MEININGER City Hostel & Hotel London

This was our first stay in Baden Powell House. IWe read the other reviews after booking and subsequently felt a bit anxious about what we might find. However, there was no need to worry.

The staff were young, but polite and friendly. They were not particularly forthcoming with information - we had to ask about towels, locker room, breakfast etc, but when we did ask they were helpful.

Our room was booked for 5 and had 3 bunk beds. The room was basic but clean. Yes, we had to make some of the beds, but at least we could see that the duvets and matresses were clean! We were very pleased to be able to open the windows so we had fresh air rather than air-con. Yes there was a lot of traffic noise, but if you want to stay right by the natural history museum and open the window, then it's only to be expected.

The bathroom is small - it's one of those all in one shower/toilet/basin units that you might find in a caravan or a boat. This means a bit of planning about what to bring in and where to hang your clothes when you have a shower, but there was plenty of hot water, it was all very clean and this type of unit means that you don't have to share communal facilities.

The breakfast was excellent (it's cheaper if you book it when you check in). Not haute cuisine, or even a full English, as stated on the website, but a good selection of cereals, toast + spreads, rolls + ham and cheese, fruit + yoghurt and a selection of tea, coffee and juices. Nothing sophisticated, but great for kids. Our children (9 and 12) were given instructions to make sure they filled up, at breakfast, which they did and I'm sure that eating well at the beginning of the day saved us a lot of money later on.

We were able to leave our luggage at the hostel after we checked out, which was a great help. We weren't troubled by noise from other rooms at all.

As far as location goes, I don't think you could get much better for children. The hostel is just across the road from the natural history musem and 10 mins walk from Hyde Park and similar to South Kensington Tube station.

We think that some of the negative comments about this place are really churlish. For hostel accommodation that's convenient, clean and cheap in the middle of a city, you shouldn't expect all the trimmings of a hotel. The only thing I missed was somewhere to hang clothes - there are lockers, but no hooks or hangers.

We felt safe, all of the time.

We'd thoroughly recommend Baden Powell House to anyone with a family or a group of friends wishing to spend a few nights in London

we took a large group of about 35, this was our second visit and probably our last. there is a large communication issue as most of the staff seem to understand very little english and this made booking very difficult. booked dinner for one of the nights as we were going to a shoe, they had us booked for the wrong time, even though it was comfirmed 2 days before, this then ment we were reunning late. also dinner was a disapointment as there was only one choice, fish and chips, and some of the food the group received was still raw.