[Nick Beale]

The NA used to have a leaflet (in pre-internet days) of nearby accommodation and if you are there, people advertise on a notice board in the foyer (which is no help when you're in Australia, I agree).

I haven't looked on their website to see what advice they give there.

There are various websites that find hotels in London (google something like "London hotel find").

Also: take i/d (e.g. passport) on your first day, you need to show something to register as a reader.

You can use a digital camera (no flash) and laptop in the reading rooms which is a great help.

Also, if you're working a lot from microfilm (e.g. RAF Squadron ORBs and ULTRA) buy one of their copier cards to use the film/fiche printers and amass £1 coins to top the card up.

Warning: London is not a cheap habit!