The best hostels in London
An expert guide to the best hostels in London, including the best for clean, secure dorms with lockers, private rooms with en suites and televisions, buzzing bars, restaurants serving cheap food, 24-hour reception, and outdoor terraces, in areas including Soho, The City, Kensington, King's Cross, Paddington and East London.
SoHostel
Soho, London, England
7Telegraph expert rating
A funky, pristine hostel for over-18s on Dean Street in the heart of Soho. Fatboy bean bags and funky bar stools are scattered around the public areas, and there’s a guest-only bar open until 1am. Dorm rooms sleep from three to 18 people. There are also twin and double rooms on offer. Quirky additions to the usual hostel facilities include a ‘pamper room’, complete with mirrors framed with light bulbs, and a selection of hairdryers and hair straighteners. Comfortable mattresses, in-room sinks and nearby laundry and washing facilities are a bonus too. A very basic continental breakfast is available for £5. Read expert review From £18 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Astor Hyde Park
Kensington, London, England
7Telegraph expert rating
Set in a Grade II listed redbrick townhouse, the hostel’s stately exterior is perfectly suited to its SW7 postcode. The hostel’s interior is a peculiar mix between its original Victorian features, such as wood panelling, floral cornicing, and contemporary décor. The predominantly white dorm rooms are clean and bright, with pops of pillar-box red from the bed frames. They come with either 12, 10, six, five or four beds, and the option for en-suite; otherwise shared bathrooms are available on every floor. Breakfast is £1 (with the profits going to charity). It's a simple continental affair, with tea, coffee, squash, biscuits, fruit, cereals and toast with various spreads, including Marmite. Read expert review From £14 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Saint James Backpackers Hostel
Earls Court, London, England
7Telegraph expert rating
This family-run hostel on a pretty residential street five minutes’ walk from Earls Court station is housed in an original Victorian building that has been accommodating guests for more than 45 years. It has a stylish townhouse vibe, with alternative art hangs from the walls. Staff are extremely friendly and very welcoming, and bedrooms are a good size and offer sufficient room for personal space, thereby softening the blow of staying in a dorm. Each guest is assigned their own locker, and there is a female-only dorm. Breakfast is of good quality, and includes cereals, toast and boiled eggs. Read expert review From £19 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Safestay London Elephant & Castle
Elephant & Castle, London, England
7Telegraph expert rating
This design-conscious poshtel housed is housed in a Georgian building that used to be the Labour Party headquarters. Its zone one location in Elephant & Castle has excellent transport links to the tourist spots. Safestay was an early pioneer of the poshtel concept, so expect striped carpets reminiscent of a Paul Smith print, splashes of pop art, and an installation of antique mirrors. There are good-sized dorm rooms for four, six and eight people with lockable cages (bring your own padlock) and a separate shower room and loo. The 11 private rooms are expensive but sleep up to three and have en suite bathroom, tea and coffee facilities, and television. A basic breakfast is included. The basement bar serves Budweiser and Pot Noodle. Read expert review From £10 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Wombat's City Hostel London
The City, London, England
8Telegraph expert rating
The large Wombat's lightbulb sign, visible from the street, sets the tone for the style of the hostel: retro-inspired and snazzy. The reception area is large and contains some cool vintage finds; amongst which is a self-proclaimed #hipstertrap: a fish-eye mirror just yearning for selfies. Exposed-brick arches, warm lighting and quaint décor gives the womBar a chilled atmosphere. The hostel’s distance from central means that the dorm rooms are sizable: they come with four, six or eight beds, all en-suite, with female-only dorms available. Private rooms are exceptionally spacious, crisp and white with a hot-pink feature wall and large king-sized bed. Breakfast is a continental buffet with the usual offerings plus a great toastie machine. Read expert review From £19 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Safestay Holland Park
Kensington, London, England
7Telegraph expert rating
Safestay’s 368-bed hostel is a deft refurbishment of a part-Jacobean, part-Fifties (now there’s a new combination) former YHA building in Holland Park. Dorms have bunks, double or triple-stacked beds. Lockers require padlocks. Many, though not all, dorms have en-suite bathrooms, and the 33-roomer in the East Wing has huge, original windows with sylvan views. Private rooms have televisions, tea, coffee, bottled water and hairdryers. Room 411 (a family room for four) and Dorm 414 (an en suite dorm for five) have brilliant private rooftop terraces. The bar, owing to park regulations, does not serve alcohol, offering hot drinks and juices instead. There’s a continental buffet breakfast (£4). Read expert review From £14 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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The Dictionary Hostel
Hackney, London, England
7Telegraph expert rating
A great location for exploring East London, although, as the hostel warns on its website, this is not the most peaceful part of town, so don't come here for a quiet weekend. The building used to be home to a wood veneer factory, a fact reflected in the painted floorboards. It's a chilled-out space, where guests strum guitars in the inner courtyard and mooch around the kitchen. The Translate bar has a student vibe, with its live rock music and mismatched furniture. Accommodation ranges from 16-bed dormitories to private rooms with television, complimentary tea, coffee and mineral water, and towels. Breakfast offers fresh Brick Lane bagels. Read expert review From £15 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Park Villa
East London, London, England
8Telegraph expert rating
This is an upmarket hostel; interiors are a warren of rooms, with bathrooms and facilities refurbished to a modern and minimalistic standard. Bespoke murals by a local artist depicting the area’s history illustrate the communal areas and the use of chipboard on the bunks gives the rooms a hippy industrial box-park feel. There's lots of helpful information on what to do in the local area including hand-crafted maps and itineraries, high-speed Wi-Fi, tea and coffee-making facilities, towels, toiletries, padlocks, earplugs, parking and even bicycles to use – all free of charge. A breakfast of cereal, croissants, eggs for cooking, bread and tinned fruit is laid out buffet style. Read expert review From £20 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Palmers Lodge Hillspring
Willesden Green, London, England
7Telegraph expert rating
Palmers Lodge Hillspring, in the north London borough of Brent, is a 10-minute walk from Willesden Green underground station. There's no getting away from the fact that the hostel's exterior is quite ugly, but there is an attractive courtyard bar, and a pool table and television in the lounge. The hostel's accommodation ranges from bunks in 22-bed mixed dorms to private en-suite doubles. All units come with linen and lockers. Private rooms also have tea and coffee facilities and bath products. There’s a rudimentary continental breakfast, and the restaurant does cheap food (chicken salad for £4.50) and beers. Read expert review From £10 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Clink78
King's Cross, London, England
7Telegraph expert rating
It is found in what was a centuries-old King’s Cross court house, and many original features remain. The old magistrates’ courtrooms now house communal lounge areas, guests sit at pews in the TV room and some bedrooms occupy former cells. Vividly painted dorms contain four to 16 beds; a number are reserved just for female guests. Whether in a room or dorm, noise will likely be an issue, so bring ear plugs for maximum peace and quiet. Clink78’s basic breakfast – toast, cereal, tea (included in the room rate) – could be considered a culinary manifestation of the prison theme that is so evident elsewhere, but it’s plentiful and does the job. Special themed nights, from Monday quizzes to karaoke sessions, take place in the bar throughout the week. Read expert review From £13 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Generator Hostel London
King's Cross, London, England
8Telegraph expert rating
This King’s Cross hostel is located in a quiet mews off Tavistock Place. It’s bold, contemporary and fun, from the check-in area that could easily pass for the entrance to a superclub, to the bar with the front-end of a Routemaster bus emerging from the wall. Dorms are cramped and have a distinct lack of power sockets, but private rooms are roomy and modern, with jumbo shower heads. Breakfast is a mountain of bread rolls, slabs of processed ham and cheese, and big bowls of fruit and yoghurt. The bar serves alcohol and cheap food like burgers and chicken wings that is as tasty as anything you’ll find in an average pub. Read expert review From £14 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
