If you have the time…
Well, actually, Waterloo and that area are great places to stay. There are many nice hotels.
As well as Waterloo stations, it’s not far, walking distance, from Blackfriars, London Bridge and Charing Cross.
There’s the South Bank arts centre, with the Royal Festival Hall, the National Film Theatre/BFI Southbank, the Royal National Theatre, the Hayward Gallery, the Old Vic, the Young Vic, the Vaults, theatre and exhibitions at the old County Hall, the London Eye and all the events on the Embankment (by the river) and some wonderful views of London, especially in the summer.
Walk across the bridge and you are on The Strand, right by Covent Garden. And the Imperial War Museum is not far away.