O'Callaghans Hostel

Not as bad as you say
This is a small hostel. the price is normal, people are friendly, the kitchen is not very clean, but is normal. you share it with other twenty people -- so! the showers aren't clean as well but is the same, you put on slipper and you can enter inside! you had to be adaptable to live with other people -- if not, go to a Hilton!

filthy and disgusting
well where to start? the kitchen is cramped and the fridges smell like rotten meat. the bathroom is filthy and mouldy (only three working showers, all open plan). there is a TV room but all you can watch is the Radio stations on TV cause that's all the manager watches from his chair in his office/bedroom/TV room. basically the best place to sit is right in the stairwell where you can listen to the tacky water feature plug-in light thing. basically you can find better cheaper, keep looking!

Rooms are decently sized and beds are clean, included breakfast is better than most, has Sky TV and very close to all amenities and tube! Showers are a tad small though, and so is the kitchen. Overall a small and cosy hostel that's not corporately run -- and the price is right.

Have stayed here often from sept '05 to may '06 and found it to be a warm, receptive hostel that enjoys a good laugh. For its price, it is unbeatable this close to the centre of London.

Reply from the Hostel: Sorry. I think I should defend O'Callaghan's. First I'd just like to start by saying I manage the place so feel free to think anything I write below is biased but I think I have the right to defend against the allegations below. First of all I'll not protest any of the other reviews as I think they're correct. However they are not correct to the hostel. The owner used to have a second hostel which was also advertised on O'Callaghan's website, this was the Silverfern. In all honesty it was a hellhole and I'm glad that the owner sold it off to make flats. It was full of druggies, alcoholics and dole bludgers. O'C's is not like that at all. Anyone that has written a review here will probably see the difference when I describe the place. O'C's is a very small hostel, with a maximum capacity of 27 beds. There are no addicts etc and definitely no rats (although we do have a goldfish call Nobby). The place is definitely clean but a little shabby and is cleaned from top to bottom daily. For our price we are a bargain and rarely have any beds free, there is a complimentary breakfast of toast, cereal and fresh coffee. The place has a very friendly atmosphere and is populated mostly by long-term hard working backpackers. Well that's me I think. Thanks for your time and I would like to pass on my heart felt condolences to anyone unlucky enough to stay at the Silverfern. Cheers Ian

The day I arrived at this hostel was the worst day of my life!!! I experienced hell there for the first night. When I saw the room and girls who were injecting drugs there, I wished if could sleep on the street, but I had no choice at midnight! I didn't use shower and anything else there, as it was impossible to use them! It is much cleaner, safer, and better to spend the night on the street then in this hostel!!! Please, don't go there. Otherwise you will experience hell for real!

As soon as I arrived and saw my room I wished I had booked a hotel. I am suprised that I didn't see any rats running around. All I kept thinking during my first day was that it was my worst nightmare and I was hoping this wasn't a preview of the rest of my three weeks vacation. I was dreading going to bed that night, so I spent my first day looking for a second option which I found. All I can say about this place is SHUT THIS PLACE DOWN!

It was horrible, grimy, and disgusting. We survived our first night there but cancelled the second. Thank God we had our sleepsacks. The hostel looked like a crack-house.

When I got there I was absoloutley disgusted. It is totally dirty, there are strange stains, and items on the carpets. It smells really bad, the beds are uncomfordable. It really is not worth the 70 pounds a night. I found a nicer hostel in the same area for less. The showers are moldy and co-ed with no proper changing areas. You are cleaner before you have a shower.