YHA Thameside & Conference Centre

Right. Nyrre, here’s the story. We went on a school trip to Paris and London. We thought the Paris hotel was bad, until we got to YHA London Thameside. We were told that there may be some mentally ill people roaming the corridors, and not to leave our rooms. The lift was broken and we had to haul our bags up 2 flights of stairs. Our room had beds with compartments, containing 1. a pair of USED pants, 2. cheesy nail clippers, 3. a key with a note containing voodoo on it, in a sealable bag. There were psycho iron marks on the floor, and two plugs between 6 girls. The shower was DISGUSTING and none of us would even use the toilet, except in case of an emergency. We don’t even want to think what was in the bed, we all slept on top of the sheets, even thought it was chilly, in the middle of the winter. The traffic noise was horrendous, and we had to trek to get into central London, even then we didn’t go shopping!! Even though that’s nothing to do with the hostel. Our bus broke down on Regent Street, and we were stuck directly outside McDonalds, the only place we were allowed to go. So at the end of the day, we all came home fat with crabs after staying in the hostel. The food was disguating and internet prices were appauling. THANIKS FOR A GREAT STAY (y) fifty pounds down the drain.

The Rotherhithe (as it was called) was my first hostelling experience and I couldn't have asked for a better one! Expecting to walk into a long room with 10 beds lined up in rows, I found the rooms to be cozy and it didn't feel like there were 9 other beds there. There were two bathrooms in the room and very large lockers (bring your own lock!) to store stuff. The size was definitely appreciated as I didn't feel as if I was living out of a suitcase. The rooms were clean and the views of London were actually pretty cool. The first time I stayed here, in November, it happened to be Bonfire night and we could see multiple fireworks shows happening across the city right from one of our windows! In the morning, we were surprised to see so much food offered with the price of the room! I had a full English fry-up breakfast complete with eggs, bacon, baked beans, and fried bread. There's a small bar on the main floor as well as internet access. We ended up using the kitchen in the basement and saved loads of money on food as we made our own dinners.

I definitely recommend this hostel. It's close to a tube station, there's a grocery store one stop away at Canada Water (you could even walk there) and the staff were very friendly.