Where to Stay on the South Bank & Waterloo: The Best Hotels Near the London Eye (2026)

County Hall and Westminster Bridge. These five are the hotels people mean when they search for a room near the London Eye: all sit at the south end of Westminster Bridge, all are within six minutes of the Eye and eight of Waterloo station, and Big Ben is across the bridge. The London Marriott Hotel County Hall is the grand one, inside County Hall, the former headquarters of the London County Council and then the Greater London Council, one minute on foot from the Eye and seven from Westminster station (Jubilee, District and Circle lines). It's the hotel on this stretch where the views are the point: the Marriott sells rooms facing the river, Westminster and Big Ben, and has what it calls London's largest indoor swimming pool in its health club. Afternoon tea is served in the Library, the council's old library.

It's the dearest of the five. The cheapest Deluxe King was about £469 on a November Tuesday, room only, and that room carries no promise of a view; the King Loft with River Thames View was about £499, a King Room with River View £521 and a Superior King with a view of Big Ben £551, with breakfast another £30 each. For families it has two-bedroom suites and Executive Family Rooms with two double beds, some facing the Eye. If you're paying this much, pay the extra £30 for the river.

Park Plaza London Westminster Bridge is where I'd send most families. It's a very big hotel at the foot of Westminster Bridge Road with a 15-metre indoor pool, a Mandara spa, a 24-hour gym, Brasserie Joël, a sushi bar and Studio rooms that take two adults and two children, with a sofa bed and a kitchenette. The London Eye is six minutes on foot, Waterloo station eight and Westminster station seven over the bridge. It holds 4.5 on Google from more than 14,000 reviews, which at that volume says a lot about consistency.

The catch is the atrium. Most Superior rooms (about 25 square metres) look into the inner atrium, not out: the internal-view Superior was about £261 on the sample night, an outside-facing Superior £270, and a Studio £293. For a view, the Studio with London Eye View was £365 and with Big Ben View £374. The pool is open 8am to 8pm and has to be booked; under-12s get breakfast free with their parents.

Premier Inn London County Hall puts a budget bed in the same listed building as the Marriott, on the Belvedere Road side, three minutes from the Eye and seven from Waterloo station. Rooms are the standard Premier Inn king-bed double with blackout curtains and air conditioning, there are family and accessible rooms, and breakfast is extra. For the price, nothing else on the South Bank puts you closer to the river.

£185 on the non-refundable rate for the November Tuesday, £237 fully flexible, is about as low as this stretch of the river gets. The trade-offs are the usual ones: no view room is sold, so whether you see anything is luck, the rooms are functional rather than memorable, and there's no car park (the Waterloo Car Park on York Road charges £20 for 24 hours). The stairs are for emergencies only, so every floor is reached by lift.

Park Plaza County Hall London is the sister hotel just behind County Hall on Addington Street (not inside the historic building, whatever the name suggests), six minutes from the Eye and seven from Waterloo. Its Studios, about 30 square metres with a double sofa bed and a microwave, sleep two adults and two children, and the eight 14th-floor penthouses have balconies that may look onto the Eye or Parliament. There's a gym and the Atrio restaurant, but no pool.

The entry Superior is about 20 square metres and looks into the atrium: £252 on the sample night. The Superior with London Eye View was £315, and the family studio with the Eye view the same £315, which makes that one the better buy if there are four of you. One guest who otherwise loved the penthouse mentioned water-hammer noise in the pipes.

Premier Inn London Waterloo (Westminster Bridge), on York Road between the station and the river, is the cheapest way to buy a view near the Eye. Waterloo station and the London Eye are each a five-minute walk, and the hotel sells a Standard room with a key landmark view alongside its ordinary doubles. Rooms have air conditioning, and there are family and accessible rooms.

On the sample Tuesday the plain Standard was £217 and the landmark-view version £242 on the same non-refundable rate, so £25 buys the view, though Premier Inn doesn't say which landmark and only promises it subject to availability at check-in. It's £32 more than the County Hall branch for the plain room, which is worth knowing if you don't care about the window. Like its neighbour, it has no car park.

Waterloo station, Lower Marsh and Lambeth North. Behind the station the South Bank turns into an ordinary inner-city neighbourhood: Lower Marsh's street-food market and cafés, the Old Vic and the Young Vic on The Cut, and Lambeth North station on the Bakerloo line. These hotels are four to eight minutes from Waterloo and ten to 18 from the Eye. Ruby Lucy is the one with personality, a design hotel on Lower Marsh four minutes from the station and ten from the Eye, decorated like an old fairground, with a 24-hour bar, barista coffee and extra-long beds. It has the highest Google rating of the station hotels: 4.7 from more than 1,300 reviews.

Rooms are small, as at every Ruby: 15 to 17 square metres for a Nest, up to 24 for a Wow, and the Lovely Room was about £305 on the sample night, with breakfast £20 more. Check-in is self-service at a screen, the minimum age is 18, and dogs are allowed only in Wow Rooms. One guest singled out the soundproofing, which matters on a street this close to the railway.

Marlin Waterloo is an aparthotel on Westminster Bridge Road, two minutes from Lambeth North station, eight from Waterloo and 11 from the Eye. It's the choice for longer stays and families who want to cook: Studios have kitchenettes (the Premium Studio adds a hob and dishwasher), the Deluxe Suite (39 to 45 square metres) sleeps four with a sofa bed, and there's a gym and a bar downstairs.

Read the room name before you book. The entry Classic Room (20 to 25 square metres, super-king bed) has only a fridge and coffee machine, no kitchen; it was about £275 on the sample night, with the Premium Room £284. Upper-floor rooms look over the city skyline rather than the river. Early check-in isn't offered.

Park Plaza London Waterloo, on Hercules Road beside Lambeth North station (two minutes), is the third Park Plaza in the area, on a side street eight minutes from Waterloo and 13 from the Eye. It has its own 15-metre heated pool with a sauna and steam room, a 24-hour gym, the Florentine Italian restaurant and Studio rooms with a sofa bed. Dogs are welcome.

It was the dearest of the four Park Plazas on the sample night, about £299 for a Superior (around 20 square metres, facing the city or the atrium), so book it for the pool and the quieter street rather than to save money. Recent complaints are about the phones going unanswered and the odd housekeeping slip; the pool and sauna get praise.

Hampton by Hilton London Waterloo is on Waterloo Road, five minutes from the station and seven from Southwark (Jubilee line), with the Old Vic around the corner and the Eye 16 minutes away. It's a straightforward modern chain hotel with a free hot breakfast, a fitness room, connecting rooms and cots, and 4.2 on Google from nearly 3,500 reviews.

About £280 for a queen or twin room on the sample night looks high for a Hampton, but breakfast is included, so compare it with the room-only prices plus £20 or so a head elsewhere. Pets aren't allowed, and rooms are plain chain rooms without views.

H10 London Waterloo, further down Waterloo Road, is the station hotel with the best room views. Its standard Classic Superior (19 square metres) faces the street, but the Sky View rooms on the 8th floor look over the city, the 9th-floor Sky View Terrace rooms come with a private terrace and a partial view of the London Eye, and the Junior Suite London Eye is sold on the view. The 8th-floor Waterloo Sky Bar has a terrace over the skyline. Waterloo station is eight minutes on foot, Lambeth North six and the Eye 18.

The Classic Superior was about £294 on the sample night with free cancellation, the Sky View £345 and the Junior Suite London Eye £443, with breakfast £26 a head, which one guest called excellent and very plentiful. Triples (25 square metres with a sofa bed) work for a family of three. The walk to the river is the longest of the station group.

Travelodge London Central Waterloo is the cheapest private room on the South Bank: £150.99 on its own site for the November Tuesday, five minutes from Waterloo station and seven from Southwark. It has two lifts, air conditioning, a bar-café, family rooms, and unlimited breakfast, with up to two children eating for £1 each. The SuperRoom, with a coffee machine, better shower and its own floor, was £161.99.

It rates 3.9 on Google from more than 2,700 reviews, the lowest score of the budget hotels here, so read the latest reviews before you book. If the budget stretches, the Premier Inn on Lambeth Road was £175 for a newer room. Book the Travelodge for the price and the location near The Cut.

Upper Ground and Blackfriars Road. The Tate Modern end of the South Bank is livelier at night than County Hall, with the OXO Tower, the riverside bars and Bankside just east, and it has the area's two most characterful hotels. These are eight to 13 minutes from Waterloo station and 16 to 18 from the Eye, but two to nine from Southwark (Jubilee line) or Blackfriars (District and Circle, plus Thameslink). Sea Containers London sits right on the river in Warren Platner's 1970s building, fitted out to recall a 1920s transatlantic liner, with 354 rooms, Gordon Ramsay's riverside restaurant, the Lyaness cocktail bar, the 12th Knot rooftop bar looking across to St Paul's, a Curzon cinema and the Agua spa. Tate Modern is seven minutes away.

The river rooms cost more than you'd guess from the address. The Standard, which isn't sold as river-facing, was about £394 on the sample night on a Booking.com deal (its list price £469), and the Thames starts at the Riverview Deluxe, £495. There's no pool; the gym is 24-hour, and dogs up to 9 kg (20 lb) are allowed with a £100 deposit. For a river view I'd book the Riverview Deluxe; otherwise the rooftop bar gives you the same panorama for the price of a drink.

Bankside Hotel, a Marriott Autograph Collection hotel at the foot of Blackfriars Road, is the one I'd book for a couple on an art weekend: 161 art-filled rooms, the Art Yard restaurant and bar, Tate Modern six minutes away and Blackfriars station eight. It holds a 4.8 on Google from nearly 1,000 reviews, the highest in the area, and the Family Collection rooms (31 square metres, two queen beds) are a rare design-hotel room for four.

It was also the dearest hotel in the area on the sample night: about £539 for a Modest Collection queen room of 21 to 25 square metres, with breakfast £28, and the hotel doesn't sell river views. One reviewer praised air conditioning that actually cools the room; another asked for more effort on breakfast. Pet-friendly rooms carry a £75 supplement.

The Mad Hatter Hotel is a Fuller's pub with about 30 rooms upstairs on Stamford Street, five minutes from Southwark station, eight from Blackfriars and six from Tate Modern. It's the most traditional stay on the South Bank: a proper pub downstairs, breakfast included, a lift and step-free access, and guests who come for the history and character.

About £332 with breakfast on the sample night is the price of a four-star here, and the rooms vary in size and shape with the old building, some of them compact. Ask for a larger double when you book. Children under two stay free, and an extra bed for ages 2 to 12 is £35.

The Hoxton, Southwark is the design choice on Blackfriars Road: 192 rooms, three minutes from Southwark station, eight from Tate Modern and ten from Waterloo, with Albie, an all-day restaurant, on the ground floor, the Seabird rooftop restaurant with what it calls London's longest oyster list, and a 12th-floor gym with skyline views. Free early check-in or late check-out and dog-friendly rooms throughout are part of the deal.

The entry Snug is 16 square metres with wall-to-wall windows, and it was about £369 on the sample night, the Cosy £389 and the Roomy £424. A Roomy takes two adults and a child, and the Double Up, two connecting rooms with two bathrooms, sleeps up to five. None of the rooms is sold on a river view, and there's no parking.

Novotel London Blackfriars, next door to the Hoxton, is the pick on this street for a family that wants a pool: a pool with a whirlpool, a combined sauna and steam room, the MAM restaurant, and Superior Premium rooms of 24 square metres with one or two sofa beds. Southwark station is two minutes away, Waterloo eight and Tate Modern eight.

It was about £339 on the sample night, room only, and the pool is booked in one-hour slots, so reserve a time when you check in. One recent guest complained about housekeeping and room preparation. The hotel lists its views as city, courtyard or patio, not the river.

ibis London Blackfriars, across Blackfriars Road from the Novotel, is the budget version: 297 rooms, two minutes from Southwark station and eight from Waterloo, with the Charlies Corner bar and restaurant, air conditioning and pets welcome. It rates 4.2 on Google from more than 4,500 reviews.

The standard double is 16 square metres and was about £238 on the sample night, with breakfast £14. Family rooms of 20 square metres add a sofa bed. There's no pool of its own. For about £50 less, the Premier Inn in County Hall puts you by the Eye; the ibis makes more sense if your days are around Tate Modern, the Globe and Borough Market.

Lambeth Road and Albert Embankment. South of Westminster Bridge, beyond St Thomas' Hospital and Lambeth Palace, the hotels are cheaper for what you get and the river frontage faces Parliament, but they're 16 to 20 minutes' walk from the Eye and 13 to 24 from Waterloo station. Novotel London Waterloo is on Lambeth Road, 16 minutes from the Eye and 17 from Big Ben, with Lambeth North station ten minutes away. Its 187 rooms include a 25-square-metre Superior that already sleeps three or four with a sofa bed, and connecting rooms, which makes it good value for families.

About £289 on the sample night, room only, with breakfast £21. It has a gym and sauna but no pool, and a car park on site. The name oversells the station: Waterloo is a 17-minute walk, so plan on the Bakerloo line from Lambeth North. It's cashless, so bring a card.

Premier Inn London Waterloo (Lambeth Road) is a newer Premier Inn, with its latest room design, next to the Imperial War Museum, six minutes from Lambeth North station, 13 from Waterloo and 18 from the Eye. There are family and accessible rooms, air conditioning, and rooms with a city view.

At £175 on the non-refundable rate it was the cheapest Premier Inn in the area on the sample night, and the city-view room only £19 more. It has far fewer Google reviews than the others, under 300. The walk to the river is the trade-off: this is a Tube-first base, not a stroll-out-to-the-Eye one.

Hyatt Regency London Albert Embankment faces the Thames across from Millbank, ten minutes from Vauxhall station (Victoria line and trains), 19 from the Eye and 20 from Westminster station. It rates 4.5 on Google from nearly 900 reviews.

It sells the cheapest guaranteed river-facing room in the area: a courtyard-view King was about £245 on the sample night, and a King Room with River View £285, just £40 more; balcony rooms with the river view were £426. Breakfast is £26. You're far from Waterloo station (23 minutes), so for sightseeing you'll use the Victoria line from Vauxhall or walk the Albert Embankment to Westminster Bridge.

Park Plaza London Riverbank is next door on Albert Embankment, a large hotel with views across the river to the Houses of Parliament from its river rooms and from the Chino Latino restaurant, ten minutes from Vauxhall station and 20 from the Eye and from Westminster. It has a pool, sauna and steam room, a 24-hour gym, studios with sofa beds, kitchenette suites and connecting rooms, and 4.3 on Google from nearly 7,900 reviews.

The entry Superior (about 23 square metres, facing the city or the atrium) was about £230 on the sample night, the lowest of the full-service hotels here, and the Executive Room with River View £297. The pool is small, 12 metres by 2.5, with family time from 8am to 8pm. As with the Hyatt, you trade a longer walk to the sights for a cheaper room with a view.