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Hostels Guide > UK & Ireland > England > Greater London > London Hostels > Generator Hostel London

Generator Hostel London

London
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Address
37 Tavistock Place, London Greater London, England   Map
Price
From £10-£42 depending on season and room type. Check Current Prices by Date Here
Location/Contact
Details
This is a VIP hostel. Show your VIP Backpackers membership card for a discount at check-in.
Generator Hostel London Online Booking
Arrival Date:   Nights:  People: 
Their Description

Features

  • Free Breakfast
  • Lockers
  • Bar
  • Gameroom
  • Lounge / Common space
  • Pool Table
  • Food/Restaurant
  • Washing Machine (laundry)
  • Travel information provided
  • Free City Tours
  • 24 Hour Free Hot Showers
  • Phones (public or in room)
  • Elevator/Lift
  • Nightclub
 
The Hostelz.com Review
Generator Hostel London is a fun place to stay for a few nights. There are eight hundred beds here, so this large hostel may not be everyone's ideal choice. If you want to party, there is the bar, but if you want to relax there is the The Turbine Lounge, with a homey feel. For longer stays it is lacking a guest kitchen and clean bathroom facilities. The hostel attracts a younger crowd.

The Location

The hostel is a few minutes walk from Russell Square Tube. It is easy to find, with a big sign on the side of a building. You have to walk through a passageway to get to the hostel. There is a security guard. The area is good, with lots of eating places around. It is a short walk to Kings Cross.

Rooms and Bathrooms

The dorm rooms vary in number of beds (private rooms are also available). There is a choice of female only or mixed dorms (we stayed in an eight-bed, female dorm). There is a sink with a mirror as well as lockers (supply your own padlock) in the room. Unfortunately there is no hot water. Beds are ready made. There are ceiling heaters in the room. Access to rooms is by key card. Rooms are cosy enough -- you feel you can spend time in there if you do not feel like being in the rest of the hostel.

Bathrooms are down the hall -- there are no en-suites in the hostel. The bathrooms are not particularly clean and the showers have shower curtains, so there is not a great deal of privacy. There are no hooks in the shower, so you have to leave your belongings outside the curtain.

Common Spaces

There is a luggage storage room for storing belongings until the 2 p.m. check-in time. We do not feel it is particularly secure -- a key card is handed out at reception to access the room and no staff member escorts guests to the luggage room. There are laundry facilities (but detergent is not supplied). There is a travel shop with lots of travel supplies, goodies, and Generator souvenirs such as t-shirts, bags, and postcards.

There is a brightly coloured, cosy lounge area with pool tables, however it lacks a television. People tend to sit in their own groups, so it does not seem particularly easy to meet people in here and it is small compared to the number of guests here.There is a dining area with steel chairs and tables. There is a television in the room, but the room has a rather cold and industrial atmosphere. There are computers nearby, which can be used for a fee (they also charge for Wi-Fi access, which was not working when we arrived).

There is a kitchen serving dinner for a price and free breakfast in the morning, which consists of a good selection of cereal and toast. You cannot cook your own food, although water, juice, and tea and coffee are available all day for free. There is a large, industrial-feeling bar (dimly lit with a few tables). Cheaper drinks are served during happy hour and there is also a cocktail and shooter menu. There are nightly bar activities planned, such as pool tournaments and strip twister. It is fairly social but most guests appeared to be traveling in groups at the time and looked around eighteen years old.

Summary

The Generator is a good place to stay if you are looking for some evening drinking activities after a day out touring the city. The industrial atmosphere will not be to everyone's taste, but facilities are varied enough to amuse different guests for a few nights.

— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
December 2008


Ratings & Comments

3 Average from 56 Ratings
This is an open forum, and unlike other hostel guide websites we don't censor out the negative comments.
We can't validate the legitimacy of comments posted on this site—so take what you read here with a grain of salt.
Comment by Swede, Swedish
June 2008
2 A dirty nineties dump with rude staff
Lose the neon lights already! As someone previously said, it's weird to eat breakfast in the same blue neon lit bar that you partied in the night before. Yes, it is. That's why there should be normal lights during the day! I can't understand the hype about this hostel considering it's not cheap to stay there either. Bathrooms were just crap. Dirty, slippery floor and for sure contaminated with foot warts. Wear flipflops in the bathroom at all time! Toilets would not flush. Staff was not very service-minded even regarding simple requests and inquiries. Worst of it all, though, was the room. A tiny, smelly jail-bunker with the dirtiest, dirtiest carpet on the floor causing my (not particularly severe) allergies to go all in. Could not breathe normally through the night. I was lucky to have a tiny window next to my bunk. Otherwise this "inn" would've done me in. Having seen the pictures on their website where there were rooms with no carpet on the floor we thought it would be an easy match to just switch rooms. So we thought. No luck there at all. This place is crappy with bad service. The breakfast was reasonably ok though. Although there were no healthy (let alone organic) alternatives you could at least have a cup of tea for breakfast or some cereal. I would not recommend this place to anyone else and I would not stay there again even if paid money for it.
Comment by Dan, Australia
April 2008
2 Whatever
The rooms are shoeboxes, like actual jail cells only with bright blue and red walls. Bathrooms were disgusting, no place to put your stuff or dry yourself in the shower cubicles. Kitchen and bar, however, were really good. Fantastic selection of breakfast cereal (so important for someone who hates toast in the morning). It is a bit weird eating in the same sticky-floored place that you partied in the night before though. Very much a party hostel, although we didn't do much of it as were gearing up to head back to Australia. Bring your earplugs for sure. Laundry facilities didn't work and staff were no help. My friend got no refund for a load of drying she did before realising the dryer was actually broken. There's a quick and efficient laundry-mat around the corner though. Cheap internet but not enough computers. There's a great second-hand book store around the corner. Such a massive hostel so it's easy to do your own thing depending on the kind of experience you want, but overall not great for the price.
Comment by Glenn Adams, U.S.A.
April 2008
2 Noisy, dirty room, smelly, sleazy
Room we stayed in was on the first floor right outside the night entrance and exit. Extremely loud. No soundproofing. Loudmouthed, heavy-footed idiots coming and going at all hours of the night. People yakking and smoking cigarettes right outside our room all night, every night. Bathroom facilities on all floors stink of urine. Toilet stalls and shower stalls dirty all the time. Very gross. Room was stuffy so we had to keep a window open all night which let in all the cold air, making the room freezing cold by the morning. No men's showers on first floor, so we were forced to use showers on other floors. Pitiful breakfast every morning consisting of cereal and toast. This hostel spent way too much money on the "hip" neon lighting, metal floors, and "high tech" bar facilities and not nearly enough money on sound-proofing, clean rooms, bedding, and bathrooms. Beds and bedsheets were disgusting, covering in stains of various colors. All in all, this place sucked! The only good thing was that the employees are fairly polite and friendly. I would never stay here again.
Comment by Protesters!!!, English
March 2008
3 An experience...
As a group of seven young female political activists traveling to London for the free tibet march, we booked this hostel after a friend recommended it. Having never stayed in a hostel before we weren't sure what to expect but we survived and are returning a month later to continue our political protests. First impressions were disturbing as you go down this seedy alley and then are faced with neon strip lights that look like it's a seedy club/bar. The rooms were just a tad small -- as in the gap between bunks was no more then a metre apart and you could almost touch both walls (we stayed in a triple private, yet it still had four beds in). Excited about receiving our free drinks vouchers we headed to the bar, only to realise we were the only females there! the supposed alcohol in the shots were minimal, more like an oj than a mixer shot. We didn't think the rooms were that noisy, though we did find blood stains on the curtain and a blade in the locker (no kidding) it was definitely the worst side to the hostel. Our friend recommended the showers -- they were clean and hot. Loos were a bit rank (one was blocked up). Breakfast was a high point -- cereal, toast, and tea! Left luggage was free and useful, checkout time is 10:00 so no lie-ins. Overall it can't have been too bad because we're going back next week and no eyebrows were raised with the banners we came with! One small point, don't read any posters whilst you're there, especially those advertising gang-bangs.
Comment by Meo, Perth
January 2008
5 The best
Stay at the generatoer Hostel. It's the best and you'll meet lifelong friends there and get pissed every night and just have crazy fun. The train station Russel Street is right there. yes they have their own mini nightclub and yes they do have games every night where you win craploads of free booze and cocktails. this place is my second home and can't wait to party here and have a couple more nights at the geno like old times back in 2007, making friends. rooms -- you can't hear the music because it is miles down the other end with massive doors of doors and doors and there's so many floors and rooms you'll get lost! and they have security guards at the front of the building to tell people to go away if loitering and making noise. social life -- the best in the world, too easy here. internet -- cheap price to compare to stores and theres like fifteen computers there. breakfast -- wonderful breakfast, so much to choose from -- toast, cereal, juice, coffee, tea. staff - let's just say they're always there for you no matter what time of time. tight as hell security wont let you in unless you have your card on you and tell them room number.
Comment by William, USA
October 2007
1 It's a dump.
Base-beat from the bar music reaches every room in the hostel until 3 a.m. The building design is not suitable for a hostel. Small rooms that were designed for one single bed have two sets of bunk beds in them. The carpet (again, not suitable for a hostel) is disgusting. There is hardly a comfortable chair in the whole place. The few that are available, in the room with the computers, are, you got it, disgusting. They were making 80 British Pounds ($160US) on the room that I was in but did not bother to mention, when I checked in, that the only showers on my floor were closed. My roommate told me that they had been closed since Saturday and it was Monday night. Unfortunately, there is a lot of housing pressure on London right now and that is one reason why a place like this is able to exist.
Comment by Laura, UK
September 2007
2 Overrated
I stayed in this hostel for one night while I was in London. The social areas seemed ok and they'd clearly invested a lot in them. Perhaps they could have spent the money used to decorate the outside with neon lights on some bleach to clean the showers and sterilize bedding so that you don't end up with bites all down your legs, which I did. The breakfast was good and the staff were generally ok, but if they put as much effort into getting the basics sorted as they have done making it look trendy it would be much better.
Comment by Hayley, Canadian
April 2007
3 Stayed at the Generator on three different occasions on two different trips. First night in a four-bed, girls dorm. our room was nice and big, comfy beds, shared bathrooms not bad. second night our room got changed to another four-bed girls dorm. our roomies were awesome but four girls with backpacks and there was about two feet between the bunks. let's just say the door barely opened if someone was in the room with their pack on the floor. (this trip was may 2006.) On my second trip dec/jan '06/'07 my friend and i stayed in a private room. for 35-45 pounds a night each, not worth it all. our garbage wasnt taken out once in two weeks, no heat, and we were the last room on the fourth floor. staff treated us badly and mocked us for being stupid american girls when we are both backpackers on a short vacation for new years. drinks are always cheap and when the new years fireworks in london where almost canceled the bartenders kept the one-pound highballs on all night. not sure if i would stay here again but for cheap drinks and a party hostel stay here.
Comment by leah, UK
March 2007
1 this is the worst hostel i've stayed in. the security was so bad that gangs were sat on the stairs until 3 in the morning shouting and screaming, and my mate had to go down to reception in her PJ's to complain. they were moved but they came back twice and some other person ended up shouting at them that people were trying to sleep. our window was broken so it was freezing, and our room was next to some toilets so we had the sound of hand dryers all night. where was the twenty-four-hour security to stop people running up and down the corridors screaming? my refund was refused (suddenly the "friendly staff" disappeared)and i felt so bad after staying there i had to find £100 to get a train home early and miss out on the rest of my stay in london. a generator trap? yes i felt very trapped!
Comment by chanelle
March 2007
3 I had a great time here and met some great people but the hostel itself was pretty average. Rooms were very small and the showers were pretty bad on my level anyway (go down to basement for a showers there are much better). The chillout/TV room was average -- TV was very small and they have a smoking area so it always stinks the whole room out. Most staff were friendly. The included breakfast is awesome loved it. Internet is rubbish here -- it was down a lot and very slow. It was a little hard to find but it is close to russell square tube station
Comment by Josh
February 2007
1 The worst hostel I stayed in during my time in Europe. The rooms were disgracefully small and unless you're coming back to your room blind drunk at 5 a.m. forget about getting much sleep. Front desk staff were rude and unhelpful however the security guard at the front door and the girls on the info desk were much nicer and helpful. The breakfast was the best part of this experience with a decent variety of food and it's free. The bar looks like a brothel with all its neon and metal and is really seedy. Go to a local bar instead. The location is also very average. It may be near and underground station but that is not a hard feat in London, there is one on every corner.
Comment by Antony
January 2007
1 really Stupid hostel, staff young men absolutely shallow, larger than life and sleazy, always trying to make out with every girl in sight. always ready to party, but unable to listen to you as they're too busy showing off for the girls. I stayed there for four months and had the feeling that the management was dictatorship and employees and kitchen staff was fired without any reason. Girls are fussy, selfish and attention-seeking. Parties were only the occasion for sleazy dudes to pick up all the brats there, most of them were happy to oblige -- too many Australians, it was so irritating listening to all those choruses and nationalistic posts.
Comment by Kaja
January 2007
1 Larger and more anonymous than most chain hotels, one could find a much more central place in London, quite shabby, looks like a prison indeed (at least they wittily expose it with chifre-locks and prison-like beds), very loud. So why go there? I guess people who are pretty much set on partying and binge-drinking all night long might like this place. also there are others coming who have been wooed by Generator's top-ten status. The second group -- and in fact anyone whose idea of stay in London doesn't match the first group's -- will be thoroughly disappointed.
Comment by Jase
September 2006
5 This hostel ROCKS mate!! A hostel I find myself in everytime I set foot in london and once your there it's hard to get out of the place!! The place has it's own bar which often has theme nights and wacky comps and the drinks are cheaper here then alot of pubs and clubs around london. You get a real mixture of different people here, which is good an bad but your guranteed to have a good time. The staff too are pretty awesome, little flirtacious, but down-to-earth and they're VERY helpful, look out for Cameron at the front door he's a legend and will help you with anything!! And for the blokes, this hostel is great for scoring a bird for the night! Location is also good, just near the Russell square metro and Kings cross station, and within easy walking distance of British museum and Oxford st. It may be a little rough around the edges, compromised in some places but the cool atmosphere more than makes up for it. Only downer bout this place is everytime i've been there something gets nicked from somewhere...be careful of ya valuables in this place. Other than that, this is the only place to stay at when in london, walk in with the right attitude you'll have a ball in this lively friendly place, the generator won't let you down!
Comment by isolar
August 2006
1 f***ing bullsh*t -- the clientele is made up of the most shallow f***s that this world has to offer. Absolutly no brains! This place has no character -- seems like a corporate piece of sh*t aimed at every cock smocking backpacker straight out of the big brother household! Yes the staff are extremely arrogant -- they came across as the most prestiged seasoned backpacker -- if there were a national magazine for backpackers -- those f***s would be advertising their t-shirts on the front cover.
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