Piccadilly Backpackers Hostel

Overrated

I've read a lot of good things about this hostel but unfortunately,they aren't all true.The rooms are dirty and the shared bathrooms are disgusting.It's a hostel so expect it to be loud in the evening esp. weekends.We also experienced a fire alarm in the early hours,we had to evacuate the building and stayed outside in the cold for 15-20 minutes.And it turned out that some drunk pressed the fire alarm.I wouldn't stay here again.

Picadilly Hotel/Backpackers

• Opinion of Price: N/A

Piccadilly Backpackers Hostel

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Was this Piccadilly Backpackers Hostel review helpful?

definitely bitter sweet.

I think that the location of this hostel is spectacular! Definitely easy to find when getting off the underground from the airport or wherever.. and close to some great shopping. I thought that the front desk people were incredibly friendly, and certainly happy to help as best they could.. but there were certainly some downfalls. We were on the seventh floor, and the "lift" was broken.. yay. and then our sink was plugged the whole time.. so we couldnt even use it, and it started to smell. the beds were soooo uncomfortable, the room was hot, and the window wouldnt open! there was no hot water.. they said there wouldnt be any between 8 and 10, so we tried various times of the day and night, and there was never any luck. the showers were pretty nasty as well.. mostly due to people not cleaning up after themselves. the breakfast was okay, but the juice was nasty! on our last day there, the lift was suddenly fixed.. so we tried it, and i swear we almost died. definitely one of the scariest experiences of my life. the second we got to our floor, we ran off and never tried it again. the exercise on the stairs was well worth avoiding that death trap. the internet cafe was also down, so we had to head a few blocks away to get online. not so bad, but it was inconvenient. all in all, i thought the people were nice, but the place kind of sucked. i think i'd do it again if i wanted some crazy adventure.. and i was less bitter at the time because i had just been in Africa.. but for a nice holiday, i wouldnt pick piccadilly backpackers.

Good Budget Place to Stay in London

If you want a cheap, safe and relatively clean place to stay, try the Picadilly Backpackers hostel (http://www.piccadillyhotel.net/). I've stayed there before and will stay there again when I'm back in London this summer.

They have a 24 hour front desk security and you can't beat the prices or location (literally 2 minutes from Picadilly Circus). It's within walking distance of Buckingham, Big Ben, etc.

Price wise, it's 39 pounds (weekday) or 47 pounds (weekend) for a private single room. Alternatively, in the dorms it is only 15 to 20 pounds per night depending on how many other people are in your room.

Basic Room. Good Location

I was able to secure myself a single room with a sink. Bathroom and showers out the hall. For the sum of 75 pounds for 2 nights I thought it was basic but acceptable.

Horrible! Horrible! Horrible!

What an absolutely horrible place. Do not under any circumstances stay here!

London was our last stop after backpacking around Europe, and it was supposed to be our grand stay. We splurged on a private room at this hostel, thinking it would be better. The "security" at the door downstairs would not let us up to just hold our bags during the day before checking in later that night (we got there really early a.m.) so we had to carry our luggage around London for a day of sight seeing. When we finally arrived to check in, there was a huge line that took absolutely forever to check in. On the walls were pictures of the shared rooms beautifully decorated, etc., so we were really excited to see what ours would be like.

Horrible. That's what our room was. It was a bed and a sink in a cramped small room. No pretty paint colors on the walls and nice new furniture like the photos had shown us. The room was disgusting and hot. We had to open the window to get air, which also let in the noise and bugs from outside. The next morning's "breakfast" was toast. I can't believe we "splurged" for the bigger room to end up with that. Everyone that worked there was rude and unhelpful. Their only saving grace is the location, and judging by it being London and they have the red bus that takes you around to everywhere, it's just not worth it. The area is expensive so you travel elsewhere anyway for food.

Not worth it. Don't do it. Horrible. Gross. Do not stay here under any circumstances or you will regret it.

Worlds worst. Period.

I will not even describe my embarasing eperience with staying at this place; the cleanliness(not) and politeness(neither) of its stuff and management. It is simply so bad that if I start writing negative comments the list will be so long that I will probably earn them sympathy points and I'll lose credibility and will no be believed... yes, so bad and so many of them.

Just two words my friends: STAY AWAY. The worst place I ever stayed in and the worst treatment and service I received.

There are so many more choices in London, including as mentioned in this site, that are classes up from this disaster of a place to stay. And money saved can't buy the bad aftertaste having stayed there, I listened to others that traded quality for its location and I much regret it now. I would have been better off staying the end of the tube line in a decent place, although I am pretty sure there are bargains around including in other central locations. You have been warned...

Unique Quality: Ideal place for masochists that want to catch a disease, have cold showers, being awaken at random intervals at night for wrong reasons or without any, getting robbed, enjoy being treated badly, etc.

Dirty - Not Secure - Greedy and Rude - Stay Away!

I've stayed in Generator Hostel twice in London and, although dodgy and not particularly clean or quiet, it was miles better than this rat hole.
I book two nights, check-in early, the room has 4 beds, is a complete mess stuff thrown all over, there is nobody there, I go to sleep. In the middle of the night a bunch of guys, drunk and loud enter the room, switch on the light and one of them is making a fuss about me sleeping in his bed. He realises I'm a girl, he claims this is a guys room and I can hear his friends in the background suggesting that he should sleep with me (not in these nice words). But my key was working. And his too. The guy kindly leaves me in peace and goes to the reception, I go back to sleep. Next day the reception, different guys than the ones in the night shift, have no record of anybody complaining about double-booking a bed. They say to me "we don't double-book beds here", right, if you say so... What about the security check downstairs, everyone should either present their keys or provide a reference to a valid reservation, in your site you claim this is a secure place (see FAQ, I've actually checked it before going). "This is not our responsibility, this is why we have 24hours reception to report any problems anytime", yeah, after they happen, there is 24hours police to report thank you very much. Well, whatever, I want to check-out and I want a refund for the second night. We argue for 10 minutes, people is waiting patiently in the long queue, because the reception guy refuses to pay me back my lousy 18 pounds for a night I won't occupy the room, after the horrible incident the hostel _is_ responsible for. I don't get my money back and I leave furious.
I've stayed in lots of strange places, I've spent nights outdoors fearing for what might happen to me, but paying not to stay and to be treated like sh** it's my first. I'm not suggesting that anybody who goes there will have my experience. Consider thought the possibility, and how you want to be treated if...

Piccadilly Backpakers nice ?

Tha hostel is maybe centrally located but dirty, poky, no good light in the rooms, no hot water in the morning, very very noisy (you cannot sleep without ear plugs). When you have walked a lot during the day, still you have to climb 4 or 5 floors in the evening ! Breakfast is just 2 toasts with margarine and jam and if you want to drink, you ahve to pay although it is said that breakfast is included ! The staff speaking some kind of English that only the Spanish can understand. They are not really helpflul, they know nothing about London. I will never never go back there again !

Unique Quality: No