10 cities on a shoestring

Bristol | Belfast | Brighton | Cardiff | London East End | Glasgow | Leeds | Manchester | Birmingham | Newcastle
The Hoxton Hotel, London
A self-proclaimed 'no-bullshit' hotel ... The Hoxton Hotel, London

1. Bristol

Saco Apartments (0845 122 0405, sacoapartments.co.uk) have fully furnished one- and two-bed city centre apartments by the Temple Gardens and on the waterfront overlooking the Floating Harbour. With fully stacked kitchens, a lounge area and splattering of digital mod cons (DVD players, stereos, broadband) the apartments are thoroughly frilled, yet can work out from £36pp pn.

2. Belfast

Arnie's Backpackers (63 Fitzwilliam Street, 02890 242867, arniesbackpackers.co.uk, from £9pp pn) is a small independent hostel in the Queen's University area of Belfast, 15 minutes' walk from the city centre. Cosiness is a running theme: guests are offered a free cuppa on arrival, chilling space around real coal fires and unlimited petting of the two resident dogs, Rosie and Snowie.

3. Brighton

The George IV Guesthouse (34 Regency Square, 01273 321196, georgeivhotel.co.uk) is a period townhouse owned by period twosome Sue and Steve, with sea views overlooking one of Brighton's finest squares. Cheap but with credentials, a bed for the night will set you back from as low as a tenner for each of its four AA stars - that's £40 for the mathematically challenged.

4. Cardiff

Cardiff Backpacker Hostel (98 Neville Street, 02920 378866, cardiffbackpacker.com, £17.70pp pn) is a meet people, play pool, swing in a hammock, get drunk job with knobs on. The knobs come in the form of a pretty impressive kitchen (for a hostel), a large DVD collection, a late-license bar, free brekkie and a BBQ area.

5. London East End

The Hoxton Hotel (81 Great Eastern Street, 020 7550 1000, hoxtonhotels.com) is a self-proclaimed "no bullshit" (read: limited frills) hotel in the heart of London's trendy-wendy central with rooms from £59pn based on two sharing. Join the mailing list on their website to be eligible for frequent £1/night offers.

6. Glasgow

The Glasgow Backpackers (56 Berkeley Street, 0141 221 7880, glasgowbackpackers.com) is a restored Georgian terraced house with the decor to boot on a quiet Charing Cross backstreet. The hostel backs on to the Mitchell Library, with Sauchiehall Street a five-minute wander away. Beds from ... drum roll ... £8 a night.

7. Leeds

Kspace Apartments (0870 199 8092, kspace-apartments.co.uk) are particularly swanky numbers - with wooden floors, sexy leather sofas, widescreen TVs and modern kitchens. If there's four of you sharing a two-bed apartment, you can swank without sweating ... prices work out at £35 per person, per night.

8. Manchester

The Hatters hostel (50 Newton Street, 0800 083 3848, hattersgroup.com) is a converted hat factory in the Northern Quarter, minutes away from lots of other cool converted factories (bars, retro shops, jazz bars, veggie cafes) with beds from £15.50pn.

9. Birmingham

The Old Crown (corner of Heath Mill Lane and High Street Deritend, 0121 248 1368, theoldcrown.com) in Digbeth is Birmingham's oldest pub - dating back to the 1400s - and claims Queen Elizabeth I and Dick Turpin as past guests. You won't need the wallet of a Tudor monarch to stop there, though: a room can be had for £35.

10. Newcastle

According to its website, the Albatross Inn (51 Grainger Street, 0191 233 1330, albatrossnewcastle.co.uk) is a "destination for people to rest after travelling long distances - just like the albatross!" Genius. Existentialism aside, The Albatross is brilliantly located in the heart of the city centre, with beds from £16.50pn.