London on £50 a day (plus vat!)

This is what London on £50 a day (or night) looks like - the top floor of an international students' hostel near Russell Square.  The room is basic - a single bed, a sink, a battered wardrobe, and carpet you'd prefer not to put your bare feet on.  The curtain rail sags in the middle, there's no plug for the sink, you have to share a bathroom with 5 other people, and the radiator won't turn off.  It's the kind of room that might drive you to suicide, which is perhaps why the windows only open about 3" max!  But the sheets are clean, it's cheap and I couldn't afford three days in London any other way.  If you buy sandwiches and fruit in Tescos Express round the corner and eat them in the square - you can live cheaply in what is one of the world's most expensive cities. Happy days!!