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Smart Russell Square Hostel (London)
by annallon
Smart Russell Square
I chose this hostel because it was down the road where I used to live for a year at university (sob sob) and I wanted a chance to return to the area which I loved. This hostel was perfect as it was a stone throw from Brunswick Centre which provides all the necessary products we needed. The price of the ... hostel also helped! We ordered a 24-mixed room dormitory, with 2 separate beds.
This place is around the corner from Russell Square tube station, barely a 100 yards walk. When approaching it, it isn't obvious that this is a hostel as it has NHS signs everywhere which made us panic in case we were walking into the wrong house and end up embarrassing ourselves! Luckily, it was the right place and finding the reception was simple.
The check-in was very easy; we showed them our E-tickets with 2 reserved beds and paid £10 each for the night for 24-mixed dormitory which we thought was an utter bargain! They handed us our linens for the duvet and pillow. I enquired about towels; they had towels for hire for £5. I was feeling a bit tight that evening. Luckily, the lady offered to sneak in an extra bed linen that I could use as a towel.
We had to pay £10 each a security fee for damage or loss of linens so that if you turn up in the morning, and someone has stolen your linen, you'd lose your £10 or even if you turn up to the desk to check out just after 10am, you'd lose the £10. We thought it was a bit unfair but went along with it. They handed us our cards that was specific to each room and they worked pretty well and gave us a piece of paper that would go into a clear pocket on the railing of the bed. As it was very chaotic at the time we checked in; we had to make our own way to the room we were told to go to.
At this point, you don't actually realise how hot the house is until you walk into the rooms. As soon as we walked into our designated room, we started sweating buckets. We concluded that the weather that we experienced that day contributed to the humidity of the room. We set to find our beds, as we weren't given specific beds, we were just told there was 2 beds spare in the room. The beds in the 24-bed dorm was nicely put together, with 3 beds on top of each other, I didn't quite envy the people who were on the 3rd bed on the top as it looked like a high drop! What I did like about those bunk beds was that curtains were provided so one could get ultimate privacy and get changed in their bed. That was a major plus as I hate it when people see me sleeping! Though, some people took it to mean they could spend some 'intimate' time with their retrospective other half! Apart from the occupied beds, it was fairly clean actually. The floors and the provided sink was immaculate. The bedding provided was very clean and admittingly, smelled good!
We found a spare bed very quickly as it was obviously empty. Then we set to find the other bed. It was a challenge as all the beds looked occupied; we spoke to other people who were there the night too and said there was only one. We carried on looking, opening the curtains on their beds unfortunately invading the privacy of a few people, we were looking for the see-through pocket that contains the paper with dates on it and such. We went back to the reception saying we couldn't find a bed, they must get this a lot as they told us to look properly. Then we returned back to the customer services. So they said as a compromise, go for showers and come back at 11pm and there will be a spare bed in the room. So we did. There still wasn't. So we went back and the man went to check on the computer and actually there wasn't 2 beds spare, it was the one. So he gave us a replacement room; a room which was more expensive than what we paid for! We went up 2 flights of stairs and went into the room- it was a 6-dorm single sex. And what shocked us was the extreme change in humidity; it was SO humid! There was a window open but it'd only open to allow a 10cm gap and no air really flowed in. Due to the extreme humidity of the room, I had a very restless sleep and woke up with my chest being soaked in sweat. And I wouldn't shower for another day! The bunk beds were the same make as the one in the previous room.
When attempting to find the facilities, the hostel was a maze; it was rather confusing. I ended up using the toilets which was 2 floors down in the basement. It was fairly clean, with modern cubicles which was rather cool, though there was a lot of stickers on in the inside door advertising against STIs which made me a little uneasy! The showers wasn't very easy to find either; when I did, it was fairly relaxed place to get changed and most importantly: its only for females! I didn't expect too much out of the shower and rightly I didn't. It was very difficult to use the shower, having to hold the button the entire time to keep it running; there was no timer on the button that would have left it running for 5 minutes as the previous hostel had. So it was a juggling act to wash shampoo out of my hair while pressing the button at the same time! It was separated into cubicles and each one had 2 railings; one for the curtains and one to put your clothes over. I used my linen 'towel' and went to dry my hair with the hair-dryer. It wouldn't work. Went to try the other; it worked but I couldn't figure out how to get it on hot setting so I spent 30 minutes drying my hair with cold air and it was still wet!
While settling in for the night; my friend found it difficult to get to sleep due to the constant banging of the doors and people shouting but me? I found that the noise wasn't a problem, the humidity was!
In the morning; woke up bright and early to collect our security fees. We made our way down to the common room, it was very chaotic and there was no spaces to sit down at all. The breakfast provided was bread with this really cool toasting machine that wouldn't look out of place in an industrial factory! They had cereal which was cornflakes with warm full fat milk and provided wide range of hot drinks. This was pretty good for the price we paid for it.
It boasts a wide range of facilities; communal showers, common room, games room, wireless internet, computers, communal kitchen and many others. I would say that when arriving at 9pm, the common room was in full flow; tens of people were coming and going every minute; it was full to the brim, so do choose carefully what time of the year you pop up in this place.
In all, a lacklustre customer services, beds that we reserved were gone and an extremely warm building that didn't help with our sleep. But I will come back here again, just for the fantastic price!
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Marlborough Hostel (Dublin)
by sun-is-shining
The Marlborough Hostel was one of the highlights of our trip to Dublin. In this overly rushed and expensive city we found a great hostel with clean rooms, friendly stuff and comfy couches in the common area.
Every wall is painted in bright colours and the whole hostel has a friendly and welcoming ... atmosphere.
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Location
The location is what appealed to us the most; just off O'Connell Street (the central road in Dublin) and 300 meters walking from the Spire the location of the hostel is amazing. You are directly in the heart of the city but as it is located on a side street it is still quiet and you can sleep at night without being disturbed by party-goers or traffic noise.
As I said it's 300 meters from the Spire, half a mile to Trinity College and 10 minutes walking to Templebar. Spar, Subways and BurgerKing are just around the corner.
Buses leave at O'Connell Street - the main bus stop area of the city. Buses from and to the airport leave/arrive there as well. The number 41 stops right in front of the hostel, it's a normal bus and it takes roughly 50min depending on traffic. (2.90 Euro)
The express bus is more expensive (6 Euro) but is quicker and runs more frequently.
Address: 81/82 Marlborough St.,
Dublin 1
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Room prices
The room prices vary on the season and if it is weekday or weekend.
These are the prices from now to the end of August, I guess it's getting cheaper in winter again so check their website for the latest room rates.
The prices are given in Euro - check www.xe.com for a currency converter.
May - June
Mon - Thurs -- Fri - Sun
4 Bed Room 22.50 -- 28.00
5 Bed Room 22.50 -- 28.00
6 Bed Room 22.50 -- 28.00
8 Bed Dorm 22.50 -- 28.00
July - Aug
Mon - Thurs -- Fri - Sun
4 Bed Room 28.00 -- 28.00
5 Bed Room 28.00 -- 28.00
6 Bed Room 28.00 -- 28.00
8 Bed Room 28.00 -- 28.00
We paid 12 Euro per night on a weekday in march so I guess the prices will go down quite a lot in winter.
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Rooms & Facilities
In total the Hostel offers 76 beds in 4 to 8 bed dorms. None of them is en-suite but there are plenty of showers and toilets on almost every floor.
The beds were really comfy and not too small. There's a locker under each bed and you get a padlock for free - that was great as I forget every single time to bring mine when travelling.
Windows and central heating are in every room.
Showers are in the basement. You have cabins with a door between the actual shower and the place where you can keep your stuff save and dry.
Showers are clean and with hot water.
Toilets with wash basins are on every floor. They are clean and plenty, so you'll never have to wait.
The community kitchen in the basement is a great meeting place and every night full of people who cannot afford the horrendous prices in Dublin. The kitchen is fully equipped with oven, cooker, microwave, toaster and plates/pans/cutlery. You can take one of the provided baskets to keep your food in or store it in the community fridge.
Breakfast is served every morning between 7 and 10 am. You can get toast, jam and marmalade, cereals, fruit and coffee. It's basic but nice and we were happy about it every morning. Of course you can also prepare your own stuff and have baked beans to your toast.
Lots of hostels advertise with free Internet but you'll need your own laptop and you don't have connection in your room. Not so here, there are 3 modern computers you can use and you have WiFi in every corner of the hostel. Internet use is unlimited.
Community areas are plenty, a small TV room, a bigger room with comfy couches and a billiard table and another room with chair and vending machines for a quick snack. Board games are available from the reception.
Bed linen is free and you can hire towels and hair dryers for 1 Euro.
The reception is open 24 hours and there's no curfew.
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Where to book?
Booking a room is easy via the website www.marlboroughhostel.com or all major hostel search engines such as hostelworld.com. You can pay with Visa or Master card - 1.00 Pound service charge is added when booking online.
You can also just turn up and see if they have rooms left - but that's not really advisable as all beds were booked when we stayed there and that was in march.
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Staff
The staff was exceptional friendly and helpful. Upon arrival they gave us free city maps and marked all the highlights for us. During the whole stay they were friendly and answered ever question we had. They even let us stay for 5 hours in the common area after we already checked out - it was raining and we were running short on money so it was better waiting for our flight in the heated common area that sitting in a Mc Donalds for 3 hours.
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Downside
Aehm, I'm still thinking about it and in the unlikely case I find something I'll tell you asap - but I wouldn't wait for it :-)
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Value
We has a great time there, cooking every evening with people we met in the hostel, watching a DVD or playing 'Who wants to be the Millionaire' before going out for a pint of Guinness. The room was great with a comfy bed, enough space for all our stuff and with thick walls so we could sleep even though we had a stag-party in the room next door.
I'd chooses the Marlborough Hostel directly again - yes, there are cheaper option to stay but you wont get this friendliness, cleanness and comfort there.
For me it's a 10 out of 10!
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YHA in general
by alexela
I first joined the YHA just over a year ago. I had been looking for ways to save money when I travelled around the country and abroad and as I was able to get my first years membership free through my student bank account, I decided it was insane not to join!
The card entitles you to discounts at youth hostels around the UK ... and abroad, so if you like visiting different places across the country but need to do it on a tight budget; this can only help you out even further, saving you around £3 a night extra with the membership card.
I have also used the YHA card abroad as it is also a 'Hostelling International' card. This entitled me to an extra Euro2.50 a night off the listed hostel prices. Saving me Euro25 in one trip alone! Definitely worth the £9.95 membership fee for Under 26s or £15.95 for over 26, especially if you're travelling for long periods of time going from one hostel to the next.
The benefits do not simply end at savings on accommodation though. The YHA card entitles the holder to many additional discounts too, including 10% discounts at millets, Columbus direct travel insurance, blacks and even higher discounts on ordinance survey maps, insight guides, geographical magazine, national trust membership, SeaFrance ferries and many more. I found the Millets discount particularly useful when buying tents and sleeping bags for a festival, but also for some of their excellent weather proof clothing.
For anyone interested in travelling, this is more than a worthwhile investment as the potential savings are huge.
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