Smart Russell Square — Hotel in London

There is very little that is ‘smart’ about the ‘Smart Hostel’ in Russel Square. Not knowing much about them I assumed there would be great gadgets to be played with here, or there would be snazzy amenities that justified the moniker. But no, sadly it’s just a normal slightly below average run down hostel with ratty drapes for privacy and not a single amenity to justify any definition of the word ‘smart’ in all its iterations. The dorm room itself was so tiny holding 3 sets of three level bunk beds squeezed in a tight space that the air in the bedroom was as stagnant and stuffy as can be. The showers were middling like everything else here: some were clean and some looked filthy. This is only the second place I have seen in London or anywhere in the world where one has to make their own beds with sheets given to them at reception, and when you have a top bunk making this bed is an incredible chore. But one of the worst things about this place is something that I did not take actually into consideration for the purposes of this review: they are one of the few hostels in the London area who openly discriminate based on age. They have a maximum allowed age of 45 which they claim is what is meant by the term ‘youth hostel’. But that’s preposterous. Never mind that no one would call anyone from 30-45 years of age ‘youths’ unless you are in a movie called ‘My Cousin Vinny.’ 😂 Never mind that this hostel never calls themselves a ‘youth hostel’ anywhere in person or online or any other advert, but they conveniently do so in a single place: the sign at the front desk where they then tell you that you are too old to stay in a dorm room , in other worlds they only use this term to tell older people to ‘bugger off.’. Never mind that ‘youth hostels’ under the auspices of various worldwide youth hostel organizations have for decades openly welcomed all comers of all ages especially in the EU—and some of my favourite memories of staying in these were due to the diversity of guests of all ages including families. And this means the the term youth hostel has never ever actually meant that only youth were allowed. It’s a red herring to justify their illegal age discrimination. I hadn’t spent a night in a hostel since the 1990s when I was younger and backpacking worldwide. Now in my upper 40s I left London in January to walk over 2000km along the Camino de Santiago from France to Spain to Portugal only returning in april—where I met many new friends of all ages. And so after not sleeping in a single hostel for years slept in one every day since January—first along the Camino in pilgrim’s hostels — and then back in London whilst looking for a permanent flat. But I accidentally booked this hostel not noticing that they had these discriminatory practices. When I walked in and tried to check-in I was casually humiliated and age-shamed in front of other guests by the receptionist, all for the mortal sin of being a couple of years on the wrong side of 45 an arbitrary predetermined age limit that makes little sense and one that is not based on any useful metric. In nearly 160 nights of staying in different hostels here and there this year this hostel is only the second who have had upper maximum age limits.—probably because no one wants to openly discriminate like they do—so it’s rare. Their policy is to let you sleep there one night and never again, which is nice I guess but I had a legal booking and I would have insisted either way. The receptionist tried to make it like the place was doing me a wonderful deed by letting me sleep in the bed I paid for, but I was having none of that nonsense. They have to honour all bookings because if they don’t they run afoul of the 2010 equality act. But I won’t ever book this juke joint again. Bottom line: give this place a pass. They fail on so many different levels and not just because of their discriminatory housing practices. Ultimately I do not care if a hostel does not want me as I certainly won’t give them money...

I liked my time at the Smart Russell Square Hostel. One of the first guests I met at the hostel was a young Czeck tourist, who with his limited English successfully summed up the property with the words, "good location, decent price".

As a Londoner myself, the central London location of this hostel was particularly impressive to me. Everything that's important, or renowned in London is relatively easy to reach from the hostel. I don't think that I've stayed at a better located hostel.

I am not a huge fan of triple standalone bunk beds. Thankfully, the Smart Russell Square Hostel uses sturdier pod-type bunks that guarantee privacy. Some of them were worn in, but they're a little less disruptive when fellow guests move around in them.

I can empathise with people who've said in their reviews that the more compartmentalised pods at the Smart Russell Square Hostel can feel too small or too tight for bigger and taller guests though.

The front desk staff at the Smart Russell Square Hostel were usually genuine and casually friendly. At the same time, I also saw that they managed to get stuff done.

There was a very reliable, chilled and "no fuss" energy surrounding the front desk during my time at the hostel. It was easy to feel comfortable and welcomed around it. I can personally recall a number of occasions where the staff at the hostel overperformed in their respective roles.

When I characristically locked myself out of the dorm locker I was assigned to, the hostel's security manager raced upstairs to my room ahead of me to assist me with my blunder.

When I followed that up by leaving my key card in my dorm room and locking myself out of it, a member of staff almost automatically furnished me with another one so that I could retrieve my original card.

During my stay at the Smart Russell Square Hostel, I noticed that a number of rooms at the hostel were enhanced by the smell of Air Wick's Vanilla Bean essential oils plug-in. It's a scent that I have personally used a lot, and so I was pleasantly suprised to encounter it at the hostel. It smells like home.

I thought the succulent scent was overused in some areas of the building. That said, in the first and second dorm rooms I slept in, occasionally toilet odours could be detected coming from the hostel's main bathroom area nearby. Maybe that's why the plug-ins were being overutilised in the way they were - because most hostels don't bother.

Overall, the showers on offer to guests at the Smart Russell Square Hostel could be improved. The first set of showers I was given access to could not maintain or achieve a hot water temperature. Admittedly, the set of showers located higher up in the building performed much better.

For me, the most worrying thing about the Smart Russell Square Hostel were some of guests that were randomly assigned to the same dorms rooms that I was staying in.

At night, one guest would softly whine like a pig and then cryptically cackle during his sleep. One guest staying in the bunk below mine for a night spent several minutes groaning intimately and touching himself - and then climaxing.

One night I came back to my dorm bed (with my clothes still draped on the side to indicate that the bed was taken) to find someone had slept in it for a period of time, and then simply left the bed unmade for me to find.

In order to assert himself, another guest would make a point of heavily stomping around our dorm room. If anyone resisted or ignored him, he would liberally spray his deodorant in the shared space - or do press ups in the middle of it.

At worst, it felt like I was paying to sleep in a madhouse. There was not much hostel staff could do about these people. Nevertheless, it's a reason I would stop and reconsider staying at the Smart Russell Square Hostel again - despite its...

I stayed at the Smart Russell Square Hostel (in the female dormitories with nine beds and en-suite bathroom) for 4 nights, and I absolutely do not recommend it. Check-in is at 2:00 PM, and check-out is at 10:00 AM, which is inconveniently early. You’re given sheets at check-in, and you’re responsible for making your own bed, but you’re also expected to bring the sheets downstairs upon check-out. I don’t understand why check-out is so early when you have to do half of the job yourself.

The sheets appeared clean but had stains on them. There is no elevator, and the hostel has several floors of rooms, with about 12 rooms per floor, making it crowded and far from intimate. I stayed in both room 209 and room 212. Room 209 had a crappy old bathroom (see photos), while room 212 had a newer bathroom, but it was so tiny you could barely turn around inside. The dorms had triple bunk beds, and the top bunk was nearly impossible to reach, let alone make the bed. The room was small, hot, poorly ventilated, and had minimal storage. While each bed had a locker, you are expected to bring our own padlocks. Although the mattress was comfortable, the beds were very small—I’m 1.62m, and my feet hit the wall when I lay down. To make things worse, the USB plug at my bed didn’t work, so I couldn’t charge some of my devices.

The bathroom itself on 209 was in terrible condition—small, rusty, and outdated, with no place to put your things. Worse still, the one hairdryer provided in the public bathroom was broken, so I asked the receptionist for another. I soon realized there were no power outlets in the bathroom. When I went back to ask where I could use the hairdryer (since people were still sleeping in the rooms), the receptionist laughed and said, “I don’t know.” Amazing professionalism!

The kitchen staff was equally unhelpful. The ladies working there didn’t speak much English and spent their time sitting around talking and eating. When I asked them something, they responded not very amicably.

To add to the chaos, for two out of the four nights, there were large groups of 15+ children (ages 10-15) on some kind of school trip, running around and screaming in the corridors and common areas. It was absolute hell for anyone who wanted to rest or get any work done.

On the plus side, the breakfast was the best part of my stay. It’s honestly one of the best I’ve ever had in a hostel. There was ham, cheese, boiled eggs, pancakes, yogurt, a coffee machine with cappuccinos and other coffees, apple and orange juice, vegan milks, and whole-grain and plain bread. The only thing missing was fruit. Other than that, the breakfast was fantastic.

As for everything else? You’ll pay extra for it: an adapter, padlock, late check-out, luggage storage, and yes, even breakfast. The management’s greed is obvious, and the conditions are deplorable. I won’t be...