As I have travelled more, I have realised that getting to grips with the different hotel brands in the UK can take a little while. Budget, mid market and upmarket all sound obvious, until you are looking at a booking page late in the evening wondering what the extra money actually buys you.
So rather than give you a list of brand names, I picked a real trip. Two adults, the Tower of London, and two nights from Friday 12 to Sunday 14 February 2027. I priced hotels near Tower of London in each tier, all within walking distance, then added the tickets and worked out what the weekend really costs.
How I have split the hotels near Tower of London
I have put the hotels into three groups, though it is not an exact science, as with everything. Budget is somewhere clean, safe and pleasant to sleep, with no chocolate on the pillow and nobody carrying your luggage up. Mid market is the one that offers something more, and upmarket is where you are paying for the whole experience.
The prices below were checked on Sunday 18 October 2026 for two adults and two nights. They will move, so treat this as a snapshot and check the date you actually want.
What the Tower of London costs
Before the hotel, the ticket. An adult ticket to the Tower of London is £37 on the official Historic Royal Palaces site, before an optional donation, so two adults is £74. Children aged 5 to 15 are £18.50 and under 5s are free, and I could not find a family ticket, so every family member pays separately.
That £74 is the same whichever hotel you pick, which is why it is worth keeping in mind. It makes the hotel the part of the weekend you can actually do something about.
Budget
Premier Inn London City (Tower Hill) is about half a mile from the Tower. A Standard room for two adults for the two nights was £182 on the non refundable Standard rate, £193 on the Advance rate, and £249 on the Flex rate. That is the same room each time, and the only difference is how much you can change your mind.
Travelodge London Central Aldgate East was cheaper again, at £109.98 for two adults for the two nights on its lowest non refundable rate, and around £123 if you want the flexible one. Travelodge also warns that you may hear noise from the nearby Tower Gateway DLR, which is a fair thing to know before you book. If you cannot face the walk but still want to keep some money back, Travelodge London Central Tower Bridge was £140.98 for the two nights, again on the lowest non refundable rate.
Neither includes breakfast, which I have picked apart before in my look at the Premier Inn breakfast deal for families and the Premier Inn free breakfast offer for adults. I also put the two chains head to head on breakfast in Travelodge Breakfast Deal vs Premier Inn: Which Works Out Cheaper?.
Last time I stayed in that area I took the cheap option for food too, and ended up eating in what I think was a Wetherspoons. That probably says something about my approach to spending.
Mid market
Novotel London Tower Bridge is the one of the mid market hotels near Tower of London that is right on the doorstep, about 250 yards from the Tower. A Standard Queen room came to £337 for the two nights. For that you get something more than a bed, with a sauna and hammam spa, a fitness centre, and Keepers Kitchen and Bar serving modern European food and cocktails.
I should confess that while it is lovely the Novotel has a spa, I have hardly ever used one on a city break. If I am in a city, I am usually out for most of the day and most of the night, so a sauna is not a selling point for me. The only hammam I am likely to experience is a packed Tube carriage.
The hotel bar does not do much for me either. I always think trying a few local bars is nicer than sitting in the one downstairs, and I would rather not pay extra for a room just to be near it. The real question is whether you will actually use what you are paying for.
If you want breakfast built in, Hampton by Hilton London City was £320 with breakfast included, on a non refundable rate.
Upmarket
DoubleTree by Hilton London Tower of London was £323 for a Queen room, about 300 yards from the Tower. Hilton London Tower Bridge, a little further out at around 0.4 miles, was £386 for a King room. This is the end of the market where the lobby, the service and the brand loyalty scheme start to matter.
The surprise for me was that DoubleTree cost £14 less than the Novotel on these dates, at the standard non refundable price. That is not how I would have guessed the tiers would stack up.
The maths
Here are the hotels near Tower of London, and the weekend they add up to, in one place. Each total is the room for two nights plus two adult Tower tickets at £37 each.
| Hotel | Tier | Rate | Two nights | Tower tickets | Weekend total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Travelodge Aldgate East | Budget | Non refundable | £109.98 | £74 | £183.98 |
| Travelodge Tower Bridge | Budget | Lowest rate, non refundable | £140.98 | £74 | £214.98 |
| Premier Inn Tower Hill | Budget | Standard, non refundable | £182 | £74 | £256 |
| Premier Inn Tower Hill | Budget | Flex | £249 | £74 | £323 |
| DoubleTree by Hilton Tower of London | Upmarket | Advance purchase, non refundable | £323 | £74 | £397 |
| Novotel London Tower Bridge | Mid market | Saver rate, non refundable | £337 | £74 | £411 |
| Hilton London Tower Bridge | Upmarket | Non refundable | £386 | £74 | £460 |
The gap between the cheapest and dearest is £276 for exactly the same Tower visit. Stepping from the Premier Inn Standard rate up to DoubleTree costs £141 more, which is £70.50 a night for a better address and a better room, and breakfast is still extra at both.
The detail I would look at is the Premier Inn rates. Flex costs £67 more than Standard for the same room, but Advance costs only £11 more than Standard and is refundable up to 28 days before arrival. If your plans might change, that is the sensible one to look at.
One thing the table does not show is everything else. My overall observation is that it costs a lot to travel around the UK these days. Add the train or plane to get there, plus breakfast, lunch and dinner out, and you have a fantastic but somewhat pricey weekend away.
Cutting the cost
When you are booking hotels near Tower of London, the right rate matters more than most people think. Check whether you actually need a refundable room, and if you are booking months ahead, look at the middle option before you pay the full Flex premium.
I checked every price in the table on the hotel’s own website rather than a booking site, and the headline prices for the Travelodges, the Premier Inn Standard rate, the Novotel, the DoubleTree and the Hilton are all non refundable. If you want to be able to cancel, the flexible rates were £375 at the Novotel, £380 at the DoubleTree and £454 at the Hilton London Tower Bridge, which is a fair bit more for the peace of mind.
The Hilton and Accor sites also showed lower prices for free loyalty members, at £306.85 for the DoubleTree and £303.30 for the Novotel, against £323 and £337 for everyone else. I have not signed up to either to test it, so check the terms before you rely on it.
It is also worth checking a cashback site before you book anything. I have used Quidco for the best part of ten years and reviewed TopCashback too, and I would look before I clicked through anywhere. I have not confirmed whether they pay on these hotels right now, so do not assume it.
On the Tower side, Historic Royal Palaces membership is worth a look only if you will visit more than once. Two adults at the Tower is £74, and a joint membership works out at about £105 on 2026 pricing, so the Tower alone does not justify it. Add Hampton Court at around £29 each and two adults paying for both come to £132, which would leave a joint membership ahead by about £27. Check the current price first, as these are 2026 figures.
Sensible Spender verdict
Budget: worth it. If you will be out all day at the Tower and only need somewhere to sleep, the Premier Inn at £182 or Travelodge at £109.98 does the job at a fraction of the cost.
Mid market: not as good as it looks. At the standard price the Novotel cost more than the DoubleTree, so the middle tier is not automatically the middle price. Unless you are a sauna person, you are also paying for extras you will probably never use, so check the hotel above and below before you commit.
Upmarket: only worth it if the hotel is part of the occasion. DoubleTree at £323 is the one I would look at, as it cost £14 less than the Novotel on these dates.
Overall, worth considering. For most people choosing between hotels near Tower of London, I would book the budget tier, spend the saving on the trip itself, and only pay more if you want the hotel to be part of the weekend.
Important dates
The trip is Friday 12 to Sunday 14 February 2027, which is Valentine’s weekend, so I would not leave it late. The Premier Inn Advance rate is refundable up to 28 days before arrival, which works out at around 15 January 2027, though check the exact cut off when you book. Tower tickets and hotel prices can both change, so check the date you want before you pay.
If you are working out what else is worth a second look in a family trip, I have also checked whether Premier Inn Kids Eat Free is as good as it sounds.
For more pieces like this one, see everything filed under The Sensible Weekend.