Size	Price	Per m²
The Pilgrm	Bunk	7 m²	£159	£22.70
Town Hall Hotel	Double Room	23.7 to 30.7 m²	£230	£8.50
The Zetter Marylebone	Deluxe Double	19 m²	£302	£15.90
Sea Containers London	Standard Room	29 m²	£309	£10.70
The Standard, London	Deluxe King	25 to 33 m²	£360	£12.40
Hazlitt's	Club Double	19 m²	£449	£23.60
The Ned	Cosy	20 to 30 m²	£514	£20.60
Shangri-La The Shard, London	Superior Shard Room	30 to 48 m²	£690	£17.70
Claridge's	Superior Room	35 m²	£944	£27.00

Entry room size and price at nine London hotels, Tuesday 9 February 2027. Lowest rate on Expedia for one night for two adults, non-refundable, room only, including taxes and fees, read 20 October 2026. Per m² uses the middle of the size range. Hazlitt's also sold a Small Double at £413, for which it publishes no size; The Standard's Single and Ned's Crash Pad were not on sale on Expedia that night.

What your budget buys

What size hotel room can I get in London for my budget?

Here is the biggest room we found at or under each price that night. Town Hall Hotel wins almost every bracket, but it is in Bethnal Green, in the East End, a straight Central line ride from the West End, so we show the best central alternative too.

The jump is steep below £300: in Zone 1 that money buys a compact room of 12 to 14 m². Between £370 and £500, Sea Containers' Studio on the South Bank gives you 40 to 50 m², more than the entry room at Claridge's.

The biggest room at or under each price, Tuesday 9 February 2027
Budget a night	Biggest room overall	Biggest room in central London
£200	The Pilgrm, Snug, 12 m², £199	The Pilgrm, Snug, 12 m², £199
£300	Town Hall Hotel, Deluxe One Bedroom Suite, 50.8 to 60 m², £295	The Pilgrm, Comfy, 14 m², £229
£500	Town Hall Hotel, Deluxe One Bedroom Suite, 50.8 to 60 m², £295	Sea Containers London, Studio Room, 40 to 50 m², £369
£700	Town Hall Hotel, Signature Two Bedroom Suite, 82 to 94.3 m², £585	Sea Containers London, One Bedroom Suite, 59 m², £659
£1,000	Sea Containers London, Thames Apartment, 112 m², £889	Sea Containers London, Thames Apartment, 112 m², £889

The biggest room at or under each price, Tuesday 9 February 2027. "Central London" here means every hotel in our edit except Town Hall Hotel in Bethnal Green. Prices as in the first table.

When the bigger room is the cheaper one

Is it worth checking the next room category up?

Hotels price rooms by demand on the night, not by size, so the ladder does not always climb. On our night, four hotels sold a bigger room for less than a smaller one, Claridge's among them. These are the rooms we would book for space.

The Standard, London
Premium King
33 to 37 m², £378 on 9 Feb 2027
Cheaper that night than both the 16 to 19 m² Standard Queen (£396) and the windowless Standard King Interior (£395). Twice the space for less money.
Check this room on
Sea Containers London
Studio Room
40 to 50 m², £369 on 9 Feb 2027
Bigger than the 32 m² Riverview Deluxe (£409) and £40 cheaper. You give up the river view and gain a room you can actually spread out in.
Check this room on
Town Hall Hotel
Deluxe One Bedroom Suite
50.8 to 60 m², £295 on 9 Feb 2027
A one-bedroom suite in a converted Edwardian town hall for less than the entry room at most of central London. It also undercut the hotel's own smaller Signature Junior Suite (£351).
Check this room on
The Zetter Marylebone
Deluxe King
27 m², £356 on 9 Feb 2027
Eight square metres more than the Deluxe Double for £54 more, the best-priced step up we found in Marylebone.
Check this room on

How to get more room for your money

What the numbers suggest, from booking a lot of London hotel rooms.

Always look one category upAt four of our nine hotels a bigger room cost less than a smaller one on the same night. Booking sites list rooms by price, so the cheaper big room can sit below the fold. Scroll the whole list before you book the first room.
Read "windowless" and "interior" carefullyThe Standard sells a Standard King Interior with no window. On our night it was £395, more than the Premium King with windows and almost twice the space.
Look east, or south of the river, for spaceTown Hall Hotel in Bethnal Green and Sea Containers on the South Bank gave the most room per pound by a distance. Both are a short Underground ride from the West End.
A size range means a lotteryWhere a hotel quotes "30 to 48 m²", as The Shard does for its entry room, the same booking can get you very different rooms. Ask the hotel for the larger end at check-in, politely and early.
Pay for size where you sleep, not where you sightseeIf you are out all day and only need a bed, The Pilgrm's 12 m² Snug at £199 is honest value in Paddington. If you are travelling with luggage, children or a laptop to work from, buy the square metres.

The catch

One night's prices
We priced a single Tuesday in February, a quiet week. Prices move by date and demand, and the order of rooms can change from night to night.
What to do. Use the tables to see the shape of each hotel's room list, then check your own dates with the whole list open.
Hotels measure differently
Sizes are the hotels' own published figures. Some include the bathroom and others may not, and ranges cover rooms that differ a lot.
What to do. If size really matters, email the hotel and ask the size of the room you are booked into.
Room names on booking sites differ from the hotel's
Expedia lists The Ned's Cosy as "Cosy Room" and Hazlitt's Club Double as "Club Room". We matched each room by hand and left out any we could not match with certainty.
What to do. Before you book, check the bed type and size in the room details match the room you meant.

Where we would stay in London

Questions people ask

Good questions about How big are London hotel rooms? We priced 86 of them by the square metre

How big is a standard hotel room in London?

At our nine hotels the cheapest room ranged from 7 m² (The Pilgrm's Bunk) to 35 m² (Claridge's Superior Room), and five of the nine started below 25 m². A double room of 20 to 30 m² is typical of central London.

What is the smallest hotel room in London?

In our edit, The Pilgrm's Bunk at 7 m², which cost £159 on Tuesday 9 February 2027. Some budget hotels sell even smaller rooms, but none in our edit.

Where do you get the most hotel room for your money in London?

On our sample night, Town Hall Hotel in Bethnal Green, from £5.30 a square metre: a 50.8 to 60 m² suite for £295 including taxes. In central London, Sea Containers' 40 to 50 m² Studio cost £369.

Are London hotel rooms smaller than in New York?

Usually. The entry rooms at our New York hotels run from 14 m² to 44 m², and most are 24 m² or more; in London five of nine entry rooms start below 25 m².

Do London hotel room sizes include the bathroom?

Hotels do not always say. The figures here are each hotel's own, so if the exact size matters, ask the hotel before you book.

Sources we read (14)

Last checked: October 2026

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Image credits: Expedia Group Creator Toolbox