Anyone know of a cheap hostel in central london?

Question

Next month i'm traveling Europe and need a cheap place to stay in central london. I've found a few online but would love some advice from someone with personal experience.

Cheers.

Answer 1

The best London hostel I've stayed in is the Palmers Lodge.  Its about a one minute walk to the Swiss Cottage tube station.  I was able to travel all over the city very easily from there.  The area also has TONS of bus lines running through it.  

The hostel is clean, modern and very well run.  Plenty of bathrooms, new washing machine/dryer combos, breakfast included with the room, free wifi and several PCs you can use for free.

There are several restaurants, a supermarket, shops and pubs within a couple of blocks.  It's also very close to the Camden Market.

Answer 2

London is not known for its great hostels. I have stayed in many and for the most part they are dirty and dodgy. I would go to http://www.hostelworld.com and find the one with the highest cleanliness rating in your price range. If you have not used this site before, it is one of the most reliable hostel locating sites on the web. Trust the user ratings and comments!

Specifically, I would stick to YHA (youth hostel association) hostels in London. Though you need to pay a small fee to become a YHA member to stay in some of these hostels, the fee is well worth it since YHA hostels are well maintained, clean and have helpful and friendly staff in London and throughout the UK. http://www.yha.org.uk/ There are 7 YHA hostels in London and you can find their locations and more info at the website! All the one's I've used have had great atmosphere's with young travelers and enthusiastic staff.

I think that Bed and Breakfasts are the best way to go in London when it comes to central and inexpensive lodging. Plus you get free breakfast. London B&B's aren't as charming and homey as the ones in the country, they're much less expensive than large hotels and offer private ensuite rooms that are quite clean.

I've stayed in the Vegas hotel http://www.vegashotel.co.uk/ near Victoria Station. This room was bizarre since you entered through the loo to get to the bed, however, at least it was ensuite, cheap, clean, included breakfast and had a television. That area around and behind Victoria has dozens of similar B&Bs, and the same is true of areas surrounding most of the city's main central train stations, King's cross area has loads, it's not quite as close to the city center but it is close to excellent transportation. Staying near Victoria is a good idea because of all the great transportation connections and it's a safe area. http://www.4hotels.co.uk is a good place to start B&B shopping. It also lets you browse by region of London. The bigger sites like www.hotels.com, www.expedia.com, etc. usually have some B&B listings for London as well.

I'd also recommend the Hotel St. Simeon B&B in Kensington http://www.stsimeon.com/. This B&B had spacious rooms, gorgeous lobby, great breakfasts and was in a really nice area of the city, right off Gloucester Road tube station.

Rates for these types of B&Bs usually start at around 40 pounds ($80) for a double room, so if you're traveling alone you will be able to find a single for less. I believe the Vegas hotel also has a hostel style room or 2 so you may want to look into that as it is a nice B&B in a safe area. Cheers!