Palmers Lodge

I booked this hostel based on the tripadvisor reviews I'd read. The chap I spoke to on the phone to reserve was very pleasant, and explained why I had trouble using their online reservation.

My children and I arrived at Palmer's Lodge by taxi, but it can be easily reached by tube. We did have to wait quite a while to check-in, but we weren't upset by this. We were given a four-bed room on the top floor, which is reserved for women and where we felt safe.

The room itself was very nice. It was approx. 30 square meters, and the single beds were set under the eaves. There were beams in the room, which were wrapped to prevent bumped heads. The only problem we had with the equipment was that the light above my son's bed never worked. Heat was supplied by a space heater, but we were never cold. The bedding was OK for a hostel.

There were two toilets on our floor, and the showers were directly below our rooms. In fact, we had to go through the shower room to reach the stairs to our floor. This wasn't really a problem, but any women staying on this floor might see half-dressed men while coming or going, so be forewarned.

We did have dinner at the restaurant one night, and the portions were generous. Drinks were bought at the bar/pub next to the dining room, and were cheap. The bartender even gave my kids free colas.

I can't recommend it for families with school-aged children, however not due to the staff. No one ever made us feel unwelcome, but they clearly are set up more for students and those newly arrived in London. Parents concerned about their children's safety during a London stay can be assured that the Palmer House is a very good choice.

I was glad that this was my first hostel, very clean, comfortable, and charming, free internet, bar, restaurant, great staff. Unfortunately this stay made me realize, "I can't do this"! I'm just not a hostel kind of girl. The bathrooms are very cramped. There is no AC, which is common over there, but was VERY hard to sleep since it was so humid and sticky sleeping in a room with 12 other people.

My brother and I stayed at Palmer's Lodge for 3 nights in October of 2008.

The building was a beautiful old manor house with loads of character. The front desk girls were wonderful -- full of great advice and directions, the free internet was fantastic for two laptop free travelers, and the breakfast was very appreciated.

Our room was "twin with ensuite". Basically we had a tiny room with bunkbeds (I felt like I was at summer camp) and a tiny bathroom with a shower. Our room was on ground level, and for some reason the staff who took care of our room always opened the window during the day when we weren't there. I didn't like this too much, since all of our luggage was in the room, and anyone could have easily gained access to our room through the large open window. The room was not sound proff at all. We had a room full of girls next door, and could easily hear their entire conversations. We realized after the first night, that there was a gap in the wall between the wall and the window about a 2 inches wide. I think they literally put up a wall to cut a room in half, and didn't measure the new wall properly. We stuffed towels in the gap to try to gain some quiet.... not so successfully. The front desk gave me ear plugs - what a great crew!

The hostel is in a wonderful area. We spent many hours walking around, enjoying the sights and trying out the local pubs. We felt very safe in the area....never saw anything out of the ordinary. It seemed like a quaint little residential area.

I would definitely recommend this location to anyone on a budget, looking for a hostel close to a tube station...walking distance to small markets and pubs.