London Hotel Tips by Airpunk

My trip to London in March of 2006 was more a spontaneous reaction to five days off work. I did not have a lot of time to inform about accomidations, so I took the cheapest avaliable and off I went. We all know that the cheapest is not always the best, but I did expect a little more for the price I paid. I haven't stayed in other hostels in London, so I can't say if the London standart for them is high or low and I don't have any possibilities to compare. But compared with the hostels I know from other european countries, this was the worst experience.

I booked the hostel via the Ryanair webpage (hostelworld) and until then I had no negative experiences. But at the reception I had to pay a higher pirce than stated at the resevration. They told me that the price given by hostelworld did not include the V.A.T. and that I would not have this problem If I would have booked vie their own website. Discussions led to nothing and I ended up paying a higher price...

The location is very good, just a few steps away from Bayswater tube station and also very close to Kensington Gardens/Hyde Park. There are many hotels and hostels in that area so that you will find it a little "touristy".

Unique Qualities: There are different sized rooms from double rooms to 12 bed dorms. The rooms were OK with a sink and lockers.
Showers and toilets are located in different places in the building. The toilets were not always clean but this was more due to other guests than a problem of the hostel. Taking a shower required some creativity, at least if you did not want your clothes to become wet: There are no possibilities to stowe them in a dry place within the shower.
Forget breakfast - you had the choice between toast with butter or extremely sweetened strawberry jam or cereals with milk (the cereals were OK, so I stayed with them). No juices, no cheese and no second choice of jam. Breakfast is served between 7:30 and 9:00 am and the kitchen can become very full during that time.
They charge you for quite everything: Using the lockers, leaving your luggage at the reservation desk after check-in and similar stuff. Together with the VAT-thing I felt a little ripped off.
At least the receptionists were friendly and helpful, especially when it came to giving information about the city. You can buy tickets for different attractions such as the Tower of London.

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Theme: Hostel
Prices: US$20-40  » Currency Converter
Address: 48-50 Inverness Terrace, Bayswater, London, Englan
Website: http://www.hydeparkinn.com/#

I booked this hostel via Ryanair’s hostelworld website. I had some quite good experiences with the hostels I booked via them, with only one exception which was another Hostel in London (Hyde Park Inn). That’s how I found London House Hotel. Construction works took place during the time I was there, so the carpets on the staircase were dusty. However, as these works were halted during the weekend, I can’t say, if or how disturbing the noise was. What was a little disturbing was the fact that there were not enough keys for everybody in the dorm. So, I once arrived shortly after midnight and all the keys have been taken. The usual way in this case was that a staff member would open the room for you. However, that’s annoying, if you just want to go to the toilet or shower. On that night, I was told to knock the door as one of the other guys took the last key 15 minutes ago. The receptionist did not think about the fact that this would surely wake up everyone else in the room too…

Note that the decription is for a stay in a shared room. There are also private rooms, making this house a mixture of hotel and hostel.

Unique Qualities: If there hasn’t been the problem with the key, I would have given this hostel a fourth satisfaction point. The rooms were OK, with a sink and even a TV. The only missing thing was probably a locker, but these were available close to the reception desk. Breaksfast was also fine. Nothing outrageous, but toast with butter and different choices of jam (edible jam, not like the sweetened stuff they give you at Hyde Park Inn), coffee and orange juice – all you can eat and drink, but nothing to take away. The showers were not the best, but as they are in progress of reconstruction, this is something I can look over. At least they were working and hot water was available. Location is great, very close to Bayswater tube station. The area is somewhat touristy with many other hotels and hostels around as well as restaurants and souvenir shops.

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Theme: Hostel
Comparison: least expensive
Prices: US$20-40  » Currency Converter
Address: 81 Kensington Gardens Square, Bayswater, London, E
Directions: When leaving Bayswater tube station, turn left and walk until Whitelys shopping center. Turn left, Kensington Gardens Square is the second to the right.
Website: http://www.londonhousehotels.com/