Nightlife in London springs from its cozy pub culture, which has developed over hundreds of years of bad weather and the best draught beer. London pubs are easy to find and very atmospheric in an old school sort of way. The only drawback for the die hard night lifers is that they stop serving drinks at 11pm and the tubes close shortly thereafter at 12.00 forcing people to head back home ensconced in their identical black coats pulled up against the late night air.  However, clubs rapidly take over from where the pubs leave off after witching hour. All across London, there are a great variety of clubs available for people of all tastes from fifties cabaret clubs to chic rave clubs offering loud dance music and strobe lights.

These popular clubs often come from illicit beginnings. You'll find many of London's major clubs in converted warehouses and under railway arches. The space that warehouses afford is perfect for large raves. As a result of their former underground existences, you won't find these clubs by hitting a certain area and walking the high street. You need to know someone who knows about the tucked-away location, although you can pass through by handing over £20 instead of whispering a password to the bouncer. If you want to see how exclusive nightlife in London can really get, you'll have to fork out a bit more and visit a member's club (consult a nightlife guide for addresses) where you stand a chance of spotting celebs, like Kate Moss.

There are certain general areas in London which have a good nightlife with west central being the most famous spot, especially the areas of theatreland and Soho, Mayfair and Notting Hill. If you're in North London head to Camden for the alternative scene and Brixton to the south is perfect if you prefer the larger club scene. To the north east near the famous city of London, which was bombed during the war, places such as Shoreditch are fast becoming a popular haunt for those who enjoy wine bars and minimalistic settings.

Finding the best clubs and bars in London is no exact science and you probably won't ever see the inside of the best clubs if you're not both rich and famous.  Nightlife in London does, however, offer plenty for the broke tourist and average Londoners who find more than enough enjoyment 'down the pub' and in your standard warehouse clubs.

No one would argue that London's nightlife isn't vibrant and diverse, but few people realise just how diverse. Rather than partaking in the same old pubs, clubs, bars and discos, party-goers are seeking alternative entertainment in London and, as can be expected, the City is delivering.

Soho, which really sets the trends when it comes to London's nightlife, was the natural choice for Bompas and Parr to test their latest alternative entertainment venture. Alcoholic Architecture is a pop-up bar with a difference. Rather than sipping your favourite cocktails, a faintly intoxicating alcoholic mix is delivered via a fine gin and tonic flavoured mist as soon as you walk in. Plastic suits are provided to cover your clothes and prevent you smelling as though you just emerged from a distillery explosion.

Unfortunately, the olfactory-centred bar was only temporary and lasted a mere four fun fume-filled nights, but as those nights proved to be extremely popular, perhaps Bompas and Parr will bring it back on a more permanent basis.

Staying in Soho, karauke is taking London by storm. No, it's not a spelling mistake, 'Karauke' as opposed to the more traditional karaoke, is distinguished by a ukulele strumming backup band. From its humble beginnings as a spin-off from weekly Ukulele sessions at the Royal George Tavern in Soho, Karauke has become a popular source of alternative entertainment in its own right. It has become so popular in fact, that it now has its own weekly session at the Soho Revue Bar. On the third Thursday of each month you can make your way to the Revue Bar and enjoy the dulcet sounds of the 15 member Ukulele band accompanied by the less harmonic singing of anyone game enough to have a go. Once you've spent your nights singing to the tunes of a Ukulele band, it's hard to imagine going back to anything that doesn't smack of alternative entertainment in London.

Tea dancing. Yep, gone are the days of sewing circles and tea and scones. These days tea has a little more zest as everyone from ambitious young professionals to retired grandmothers and grandfathers take to the dance floor in London's newly thriving alternative form of entertainment. Tea dancing is everywhere; The Waldorf offers Tango Tea Dance once a month for £10 a pop and the Covent Garden dance Orchetra hosts a free afternoon tea dance on the last Friday of every month at Spitalfields Markets.

While strictly in the interests of fun, tea dancing, as one would expect from entertainment aimed primarily at (but certainly not restricted to) the over-50s, tea dancing has some rules of etiquette:

• No stilettos, dancing is up tempo and requires the kind of smooth moves and agility that is generally hampered by high heels

• Don't over-indulge, guests are allocated their share of tea and cake, and while tea is generally in abundant supply, cake is limited

• Dance in the same direction as everyone else, collisions are frowned upon as old bones tend to be frailer than young

• Don't get drunk, you're not at a pub or rowdy nightclub, if you're going to embrace the alternative entertainment scene in London then make sure you abide by its rules

• Always dance with a partner, gender makes no difference, so long as you're bopping, no one cares

• Lastly, don't be too envious when those with the best moves are old enough to be your grandmother, they've had practice

And if you're tired of the dating scene, you can always ditch the clubs, pubs and bars and get down with speed hating. Speed hating takes the mickey out of speed dating and is the perfect form of alternative entertainment for the gloomier or perhaps more gothic London dwellers. Alternative accurately sums up the entertainment provided by London's speed hating events, where everyone receives an uninspiring pseudonym before a round of 'Blind Hate' and unpleasant answers are thought up to unpleasant questions, such as 'in another life, which disease ridden vermin would you most likely be?'. To spice things up there is also a misfortune teller and Twister, which is played with the Grim Reaper. For one of the most alternative experiences of your life, shun the theatre, say no to exclusive party venues and hop on over to the Hammersmith side of London for your monthly dose of speed hating.

Sure, you can try the more traditional events and venues to occupy your nights - Shakespearian theatre, movies with the girls - or you can savour something different, something a little more extraordinary and sample some of the alternative entertainment that London has to offer.

London is one of the most important financial capitals of the modern world. Ironically, it also happens to be one of the most important historical capitals of the modern world as it's a city that's steeped in history. London was founded by the Romans. It witnessed major changes in its infrastructure since the medieval ages. Modern London is an extremely well-developed and a sprawling city where the ancient and the new exist side by side. Yes, it's absolutely amazing to discern the sharp contrast between the ultramodern London Eye and the old Tower of London, a castle which dates back to the medieval ages; the famous department store Harrods and the ancient mausoleum, Westminster Abbey; the bustling Heathrow Airport and the Tower Bridge; the jerkin-shaped London City Hall and the imposing St. Paul's Cathedral. London is one of the most popular tourist and business destinations for holidaymakers, globetrotters, and jet set corporate executives. The innumerable London hotels provide high-class accommodation to the tourists and business travelers.

However, London is a very expensive city. The price of real estate in London is the highest in the world. Houses can be purchased only if you pay through your nose and even if you want to be a tenant, you'll have to be prepared to pay exorbitant rents. Goods and services are also very costly in London unless you're content with purchasing goods 'made in China.' The 'made in China' tag has flooded the London markets, shops and stores because it labels goods which have been made in China and which are extremely affordable, if not cheap. London is very well connected to the rest of the United Kingdom and the world through roads, railways, the waterways and through air routes.

Conferences in London Hotels

London is home to hundreds of hotels. The London hotels, like everything else in the city, are posh, plush, and expensive. The hotels in London serve as excellent conference venues. Most London hotels are equipped with fabulous conference facilities that enable guests to host conferences with alacrity and ease. The hotels of London also house large banquet halls, ballrooms, gymnasiums and restaurants so that guests who come for conferences can really chill-out in between hectic and grueling meetings. Many of the London hotels house well-equipped Business Centers. Several staffs such as typists, secretaries, translators, PAs, and others, work in these Business Centers. Hotel guests may avail of the services offered by the Business Centers, at a price, any time they like. The PAs, secretaries and other professional assistants employed at these Business Centers are extremely efficient and can really help you to make your conference a success.

Conference Facilities in London Hotels

The conference halls of all the hotels of the city are fitted with the latest audiovisual equipment and gadgets such as 35mm slide projectors, flip charts and markers, digital projectors, LCD projectors, overhead projectors, DVD players, whiteboards, lecterns, microphones, cable modems, VCRs, stage lights, laser discs, modem lines, etc. so that guests face no problems while hosting conferences. If you want to mix business with pleasure, you should host your meetings in the hotels of London. Unlike hotels in other nations, the hotels of London are capable of transporting you back to the olden days, to a bygone era. This is because the London hotels encapsulate the quaint charm of London, the rich historical aura of the city, in their rooms, halls, suites, and meeting rooms. Hotels in cities such as Washington, New York, LA, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Ottawa, Montreal, and Dubai, may be very modern and swank, but they cannot afford their guests the luxury of an antediluvian milieu, the grandeur of the past.

The Classic and the Hi-Tech

Some of the hotels of London are as ancient as the city's most historical edifices. The interiors of these hotels are either stuccoed or ornately carved with intricate designs that fill up the friezes and the ceilings. The rooms and halls also sport gilt-edged Venetian mirrors, paintings, antique fireplaces, exquisite wall paneling and wainscoting, damask drapes on the doors and windows, and magnificent and sparkling chandeliers. The Ritz is one of the London hotels that boast of a rich history. The hotel has several marvelous meeting rooms where conferences may be hosted with aplomb. The Burlington room of the Ritz is a spectacular venue for hosting meetings. Though the Burlington room sports a décor which is reminiscent of the Victorian period, it is equipped with the latest and the best meeting gadgets and gizmos which enable conference presenters to execute their conferences without any hitches.

While discussing the hotels of London, a mention must be made of Claridge's. Claridge's is one of the best hotels of London where you can host prestigious and glamorous events and conferences. The interiors of the hotel are decorated in the Art Deco style. Everything in this hotel, from its walls and ceilings to its hearth and scalloped curtains, smacks of regality and class. Claridge's is situated in the up-market Mayfair of London. Claridge's vaunts a suite of meeting rooms that are equipped with hi-tech gadgets so that conferences and symposiums may be conducted seamlessly and without any glitches.

Using Meeting Diary in the London Hotels

Meeting Diary would be very useful if you're hosting a meeting in any of the hotels of London. Apart from the audiovisual equipment that the London hotels offer for you to present your meeting properly, we recommend that you use Meeting Diary for arranging and organizing your meeting. Meeting Diary is a superb application that helps you to plan your seminars, set down corporate goals, frame your meeting agenda, record your meeting minutes and proceedings and do lots more to make your event a smash hit. Audiovisual gadgets in London hotels only help you to present your meetings. They don't offer holistic meeting solutions like Meeting Diary does. If your meeting venue is in any of the London hotels and if you avail of the services of Meeting Diary while hosting the meeting, there is absolutely no doubt that your meeting will be a memorable and productive event. One big difference between Meeting Diary and the London hotels is that Meeting Diary doesn't cost anything, any pence or any cent, to use. Meeting Diary is an application that you can use, free of cost.

Famous London Hotels

Some of the other luxury and corporate London hotels are Grosvenor House, London; InterContinental London Park Lane; 51 Buckingham Gate; Sofitel London St. James; The Dorchester; The Stafford Hotel; The Langham London; The May Fair Hotel; Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park; Radisson Edwardian Pastoria Hotel; etc.

Other Facilities Offered by the London Hotels

Most London hotels do not include breakfast in their room charges. And what's surprising is that many luxury London hotels don't include breakfast with room and other charges. Hotel guests frequently complain about this but most hoteliers have no answer to this problem. The costs of living in London have always been high and they're escalating each day. So unless you put up in some of the best and most expensive London hotels, which charge excessively, you can't expect a hearty breakfast. It is the policy of some London hotels to give their guests 'a plain breakfast' which they think is better than offering no breakfast. Plain breakfasts normally consist of toasts, croissants, jam, marmalade, butter, milk, cornflakes, fruit juice, tea and coffee. Filling enough but not satisfactory if you're thinking of gorging on grilled bacon, smoked sausages, ham, salami, cheeses, French fries, jacket potatoes, grilled tomatoes, strawberry cakes, tarts and yogurt. The London hotels will definitely organize sumptuous breakfasts for you if you pay that extra amount!

Apart from breakfasts, telephone charges are also a bane in most London hotels. Most London hotels have excellent communication facilities in the form of telephones, facsimile machines, computers with Internet connections, etc. But they charge several times the amount required even if you make a simple local call. And if you think you'll communicate via the telephone from one of the London hotels with your grandmother far away, you'll have to be ready to be pretty generous even if you're not feeling generous. Porterage is also very pricey in all London hotels. It's better that you carry your own luggage from the reception area to your room when checking in and back when checking out. And room service is sheer luxury in London hotels. Unless you want to splurge or show off your wealth, it's better that you go down to the dining hall for your breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner.

Taxis in London

Taxis are very costly to ride in the city. But the redeeming factor is that this fact, at least, can in no way be attributed to the London hotels.

It's worth Staying in the London Hotels

Despite everything, London is worth visiting. Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace, Wembley, Millennium Dome, London Eye, City Hall, St James Park, Hyde Park, Parliament Building, Madame Tussaud's, Trafalgar Square, Kensington Gardens, St. Paul's Cathedral, University Of London, Royal Academy of Music, Royal College of Music, Piccadilly Circus, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Oxford Street, Knightsbridge, Natural History Museum, and Victoria and Albert Museum are some of the many attractions and tourist hotspots of London. So, grumbling about the costs charged by London hotels would probably be penny wise and pound foolish because to save some pounds, you'd be missing out on a treat that's really worth the expense and that'll stay with you for the rest of your life.