St Christophers Village - Southbank

Io e mia sorella abbiamo fatto un giro per l’Europa e, quando siamo arrivate a Londra, siamo andate a stare al St. Christopher's Inn. Il posto non e male, cosi come le camere, ma i materassi non erano certo il massimo, si sentivano tutte le molle. Inoltre, quando abbiamo fatto il check-in, ci hanno avvertite che avremmo dovuto cambiare camera nel corso del nostro soggiorno. Non era un grosso problema, ma piuttosto seccante, perche dovevamo lasciare la camera entro le 10.00, quindi impacchettare tutte le nostre cose prima di quell’orario, portare giu le valige e lasciarle nella sala bagagli. Tra l’altro, i lucchetti che avevamo portato erano troppo grandi per i loro armadietti, ma alla reception si sono rifiutati di darcene altri, nonostante li vendessero e nonostante fossero stati loro a costringerci a fare quell’operazione. Quello stesso giorno, un po’ piu tardi, abbiamo dovuto riprendere tutte le nostre cose e riportarle su. Non dico che sia stato un problema insormontabile, ma di certo il personale dell’hotel non si e fatto in quattro per darci una mano. Il bar era un posto piacevole dove passare qualche ora…essenzialmente l'atmosfera ricordava quella di una festa universitaria. La mattina veniva servita la colazione (inclusa nel prezzo), che consisteva in un toast e cereali freddi. Niente di entusiasmante. Nel complesso, la posizione e buona (proprio a due passi dal London Bridge) e il posto non e male, ma aspettatevi di incorrere in qualche piccolo problema.

The staff was helpful and friendly. There's a hot guy that works there. I like the fact that they give you a card rather than a key for your room because it fits nicely in a wallet. The area it's in is nice during the day, but I didn't really like it at night. It's near a station, so that was convenient. The bathrooms weren't very clean, but they weren't outrageously disgusting either. It's a party hostel, so it's rather loud. Don't stay here if you'd like a quiet place to stay at.

Stayed here for a couple of nights at the end of our holiday. There was 5 of us travelling together so booked a 6 bed dorm. We knew that we would have to put up with another person in our room that night but didn't worry. However, when two people walked in we knew something was wrong. Sadly the strict hostel security had not stopped a girl from bringing a guy back to the room for some 'adult-themes' in the room. Quite a terrible experience to be honest. Thankfully he/it didn't last too long. This wasn't totally the hostels fault so can't really place blame on them.

Location: Very close to most of London's key sites, and in London you are never really that far from a tube station.

There is a nice bar attached to the hostel, and yeah its full of backpackers who have a different grasp on hygiene to the rest of the world, but the drinks were pretty cheap all night and we got well and trully drunk, so we had a great night. Made all the better by the fact that its a pretty short stumble from the bar to your rooms!

Staff: The quality of the staff tended to depend on which shift you got, sometimes they were really really good other times terrible. We asked if they could arrange a taxi for 3 of us plus luggage and they were able to arrange this without too much trouble.

Showers were so terrible, the water didn't even resemble warmth, and usually this wouldn't worry me, but considering London weather in January isn't terribly warm I was looking forward to a nice shower.

Overall: I probably wont stay here again, if I was younger I might give it another go, but I am over spending money on accommodation and getting nothing in return. I would expect at least a warm shower, surely that isn't too much to ask???