Traveling alone as a woman can be daunting, especially in a large and bustling city like London. Thankfully, there are some hotels and hostels that are making a real effort to look after women travelers.

Grange City Hotel

8-14 Cooper’s Row, London EC3N 2BQ

This hotel has a women only wing, with seven floors and 68 rooms set aside just for us. Only female service staff are allowed in the building. To make us feel secure, there’s CCTV in all the public areas and spy holes and security latches on the bedroom doors. The rooms have been specially designed to suit us in every way, with extra-large wardrobes and backlit make-up mirrors in the marble and granite bathrooms. You can watch your favourite movies on the flat screen satellite TV and sensitive souls can curl up on the bed in comfort with the hypoallergenic duvets and pillows. This is a 5 star hotel, so such luxuries don’t come cheap, but hey, we’re worth it, right?

The Montague on the Gardens

15 Montague Street, London WC1B 5BJ

This hotel offers single female guests a special room on a high floor with secure interior door locking. You’ll only be attended to by female service staff, although there isn’t an area of the building with a total ban on males like the previous hotel, so you still might meet the odd businessman in the corridor. Again, the rooms are specially set up for ladies, with extra space for make-up in the bathrooms and a basket full of foot spa, creams and lotions for a little pampering. There are also extra hangers in the wardrobes and more lights throughout the room. All the rooms at this hotel have on demand movies and free internet access. This is a 4 star establishment, so still at the high end of the scale in terms of quality and price, but London does have some other options for ladies whose budgets are a bit more limited.

Premier Inns Central London, various locations

Premier Inns are a good mid-priced option for the lone traveler. The chain is associated with the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, which is a charity that raises awareness of personal safety. Single girls will be allocated rooms that aren’t on the ground floor or at the end of a corridor and when you check-in at reception, they’ll hand over your room details discreetly without saying them out loud, so no-one can overhear where you’re staying. All the bedroom doors have deadlocks or chains and every Premier Inn has a door entry system which means that only resident guests can enter after 11 pm. There’s someone on duty at reception 24 hours a day if you need any help. There are several Premier Inns in the centre of London, for example the Premier Inn London County Hall. They are of a 3 star standard and come with King size Hypnos beds, power showers, Freeview TVs and WiFi connections.

The Oasis at the Orient

St Christopher’s Village, 161-165 Borough High St, Southwark, London SE1 1HR

If funds are really limited or you fancy a more friendly atmosphere, you could book a bed at this female only hostel. You can choose between a private, twin, 4-bed or 8-bed room, which have all been refurbished with girls in mind, with new mattresses, warm duvets and fluffy pillows. Extra storage and wardrobe space has been created and full length mirrors and additional power points have been put it. They’ve also put an extra lock on the entrance to the hostel. There will be no boys peeing all over the shared bathrooms, just scented soaps, body lotions, shampoos and shower gels. There’s also a hairdryer and an iron and board so you can look your best on nights out with your new girl friends.

Susan Radcliffe is a Scottish writer and researcher who specializes in travel. She is in her twenties and now lives and works in the beautiful city of London. She loves to share her knowledge of London’s attractions and accommodation and currently writes for TubeHotels.com, a price comparison site for London hotels near underground stations.