The Hostelz.com Review
Be careful not to confuse St. Christopher's Inn - Village with the St Christopher Inn – London Bridge, which is just up the road. The hostel is promoted as a partying hostel and lives up to the promise, so it's most suited to those who want to participate or with a tolerance for some noise as one bar has loud music until 2 a.m. (and later on weekends). It is difficult to find something wrong with this hostel -- it's a superb backpacker hostel with just about all the facilities expected. It is modern in style, has a backpacker culture, and it's in a busy area near London Bridge (Tower Bridge is within easy walking distance, and you can visit the Borough markets on the days when it's operating). Security is by swipe card to the dorm area and then to each room. Wi-Fi is provided through two systems and works well.
The Location
The hostel is situated in a lively area with many pubs with character, several supermarkets, convenience stores, and restaurants. It's about a ten-minute walk from London Bridge rail, underground, and local bus stations. It's about twenty minutes' walk to Tower Bridge, with the option of walking along the Thames Path to get there, and then just across the bridge is the Tower of London. With rail and Underground nearby, it's no trouble to get to all parts of London.
Rooms and Bathrooms
The dormitories viewed are quite spacious -- a ten-bed dorm has such a large central area that the number of beds makes little difference. The hostel gets ten out of ten for providing each person with a lockable basket, which is stored beneath the lower bunk. The bunks are sturdy, metal-framed beds with no sway or squeak, and the mattresses are superb, but there are no individual lights. We had to look hard to find a real fault -- all we could find is a slightly dirty window ledge!
The shared bathrooms are clean, with enough warm water and plenty of pressure. They are both gender-designated or individual unit mixed washrooms. Although we had no problems during our stay, perhaps there should be a few more bathroom facilities.
Common Spaces
The reception is large and has fee-based internet PCs there. The hostel has a "chill room" (cool name for a common room) with relaxing seating and coffee tables, and there's an adjacent "cinema" with plentiful seating and a selection of DVDs. In the corridor and chill room are extra lockable lockers.
The hostel has two bars? Yes, and with good prices. One is an associated public bar next door offering food, a 4-to-8-p.m. happy hour and a 10% discount to hostelers. This bar, Belushi's, throbs until 2 a.m., but just a few hours later it serves a free breakfast with quite a wide range of food and drink. There's a second bar downstairs and multiple TV screens and loads of space. Additionally, there's a roof area which can be used in fine weather. Missing is a self-catering kitchen, though the chill room has a microwave and a kettle.
Summary
The staff aere pleasant and helpful, the atmosphere is good, the prices are competitive, and the evenings are for partying. During the day, it's quiet and somewhat impersonal, but as most guests are out in the day and there's partying in the evening ... so what? We consider ourselves "oldies" and would choose somewhere quieter, but that is not a criticism -- this is a great place, well suited to the needs of the typical traveler.
The Location
The hostel is situated in a lively area with many pubs with character, several supermarkets, convenience stores, and restaurants. It's about a ten-minute walk from London Bridge rail, underground, and local bus stations. It's about twenty minutes' walk to Tower Bridge, with the option of walking along the Thames Path to get there, and then just across the bridge is the Tower of London. With rail and Underground nearby, it's no trouble to get to all parts of London.
Rooms and Bathrooms
The dormitories viewed are quite spacious -- a ten-bed dorm has such a large central area that the number of beds makes little difference. The hostel gets ten out of ten for providing each person with a lockable basket, which is stored beneath the lower bunk. The bunks are sturdy, metal-framed beds with no sway or squeak, and the mattresses are superb, but there are no individual lights. We had to look hard to find a real fault -- all we could find is a slightly dirty window ledge!
The shared bathrooms are clean, with enough warm water and plenty of pressure. They are both gender-designated or individual unit mixed washrooms. Although we had no problems during our stay, perhaps there should be a few more bathroom facilities.
Common Spaces
The reception is large and has fee-based internet PCs there. The hostel has a "chill room" (cool name for a common room) with relaxing seating and coffee tables, and there's an adjacent "cinema" with plentiful seating and a selection of DVDs. In the corridor and chill room are extra lockable lockers.
The hostel has two bars? Yes, and with good prices. One is an associated public bar next door offering food, a 4-to-8-p.m. happy hour and a 10% discount to hostelers. This bar, Belushi's, throbs until 2 a.m., but just a few hours later it serves a free breakfast with quite a wide range of food and drink. There's a second bar downstairs and multiple TV screens and loads of space. Additionally, there's a roof area which can be used in fine weather. Missing is a self-catering kitchen, though the chill room has a microwave and a kettle.
Summary
The staff aere pleasant and helpful, the atmosphere is good, the prices are competitive, and the evenings are for partying. During the day, it's quiet and somewhat impersonal, but as most guests are out in the day and there's partying in the evening ... so what? We consider ourselves "oldies" and would choose somewhere quieter, but that is not a criticism -- this is a great place, well suited to the needs of the typical traveler.
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
December 2011
Their Description
St. Christopher's Inn - Village Details
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St. Christopher's Inn - Village Reviews from the WebHostelz.com Guest Reviews
Lots of fun This hostel is split between three building all about two minutes apart on the same street. the village building has most of the common facilities in it, the other two are basically only dorm rooms and bathrooms but your key card gets you into the common areas of all three buildings. The bathrooms were pretty clean and the rooms were also well cleaned each day with new sheets when you check in. The best bit of this hostel though is the social side, there are heaps of people around most days and it is pretty easy to meet other travelers, there is an excellent roof top deck area with a spa pool and sauna that is fantastic for sitting back on a long summer night having a cold beer (Im not a fan of the english habit for warm beer). everyone was pretty friendly and the staff were generally helpful. I would go back to stay again at this hostel. — Mike , New Zealand (2008-06-22) Avoid it. I have traveled extensively in Europe, Africa and Middle East, and I must say this is one of the worst hostel experiences in terms of staff management as well as noise issue. Most unfriendly and rude reception at the beginning not demonstrating the elaborate queue culture of England. I greeted friendlily and told them that I booked over the phone. The receptionist told me to sit and wait indifferently. While I followed her instruction, the other customers came in and asked for checking in, which she replied immediately without caring I was waiting behind. Free English lesson I received from the receptionist (with quite an exotic accent as an extra of the lesson). Finally I was attended after the late comers' queue was cleared. I still managed to talk nicely to ask for checking in. Next time it was a gentleman with a strong Southern European accent who received me for checking in. He told me to go to the Annex, which is two-minute walk away, that is still ok. I asked him the street number of the building. He corrected me it is called a door number in the U.K. I asked him whether I could borrow a lock for the locker. He told me it is not a lock but it is called a paddle lock. Finally he gave me the card key to the room. We were interrupted by a female traveler in the middle of the conversation who jumped in to ask a question. He forgot about me without finishing explanation. I thought it was ok and left for the annex building with the paddle lock and card key. The receptionist only provided me with an English lesson but not an access to the room! When I went to the annex and found my room, the card key did not work. A kind traveler inside told me that I needed to get an actual key to the room. I went back again to the same receptionist two-minute walk away and asked about the key. The receptionist insisted that the card key works. I insisted that the other travelers told me and showed me the actual keys, which were not card keys. When I asked the other female receptionist, she checked my room number and found out the room actually needs the proper keys. Unlucky man comment -- The famous English teacher from Southern Europe told me with his exotic accent even further exaggerated that I was only an unlucky person not to have had an access to the room. I told my teacher that I was not unlucky, but he was not intelligible enough to grasp the simple details about the key. Of course, teachers never say sorry to their pupils. Don't bother yourself about the hostel if you wanna travel happily in peace. Simply the staff have no clue on what they are supposed to do, period. — Matt , Japan (2007-11-02) Great This was the first hostel i visited and the staff were so nice and helpful and wrote down everything we should see and how to get there. They also continuously encouraged us to come back for the three-pound, all you can eat bbq and beer on the roof and one-pound vodka drinks. The room was big and the beds were very clean. they have separate male and female showers and my showers were always hot. i found this place to be an excellent way to start and end my trip. I actually came back later on in my trip to this hostel so obviously, I'd return! — Alana , USA (2007-06-19) Cold showers, not much atmosphere This is the first hostel I ever stayed in. They put me in a room that was located in an adjacent building to the main building, it was like a completely different hostel without any common area. I didn't know any better at the time but it just completely lacked atmosphere in this separate building and was nothing more than a bed to sleep in. And the showers were freezing cold. — Ben , USA (2007-06-02) I did not enjoy my stay and I would say that this is one of the worst hostels that I've ever stayed in! We couldn't sleep at night as there was too much noise from the bar and the street. The noise seemed to stop at around 3 a.m., which was not good for a 4 a.m. start to the day! The doors banging in the corridors became pretty annoying too. We stayed in a double room which was pretty run down and the mattress had springs poking through which was really uncomfortable! This hostel really needs to be refurbished. I felt that the staff were not overly friendly -- bordering on rude! I really wish that we had paid some extra money and stayed in a hotel. I did not feel that this hostel was good value for money and certainly would not recommend it. — Esme , British (2007-04-17) Before to go i was scared to rent this hostel because of the bad ratings i saw on this website. I was greatly surprised, this hostel was great, clean, nice, colorful, and the staff was very very nice. I lost my key room and they didnt charge me anything. The location is awesome! It's two minutes of walk to the London Bridge and the Tower Bridge and it's right beside London Bridge underground train. The train is so expensive, but it's possible to walk from the hostel to Piccadilly -- it takes maybe forty-five minutes and to go to the Westminster it takes around twenty minutes. It's not bad at all. On thursday they have a special 2 pounds a beer (believe me, for London, it's a good price). And it's cheap! — Sandra (2007-03-08) I have lived and worked in several hostels in Ireland and the UK and stayed for a few nights in a whole bunch of backpackers. All I can say is that I never found staff that was so rude as the people working in this place. Amazingly rude. Too cool for school. They can't be bothered to give you a smile, a thank you or a nice word. It's clean, beds are comfortable and whatever you want; but the staff make you feel like they are doing you a favour by allowing you to stay there.
Of course, the lack of training is amazing. You can fall asleep in the reception, wake up, take a shower, have a couple of pints, go for a meal at the pub down the road, watch the whole Ashes series, and when you come back the receptionist is still looking for your booking. The night porter was really sound, and a couple of the girls in the morning were even nice at times. But on the whole, obnoxious and rude staff. Honestly, I've lived the story in hostels from the staff's and from the guest's points of view, and the people here were the worst I've seen in my life. — Adrian (2007-01-11) It was adequate and fairly clean. There was no top sheet on the bed and there is a locker provided under the bed but you need your own lock. It was a pretty good location being right next to the London Bridge and close to the Tower of London. — Christine (2006-08-15) This is the worst hostel that I have ever been to. The condition of the hostel is old and it's badly managed. The doors of the rooms are half broken, giving me the impression that anyone could just easily break in your room if they want. The room is old and dingy, and the toilets and shower rooms were not cleaned any day that we were there. There is sanitary used over the floor and there is no toilet paper in one of the toilets and the water flow in both shower rooms was stuck when I was there. Yuck, it's really disgusting! We can't sleep at night, too much noise from the bar and the street. Somebody get all her stock stolen, and they said, again?! There is no security at all and there's a open door from the street that arrives just in the locker room. The location is not great and the staff are not nice at all and very slow. The owner of the hostel really has got to do something to improve the condition of the hostel for people to make it worth their money. — Caroline (2006-05-24) I stayed at two of the St. Christopher's Hostels. Because it was complimentary (I am a travel writer), I stayed for nearly two weeks. However, it was an unpleasant two weeks. The bar is very smoky and stinks like beer — which sucks because that is where your breakfast is. The rooms are dirty, ugly, and you want to spend as little time there as possible. There is no kitchen, and they try to push their "deals" on food and drink and Internet with signs in the hallway. Most staff are quite nice and helpful, but it is quite gross. The showers were among the worst I have used at any hostel — disgusting. Stay here if you like American frat boys. Otherwise, you can definitely find someplace cheaper, cleaner, and nicer if you look. — Cherie (2005-11-08) Nice-sized rooms. Decent bathrooms. It's a real big place, with a downstairs common area, and large "chill out" room with projector drop-down TV. I loved the rooftop hot tub, and the laundry facility right next to it, too. No kitchen, but plenty of shops and bars nearby, as well as two underground/Tube stations and a train station all within 5 minutes walk, and London Bridge, etc. There is smoking in all common areas, so that is a negative. And the bar is right there, basically in the hostel, so if you're right above it and on the street, you might hear some noise (depends on how heavy a sleeper you are). Other than that, pretty nice. Oh, and it's a fairly young crowd, 20-30 age group, so if you're 40-plus and have kids, and want a nice, quiet family place, this might not be it. But if you're younger and out to have a good time, definitely try it. — Mike (2005-10-05) I really don't know where to start! It was my first time in London and my first time staying at a hostel and it was great! Even though our room was very small and we hated the continental breakfast, my friend and I had a great time! We met some very cool interesting beautiful people (mostly from Australia) and that made our stay at the hostel even more fun! We went to some big and famous bars in London but without a doubt the bar at the hostel was the best one. The showers were ok, the hostel was very clean, and the chill out room was a great place to meet some unforgettable people! The hostel is very close to an Underground station, which is good if you're in London for sightseeing! I just got home last night and I can't stop thinking of London and I'm definitely coming back to London soon and I'll probably stay at this hostel! — LG (2005-09-02) This place was lame. Perhaps having just come from Rome didn't help. The ratio of guys to girls must have been 10 to 1 though. No joke. To top the awful social atmosphere, they have the ANNOYING shower heads that turn off automatically. Our room door squeaked, no shrieked, every time it closed, so I woke up about fifty different times in the morning. My advice, particularly to single guys: stay at St. Chris's only as a last resort. — Eric (2005-06-27) This would be a great hostel if you were really social and planned on making friends who were also traveling and hanging out in the bar. We met a few people traveling alone who loved the place. For the people that are sightseeing and exhausted by the end of the day it's not really great because there are quite a few people in the room and no privacy. The showers were awful, a little dribble of water and then it would turn off like the sinks you have to hold down to keep the water running and there were only two showers for the entire floor so while you're struggling in the shower trying to make it work other people are waiting and the bathroom is co-ed. The toilets were also disgusting. The bunkbeds could be really creeky and the person above me woke me up to say that I had rolled over once or twice and it was infuriating him or something. Definitely a nice hostel if you're on your own or want to spend a lot of time in the hostel itself but more of a hassle if you just need a place to sleep. — Kelly (2005-06-12) London is my favorite city in Europe but St. Christopher's is definently not my favorite hostel. It has a bar connected to it (but nobody goes to the bar) and the rooms and bathrooms suck. But the staff is awesome and Borough Markets are a must see while in London. But I'd probably stay somewhere else if I were you (somewhere closer to all the sights). — Matt (2005-06-05)