In this guide
Every hotel in this guide is within a few minutes’ walk of the Thames path between County Hall and London Bridge. The London Eye, Tate Modern, Shakespeare’s Globe and Borough Market are all on foot, and Westminster and the City are one bridge away.
What changes along the river is the station, and that is what should decide where you book. Waterloo at the western end is the Jubilee, Northern and Bakerloo interchange, with mainline trains out of the same building. London Bridge at the eastern end has Thameslink straight to Gatwick and St Pancras. Bankside, between them, has Southwark station on the Jubilee line and the quietest streets of the three.
💡 The Short Version: Sea Containers Londonad is the riverside hotel, but only its Riverview grades face the Thames. Park Plaza Westminster Bridgead is the big family option, with a 15-metre pool and 36 m² studios that sleep two adults and two children. The Hoxton, Southwarkad is about £190 with Seabird on the roof. citizenM Banksidead is from £155 for a small room with a very large bed, and the Premier Inn at County Hall has been as low as £92 on a quiet Sunday. On a budget, a double capsule at St Christopher’s Villagead by Borough Market sleeps two from £53.
Which part of the South Bank
County Hall and Westminster Bridge Road is the London Eye end. The three big hotels here — the Marriott, the Premier Inn and Park Plaza Westminster Bridge — face the Houses of Parliament across the river, and Westminster station is a ten-minute walk over the bridge.
Waterloo and Lower Marsh sit behind the station. This is the transport end: four Tube lines, the mainline to Windsor and the south-west, and the Old Vic and Young Vic theatres on The Cut. Lower Marsh is a street of cafés and pubs one block from the concourse, and Lambeth North on the Bakerloo line is the quieter station for the southern edge.
Blackfriars Road and Bankside runs from the river down to Southwark station, with Tate Modern and the Globe on the water. Most of the hotels in this guide are here. Blackfriars Road itself is a wide bus route; the lanes behind the Globe are not.
Borough and the west side of London Bridge has Borough Market, Southwark Cathedral and London Bridge station. East of the market is Bermondsey territory, and our Bermondsey and London Bridge guide covers the hotels there, including Shangri-La The Shard on top of the station.
County Hall and Waterloo
London Marriott Hotel County Hall — the Thames view is in the room name
£££ · Westminster Bridge Road, SE1 7PB · Waterloo 7 min · Hotels.comad
The old London County Council headquarters on the river, next to the London Eye and facing Big Ben across Westminster Bridge. The views are sold by grade: Executive Family Rooms have two double beds, sleep four and look over the Thames, balcony rooms face Big Ben, and there are two-bedroom suites. Every guest gets free use of the 25-metre pool and gym at The Club at County Hall, in the same building, open 7am to 9pm.
A room at the London Marriott County Hall.
Gillray’s, the ground-floor steakhouse, serves breakfast to residents and non-residents and takes bookings, so it can fill. The step-free entrance is off Belvedere Road, where Gillray’s has a platform lift; ask for it in advance.
Park Plaza Westminster Bridge — 1,023 rooms, a pool and studios for four
About £180 and up · 200 Westminster Bridge Road, SE1 7UT · Waterloo and Lambeth North 6 min · Hotels.comad
Opposite the Houses of Parliament at the south end of Westminster Bridge, with 1,023 rooms around a central atrium. Superior rooms are 25 m², and the Studio rooms are 36 m² with a sofa bed, for two adults and two children under 12; one Studio grade faces the London Eye. The private terrace pictured comes with an upgraded room grade; the standard Superior has none.
A room at Park Plaza Westminster Bridge.
The 15-metre indoor pool is for residents and spa guests only and works on a booking system, open 8am to 8pm for adults and children, with sessions booked only once you have arrived. Our guide to London hotels with a pool compares it with County Hall’s 25-metre pool. There is also a sauna, steam room, a 24-hour gym (over-16s) and the Mandara Spa. Breakfast is £25 for adults and free for children under 11. Check-out is noon, dogs are £25 a night, and parking is from £65 a day, first come first served.
Premier Inn London County Hall — the County Hall address at chain prices
£92 to £295 on five sampled nights · Belvedere Road, SE1 7PB · Waterloo 7 min · Premier Inn’s site
The same Grade II listed building as the Marriott, round the corner on Belvedere Road, at a fraction of the price. Every room has blackout curtains and air conditioning. Family rooms take two adults and two children, and up to two children eat breakfast free with each adult who buys one.
A family room at Premier Inn County Hall.
Prices swing widely: £92 on a Sunday three weeks out, £208 on a Saturday a month out and £295 on the second Saturday in December. There is no on-site parking; Waterloo Car Park on York Road is £20 for 24 hours. Hotels.com does not sell Premier Inn, so book on Premier Inn’s own site.
H10 London Waterloo — the rooftop bar with the London Eye in view
From £183 on its own site · 284–302 Waterloo Road, SE1 8RQ · Waterloo 5 min · Hotels.comad
A hotel from the Spanish chain H10 at the southern end of Waterloo Road. The Waterloo Sky Bar on the 8th floor has a terrace over the skyline, open noon to 10.30pm, and the rooms to ask for are on the same floors: Superior Sky View rooms start on the 8th, and the 9th-floor Sky View Terrace rooms have a private terrace with a partial view of the London Eye.
A high room at H10 London Waterloo.
Every Superior is 19 m² with a shower only — the freestanding bath pictured is in the Junior Suite Sky View — so what you pay extra for is the view and the terrace, not space. The Triple is 25 m² with a sofa bed, which suits a family of three. Breakfast at Three O Two on the first floor runs 7am to 11am, and to 11.30am at weekends. Lambeth North, on the Bakerloo line, is closer than Waterloo.
The Walrus Bar and Hostel — dorms above a Lower Marsh bar
£ · 172 Westminster Bridge Road, SE1 7RW · Lambeth North 3 min · hostel’s site
A hostel above a bar that draws locals as well as guests, ten minutes’ walk from Big Ben. Dorms sleep from four to 26, with female-only dorms among them and private rooms too; there is a guest kitchen, and bed linen, lockers and earplugs are included. Expect noise from the street and the railway.
A dorm at The Walrus.
Book direct and breakfast, towel hire and 10% off at the bar are included. Check-out is 10am, reception check-in runs 3pm to 11pm, and payment is by card only, with no American Express. Under-18s can stay only with a parent or guardian over 25, in a privately booked dorm.
Bankside and Blackfriars Road
Sea Containers London — the river view starts at Riverview Deluxe
£££ · 359 rooms and suites · 20 Upper Ground, SE1 9PD · Southwark 5 min, Blackfriars 7 min · Hotels.comad
Warren Platner designed the building as a hotel in 1974; it opened as offices instead and only became a hotel in 2014. It sits on the river between the OXO Tower and Blackfriars Bridge, with Tom Dixon interiors on a 1920s ocean-liner theme and a riverside entrance straight off the Thames path.
Read the grades before you book. Standard rooms promise no view; Superior rooms look over the skyline; the Riverview Deluxe rooms are the first to sit over the Thames, behind wall-to-wall windows. The Superior Double Double has two double beds and sleeps four, and the Riverview Balcony Suite has a private balcony over the river.
A Riverview room at Sea Containers.
The building carries the evening: 12th Knot on the roof (Tuesday to Saturday, over-18s, terrace closes at 10pm), Lyaness cocktail bar, Gordon Ramsay at Sea Containers on the ground floor, the agua spa, a 24-hour gym and a 56-seat Curzon cinema. Check-in is 3pm, check-out noon, and dogs up to 20lb are welcome.
Bankside Hotel — 161 rooms and an artist in residence
2 Blackfriars Road, SE1 9JU · Blackfriars and Southwark about 5 min · Hotels.comad
A six-storey hotel of 161 rooms, seven of them suites, at the southern end of Blackfriars Bridge. It belongs to Marriott’s Autograph Collection, so Bonvoy points apply. It has an in-house studio where a rotating artist in residence works in view of guests, and the Art Yard restaurant and bar serves breakfast from 6.30am on weekdays.
A double at Bankside Hotel.
The entry Modest rooms are 21 to 25 m² with a queen bed. The ones to know about are the Family Collection: 31 m² with two queen beds, sleeping four. Children get an activity pack on arrival and a £16 two-course menu at Art Yard. Dogs stay for a £75 supplement.
The Mad Hatter — 30 rooms above a Fuller’s pub
3–7 Stamford Street, SE1 9NY · Southwark 4 min · Hotels.comad
A Fuller’s pub with 30 rooms upstairs, on Stamford Street just south of Blackfriars Bridge. Downstairs is an Ale & Pie pub serving breakfast from 7am on weekdays and pies until 9.30pm. The doubles have a bath as well as a shower, and rooms vary in size because of the old building.
A double at The Mad Hatter.
The catch is the arrival window: check-in runs 3pm to 11pm only. A late flight needs a call ahead. There is a lift, some rooms interconnect, children aged 2 to 12 need an extra bed at £35 a night including breakfast, and the hotel takes no cash.
The Hoxton, Southwark — Seabird on the roof
About £190 · 192 rooms · 40 Blackfriars Road, SE1 8NY · Southwark 3 min · Hotels.comad
A new-build Hoxton halfway down Blackfriars Road, with concrete ceilings and parquet floors. The smallest room, the Snug, is 16 m²; the Cosy is 17 to 21 m²; the Biggy suite is 35 m². Families should look at the Double Up: two connecting bedrooms for up to four adults, or five with a child’s bed. Dogs are welcome in every grade.
A room at The Hoxton, Southwark.
Seabird, the seafood restaurant on the 14th floor, runs an oyster happy hour from 3pm to 6pm daily and is open to non-residents, so book. The 24-hour gym is on the 12th floor. Booking on Hoxton’s own site adds free early check-in and late check-out through its Flexy Time scheme.
ibis London Blackfriars — 297 rooms two minutes from the Tube
££ · 49 Blackfriars Road, SE1 8NZ · Southwark 2 min · Hotels.comad
A refurbished economy hotel with 297 rooms, air conditioning throughout and a bar, Charlie’s Corner, on the ground floor. Southwark station is 140 metres away and Waterloo a ten-minute walk. The hotel is cashless, including the bar; check-out is noon and pets are welcome. Rooms have a shower only, no bath.
A room at ibis London Blackfriars.
citizenM London Bankside — one room type, and it sleeps two
£155 to £251 on five sampled nights · 192 rooms · 20 Lavington Street, SE1 0NZ · Southwark 6 min · Hotels.comad
Every one of the 192 rooms is the same: an XL king bed wall to wall, a floor-to-ceiling window and a tablet that runs the blinds, lights and television. It is small, and it takes up to two adults only, so families need to look elsewhere. It is on a back street south of Tate Modern; check-in is at self-service kiosks, and canteenM in the lobby sells food and drink around the clock. Accessible rooms have grab rails in the bathroom; standard rooms don’t.
The room at citizenM Bankside.
Hilton London Bankside — the pool behind Tate Modern
£££ · 2–8 Great Suffolk Street, SE1 0UG · Southwark 5 min · Hotels.comad
A Hilton 0.2 miles from Tate Modern, with a heated indoor pool, a gym and a spa. Families book it for the pool and the connecting rooms; cribs and a children’s menu are available on request. The rooms have floor-to-ceiling windows. A bath comes only with an upgraded room grade; check before booking if you want one.
A family room at Hilton London Bankside.
Breakfast is charged separately. OXBO Bankside does a bottomless brunch at weekends and The Distillery is the bar. Check-in is 3pm, check-out noon. There are no pets, and parking is valet only at £40, 7am to 11pm.
Native Bankside — an apartment behind the Globe
£££ · 1 and 2 Bear Gardens, SE1 9ED · Southwark, London Bridge and Blackfriars each under 10 min · Hotels.comad
Studios and one-bedroom apartments with kitchens in a restored Victorian tea warehouse on Bear Gardens, a quiet lane behind Shakespeare’s Globe. Studios run 23 to 33 m² and one-bedroom apartments 34 to 45 m², and they are cleaned daily, unlike most aparthotels. Bathrooms are shower only, with no bath.
A bedroom at Native Bankside.
The Millennium Bridge is five minutes away, Borough Market ten, and the Uber Boat stops at Bankside Pier at the end of the lane.
Borough and London Bridge
Premier Inn London Southwark (Bankside) — a Premier Inn by the river
£102 to £243 on five sampled nights · 34 Park Street, SE1 9EF · London Bridge 8 min · Premier Inn’s site
A small Premier Inn on Park Street, between the river and Borough Market. It has the standard double, family and accessible rooms, air conditioning in every room and the usual deal on breakfast: up to two children eat free with each paying adult.
A double at Premier Inn Southwark (Bankside).
On the same five nights it undercut the County Hall Premier Inn on four, including £186 against £208 on an October Saturday and £243 against £295 in December. There are four parking spaces at £15 a day, first come first served.
London Bridge Hotel — apartments for six beside the station
Weekends from £129 · 8–18 London Bridge Street, SE1 9SG · London Bridge 2 min · hotel’s site
An independent four-star next to the Shard and two minutes from the station. The standard rooms have a queen or two twin beds, air conditioning and a free gym downstairs. The hotel’s own weekend rate starts at £129 including VAT.
A double at London Bridge Hotel.
The three apartments are what set it apart: 92 m² each, with two bedrooms, a bathroom plus a separate shower room and a full kitchen, for up to six people, and a private entrance next door. For a smaller family, Deluxe rooms and Studio Suites have a sofa bed for two children, and some Executive rooms interconnect. Check-in is 3pm, check-out 11am, and there is no car park.
St Christopher’s Village — a double capsule from £53
£53 to £166 a double capsule · 161–165 Borough High Street, SE1 1HR · Borough 4 min · Hotels.comad
A hostel with Belushi’s bar downstairs and a roof terrace, on Borough High Street between Borough and London Bridge stations. Among its dorms and private rooms are 26 capsules, and the Private Double Capsule sleeps two, from £53 on a quiet night, with air conditioning.
A private double at St Christopher’s Village.
It is adults only, 18 and over. Breakfast is £3, check-out is 11am, and check-in runs until 2am and no later. Our capsule hotels guide compares it with the others in London.
Getting in and out
Waterloo is the Jubilee, Northern, Bakerloo and Waterloo & City lines, plus mainline trains to Windsor, Hampton Court and the south-west. Southwark is Jubilee only. London Bridge is Jubilee and Northern, with Thameslink, Southern and Southeastern trains. Blackfriars spans the river, with a Bankside entrance for Thameslink and the District and Circle lines. Lambeth North (Bakerloo) and Borough (Northern) serve the southern edges.
Waterloo, Southwark and London Bridge are all on the Jubilee line, which runs direct to Wembley Park and to North Greenwich, so an evening at Wembley or The O2 needs no change of train.
At night, the Jubilee line runs all night on Fridays and Saturdays through all three stations, and the Northern line’s night service stops at Waterloo but not at London Bridge.
For Heathrow, take the Jubilee line to Bond Street and change to the Elizabeth line; our Heathrow guide has the fares. For Gatwick, Thameslink runs direct from London Bridge and Blackfriars; see our Gatwick guide. For the Eurostar, the same Thameslink trains run direct to St Pancras.
By river, Uber Boats stop at London Eye, Bankside and London Bridge City piers; our river boats guide explains the fares.
What you are staying for
Our South Bank area guide covers the sights and Borough Market’s opening days, and the South Bank walk links them in eleven stops from Westminster Bridge to Tower Bridge. The Bankside and Borough walk covers the streets behind the river, from London Bridge station to the Globe. For the Old Vic, Young Vic and National Theatre, see our London theatre guide. Three of the hotel bars have entries elsewhere on the site: Lyaness in our cocktail bars guide, 12th Knot in London’s best views and Seabird in our rooftop restaurants guide.
Still choosing an area? Our guide to the best areas to stay in London sorts the city by what the trip is for, and Covent Garden is fifteen minutes’ walk north over Waterloo Bridge. For cheaper beds, see the budget hotels and hostels guides.
Room grades, sizes, facilities and policies come from each hotel’s own website. The sampled prices are the cheapest double for two adults on five nights between October 2026 and April 2027, taken on 14 September 2026 from Premier Inn’s site and Hotels.com; other prices are what each hotel publishes or typically charges. Prices move nightly, so check your own dates.
Common questions
Is the South Bank a good area to stay in London?
Yes, for a first visit especially. You can walk the river from the London Eye to Tate Modern and Borough Market, Westminster is across one bridge and Covent Garden across another, and Waterloo, Southwark and London Bridge stations put the Jubilee, Northern and Bakerloo lines and the mainline railways on your doorstep. The trade-off is that the big shopping streets are on the other side of the river.
What is the cheapest place to stay on the South Bank?
St Christopher's Village on Borough High Street, where a private Double Capsule for two ran £53 to £166 a night, and The Walrus hostel above a bar on Westminster Bridge Road. For a private room with its own bathroom, the two Premier Inns are the cheapest: County Hall was £92 on a quiet October Sunday and £295 on a December Saturday, and Southwark (Bankside) £102 to £243 on the same nights.
Which station should I stay near: Waterloo, Southwark or London Bridge?
Waterloo for the most lines: Jubilee, Northern, Bakerloo and Waterloo & City, plus trains to south-west London and Windsor. London Bridge for Gatwick and St Pancras, both direct on Thameslink. Southwark, in between, is Jubilee only but puts Bankside and Tate Modern five minutes away. All three are on the Jubilee line, which runs through to Wembley Park and North Greenwich for The O2.
Which South Bank hotels have a swimming pool?
Park Plaza Westminster Bridge has a 15-metre indoor pool for residents, open 8am to 8pm, with sessions booked once you have arrived. Hilton London Bankside has a heated indoor pool. Guests at the London Marriott County Hall get free use of the 25-metre pool and gym at The Club at County Hall, in the same building, 7am to 9pm.
Which South Bank hotel rooms have a river view?
At Sea Containers London, only the Riverview grades face the Thames: Standard rooms carry no view promise and Superior rooms look over the skyline. The Marriott County Hall sells Executive Family Rooms with Thames views and balcony rooms facing Big Ben, and Park Plaza Westminster Bridge has a Studio Room with a London Eye view. Book the named view grade, not the building.
