71 Belgrave Road, London SW1 Tube Pimlico Train Victoria Bus 24, N24 Tel (020) 7834 3077 Websitewww.astorhostels.com
BUG Review
This is the nicest of the Astor hostels. It is well maintained and facilities include the usual TV lounge and Internet access but it has limited kitchen facilities.
Price Dorm bed £15-18 Double/twin room £50 Prices are in British pounds and are inclusive of all taxes.
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Reception Open 24 hours
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Pros:
location, price, single sex dorms
Cons:
no elevator, small rooms, small common bathrooms
susan
saw things this way
Maintenance
(4)
Cleanliness
(4)
Facilities
(3)
Atmosphere
(3)
Considering it's London, this place is OK. Well located, clean enough, facilities. There is so much worse in London.The common bathrooms are clean, but I just can't use a sink that's 10 cm large, I couldn't even wash my hands. Not having an elevator is not a great thing especially when you have to carry suitcases up and down an old victorian building.Rooms are basic, with a place to put one suitcase each. However don't try to open 2 suitcases at once because there's no room enough for it.
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(Review ID: 2590)
NOT BAD PRICE FOR SOLO TRAVELER IN LONDON, September 9, 2004
Reviewer:
Shona
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
Imported Review
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Maintenance
(4)
Cleanliness
(4)
Facilities
(4)
Atmosphere
(4)
I stayed 2 separate nights in August 2004, 1st night was quite good, clean room, fairly quiet. I would stay again, you get what you pay for. The place was pretty clean. Second night on way back thru London was a bit nosier and a little less cleaner. All in all a good safe place to stay for me, close to Victoria Station, price not bad and light breakfast included, smile at the staff, be friendly and they will probably do the same for you. Kitchen was full of smokers, you just need to have an attitude like the rest of the guests to get your fair share of space etc!
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(Review ID: 2591)
For smoke lovers only, August 24, 2004
Reviewer:
huntkid
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
Imported Review
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Maintenance
(3)
Cleanliness
(3)
Facilities
(3)
Atmosphere
(3)
I stayed here two nights with a friend in June in a six bed room. The hostel is in a very nice neigborhood, close to two Underground stations. We stayed on the fifth floor, and the hike up the stairs left me wishing they'd install an elevator. There is a smoking room downstairs on the first floor, but the entire building smells like smoke. If smoking second hand cigarettes all night while you sleep is one of your hobbies, then you've found the right place. The rooms were clean enough, but very small. Some of the bathrooms are so small you can barely turn around. Service at the front desk was good.
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(Review ID: 2592)
Small rooms, lots of cigarette smoke, ok location., June 24, 2004
Reviewer:
mackfamily
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
Imported Review
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Maintenance
(3)
Cleanliness
(3)
Facilities
(3)
Atmosphere
(3)
I wouldn't stay at this hostel again. It's about a 10 minute walk to the underground at Victoria. If you don't mind smoking a couple of packs of second hand smoke this may be the place for you. Showers and bathrooms don't have very much room at all. I stayed 2 nights in a 8 bedded dorm, the rooms are very small. Not sure how clean my sheets really were?
2 of
2 people found this review helpful
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(Review ID: 2593)
No no no no, April 18, 2004
Reviewer:
Sassa
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
Imported Review
saw things this way
Maintenance
(1)
Cleanliness
(1)
Facilities
(1)
Atmosphere
(1)
We decided to stay at this one because it was close to the Victioria coach station, and we had to get a bus there at 8 am. What a mistake this was! This area is full of nice, cheap hotels, even cheaper ones than this hostel! The room was small and noisy (actually, the whole hostel was noisy, people partying all over the place untill 3 am..especially in front of our door). The showers were dirty and had there wasn't any space to put your towel/whatever without having it soaked. The only good part was the friendly guy at the frontdesk who offered us coffee and breakfast when we arrived.
1 of
2 people found this review helpful
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(Review ID: 2594)
Never, ever EVER again, March 25, 2004
Reviewer:
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
Anonymous
saw things this way
Maintenance
(1)
Cleanliness
(1)
Facilities
(1)
Atmosphere
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I can give you reason after reason. The filth, no hot showers, blokes pissing (sometimes) in the toilet - but mostly on the seat and floor, likewise both male and female seem unable to flush after a bowel movement. When I arrived there was no clean linen, and it's obvious the "cleaners" only come once a week (Monday), so that when I arrived on Saturday I had the best part of 6 days of other peoples rubbish to contend with. The staff are less than useless.But the best reason is this: some absolute wanker (literally) decided that it was just too good an opportunity to leave a single female in a dorm with three other blokes alone. At some stage in the night this prick jerked off while I was asleep, leaving me to wake up covered in his sticky white filthy mess.So, yep, I called the police, and while they could report it - they really could not do very much. They were as helpful as they most possibly could be (all credit to them).THEN to make things just even more irritating - of course I didn't want to say there anymore. But, despite all that I went through, do you think I could get a refund for the nights that I opted not to stay??? NO. NOT AT ALL. DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT.I hope no other chicks have to go through this - please just take care of yourselves.NB - after posting this same review on the lonelyplanet.com Thorntree website - there was a reply from "AstorVictoria" saying that I should contact them again and they would give me a refund. I insisted before I left the hostel that I should get one. Why only after I tell of their discraceful behaviour in a public forum was it offered?
16 of
18 people found this review helpful
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(Review ID: 2595)
Clean, safe, and in a great position, December 2, 2003
Reviewer:
Paolo The Punisher
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
Imported Review
saw things this way
Maintenance
(4)
Cleanliness
(4)
Facilities
(4)
Atmosphere
(4)
It's the third time i'm using a hostel from the AstorHostels chain, and the first time @ the Victoria. Once again, I was impressed at how good the place is, and for a very very cheap price (remember, it's basically in the centre of London, you can't find anything cheaper!). The rooms are cleaned everyday, they provide linen sheets at your arrival (so if you're coming for a short trip, you won't even need a sleeping bag), and it's overall clean. The staff is efficient, even if i seemed to notice that they are a bit more efficient with girls... if you know what i mean ;) Breakfast is great and you can cook anything you want in the kitchen, and have a refigerator facilty all included in the price. The rooms are small, but, well, i guess most of the time you'll be either visiting the city or down in the tv lounge? Stairs to climb on top of the bunks would be appreciated, though, and that's my only complaint i guess. I left my bags in the reception room for 12 hours on checkout day and no one went close to them, and they were looked after by the receptionist. It felt very safe, even if i guess they could just put a tag ont he bags and give you a receipt, for extra safety. it's just a suggestion! :)All in all, top marks for this!
6 of
7 people found this review helpful
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(Review ID: 2596)
Fun Times, November 30, 2003
Reviewer:
Melissa
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
Imported Review
saw things this way
Maintenance
(4)
Cleanliness
(4)
Facilities
(4)
Atmosphere
(4)
I really liked Astor Victoria. I stayed three nights, then moved to Piccadilly Backpackers Hostel ( moved only because I had pre-paid- Hated it every second,, please dont stay there) Anyways, the only bad thing about astor Victoria is the directions. Its actually closer to Pimlico station than to victoria. and you see a 71 on Belgrave before the offical 71 belgrave, so that was a little confusioning. I liked the staff. and the long timers were cool. the bathrooms smelled alittle moldy, but very private so no worries. Nice tv in the kitchen. Would stay there again!
1 of
1 people found this review helpful
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(Review ID: 2597)
Dirty, November 27, 2003
Reviewer:
Sebastian
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
Imported Review
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Maintenance
(1)
Cleanliness
(1)
Facilities
(1)
Atmosphere
(1)
After reading the reviews I thought this place would be great. But in fact, the staff was very unfriendly and the rooms, toilets and showers were dirty. This is all I have to say about Astor Victoria, I'd just like to know in which place the other reviewers stayed...
3 of
4 people found this review helpful
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(Review ID: 2598)
it was only OK, November 17, 2003
Reviewer:
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
Anonymous
saw things this way
Maintenance
(3)
Cleanliness
(3)
Facilities
(3)
Atmosphere
(3)
My stay at Astor Victoria in early July was only OK. I thought it would be great after reading all of the reviews but I found it to be overly-crowded and the staff fairly rude. We had a hard time finding the place, as we got off at the Victoria station (a no-no. use Pimlico) and when we finally got there, we got a key to a room full of people. The rooms were tiny and packed in ten to a room. There was NO privacy. Everything was clean enough. THere were long lines to the bathroom though. All in all, it was way too much money for the accomodations that you get. I'd find somewhere cheaper.
