Astor Museum

This last february my husband and I travelled through Europe. Of course in London we could only expect a lower quality room for the same price we payed elsewhere, so it was the only city (together with Paris) where we had to settle for a different thing (for example, a shared bathroom). Being 30 years old and not in a really "hostelling" attitude, then, we didn't quite enjoy our stay at Astor Museum Inn. First of all, we still don-t know why, we couldn't be accomodated in the actual inn so we had to sleep in another house they own. Although it was only two blocks away so you still had the great location near British Museum, you had to walk this two block distance in the mornings just to get breakfast.

We were in a third floor and the bathroom was in the underground level, so we had to travel down and up a very steep staircase just to get there. I wear contact lenses and without them are really short-sighted, so going to the bathroom at night was quite something.

The rooms were very small and the walls very thin. Next to ours was a room for 6 persons and whenever we went out of the room we had to put up with the strong smell coming out of it (the door apparently couldn't close completely), and the noise could be heard constantly though the wall.

On the good side, we had cups and an electric water boiler in the room so we could fix us tea and soup. And, of course, the location was unbeatable. So, overall, what can I say? Just that we are going back to London in two weeks and this time we'll try a B&B.

This hotel was nothing but problems. Despite the location, the rooms were filthy and the bathrooms needed a good scrub. The kitchen was tiny, you barely had room to move around and there were never enough tables & chairs.

To make things worse - the security was lacking. Quite a few of our personal items were stolen from our room. Even the police told off the manager for the pathetic locks they had installed, but she didn't seem to care.

The staff were more interested in partying than providing a service and weren't exactly helpful when we told them we were robbed.

I've stayed in my fair share of hostels throughout Europe, US and Australia and this is definitely one of the worst ones.

The hostel itself is pretty decent. The staff are friendly and knowledgable and there is also a tv room with a wide selection of movies available until very late. The hostel is about a 5 minute walk from a metro station. My only problem with it at all is that the walls are thin, so bring earplugs if you're a light sleeper, you can hear people walking or lightly talking and the doors slam behind you, and a lot of people either don't realize it or don't care so sometimes that became annoying. Besides that though, a good stay. No AC though, so be aware of that in the summer months.