Lontoo Hostellit

Plussat: Location, architecture, hip vibe.

Miinukset: Skimpy pillows

Plussat: Cleanliness, location close to tube station.

Plussat: everything was good except the WIFI was extremely bad. It keep getting disconnected and complained to staff several times. They knew about the problem and one remarked that owners considered WIFI a luxury and not a neccesacity

Miinukset: WIFI was extremely bad.

Plussat: Great location. This was the first place we went in London and the staff helped us to get our feet on the ground. The beds were comfortable and the food was good fro the price.

Miinukset: There was construction outside our room.

Plussat: The location of the hostel was great! My first night there, I walked into town to see the London Eye, Parliament/Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey. Then, I walked back. Round trip: 1 h, 30 mins. The hostel is also close to a Tube station, so getting anywhere is a breeze. Staff were friendly, price was good, and there was a good mix of travellers.

Miinukset: Close to a major road, so you get a lot of noise :( Only two showers and two toilets between approx. 25 people. I'm actually quite surprised it wasn't too much of an issue. Bathrooms could have been a bit cleaner.

Plussat: Clean room with sockets at every bed.

Miinukset: The shower would only run for 4 seconds and then you'd need to push it again and that was quite annoying.

Plussat: Overall, as a 20-something, using this as a cheap place to sleep for the night while seeing London this worked for me and allowed me to spend my travel money on the things I wanted to do. The hostel does provide breakfast, and a 10% off discount for anything you order at the bar (burger and a beer is normally 15 pounds, so you get that for 13.50). The staff was friendly, and the bedding was clean in the hostel. The showers had warm water and seemed to be cleaned on a somewhat regular basis. The bar area is open to you 24 hours a day, though the kitchen closes at 10 and the bar closes to the public at midnight. Beyond that, you can't beat the location in terms of it being a launching point for getting around the city. You are on several bus lines and three different tube lines. You are also only a mile's walk from Hyde park on a main road that is well lit, even at night.

Miinukset: First off, if you are a light sleeper, don't choose this hostel. It is on a highly-used road and the windows will be open in the room. If you wake up at every horn or siren, you will not have a good time sleeping here. In addition to that, the larger rooms have 24 people, so you can expect them to be coming and going at all hours, some quietly, some not (which also means your experience is not 100% on the hostel staff). Bar noise was non-existent, so don't worry about that. The breakfast was a bit of a zoo, and a bit of a disappointment. They had loaves of bread with a toaster (butter and jam), some cereal and milk. There was also tea and coffee. It was pretty well picked over by 8:15, and the staff was too busy cleaning the bar to replace anything. To that end, the staff in the hostel always seemed to be stretched too thin. People are working the hostel front desk and the bar at the same time. They are not mean about it, but if you catch it wrong, you can end up waiting a bit to be helped. There were also a few people who were sleeping in the hallway at times, though I was not sure if they were just too drunk to remember their passcodes or had snuck in. Also, I never saw any semblance of a manager for either the bar or the hostel (not that I ever needed one). The cleanliness of the rooms and the bathrooms left something to be desired, the rooms especially. Though I didn't spend much time in them, there was usually some crumbs / scraps of wrappers on the floor, which did not feel clean even when those larger pieces of rubbish were not there. This comes back to you experience being tied to the people you are in the room with however. In particular, there was one person who's luggage smelled like a college student's laundry bin that had been left to sit during the winter break, in-short, really bad. My final warning would be that there are not a lot of power outlets in the rooms, and there are only two bathrooms to accommodate 50+ people, as opposed to 4 showers.

Plussat: The free breakfast had with hard boiled eggs, yogurt, cereals, etc. The staff was nice and helpful! There are limited toilets and showers, but I didn't have a problem since not too many people seemed to be there. Only thing is that there's definitely not enough sinks. Showers were great and hot.

Miinukset: Out of management control, but some guy pissed in the showers while I was getting ready for bed ... wear your flip flops.

Plussat: The staff was incredibly friendly, they gave me a towel for free because I was staying for so many nights. Any time there was an issue it was solved immediately. Met a lot of great people staying at the hostel. The bar was low key and the beer/cider was relatively cheap. The pool table was great for something to do when everyone was winding down for bed. The whole place was cleaned every day, the cleaning ladies were very nice. It was cheap and close to a national railway station, an overground station, and a docklands light railway station. If you stay here, definitely get an oyster card! I really enjoyed my stay!

Miinukset: The pictures are a little deceiving, the place is a little disheveled. The chairs and tables in the bar are in various states of falling apart. The water had to be shut off for an hour in the middle of the day when there was a leak that went from the toilets upstairs, through a room, and down into the kitchen area. They felt really bad and gave those of us that were there a free beer. The situation was dealt with very quickly. One morning the toilets were out of order upstairs, so you had to go downstairs. When I came back a couple hours later the situation was dealt with. The neighborhood is a little bit of a trek from downtown London. You've got to take at least two trains to get to the real sight seeing stuff. It's also a little rough as a neighborhood, but I never had any issues staying there for 10 days.

Plussat: The bed itself was pretty comfortable, all linen, blanket was good and cosy.

Miinukset: When I came there, about 1am Saturday, hostel's door was locked and the reception was located in the pub/bar/cafe which is next door. I came in there and was a bit of surprised cause there were only black people. a lot of people, very very loud music. Really very loud. Well, i'm not a racist but if there are black people only it's a bit strange.. I mean, why there are not any white guy? May be it's unsafe here? I registered at reception (the guy there was nice), paid my rent, got the access code and went to hostel (next door). In Hostel itself I have seen only white people. It was very hard to fall asleep despite the bed was cozy. There room was full of people and the music from that pub/bar/cafe really beats upon my head.

Plussat: Great Value! Convenient location and fantastic staff!

Miinukset: Nothing - it was a great value all around!

Plussat: The hostel was very clean, the staff very helpful, kind and smiling, the bathrooms were clean, all the morning the staff were cleaning the hostel and that’s a very good place to meat some new travelers !

Miinukset: That a shared room hostel so you like or not, personally there is no problem.