hostels in London

Read the reviews of hostels at Hostelworld.com. They rate cleanliness, security, location, etc. - and you can see what other travelers have to say about whether it's a party hostel or a ghost town before you make your decision. BugEurope.com also has some reviews for hostels.

Hosteling International (HI) properties can vary from city to city. Some are clean, some aren't so clean. Every one I've ever stayed in has been extremely quiet upstairs and the public lounge areas kind of sedate/semi-quiet. HI's seems to have a larger number of older travelers and families with young children than other hostels that market themselves to people in their 20s.

If you want more of a social scene, HI may not be the best for you.

Those are hard qualities to meet in one hostel. Why not google "London hostels" and read about all of them. You can find some comments from travelers about a few of them and then decide which one meets your needs.

I have stayed several times in HI Hostel's City of London Hostel, right near St. Paul's Cathedral. Great place, if a bit old, but clean enough. All ages staying there. I am in my 60's and had a great time drinking fantastic Italian wine one eve with a bunch of Italian girls in thir early 20's! The hostel is so centrally located you can walk to most of the sights. And the included breakfast always keeps me going till about 6pm.

We really enjoyed Palmer's Lodge when we stayed in London. It is in Swiss Cottage and is on two convenient metro lines. There was a large common room, a breakfast/dinner area, and nice bar inside an old chapel. The building itself is old and wonderful restored. It was quiet at night, but lively during the day. They will help you book tours and such as well. The internet was free and breakfast was included (even if it was a little bland).