Covent Garden / St Martins Lane

hub by Premier Inn London Covent Garden

★★★★★

hub by Premier Inn London Covent Garden is the budget traveller's answer to staying in the very centre of the West End. It sits on St Martin's Lane, a few minutes from Covent Garden station, Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square, surrounded by theatres, restaurants and bars, a location that would normally command premium prices. The trade-off is space. hub rooms are compact, around eleven square metres, and designed to fit much of the features of a standard Premier Inn room into roughly half the space. That means clever design rather than squeeze: a double bed with storage underneath, a slide-out desk, a large flat-screen TV, a powerful shower and touchscreen controls for lighting and temperature. Some rooms have windows, while others have a light box or light well, so check what you are booking if natural light matters to you. The hotel has an on-site eating space serving a continental-style breakfast with pastries, fruit, yoghurt and porridge, plus coffee and drinks, but with the whole of Covent Garden outside, most guests eat out. There is no car park. Reception is efficient and modern, and the hotel suits travellers who plan to spend their days and evenings out and need only a clean, comfortable, well-designed place to sleep. Solo travellers, couples on a budget and theatre-goers who want to walk home after a show will find it excellent value. It is not suitable for families who need extra beds, or for anyone who wants to spend much time in their room, and some guests find corridor noise or the compact layout a drawback.

Why choose hub? Location, price and consistency. Few budget rooms in London put you this close to the action: Covent Garden's piazza is about five minutes away, the National Gallery and Trafalgar Square about the same, Leicester Square and Chinatown a couple of minutes, and the theatres of St Martin's Lane and Shaftesbury Avenue are on the doorstep. Covent Garden, Leicester Square and Charing Cross stations are all within a short walk, making it easy to reach the rest of London.

Making it work: pack light, because storage is limited to underbed space and hooks; choose a room with a window if you can; and use the hotel's app or online check-in to save time. Light sleepers should bring earplugs, as central London can be noisy late at night. Booking early, and avoiding peak theatre and holiday weekends, gets the best rates, and the chain's saver fares can be very competitive for the area.

The bigger picture: the West End has expensive boutique hotels and a handful of older mid-range ones, but genuinely affordable, modern rooms are rare, and hub fills that gap well. For a short city break built around shows, museums and restaurants, saving on the room means more to spend on everything else. Pair a stay with a matinee, an evening in Covent Garden and an early start at the National Gallery, all on foot.