Astor Kensington Hostel — Hotel in London

I visited London with some friends, so we were together in one room for six people. The advantage of having only friends in your room was, that the roommates don't steale my stuff. I don't know how that would be, if you have strangers with you in the same room. Therefor it would be probably helpful to put your stuff in the boxes under your bed. So it's probably not very safe sleeping there. In general everything has been cleaned, but the bathroom had no shower curtain, so when you took a shower, almost the whole floor was wet. The rooms are very small, so there are only the three bunk beds and a little bit of space in the middle of the room. Of course, every room has a different size, but I know from other people, who stayed in another room, that the other rooms aren't much bigger. I couldn't find vermins in the room. But I heard from others in a cupboard of their room were mouse droppings ore something similar. On top of that, there was mould in the kitchen. So it wasn't really higienic. The toast, you could eat to breakfast moulded, too. The only things you could eat without being afraid of a hurting stomach were the cereals. You could cook something yourself, but the kitchen was very small and not very well equipped. The whole place is a construction site, because the owner are renovating their hostel in the moment. Thats sometimes a little bit anoying, when it smells in the hall like paint or it's loud because of some stone cutter. The stairs were very narrow, so it was difficult to carry the suitcases up there. Of course, the hostel doesn't have an elevator. To sum up, the hostel is unhygienic and there are missing some things (like the shower curtain). I wouldn't book there another stay and rate you to search something better, also if the price for that is higher. It's definitely worth it, you shouldn't stay at...

As a first-time female solo traveler, I was very hesitant to stay in a hostel in a foreign country I'd never been to before.

However, I'm very pleased to say that I had a FANTASTIC stay at Astor Kensington! I stayed 6 nights in a 4 bed female dorm. Overall, I feel like I got great value for what I paid. The hostel was very clean & comfortable, and the staff were very friendly. I would definitely stay at Astor Kensington or another Astor property again!

PROS: Extremely friendly staff that made my stay feel extra comforting and inviting! Located in a good area;

Do NOT stay here. There are way better places for way cheaper.

1.) You can hear every little noise. It's old and creaky and the walls seem thinner than rice paper. If someone turns on a faucet at the other end of the hallway you can guarantee you'll be woken up by it because it'll rattle the whole floor with plumbing sounds. All of the rooms are next to either the stairs or the bathrooms as well so plan on interrupted, terrible sleep.

2.) If you do stay here get a room on a lower floor. Ours was on the sixth and since they have no lift it gets really old hiking up and down six flights every time you want to do anything.

3.) I didn't get a refund on days I booked that were within the 24 hour cancel period because it wasn't "the hostel's fault" that neither of us could sleep. So we had to stay another night before we could go somewhere else.

4.) The hostel was average in every aspect other than these issues so there's really no reason to pay $130 a night for a private double at this place. We booked a couple blocks away at Smart Hyde Park View Hostel and paid $88 for a huge ensuite private room with four beds and a tv in the room!! Why the hell was this place charging $50 more for absolutely nothing? I mean, I guess that's my fault for not searching better but hostels are generally supposed to be a good value so you don't think you're going to get ripped off.

I will say however that the staff was very kind and helpful and accommodating as possible. But save money and get good sleep by going somewhere...