Smart Hyde Park Inn — Hotel in London

Overall, I thought the Smart Hyde Park Inn Hostel was disappointing, and a little disgusting for a number of reasons.

On a positive note, the hostel is situated in an interesting and very accessible area in west London. The high street nearby on Queensway is particularly unique.

Plus, the hostel itself is home to many functional showers that easily reach a lovely warm temperture - and stay at that temperature comfortably. They were an absolute pleasure to use.

That said, upon arriving at the site I felt like the staff were energetically a little cagey and apprehensive. Throughout my time at the Smart Hyde Park Inn Hostel I didn't detect one natural smile from a any members of staff.

The hostel has many bathrooms. However, a lot of them are too compact. They're more like cupboards with toilets in them. Whenever I went to splash water on my face, I very easily made a mess on the floor because the sinks in these bathrooms were so small.

The building the hostel is in suffers from a notable amount of wear and tear. I noticed several insects in another bathroom on the ground floor. Some of the hostel's bathrooms had fans that were not functioning properly and so they became smelly and muggy very quickly. I saw a fair amount of mould in them. One or two of the sinks at the property smelled of sewage.

The housekeeping staff at the hostel usually had a lot of work to do. Admittedly, the bathrooms at the property were sometimes left in a deplorable condition by guests. Unsurprisingly, the housekeeping at the Smart Hyde Park Inn Hostel were - for the most part - surly and domineering. As they'd make their way around the hostel's rooms, they'd usually talk loudly amongst themselves, and be dismissive of any guests who were still resting as they hoovered and rummaged through various items. Their energy was not inviting in any way. I noticed this trend during my visits to the superior Smart Russell Square Hostel, on the other side of Central London.

There were works taking place directly above the larger dorm room that I was staying in during my time at the hostel. I was not warned about these works. The noise generated by them was unacceptable for a paying customer like myself to experience throughout the daytime. I could hear workmen bantering unreservedly as they did their jobs. I could hear the loud banging of something being hammered almost right above my head. I emailed the hostel's management about this issue and received no response. Professionally speaking it was an embarrassing mistep.

Additionally, below my particular dorm room I'd occasionally smell something that resembled Chinese takeaway food. It was as if someone was cooking directly under my dorm. From time to time, the smell completely engulfed the large dormitory space I stayed in, which only had one modest window. The smell wasn't horrible, but it was random and distracting. It certainly didn't aid getting much rest.

Most of the other guests in my dorm during my stay at the Smart Hyde Park Inn Hostel were younger than me. Some of them decided to deal with any issues they were having at the hostel by regressing to a high school / college / hive-type state of mind. It was laughable.

Another guest had apparently caught a debilitating respiratory illness on site. This guest spent several nights in her bed loudly coughing, blowing her nose and bringing up (as well as spitting out) large amounts of thick mucus. She spent the last night of her stay in one of the hostel's overly small toilets coughing up.

I don't believe she received much special attention from hostel staff or from any members of housekeeping, who I know witnessed her plight. Moreover, no staff made any effort to protect anyone else in the dorm from her. The hostel actually let a male Australian guest stay in her bunk later on the same day that she departed the premises. Clearly the place's post-COVID hygiene standards have already begun to slip.

Although it may happen in the future, it's unlikely that I would voluntarily at the Smart Hyde Park Inn...

When we first arrived in the Hyde Park Inn it made an impression of a nice, friendly place to stay. Too Bad, it was only satysfying from the outside. I kept in mind that due to the price it won't be anything outstanding, but I hoped to receive a good, acceptable value for a low price. I'm going to discuss each element seperately, so the reviev is as helpful and clear as Possible . We stayed in room number 80.

The rooms: We were located in a room for 16 people . That doesn't sound comfortable and there's no way that a room for so many people can be regarded as comforable. There's is very little space, so if you have more than just a travel size suitcase, it may be a trouble to store it. The bunk beds were rather comfortable, but the sheets were Disgusting - they had a terrible smell, so I reccomend taking your own sheets there.

The showers and the restrooms: we had 3 shower rooms next to our room, but they were available for everyone in the hostel, so seeing old men only covering their crotch with a small tower was a rather daily view... 2 of the showers sometimes didn't work Well, while the third one didn't work at at all. We also had 2 small restrooms next to our room, they were also public, but I can't complain about them.

The kitchen The small, smelly kitchen scared me out a lot. I came there once and never came back. There is all equipment there, but I would be too disgusted to touch it.

The breakast: The dining room is totally too small. Most of our stay, I had to eat on the floor, which is not acceptable. There are two rooms and one is slightly bigger. In each room you've got a toaster and hot water. You can have cereal or a toast (white/dark bread to choose from) . There are also marmolade, Nutella and butter. For the drinks, you may have a tea, some juice or a coffee. The food tastes rather good, but you're welcome to bring your own spreads, cereals or pretty much anything you wish. I reccomend coming at 7:30 sharp, so you can have a place to sit down.

The staff: I didn't personally have a lot to do with the staff, beside one lady on the reception desk. Once she was rude and sarcastic while answering my question. The other unpleasant situation happened When I wanted to leave a small parcel in the storage room so one man could Pick it up and Bring it to my country. The same lady was totally unhelpful and acted as If it was something unusual. Later, When that man called me, as there had been some troubles with picking the parcel, the same lady had an 8 minute chat with me . She couldn't find it , though I made it clear that it's yellow and that it's signed with my name. The parcel was finally picked up, but the unpleasant converstation was very upseting and it caused a delay during my Trip.

Summing up, I found the whole experience rather unpleasant. It's literally paying only for having a bed in...

Very well located - near metro/bus stop, but honestly, it’s possible to reach a lot of landmarks and touristic spots on foot. Markets and cheap gift shops nearby with good variety of products. Near a lot of famous fast-foods as well.

A good taxi from Paddington Station to the hostel is no more than £8 or 1 metro stop of distance. Coming from London Victoria (probably from Gatwick airport) a Uber is around £13, you can also take the yellow metro line and stop at bayswater. Very small walk from there, practically nothing, fast-food on the way. Next metro stop is Paddington in case you want to met the famous station.

Pros: The hostel is well taken care off, clean, has a warm reception and a small store with a nice variety of emergency items. Climatization available on the rooms. Curtains on the bed for privacy are also present. GREAT shower on the room with private bathroom. Bed is very comfy and you feel safe with the bunk bed structure. The cleaning staff do bathrooms and vacuum clean daily for what I noticed. Kitchen is nicely supplied. Food storage in boxes available and there’s potable water.

Cons: The wifi quality could be better. Unfortunately it’s a maze of stares, no lift, so be aware of that in case of carrying extra size luggage or if you face disabilities in need of better accessibility. The room lockers are also very small and they don’t allow extra bags on the room, it’s charged £1 to storage them away in safer conditions (2023). Easy to scape from this rule, tho. They run a blind way if you keep your extra bags on your own bed. Would not recommend the bathrooms/showers at the corridors because there’s only a few for too much people and all spread out through the house. It’s not a cleaning problem because they are kept impeccable but more of a queue problem. Get a room with shared but private bathroom kept only to the roomies, it’s totally worth it. The middle bed on the three floors bank bed is a bit tidy, mind your head. Landry with drying and soap is £8 (2023) which I think it was way more expensive than it should be. The place is assigned as a youth hostel but people over 45 can book a single room and they do, there’s a lot of older men at the corridors. To some, might be concerning. The most complaints I have are about the kitchen: Just 2 refrigerators for the whole hostel, one of them used majorly by staff, seemed like a joke. You can’t cook anything more than tea/coffee in the early morning because they are serving their payed breakfast. Not many vegan options on breakfast and vending machines.

Overall, Would recommend the stay. As a single traveling woman I felt safe on a mix gender room for 9 guests. No problems found. Some of the staff members are neurodivergent, which I thought it was an amazing way to make it obvious this was a welcoming...