Travelodge London Battersea

From the street, the hotel looks like the sort of 1950s-era third-rate airport terminal favoured by low-cost airlines. The building hasn’t aged gracefully and it looks dated when compared with the newer residential blocks popping up nearby alongside the Thames. Fortunately, it is actually not too bad when you get inside.

The hotel has a mix of double, twin and family rooms. All rooms have comfortable king-size beds, a television, a work desk, tea and coffee making facilities and an en suite bathroom with a shower. Although there are some wheelchair-accessible rooms, this hotel does not have any wet rooms suitable for wheelchair access.

Unlike most other hotels, only your first 30 minutes of Wi-Fi wireless internet is free. If you need more internet you have to pay £3 for 24 hours.

Although this is a budget hotel, prices can fluctuate depending on demand and it can be more expensive staying here during peak periods although in most cases this hotel is a cheaper alternative to more centrally-located hotels.

It is located on York Road, which runs parallel to the River Thames with older blocks of flats on one side of the road and modern apartment blocks on the other. It is a two-minute walk to a riverside pathway that runs alongside the River Thames and there are quite a few places to eat and drink nearby, although these can be difficult to find as they’re scattered throughout the neighbouring residential buildings.

Although the hotel is reasonably close to Central London (it is possible to walk from here along the riverside to Westminster in around 1½ hours), it does not have the best public transport connections and it takes more than 10 minutes to walk to the closest station. However, there are buses (to Clapham Junction and Victoria) stopping near the hotel and Clapham Junction station is only a 15-minute walk from here.

Clapham Junction sees 2000 trains a day with a train departing every 30 seconds; this makes it the world’s busiest station by train movements (but not by passengers). From here it takes only seven minutes to get to London Victoria (with trains every two minutes) and 11 minutes to get to London Waterloo (with trains every three minutes). You can also get direct trains to Gatwick Airport from here with a journey time of 25 minutes (and trains every 10 minutes).

The Thames Clipper riverboat is another transport option. Although it is more expensive than the bus, tube or train, it is only a two-minute walk to Plantation Wharf pier and from here it is a very pleasant 38-minute cruise to Blackfriars.

So, while a 15-minute walk to the station is not particularly good when compared to other hotels elsewhere in London, once you get to the station you have excellent transport connections into Central London.

Limited car parking is available but it costs £9 for 24 hours.

There are over 500 Travelodge hotels in the United Kingdom. Travelodges in Great Britain, Ireland and Spain are a separate business to the Travelodge hotels that operate in Canada and the USA (which are run by Wyndham) and the Travelodge hotel chain in Australia and New Zealand (which is part of TFE Hotels). Although all Travelodge hotels worldwide serve the same ‘quality budget’ end of the market, if you’re used to Travelodge hotels in Australia, New Zealand or North America their hotels in the UK may be a little different to what you are used to.