Friends: I need help. We are planning a trip to London at the end of Feb. and we are looking for places to stay. I can't help but wonder about the $10 per night hostels including breakfast!! Sure beats $100 at the Hilton. But really......are these like nasty??? My sister said some are and some are not.....but how do I even know which ones are unsafe and nasty????? Maybe hostels aren't even an option......thoughts? opinions?
12 comments:
Everyone that stayed at hostels that I ran into while I was on mission talked about large open group rooms and trying to sleep with their bags and their shoes under their pillows so nobody took their stuff at an opportune moment..... Then there was a conversation about how nice of a place it was or not. Either way you still had to worry about the honesty and integrity of strangers.
I'd skip it, it's worth it to have a refuge and an exhale periodically while traveling.
Oh, and I am incredibly jealous....
I heard about this cool program where you can affordably stay in great historical buildings and castles... I'll try to find the link
You should check out Bed and Breakfast's instead...it's the perfect compromise and it's also part of the cultural experience! You can find some online with pics and descriptions to make sure they're nice and cheap. By the way, we are not staying in England, so sorry to miss you on your trip...I'll give you the details when we come back to Provo.
try findng bed and breakfasts....little B&Bs aren't quite $100 but they are more than $10. However, they tend to be more sanitary and safe!
Oh, I'm so jealous! I agree with everyone else, definitely go for the B&B, the hostels are not the best! Gen and I stayed in hostels all throughout Europe and we never had a "good" one. Most are open group rooms and are usually not very clean with sketchy people as your roommates. It's really hard to tell online what kind of hostel it's going to be so I say it's worth the money to stay somewhere else. Hostels seem to be more for the single traveling college students, not so much for a family. Have fun on your trip!!
Get the book Rick Steve's Europe, he should have an England Issue. He gives all the details on where to stay and what to do. He will even list specific hotels, and hostels that are the best and for the best price. He does a great show on PBS, and the people I've talked to that have used his books to plan their trips say it is totally awesome.
What?! London is my favorite place in the whole world! The jealousy I feel right now is intense. I did my semester abroad in London. We'll have to talk about this after I have this baby.
If you decide to go the hostel route, which isn't always a bad option, I have one word for you: hostelbookers.com. We booked all of our hostel stays online before we went and for the most part we got what we expected. Some hostels have private rooms and that website allows you to read customer reviews and see pics. We actually stayed in some really nice hostels, but we also stayed in some sketchy ones, mostly because we were on a tight budget. Every once in a while we would "treat" ourselves to a real hotel. If you are wanting a more romantic getaway, I would suggest anything but a hostel :)
I agree with Annette. Our Europe experience was quite pleasant, and we were in hostels the whole time. Rick Steve does have great info on options. Online sites are good too. The worst hostel we had was in Prague. It was 8 bunks. We had stinky roommates that went clubbing all night and came in early in the morning. The place was gross. But in Spain we had nice private 2-bed or queen bed hostels with AC for about $25.
Now, I have heard that England hostels are pretty bad/sketchy. So just over-research your options, and you'll be fine!
I went to England last summer and all we stayed in were Bed and Breakfast places. You have to be careful...we found some super scary ones, but we found some really cute/fun ones. I would say BandB's are the way to go! We didn't book any until the day we got there, there are so many. Also you can stay at the temple housing, it's a lot cheaper and cleaner. You have to call and make a reservation ahead of time though. The London temple is in Surey, just a quick train ride into London too! Good luck! Hope this helps!!
My experience with hostels in London were great! It definitely beat paying $200 a night for a gross hotel. Are you taking your baby? If you are then I wouldn't recommend the hostel, but if it's just you two then go for it! I'll try and find the name of the one I stayed at in London, it was like 20 pounds a night. It's a communal bathroom and the breakfast is just toast and juice (typical in Europe). How long are you going for? I'm so jealous!
Hey Meilnda! It's Tiffanie Bryant! I just found you blog via facebook! London!!! I Love London. I've never stayed at a hostel there, but I've stayed at a couple in Italy. There are different types. Some are nice and some aren't so nice. The ones we stayed at were like Hotels where you had your own room and a large bed. In some hostels you have to share a bathroom in some you don't. I used websites to find our hostels and found out once we got there that we could have paid less by walking around and seeing what's available...but you prob. don't want to walk around aimlessly with a baby. However, I liked the websites because you could read reviews of previous patrons. I think hostels.com is one of the sites I used. Anyway, there's my two cents. Hope it helps! We can talk more in person if you want! See you Thurs!
melinda!! i just stumbled upon your blog. i just backpacked across europe last summer and we booked ALL our hostels using hostelworld.com . it has a rating system, reviews, contact info, pics, etc. check it out. email me with any questions: itsjustjackie@gmail.com
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