Pickwick Hall

A very lucky catch and a great hostel! I don’t know if it’s standard or if we were just lucky – our room had a fridge and a microwave, which made leaving in expensive London a lot easier! Our room was a double bed ensuite, which also had a bathroom (toilet & shower). It was also incredibly quiet for being in the middle of London – the only thing I occasionally heard was the very distant rumble of the Tube deep underground (we had a lower level room).

Aside from the ensuite microwave, there is a microwave, a stove and an oven in the kitchen which may be used by guests. Breakfast is also included in the price, though it’s somewhat basic (as usual for hostels).

The location is perfect – just a street away from the British Museum and a 3 minute walking distance to two Tube stations. Directly opposite those Tube stations are also larger supermarkets.

The staff was very polite and friendly. As a German, I probably have to point out that they were sometimes not quite on time and breakfast which was announced for 8am wouldn’t be ready before 8:05am.

The general atmosphere is welcoming. Most of the furniture is old and shows clear signs of extensive use (the chair in our room had some burn holes), but the hostel is clean where it matters (bed, bath, food). The common room has a TV with VHS player and video tapes to watch, a (very slow) computer, a printer, and lots of books to read.

A minor disadvantage is that the free wi-fi doesn’t seem to work in all rooms. It definitely didn’t work in ours.