YHA London St Paul's Hostel
4-star hostel · City of London, London
Long Weekend score
Mixed3 serious reports in 281 reviews: someone fell ill (3)
Guests rate nearly every hotel highly: half the hotels in London are rated 8.2 out of 10 or more. So our score shows how a hotel compares with the rest, not how luxurious it is.
- Rated higher than 38% of London hotels
- 78% of guest comments are praise
- 92% of guest photos show no damage
How this score is made
- Rated higher than 38% of London hotels. Compared with 5,640 hotels in London. Counts for 50% of the score.
- 78% of guest comments are praise. 487 praise, 137 complain. Counts for 30% of the score.
- 92% of guest photos show no damage. 55 of 60 photos. Counts for 20% of the score.
- Serious reports are never counted in. They are flagged beside the score, because one matters even when everything else is good.
- From $53 a nightdorm beds for two, before tax
- 5 min walkto St. Paul's station
- 281 guest reviewsfrom the last 2 years
- 60 guest photostheirs, not the hotel's
At a glance
For
- A station within walking distanceSt. Paul's is 390 m away
- Location181 praise · 0 complain
- Staff109 praise · 13 complain
- Value45 praise · 4 complain
Against
- Quiet at night44 complain · 10 praise
- Room conditioncomplaints rising: 2.1 in 100 a year ago, 6.8 now17 complain · 1 praise
- Heating and air conditioningcomplaints rising: 6.4 in 100 a year ago, 9.8 now26 of 281 guests
- Problems in the bathroomcomplaints falling: 10.6 in 100 a year ago, 5.1 now17 of 281 guests
- Wi-Fi16 of 281 guests
What guests reported
What guests say
281 reviews from the last 2 years. Most praised: location (181 guests). Weakest: quiet at night, where 44 of the 54 who mention it complain.
Location1810Strength
Came here with my college back in Nov 2025, the location is absolutely breathtaking.
Google, February 2026, rated 4/5 by this guest
Undoubtedly, the hostel's biggest advantage is its location.
Booking network, May 2026, rated 10/10 by this guest
Value454Strength
Great value at super location
Booking network, July 2026, rated 8/10 by this guest
The location and the value for money are spot on.
Booking network, March 2026, rated 7/10 by this guest
I think £100+ per night with shared bathroom facilities & seventy steep steps to the room is a bit much.
Booking network, May 2026, rated 7/10 by this guest
Staff10913Strength
Facilities were good, and the reception was helpful.
Booking network, August 2026, rated 10/10 by this guest
The rent was cheap, the beds were comfortable and the personal very nice
Booking network, November 2025, rated 8/10 by this guest
However, the staff are not very talkative and are not really helpful.
Google, November 2025, rated 2/5 by this guest
Cleanlinesscomplaints falling: 12.8 in 100 a year ago, 7.7 now8224Mostly good
the shower facilities clean
Booking network, January 2026, rated 3/10 by this guest
Clean shower and toilets, room (female only) was spacious, each bed with a lamp and an el.
Booking network, May 2026, rated 9/10 by this guest
130 pounds for a <2m wide room with tiny bed and very stained cube-seat thing and dirty carpet is, in my opiniy, excessit.
Booking network, January 2026, rated 6/10 by this guest
Breakfastcomplaints rising: 0.0 in 100 a year ago, 3.8 now189Mostly good
Breakfast is great and location superb..hours of service is very conveniente and staff very helpful.
Booking network, January 2026, rated 8/10 by this guest
The breakfast is really good, we also ordered pizza one night before which was really delicious and is baked on the premises for a very decent price.
Booking network, December 2025, rated 10/10 by this guest
A lot of industrual stuff, they were not tasty.
Booking network, April 2026, rated 5/10 by this guest
Bedscomplaints falling: 6.4 in 100 a year ago, 3.4 now2111Mostly good
Best for the location, price, suprisingly comfort bedding.
Google, October 2025, rated 5/5 by this guest
Clean and comfortable bed, historic building and great central location.
Booking network, August 2026, rated 8/10 by this guest
The mattrasses could be better.
Booking network, January 2026, rated 8/10 by this guest
Room sizecomplaints falling: 6.4 in 100 a year ago, 2.6 now169Mostly good
The room was warm and spacious.
Booking network, December 2025, rated 9/10 by this guest
Good location, clean and spacious rooms, clean showers, friendly staff
Booking network, November 2025, rated 7/10 by this guest
Excellent stay we was never there during the day only there to sleep was lovely staff was lovely was clean room small al
Booking network, July 2026, rated 7/10 by this guest
Food46Split
shite food was bones and hair in my burger
Google, September 2026, rated 1/5 by this guest
I went and it wasn't very good or appetizing, and the room wasn't very clean when I went two weeks ago.
Google, May 2025, rated 2/5 by this guest
Rooms look like low rigoristic prison, shower is the smallest shower i have ever seen, there is no place to put anything and water spils everywhere while showering, toilets are obviusly in the corridors, "food" is edible at best but its not always the case, there is eight people in our room we have…
Google, November 2024, rated 1/5 by this guest
Quiet at night1044Weak spot
and on top of that, it's near the cathedral and the bell rings every 15 minutes and you can hear it throughout the hostel.
Booking network, November 2025, rated 5/10 by this guest
You could hear footsteps from the other rooms altought they had earpulgs at the entrance.
Booking network, January 2026, rated 7/10 by this guest
The chimes from the cathedral every 15 minutes.
Booking network, January 2026, rated 7/10 by this guest
Room conditioncomplaints rising: 2.1 in 100 a year ago, 6.8 now117Weak spot
Most run down, grotty, poor condition, hostel I've ever been to.
Google, October 2026, rated 1/5 by this guest
The beds are pretty old and creaked whenever someone made a move, which disturbed my sleep greatly.
Booking network, December 2025, rated 7/10 by this guest
Old facilities - maintained but not comfortable.
Booking network, November 2025, rated 4/10 by this guest
Too few mentions to judge: views.
Who stays, and their score out of 10
From every review of the last two years that gives a score and says who travelled, including those with no words.
All 927 Google ratings
Problems guests raised
Raised most: heating and air conditioning, in 26 of 281 reviews.
Heating and air conditioningcomplaints rising: 6.4 in 100 a year ago, 9.8 now26 of 2811 in 11 reviews
Room was very hot, but can’t be helped as it is summer.
Booking network, August 2026, rated 7/10 by this guest
The price and location are great, but the rooms are a bit stuffy in the summer because there's no air conditioning, and the facilities and decor feel a bit dated.
Google, August 2026, rated 4/5 by this guest
Problems in the bathroomcomplaints falling: 10.6 in 100 a year ago, 5.1 now17 of 2811 in 17 reviews
Toilet didn’t really flush.
Booking network, March 2026, rated 9/10 by this guest
What I would say is that the sink in my room wasn’t exactly efficient as the hot water tap water wasn’t flowing due to the shape and positioning of the tap making it really difficult to use
Booking network, December 2025, rated 6/10 by this guest
Wi-Fi16 of 2811 in 18 reviews
WiFi doesn’t work inside the rooms, no self catering , quantity of WC and showers are less , Fan in the room is so noisy and one lady had objection to turn it on so I slept in warm weather
Booking network, June 2026, rated 8/10 by this guest
Only one shower on the whole floor.
Booking network, January 2026, rated 8/10 by this guest
Something broken in the roomcomplaints falling: 12.8 in 100 a year ago, 2.6 now12 of 2811 in 23 reviews
We would have been grateful if there were USB-plugs that work.
Booking network, December 2025, rated 8/10 by this guest
Several bulbs didn't work in the room.
Booking network, December 2025, rated 4/10 by this guest
Complaints the hotel left unresolvedcomplaints rising: 0.0 in 100 a year ago, 3.4 now8 of 2811 in 35 reviews
There was a small mistake with the reservation; I wanted to cancel an extra bed I had booked.
Google, June 2026, rated 2/5 by this guest
Was I simply ignored or do you have a television with a permanently dodgy ariel???
Booking network, December 2025, rated 7/10 by this guest
Insects or pestscomplaints falling: 12.8 in 100 a year ago, 0.4 now7 of 2811 in 40 reviews
The rooms are dirty, there are mice in the rooms, the food is okay, the beds aren't suitable for tall people (only 180cm wide), the showers just drip (no proper water flow), and the water tastes like dirt and rust.
Google, September 2025, rated 2/5 by this guest
There is mousses in the bedroom.
Google, September 2025, rated 3/5 by this guest
Serious reports
3 in 281 reviews, most common first. Shown beside the score, never averaged into it.
Someone fell ill3 of 281 reviews
Four of my classmates got food poisoning and spent evenings vomiting; this was due to the poor quality of the food.
Google, November 2025, rated 1/5 by this guest
Not recommended; we all got sick.
Google, September 2026, rated 2/5 by this guest
These are guests' own accounts from their reviews. We have not verified them, and the hotel may dispute them. A report is counted only when the guest says it happened at the hotel and holds the hotel responsible.
Photos, checked
5 of the 60 guest photos we checked show damage or dirt (8%).
Guest photos showing damage or dirt5 of 608%
Of 60 guest photos, 5 show damage or dirt: stains in 2, peeling paint or cracks in 2, pests in 1 and broken fittings in 1, and some photos show more than one. Of the hotel's own 21, 0 do.
What it advertises, against the photos
Guests’ photos confirm: restaurant (7).
The hotel says it has no swimming pool, spa, gym or hot tub.
Price, place and rooms
Price
Dorm beds for two start at $53 a night, from 208 dates checked in the coming year.
Prices on booking sites, the day we checked
What each seller advertised on the one day we checked.
- Booking.com$77
- hostelworld.com$77
- Agoda$172
- expedia.co.uk$172
- Super.com$172
- Hotels.com$172
- skyscanner.net$172
- Vio.com$172
Lowest advertised nightly rate for two adults; taxes and local fees are not included. Shown in US dollars.
Nearby
St. Paul's station is 390 m away by road, about 5 minutes on foot. There are 9 bars or clubs within 200 metres.
- Nearest main road: Queen Victoria Street152 m
- Nearest shop: Sainsbury's Local4 min walk272 m by road
- Nearest station: St. Paul's5 min walk390 m by road
- The British Museum2.3 km
- Tower Bridge2.3 km
- Big Ben2.6 km
- Buckingham Palace3.7 km
The lines are 5, 10 and 15 minutes on foot.
Distances follow the streets, not straight lines.
Rooms
12 room types, from 1 to 15 m².
- 6 Bed Private Room Shared Bathroom1 m²Sleeps 6Bathtub
- Double Private Room Shared Bathroom1 m²Sleeps 2Bathtub
- 8 Bed Private Room Shared Bathroom1 m²Sleeps 8Bathtub
- 10 Bed Private Room Shared Bathroom1 m²Sleeps 10Bathtub
- Bunk Bed in Male Dormitory Room1 m²Sleeps 1
- Bunk Bed in Female Dormitory Room1 m²Sleeps 1
The other 6 room types
- 2 Bed Premium Double Private Room Ensuite1 m²Sleeps 2
- Single Private Room Shared Bathroom1 m²Sleeps 1Bathtub
- 3 Bed Double Private Room Shared Bathroom6 m²Sleeps 3Bathtub
- 2 Bed Private Room Shared Bathroom8 m²Sleeps 2Bathtub
- 4 Bed Private Room Shared Bathroom12 m²Sleeps 4Bathtub
- 5 Bed Private Room Shared Bathroom15 m²Sleeps 5Bathtub
From the hotel's own room descriptions, checked against each room's photos.
How it compares
How it ranks
Guests who booked rate it 8 out of 10. 38% of the 5,640 hotels in London are rated lower, and a typical one is rated 8.2.
Every review site, out of 100
11 Google reviewers ticked "Quiet", yet 44 guests complain about noise.
More hotels in London
The nearest first, with our score for each.
How we know
281 reviews counted · 81 photos checked · updated 12 October 2026
- We collected this hotel's 892 most recent reviews from Google, Tripadvisor and the Booking network. 281 of them describe a stay in the last 2 years and are the ones counted here; the rest were 142 older, 157 in other languages, 310 with a score but no words and 2 about the restaurant rather than a stay.
- The hotel replied to 199 of its 200 newest Google reviews.
- 1 in every 100 reviews thank a staff member by name.
- 3 reviews mention a free upgrade, a cake or a gift.
- We looked at 81 photos: the first 21 of the hotel's own and the 60 newest from guests.
- Every number on this page is counted, not estimated. Anything in quotation marks is a guest's own words.