The Hostelz.com Review
The Location
The Astor Victoria Hostel is located in a nice area and in a great location for access to Victoria Train and Coach stations. It is within walking distance of Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, and other London attractions and the closest tube station is Pilmco, for quick and easy access to the rest. The directions provided by the hostel are good -- finding it from Victoria Station, while potentially confusing, is not difficult with the help of the instructions.
Rooms and Bathrooms
If you have heavy bags, be prepared for steep, narrow staircases to get to your room. The rooms are a fair size and open windows prevent stuffiness (although they don't do much for security) and some have views to the London Eye. There are lockers (cages) under the bunks, with locks available for hire at reception if you don't bring your own (or if your lock is too small for the giant latches). It's not the best system, as they are awkward to access and, when open, can take up the entire floor space in smaller dorms. Being cages, they aren't overly secure for valuables and chances are you won't fit all your belongings in there anyway.
The rooms are quite noisy and you can hear people walking up and down the stairs and doors banging all night. Our six-person dorm includes a sink and some have showers as well, although this is really just a stall opening directly to the rest of the room. Otherwise, bathrooms are scattered about the floors. These are small and there is no ventilation in the showers. They aren't spotlessly clean, but aren't too disgusting either.
Common Spaces
There is a kitchen in the basement and a small common area downstairs, along with pay-as-you-go internet terminals at reception as well as free wireless internet if you bring your own laptop. Breakfast is also free, but is little more than stale cereal and dry bread, so if your budget will stretch a few extra pounds, skip it for something else.
Summary
The staff are hit and miss. Some are extremely helpful, but despite a twenty-four-hour reception, some have to be sought out in the kitchen and are reluctant to interrupt their conversation to check you out and return your key deposit. Be sure to allow time for this process if, like us, you have an early morning flight to catch! Also be aware that there is a key deposit, payable on arrival in cash only, so have some British currency on hand to avoid being caught out.
As London hostels go, Astor Victoria is not bad. It is reasonably clean and secure and fine for a couple of nights, or a great place to stay if you need early morning access to Victoria Station.
The Astor Victoria Hostel is located in a nice area and in a great location for access to Victoria Train and Coach stations. It is within walking distance of Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, and other London attractions and the closest tube station is Pilmco, for quick and easy access to the rest. The directions provided by the hostel are good -- finding it from Victoria Station, while potentially confusing, is not difficult with the help of the instructions.
Rooms and Bathrooms
If you have heavy bags, be prepared for steep, narrow staircases to get to your room. The rooms are a fair size and open windows prevent stuffiness (although they don't do much for security) and some have views to the London Eye. There are lockers (cages) under the bunks, with locks available for hire at reception if you don't bring your own (or if your lock is too small for the giant latches). It's not the best system, as they are awkward to access and, when open, can take up the entire floor space in smaller dorms. Being cages, they aren't overly secure for valuables and chances are you won't fit all your belongings in there anyway.
The rooms are quite noisy and you can hear people walking up and down the stairs and doors banging all night. Our six-person dorm includes a sink and some have showers as well, although this is really just a stall opening directly to the rest of the room. Otherwise, bathrooms are scattered about the floors. These are small and there is no ventilation in the showers. They aren't spotlessly clean, but aren't too disgusting either.
Common Spaces
There is a kitchen in the basement and a small common area downstairs, along with pay-as-you-go internet terminals at reception as well as free wireless internet if you bring your own laptop. Breakfast is also free, but is little more than stale cereal and dry bread, so if your budget will stretch a few extra pounds, skip it for something else.
Summary
The staff are hit and miss. Some are extremely helpful, but despite a twenty-four-hour reception, some have to be sought out in the kitchen and are reluctant to interrupt their conversation to check you out and return your key deposit. Be sure to allow time for this process if, like us, you have an early morning flight to catch! Also be aware that there is a key deposit, payable on arrival in cash only, so have some British currency on hand to avoid being caught out.
As London hostels go, Astor Victoria is not bad. It is reasonably clean and secure and fine for a couple of nights, or a great place to stay if you need early morning access to Victoria Station.
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
August 2007
Their Description
Astor Victoria Hotel Details
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Astor Victoria Hotel Reviews on Other WebsitesHostelz.com Guest Reviews
Very poor Do not stay here. this place has a reasonable location but is a terrible hostel. The staff are rude, it smells and is dirty, and the bathrooms are disgusting. It is impossible to sleep with all wasters coming back through the night. — Jon (2009-02-11) The hotel's location is good and the hotel's worker are quite nice (depend on who you have to talk). But the hotel itself is in bad state. The building is old and needs repairs. The bathrooms seem not so clean. However, the worst thing that we have to support was a terrible vibrating noise during three nights. They have had to change us room every night because we couldn't sleep. At the end of the stay, we ask for a refund, which was refused! — Amanda , Switzerland (2008-09-26) This hostel's best feature is its relative closeness to Victoria coach station (and tube and mainline station). It is the only place close enough to walk there or back for early or very late departures.
The neighbourhood is nothing special although there are some supermarkets, takeaways and pubs on the way along to the coach station. If coming from Luton airport, it is quicker to get the bus direct to Victoria rather than get the train and the change onto the tube (it is also cheaper).
The facilities, on the whole, are fairly basic - nothing special but do the job. The showers, though small are reliably hot.
There is a lounge with plenty of chairs and a kitchen downstairs with plenty of seats so it can be a fairly sociable place. A breakfast included - a basi choice of cereals, toast and tea ancd coffee.
The booking process seems unduly complicated - so that they request you send an email to confirm receipt of the email confirmation and they then ignore your email anyway. Their arbitrary checkin procedure requires photo ID such as a passport and they take only 18-35 year olds. For a hostel relying so much on the coach station for their clientele their strict check in times are unhelpful. — David , Australia (2007-11-19) Not Recommended I booked to stay in this hostel for thirteen nights. What a mistake! My wallet was stolen from my handbag, which was locked in the "cage" under the bunk bed. I had only been downstairs (my room was on the third floor) for about an hour. When I went down to report it the girl at reception actually told me to "calm down -- it's not that bad." She also said there was no reason to contact the authorities because it's not an emergency. She was extremely rude and unhelpful (petite brown haired girl). Not a pleasant person.I actually think it may have been a worker from the hostel. This was the third day of my arrival and the workers were not pleasant with me from that day forward. It was a horrible experience. The only good thing about this hostel is the location. — Lynzie , USA (2007-06-26) I will just say that if you are smart, you won't go there. People there are extremely rude. Dorms are dirty, probably never cleaned. Disappointment! — Torri , Italy (2007-04-19) If you want a loud, noisy, dorm-like atmosphere, then this hostel is for you. When you enter, loud music is playing in the reception, lots of people sitting around laughing, playing cards. We felt it was too crowded/too noisy as we were looking for a more relaxing atmosphere. Internet access is not free. They do not give you towels. Map of London is 1 GBP. We stayed in the hostel for one night only. We got a double room, it was facing the opposite of the reception and surprisingly it was quiet. The bed was big and comfortable. The sheets were clean, they asked to bring used sheets to the lobby just before you check out. The room was small, there was a TV, sink, and a wardrobe. Bathroom was shared but it was right near our room and it was relatively clean. The night reception guy Adam was nice and helpful, he showed us our room because we wanted to make sure it was not loud. The lady during the day was not that friendly. Location is good about fifteen- to twenty-minute walk from Victoria bus station, fifteen-minute walk to Buckingham Palace, twenty-five minutes to Big Ben. Security was good, they lock the door to the hostel every time someone exits, and have a luggage room. We left our bags for the day. When we came back for some reason the room was unlocked, so security is not that great. — Maria (2006-09-19) Let me start off by saying this is not the hostel of choice for me in london, there is much better around! However what this place has going for it is it's proximity to victoria coach station, very ideal for all of those needing to get to/from stanstead airport early/late for those cheap ryanair flights. Another good point is that it's within easy walking distance to Buckingham palace and not too far too BigBen and Wesminster Abbey. Also the beds are reasonable.
Other than that the rooms are terribly stuffy (you will die in the summer time) and the 'common room' is really flawed...not a good place to meet travellers, the staff could also learn to loosen up abit. Go there if ya need to get to victoria coach station really early or late or if you've just arrived from some long overseas flight and need to get over jetlag for a couple of days. It's all about snooze rather than booze at this little hostel. — Jase (2006-09-05) The location is satisfactory, not too far away from Tube station. The room is acceptable but the locker is not easy to use. The bathroom is small and a bit smelly. The breakfast is ok but there is no free internet access. — Kevin (2006-06-09) Alright hostel, security is good, although the left luggage room is questionable. The building is old, and has lots of stairs, also is very hot, plus the showers on one side of the building only have boiling water! The location is great close to everything. There are two kitchens one smoking one not, but the smoking kitchen has all the good stuff, and because the kitchens are right beside each other smoke comes in, plus you can smell the smoke in other places. The hostel is alright for a couple nights but don't expect to make friends -- most people here have been staying a long time and are working. — Cora (2006-06-04) The shower was in a room that was about the size of a phone booth. There was no where to put clothes without them getting soaked. The place needed to be cleaned. However, my room was clean and the breakfast food was decent. It was an acceptable place to sleep, which is all we really needed. — Joe (2006-02-17) I had a very nice stay at this Hostel. Stuff members were helpful and the backpackers were great too, very friendly!
The room was good in my opinion. The only things that did not please me was the shower, quite bad I thought! — Tiago (2006-01-24) Well, it's a nice place, clean and has a really good breakfast. I guess I just didn't like the smoke — the whole place smelled like it, my sheets, the main hall, everything. There is a separate kitchen for non-smokers in the basement, but it's right beside the smoking one, which you have to walk through first. That was kind of weird, but very appreciated in the morning while eating a yummy breakfast (mmm, lots of cereal choice is an amazing thing!!!) Like other Astor places, there's a 10-pound key deposit, which is returned before you go. — Katie (2005-06-25) Well, I suppose I have great memories of London because in this hostel I met my love. But it wasn't worth a lot, as most of the youth hostels I have been in. The breakfast was awesome, you can eat as much as you want. It is a central hostel, you have most of the things near your place, but the bed linen must be washed sometime, and the shower, too. No matter which hostel you choose, just the experience of meeting new young people from other countries is worth it. Anyway, we are young and used to accepting "anything" when is cheaper. — Wynja (2005-05-04) The daytime staff are EXTREMELY RUDE, especially the manager, while the night staff are friendly and helpful. The showers were disgusting. I don't think they have ever been cleaned. There are no lockers; there is a community room for luggage which anyone has access to. The only thing that was okay was the location. It's very close to the train/bus station and within walking distance to Big Ben, Parliament, etc. — T (2005-03-25) The staff were real friendly and the atmosphere was quite good, mainly due to the staff, although when I awoke I was covered in bedbug bites, as were my friends. I asked others in the room in which I was staying if they had experienced anything similar and they told me they had spoken to management and nothing had been done about it. This is ridiculous and a major health and safety issue. I would never stay here again as I paid to sleep in a bed by myself, not with a heap of bugs. I stayed here in November, and I hope that management has woken up and done something about this serious issue by now, as the rest of the experience was quite enjoyable. — Anna (2005-01-23)