Journeys King Cross

Location; close to kings cross / st pancras tube station. That is the only positive about this place. Its in a very seedy area, known for prostitution and drugs. Actually 2 girls got mugged right infront of us! NOT A SAFE AREA

Building / rooms: DIRTY / RUN DOWN. The toilets were clogged on the main floor. The "Unisex" washroom in the basement was nasty. 2 toilets had no seats, one that had a seat was clogged and the 4th one had no TP. Didnt even think about using the shower, very nasty. ROOM. disgusting, very dirty, floors, beds dirty. Cant be 100% but I found strange bumps behind my ears the next day... bugs? I dont know.

Staff: The staff were ok, I didnt feel very safe giving my credit card to them... but no fraudulent use so far (fingers crossed).

If you want a safe clean welcoming place to stay... THEN THIS IS PLACE IS NOT FOR YOU! DO NOT STAY HERE!!!

I normally stay in the YHA St Pancras when I am slumming it in London - but it was closed for refurbishment on the very weekend I was going to be there. And not having the 90 quid to book a decent hotel I had to book an alternative hostel - and Hostelworld came up with this place - located about a block away from King's Cross railway/tube station.

First impressions were not good - the facade was boarded up and the receptionist was standing at the door having a cigarette. He was friendly and pleasant when I was checking in but all I was issued with instead of a key was a slip of paper with the code for the electronic lock on the main door, with another code for getting into the dorm. I DO hope these are changed regularly...its a cheap way to do away with the need for a concierge, but this raises SERIOUS doubts about security.

Forget this hostel if you are disabled incidentally, as the upper floors and the basement kitchen are only accessible via a tiny (and steep) staircase. No elevator I'm afraid.

And the dorm? Well they are mixed sex for a start which makes life a little bit more interesting or akward depending on your point of view. But like the rest of the hostel it was all in severe disrepair. The skirtings were chipped, the wallpaper was peeling, the carpets were grotty and worn and the windows didn't close properly. Not good when there is a busyish road immediately below. On the security front again - there are NO lockers in the dorms that you can use - then again the dorms are so small there is barely enough room for the beds in the first place let alone storage lockers.

I never used the kitchen, but the bathrooms well - were disgusting. One of the three shower cubicles on the 2nd floor had a broken tap so was unusable, and the water flow on the other two was unpredictable, and there was mould and mildew growing from underneath the shower tray. The bathroom doors weren't blinded from the tiny corridor either - so if members of the opposite sex saw you....well.....work it out!

About my only saving grace of this hostel was the fact that I was totally drunk by the time I got back in and slept in the bunk with my clothes on (probably a good idea given the state of hygeine in the place), and therefore wasn't able to find any more faults.

You could argue that for a lousy 18 pounds ($30-$32) that this is all you expect in London for that money - but for an extra 8 quid you could stay in any of the YHA's properties (St Pancras, Holland Park, St Pauls or Oxford Street) all of which look like the Ritz in comparison to this dump!!!!!!

We stayed at the hostel for over a week. Had no heat for several days. This was January, so we were freezing. Barely anything that could be called a blanket. No hot water for 5 days. With no heat and no hot water, it was a nightmare. Otherwise, the location was fine. The set-up was as I expected from a hostel... small bunks, no privacy in shared rooms, etc. Cleaning lady walked in on us in a "private" room several times while we were not decent to be seen. We spent several days looking for a better place to stay for our money, but as poor college students with American dollars we were limited. Otherwise, though, the staff was helpful enough.