Piccadilly Backpackers

This hostel is in a fantastic location, if you want to see/hear/feel/smell the goings-on of Piccadilly Circus. However, I felt as though this was not a hostel, but a prison from soviet Russia. The room numbers are spray-painted sloppily onto the doors, the paint is chipped and peeling away in many places, the bedding, mattresses and blankets seemed like they had been around since the first World War, there was trash everywhere, and nearly everything had a weird smell. The elevator is a death trap--it is tiny, it stopped on our floor only 12% of the time I pushed the button, and does not seem very structurally sound, so I opted for the stairs. One room we stayed in had hundreds of little tomatoes painted on the walls, the other was painted a nice urine-yellow. The bathrooms had hot water, but no hooks and no great opportunities for privacy. There were notes on the doors and in the hallways saying that reception and the "travel shop" were open 24 hours, and that both had laundry powder. FALSE. not only did the travel shop close before 6:30 PM, but the people at reception didn't have any laundry powder, nor did they give any advice as to where to find some (and remember this is Piccadilly Circus; lots of shops and restaurants, not supermarkets and department stores). As a matter of fact, the people at reception were pretty awful all-around in terms of helpfulness, attention to guests, and respect. Oh, and beware of construction going on at all hours of the day across the street. My girlfriend and I paid 55 pounds a night for our own room (for only two nights, thank god!), and I can honestly say that I would rather spend my money on a cardboard box, some duct tape, and a ticket for sleeping in the park rather than stay here again. I cannot stress this enough: do NOT stay here if you can help it!!!! Try a YHA hostel instead, especially London Central.

I stayed in this hostel twice, mainly the location is very convenient and the bed is very cheap. This hostel is old and dirty check in is slow, lift wasn't working so we have to use the stairs with big backpacks. If you are not tight in budget should go somewhere else.

Ok... I wouldn't go so far as saying that there were bed bugs, but there was an unclean feeling to the place.

Firstly, the service at the reception is VERY slow - we queued for 20min to check-in - most of the staff are foreign and the particular gentlemen that served us had difficulty understanding us.

They did not inform us of where to leave luggage, find our bed sheets etc...

The bedrooms ARE NOT at all similar to the pictures shown on their website - we stayed in the pods and to be honest they were a bit scatty - lots of graffiti and despite the rooms being painted "funky" they were by now worn down and floors dirty, locker doors falling off etc... just old wear and tear. & LOTS of noise and building works going on outside. not at all worth £21!

Location fabulous however and perfect!!