LSE Bankside House

Stayed there for nine nights in July. At that time, the hotel was overrun by pre-teen and teen school trips making it busy and loud up until curfew (11pm and later, depending on whether or not it was a weeknight). We were unfortunate to be facing the same side as the front door and lobby where all the loitering took place.

The best thing about the place was the location -- if you were walking. It was close to many of the city's attractions such as the London Eye, St. Paul's Cathedral, Millenium Bridge, London Aquarium, etc., etc.. Most evenings we were able to enjoy strolls along the Thames taking in the sights and sounds. Unfortunately, the hotel was not really close to any subway station -- walking briskly it would take about 10 to 15 minutes to get there.

Our room was not so great. It appeared to be single dorm room that was converted to a double when they crammed in a second bed. It was also dirty (see the carpet in the attached picture). The cleaning staff came every day to take the garbage but they didn't clean the room. They changed the paper-thin, hand-size, towels every three days so if you want to dry yourself after showering I would recommend bringing a larger towel yourself or purchasing one at Harrods. The cleaning staff was generally approachable, so long as they were not busy talking on their cell phones.

The breakfast was decent as long as you got there early. The cafeteria staff were really cranky and expected you to know all the rules on the first day. Maybe it was having to deal with all the noisy kids.

The fire alarm went off several times, including several time on our last night when we had to be up early the next morning.

At 67 GBP a night, you couldn't expect much more given the hotel's location. Would most likely not stay there again.

Our family have just returned from a week at the Bankside House . The residence is good with lifts for us to bring luggages into the room. The reception teams were part time university students and they were very nice and helpful as well as the security personnel. We booked a Quad room with private facilities and actually there were 5 beds in the room.

But I think they should check their housekeeping staff whether they did their job well, the carpet was so dirty and it seems never vacuum cleaning the floor during the whole summer. They changed towels everyday but not cleaned the bedside table where I left breadcombs in the morning but still in there when I came back at night. We only expect cleanliness and not much.

Location is good with RVI the bus route stopped in front of Bankside before but not now due to construction. I think if the RV1 bus runs the old route again in the near future, easy access is one of the advantages of Bankside House. From my experience, the nearest and shortest subway to Bankside House should be London Bridge Subway station- and just follow the direction given by Bankside House information. I came from Gatwick airport and took thameslink train to London Bridge train station and the fare is pay two person and get two person free. Good though as we are family of four. We have difficulty in walking to Bankside House with luggage from London Bridge Train Station and I think we should study the street map before walking.

Remember to buy a Unlimited Travel card ( 7 days, 3 days or 1 day) online before leaving the country. I found it very great to buy the travelcard and get around to London's point of interest.

The breakfast that was included in the room rate. The breakfast is great and it can fill up the stomach until noon. 6 items can be chosen from dozen of choices :- egg (scramble, hardboiled, fried), yogourt, fruits ( orange, apple, peach and cream), ham and bacon, sausage, potato waffle, tomato, baked beams,brownish, deep-fried toast, croissant, cereal etc. and what I like most is the unlimited - toasts, milk, juices, coffee and tea. I think everybody love it, too.

The security that I found was good and every guest has to show registration card before the reception to let them in. The dryer in the laundry room was not working well because clothes were still wet after in the dryer for 45 minutes. I did a couple of washing there during my stay and when I talked to other guests and they complained their clothes needed ironing when coming out from dryer. I am using Maytag at home and it work well but not those Maytag in the laundry room of Bankside House.

After all, Bankside House is still a good choice for us the budget traveller who want to live in central London. The room rate is reasonable with excellent value and with this price we can have all the facilities that we were looking for.