The Ibis Hotel at London Greenwich, with the Cafe Rouge below, is a short walk from Cutty Sark station – just a few minutes by DLR from South Quay

Accommodation is not included in registration fees. Participants are expected to book their own accommodation.

London is a magnificent city, and you’ll find a wide range of hotels, restaurants and bars within easy travelling distance of the conference venue at South Quay in London Docklands to suit every budget.

We recommend booking early to keep the price low as London is a popular destination. Furthermore, other events scheduled at the Excel exhibition centre and the Royal Military Academy in Greenwich for the same week as our conference mean that the hotels nearest to South Quay are booking up fast.

Hotel price comparison sites, such as hotelscombined and trivago can help you find the best deals, and we suggest using at least one to find a hotel within your budget. They use powerful search engines to interrogate multiple hotel booking sites, such as bookings.com, LateRooms.com and lastminute.com so you can choose between them all. If you begin by searching for ‘London Docklands’ you will be offered hotels closest to the venue. Unfortunately, London Docklands has in recent years become an important financial centre, and many of the closest hotels are very expensive as a result.

The magnificent 19th century vessel Cutty Sark, now preserved in a modern visitors’ centre in Greenwich

An excellent alternative is the historic town of Greenwich, which is easily accessible on the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) by using the Cutty Sark station, just four stops away, or Greenwich station, which is five stops away. (See the DLR map at the foot of this page.) Greenwich has a number of interesting historic sites, such as the Royal Naval College, the Indoor Market and the final resting place for the former sea-going tea clipper, the Cutty Sark. There are several good pubs and restaurants, all within walking distance, and it is a relatively safe area.

If you are prepared to book a hotel a bit farther away you will find an enormous range of prices and levels of comfort, many of them located near London’s top attractions – but please bear in mind the additional travelling to and from the conference venue, as well as the disadvantages of being relatively isolated from other conference delegates and friends.

As far as possible, we would like most delegates to be located near to each other, in order to maximise the opportunities for networking and socialising together, as well as establishing our own informal support network. For some of our delegates this will be their first time in London, and any big capital city can be daunting, especially if you are unused to travelling alone.

London is a relatively safe city, especially in the city centre, in Docklands and in Greenwich. However, like anywhere, it is important to keep a close eye on your valuables and avoid situations where you might easily be pickpocketed, such as overcrowded underground trains (the ‘Tube’).

As well as working hard during the conference proceedings, we intend to enjoy ourselves at Freedom and Censorship in in the Media!

Our suggestions

Ibis, London Greenwich (Our first choice for balancing comfort, price and convenience – for the venue, Cutty Sark DLR station and the historic centre of Greenwich)

Travelodge Greenwich – probably the most convenient of three budget hotels in the area which offer clean, simple and modern accommodation

Hotels currently offering reasonable rates for 3* or 4* comfort (£100-£130 per night) include the following:

Premier Inn, London Greenwich (close to Greenwich DLR station, just five stops to South Quay)
Mercure, London Greenwich (4* comfort right by the Deptford Bridge DLR station – just six stops to South Quay)
City Nites, London Canary Wharf (Serviced apartments very close to the venue)
Three good, smart budget hotels (£45 – £75 per night) are:

Travelodge London Greenwich (right by the Deptford Bridge DLR station – just six stops to South Quay)
Travelodge London Docklands (a short walk to East India DLR station – change at Poplar for South Quay)
Travelodge London City Airport (a short walk to London City Airport DLR station – change at Poplar for South Quay)

St Christopher’s Hostel, Greenwich is very convenient for the DLR – and cheap

If you are brave, and not too dependent on comfort and privacy, there are a number of hostels offering very cheap shared accommodation from £10-£35 per night. For example:

St Christopher’s Hostel, Greenwich (right by Greenwich DLR station, just five stops from South Quay)
Clink78 & Clink261 are two hostels in central London, which are of course farther away from the conference venue http://www.clinkhostels.com/ They are very near King’s Cross/St Pancras Underground station, so from there just take the Northern Line (black) southbound to Bank station and then change to the DLR. We estimate a journey time of 40 minutes from King’s Cross/St Pancras to South Quay.
You can click on the images below to be taken to the hotel comparison sites and search for the best deals at these and other hotels.

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Part of the DLR network map. From central London go to Bank Underground station and follow signs for the DLR. Trains to Lewisham call at South Quay, Cutty Sark and Greenwich. In the opposite direction choose westbound DLR trains to Bank station, to connect with the London Underground system for central London. Alternatively, change from/to the Jubilee Line (silver) at Canary Wharf or Canning Town.