I’ve stayed at a ton of poorly rated places over the last year as I’ve backpacked around the world, but this is the only place that I truly felt unsafe. If you are female, do not stay here, even in a private room, as you will encounter essentially homeless or drunk or drugged out men in the narrow dark hallways when you need to use the bathroom or when you are coming home to your room. Multiple times, instead of walking straight to my room, I had to quickly walk a weird roundabout way to lose a creepy guy following me. I stayed here with my partner (also female) for 3 nights in a private room without a private toilet. One night someone tried to get into our room but luckily I had locked the door handle (no deadbolt present). I would never stay here again. If you’re still reading, I assume you’re a guy. The rest of this review is for you. I read the reviews before booking this place, and I assumed a lot of the bad reviews were just picky people, as is usually the case with places I book. Nope, this place was the dirtiest I’ve encountered in my travels as well. The toilets will not flush after someone else has used it recently, so they are clogged with paper and poop and unusable, and so the halls stink. There were guys coughing and puking in the toilets all hours of the night all 3 nights we were there, which you can hear through the paper thin walls of the rooms. The “kitchen” is one tiny room at the end of a narrow hallway on the 3rd floor. The room is maybe 6ft by 6ft and was so gross we didn’t go back, even though we wanted to take a picture for this review. Imagine a steamy room with no ventilation, wet fogged windows, and the only cabinet is under the sink. So all the plates/cups/cooking implements are stored under the sink in a puddle. There was, no joke, only one single coffee mug for the whole place, and it was cracked. This is also the only sink in the place that doesn’t have a Not Safe to Drink sign. Instead of going back for that, we just used our water purifier from our travel in Asia with the sink in our room. I’m surprised this place hasn’t been shut down.

Would give this zero stars but I can't. Please listen to the low reviews of this place, its extremely horrendous. I've stayed in a couple of hostels during my travels but I've never come across any place like this. The hostel is extremely dirty, the bed sheets had stains, the floors were extremely dusty and there was a weird smell in the room. On top of that, the bathrooms were even worse. I found feces on the floor, and 2 out of 3 of the toilets were clogged. I was also getting catcalled by other guests whenever I walked around in the hallways. I ended up leaving after one night. Can't stress this enough, avoid at all costs!!

If you don't have any money, this is your place. If you have any chance to spend a tiny bit more money, go somewhere else. This is by far the cheapest option to stay in London, I paid 15 Euros per night. And Kensal Green is located and connected very well. But there is no love put into this place. Good things: Staff was very friendly and relaxed, location is good, internet works well. Things not so great: Showers IN the rooms without the option for external shower-rooms (well, for the girls yes, but not for the men) means the floor is always wet in the room and you always get the smell from whatever showergel is used, no hooks for towels, too bright and only central light in the room, not dimable, mean whenever someone comes in late at night, the whole room gets illuminated like an airport hall, no chairs or tables in the room, no lockers, no shelfs or anything to put your things on or in, old, noise making metal beds, no kettle for coffee in the morning, the kitchen rooms are locked untill after 8 and inside you will find only dirty cooking facilities but again no kettle for hot water, no supply of coffee or tea, no plates, cups... only a few old pots and burned pans. The "café" was never open when I stayed there. Since it's the cheapest place available in all the city, you get all kinds of weird folks in here, from all nations od the world, many of them, it looks like, living there for months. Nothing wrong with that in general, but maybe you get an idea, what kind of explosive mixture of people melts together there. Let's just say, it's not tourists staying here, it's people trying hard to manage their lives and need a place to sleep. This could be even interesting, but there's just overall no cozy feeling about the place. In fact it feels pretty unsafe altogether. The common areas have a cold non-friendly atmosphere and the feeling of save space is completely missing. While everywhere else in the world hostels became little design hotels over the past 15 years, in London they remain often grim, dirty, rotten holes. I wonder why.

The smelliest and most horrendous hostel we've ever seen. The whole building was moist (because of the random shower cabins INSIDE the rooms..???!) and the bed sheets felt soggy because of it. Not to mention that they looked like it wasn't even washed. A taxi driver told us the area is one of the most dangerous areas of London. Don't go!!! :)

Given its strategic location right across a key train and a bus station, this place could have emerged as one of the best. Sadly, the place and those running it have a very cold and damp vibe. The female staff I met had this I'm-doing-you-a-favour response at checkin documentation or bag storage. (The male staff were courteous). Passageways have this pervasive odour of smelly feet. (That's weed, I learnt later! 😂) Showers- one, in a dormitory of six barely pass the muster. Common toilets are poorly maintained- killing the urge to relieve oneself. Attached restaurant, closed on a weekend afternoon, really!! An upright piano in the common area, out of tune. Lovely feature, but a waste of space. Not expecting a five star for the money they charge, but @ £30 a day, basic decency, cleanliness could be expected. Positive- clean beds. End of the story.

More like a homeless shelter and refugee community. Beds are okay. This place is only if you are desperate for somewhere to stay in London. Pay the extra £10 for a nicer place. No atmosphere Rude staff Security with no SIA badges dirty toilets graffiti everywhere dirty hallways with broken washing machines

Honestly it was horrible!!! The sheets were not washed and were super dirty when we arrived, the bathrooms were disgusting and there were times when all the toilets clogged and there was water down the hall! There was no toilet paper, and the fact that there is a shower in a room that is shared with people we don't know, is scary. The only positive aspect is the fact that it is well located close to a tube that goes directly to central London. Aside from all the bad, it was an adventure, not to repeat again.

One of the worst places I've ever been. The staff is quite rude and the toilets and corridors are dirty, smelly and creepy. The room is just ok. Seem like someone build that hostel and forgot it. I have a pretty high tolerance for dirt and poor service. If I'm giving a negative review, it's because the place is really awful. Spend a few extra pounds and avoid it at all costs.

I hurriedly booked a few nights here in a sight seeing trip to London. The staff were a bit dispondant. The room was nice enough but the curtains didn't fit the window well so there was limited privacy. Sharing with people who English wasn't their first language was tricky. But the man Ahmed did help me when my phone broke and we got along fine. Other people in the hostel were intimidating, wierd and seemed like they could have stollen from me. The toilets were often filthy. There was no cafe, washroom and the common room had odd characters in I did not feel comfortable with. I did meet a nice lady on the last couple of days, Lourdes from Peru and she thought people there were mentally ill and their family were paying for them to have a place to stay while they worked in London. We are still friends today. It was a good place to visit my friend and cousin from and see the sights of London. The price did bit fit the fesilities. I will not be staying here again.

The receptionist guy who called Ibrahim is utterly disgustingly racist, unprofessional and rude. He was racist with my cousin who had one night booked in the hostel. He took his ID card and when he saw his name and nationality who throw it back to him and asked us to wait in side with an ugly attitude with no manners claiming that only one person at the dest, where is clearly said on the dest ( Only Three people allowed at one time) When I refused to set down he said you won’t be sleeping here tonight and he is not gonna do the check in. To make it worse the other staff they were supporting him, especially the blond short girl who was rude rather than deescalating the situation. He tried to call the police to kick us out for him being racism, unprofessional! I will make a formal complaint tomorrow morning against him management, then will escalate ite even further as It's also an implied term that the service provided would be done so with reasonable care and skill as required by the [Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982/ Consumer Rights Act 2015.]

Does what it says on the tin, cheap hostel, decent accommodation, if you have the extra money find somewhere nicer but if you don't this is perfectly acceptable.

DO NOT STAY HERE! Honestly the WORST hostel i have ever stayed. Crack den at its finest, you WILL get robbed and you will experience the most disgusting accommodation of your life.

The hostel was a nightmare for me. I do not even want to put one star on this comment. i have been traveling for several years, it was the worse hotel experience ever in my life. Please book before read the comment from traveller’s. If you do not mind the bed is not clean ( I was not feeling great sleeping this night because I felt itched during the night ! Apparently the bed wasn’t clean ) and it is noisy during the night ( music / chatting / moving etc) and the sepulcher is just right next to this hostel. Also most important thing is that they are ( receptionists) not that welcoming people!!! It is all up to you to book then. Otherwise just pay a bit more money you can get way way way better than this hostel!

First the positive. The hostel is very inexpensive and easy to reach by subway or bus. The staff is very nice and very helpful. They really put a lot of effort into me. If I had any questions, the staff answered them for me. When I asked where the nearest supermarket was, an employee walked me outside and explained the way. The supermarket is a three-minute walk away where you can stock up on all the groceries you need for your daily consumption. I had a room for two people with my own shower and toilet. On the negative side: The window in my room couldn't be opened completely because some guests had damaged it beforehand. The bunk bed is fine for sleeping, but the ladder was too narrow and the entrance was a few centimeters away from the ladder, which didn't make it any easier to climb onto the top of the bed. In addition, the heating switches on at night and you don't have the option to turn it off. The hostel is in need of some renovation. Conclusion: I would recommend it to anyone looking for a cheap hostel on Harrow Road. Because apart from these little things, it's a great experience there. And if you want more comfort, you have to dig deeper into your wallet. It was very satisfactory for my stay and my plans

Comfortable beds, Plrasant Quick snd helpful Staff, Wifi, Credit Card Payment, Easy fit in, Tight Security Clean Room, Transportation (Bus or Train), Nice area

I spent there 3 nights and it was the worst nights ever. The view from the windows is for the cemetery. What's more shower is located in the room (strange naked men couldn't respect people in the room, and after shower he was naked ), it was so dirty, in the room was smell of old socks, it was impossible to sleep without open window, on the curtain was a lot of "white mushrooms". Toilet was horrible, the tiles in the bathroom were literally black and mushrooms was everywhere, I was scared to take a shower. The worst hostel, I have ever slept.

Me and my friend stayed here for two nights and the experience was awful. The room was acceptable but the shared toilets were disgusting. No cleaning, liquids and pee on the floor, definitely disgusting. The last day, after the checkout, we asked them to keep our backpacks because we were gonna see London until our night flight back. They kept them, but back in the hostel to ask for our stuff, they gave it back with literal garbage on it. We had to throw away one of our backpacks because the smell won't go away. By the way, the place it's located next to a cementery, we were 20 meters away from the thombs lol (just in case anyone cares about those things).

Very bad hostel experience! I did not expect too much for that price but it was very dirty. We didn't use the toilets or showers because they were so dirty and smelly, instead we preferred using the ones at the train station/public toilets as even those were cleaner. The area is not very nice but at least it did not take us too much time to get to the city centre and the bus and tube station are next to the hostel. Rooms were pretty dirty as well and it was very loud. Wouldn't recommend!

Customer service needs a lot of improvement. The rooms can do with improved cleaning and the toilets smell. But I guess you get what you pay for.

This hostel is nice and cheap and the reception is very available but the advantages end there. The whole place smells weird, especially the bathrooms. Also, my bed was lumpy because I could feel the springs in the mattress. I typically like hostels with an unpolished feel, but this place was too bad even for me.

You get what you pay for, when you get a mixed room. You get a decent shower with warm water, the right to lock your stuff away, and a comfortable lounge in which you can eat and drink, whilst watching television or something on your phone. The beds are comfy enough. The toilets, while unappealing, are moderately clean. In the lounge, there's a fridge, and the place even has a shared kitchen. Don't know if it's good or not. You meet people of all blocks in Kensal Green Backpackers, making your stay an experience. Lastly, the location is wonderful, with a food store close-by. P.s. I need to thank them again for having let me stayed there.

The hospitality team very disrespectful and uneducated, didn't felt as London at all.

Rude staff. Bed is not comfortable. Most of the toilets are clogged. Very dirty and smelly. Avoid it at all costs!

Pros: The location is really good, two to three minutes walk to the bakerloo line and bus stop. There’s some supermarket near the hostel, around five minutes walk. Cons: The roommates are quite complicated, it may depend on who you’re sharing with, but for me it was a bad experience, like they will ask you if you want to buy their suitcase. And at night they will almost be like having a party in the room, because they get drunk. The smell is bad. It’s because some people just use the shower room as their toilet. The room’s door is too close to the bed, so when you open and go out, you might hit your arm or your bag. Others: You need to pay cash around 10£ as deposit, and they will give you the receipt. On the check out day you can use that receipt to get your deposit back. I did.

If you choose this hostel with the mindset that it won't be Versailles then you won't be too disappointed. The standard is quite low, but the quality matches the price (I paid £18 a night). The rooms are outdated, there are no shelves, bedside tables or even hangers, but the cleaners try their best to ensure cleanliness (bathrooms are cleaned at least twice a day, even after 11p.m.). Bed linens are changed after each checked-out person. Each room has a sink and shower, and toilets are located on each floor in the corridor. So, if you are looking for cheap accommodation in London, close to metro stations (2 minutes) or bus stops and you don't care about privacy, special amenities, this would be a good choice. I also recommend going to the restaurant downstairs, it serves tasty dinners for a reasonable price (£7.5 for a chicken breast with mashed potatoes and salad).

Look like an hostel that someone build and then forgot about it... There are nice painting on the walls. The 4-bed rooms are quite spacious. But the toilet tanks doesn't fill to their full or fill very slowly, so many times people don't flash. The kitchen has 2-3 pots and pans, but they once had a teflon cover. And no cups or bowls. There is a sign in the kitchen says that you can borrow things from tha cafe or the reception, but the cafe is closed for long time and in the reception says you can't. The front of the hostel is to road, with makes noise. But the back (only 6 or 8 bed rooms) is to a cemetery. And that is a good thing :-) because the neighbors are very quiet. The cleaning crew is very nice and tring to do their best.

Very rude stuff ever even their management. I’m shocked there is such a hostel in London should be shut down. It smells a lot , mattresses too old with stains , duvet dirty old , duvet covers don’t match at all. Was there for 1night never ever again they still other hostels pictures for their website . DO NOT STAY IN KENSAL GREEN HOSTEL 🤮🤮🤮

Don’t understand the bad reviews honestly. Booked a quadruple room for £50 a night. Clean, ended up with an upgrade to a private bathroom and everyone was very polite. No complaints about the staff, everyone was very friendly. Everyone is talking about the shock £10 deposit - read your booking email!! Very accomodating - only complaint would be the laundry service that starts “after 9pm”. We waited outside for 45 mins and decided to just do it at our next stop. Otherwise, great stay. You get what you pay for!

i was expecting the worst after reading the reviews but trust me it was even worse. the smell in the rooms and bathrooms was terrible. weird, creepy guests who definitely live there long-time (some of them having issues with drugs). bedsheets with bloodstains, it was cold and really loud due to traffic outside and other guests. no safety (locks on the doors can be opened easily). horrendous bathrooms, toilets don't flush, thus mostly unusable. showers are terrible, mold everywhere. i am begging you to please listen to the reviews on google before booking, i can't recommend this place at all.

The worst experience of my life, I arrived at the 11th of the night and at the reception I was treated very badly, as I entered the room, people were using drugs, I was very tired, I just wanted to sleep and suddenly I saw spiders and rats, I went to the reception and explain the situation and they told me "this is what it is, if you want to go away you are free to go ,but we dont give you the money back "This hostel is like a prisión please don't go STAY AWAY FROM THIS CRIME.THIS HOSTEL IT WAS THE WORST BAD EXPERIENCE IN MY LIFE ,PLEASE STAY AWAY IS TO REPORT TO THE POLICIE THIS PLACE

First: good that you check the reviews. I wish we had done that before we booked the hostel. I stayed for 11 nights with a friend in a private room for two. We payed around €700. Con’s: - The matresses: they are old and dirty, don’t give you any support and you feel the iron springs whenever you turn around - The smell of weed all day long - When you have a room next to the bar, you will easily be bothered by noise at night as they organize karaoke nights - Through the single glass windows, you can hear all the traffic noises and conversations from the street - Only one hanger in the room to hang a coat or towel - Despite the shared bathrooms being cleaned every day, they remain smelly, there is mold everywhere in the showers, the toilets often do not flush and there is often no toilet paper - Don’t dare enter the kitchen, you will regret - Not enough water pressure on the top floor - No breakfast - All the doors are very sticky and make a lot of noise opening them in the middle of the night - No elevator for heavy cases Pro’s: - The people at the desk are always willing to help - Very close to a metrostation (Kensal Green) and bus stop in front - One of the cheapest options in London - Room cleaning is optional; they respect your privacy - They have private double rooms - WiFi on every floor

I wasn’t expecting much given the price but my god. 1 hour check in, 10 pounds deposit for each key(us being a group of 4), the key being one you can copy for like 5 pounds anyway. When I checked out the receptionist had an attitude. But the worst part was the smell of the room, for the 5 days we stayed the it always smelled like public toilets, from the moment we entered to the moment we left we constantly smelt the foulest of odours, I wish i was exaggerating when i say that their common restroom didn’t smell as bad as our room

Stayed in a 6-bed, all girls room. Super friendly staff, clean rooms, close to the overground stop. Overall, very happy with my stay. Would go again.

Not very fancy, but for reasonable price

Never stayed here but look super cheap with bunk beds and backpackers right next to the train station so very convenient For those travelling

Security adam was really helpful and friendly towards customers. He is very flexible when it comes to timings and he is very willing to understand the needs of the customers. It was a very nice second time experience for me in two months. Hope I come here again soon.

It's the best place to stay. Basically for the people working there. Simply amazing human beings. When I come back for sure I stay there.

Needs new management. Cleanliness is 0/10 (beds, bathroom). Wifi would go in and out. Rooms need ventilation. Something needs to give. I understand it's a cheap option but at least make it half-decent for travelers.

The girls at the reception are so rude and unprofessional. I was checking out today one of the receptionists was busy on call and there was another fat white girl sitting next to her, I had to ask her about something she rudely replied and said she’s not working (why the hell would you sit there then) she behaved like if she owns the whole place. Such a rude staff at the reception, also the location is not good. Rooms are fine, facilities wise 0 out of 10, very small kitchen with nothing provided for the guests , a lot of illegal people living in the hostel and vibe is totally not good. Not safe!

Acceptable for the price you pay. Literally in front of a cemetery. The desk reception is great! They let you store you bag for free 24/7. The rooms are ok. The shower pressure is bad in the 4 the floor. Toilets are clean.

Location is brilliant but it's seriously in need of a renovation. Bedding and most of the floor was clean. We stayed in one of the private rooms and for the price it was pretty great. Wouldn't have booked a dorm bed there though for definite.

Stayed here last weekend (Nov 19th to 21st) and enjoyed my stay. Check In was very easy and the man running the front desk was very nice. The rooms were clean and beds were comfortable. The reason I didn't give it 5 stars though was that the bathrooms had no soap or working hand dryers (mens toilet on floor 2). Also even though I had the correct wifi and password, it refused to connect for my whole stay. Luckily had data but would be very inconvenient for anyone who either doesn't have a phone plan or are from overseas. Finally the location wasn't very convenient when it came to shops or food around but this was only a minor inconvenience as spent most of the time in the actual city. All in all, I would stay here again and definitely would recommend it for anyone looking for cheap but good accommodation.

Surprisingly clean rooms and beds. Much better than other hostels I've been in. Despite the single star, staff are very nice! The mark down is for lack of any electronic record keeping which makes booking slow and prone to errors. Key deposits 10 pound or rough equivalent also marked poorly in notebook so don't lose your receipt. (Owners, please buy your staff a laptop) Bathrooms are cleaned daily but go rank quick. Shower in hostel room is an interesting box and choice. Not a spot to hang and meet people but very convenient to metro.

Good and cheap hostel maybe not luxury....but for economy stay is very ok! Very friendly staff with respect and smail recommended

The glass of our room's window was broken so we permanently had a fresh breeze of cemetery air and really weird English insects in our room. Nice.

I would not recommend it. Doggy area, and poor facilities . You can see the most of the beds had linens with holes...

Stuff is friendly ...and good overall atmosphere I d say ))) rooms are kept clean however, i they were bigger in size that would have been a plus ...but I can t complain about that.... considering the low rate they charge so is a good win win for both in a sense ....highly recommend as a good budget hostel .

The worst place I ever been, I booked for 3 nights but I left that room after one night, dirty and smelly place

Convenient for backpackers, staff is rude at the desk. The female dormitories are not soecified on website. Make sure you double check when booking if its for females or males.

Only complaint is the rooms, which have slow water taps, no tables or chairs, and, unless you go with friends, if the place has more room for other people, you might be living with strangers. Really love the people here, friendly, very fun to talk to, everyone including staff is friendly. The kitchens and bathrooms are of different quality, so if yours is unclean, you can always ask for a key to another, usually there is one on each floor. The place takes time to get used to, but is really nice after you do, had so much fun, some of the best spent nights ever.

Customer service is perfect and the room very nice. The cleaners do very good job. They clean the room every day and my bed it's always clean and tidy