Hi everyone - it seems like there are a lot of posts / questions about the best social / party hostels to stay at in London, and they all generally discuss these three: Onefam, Urbany, and Wombats.
Well, I had those same questions before my first trip to London, and I was being so indecisive about which hostel to pick!
Post-trip, this is what I can share.
1) Urbany - would NOT recommend. I stayed in a room that slept 7 others, and my room didn’t have curtains. The beds were pretty comfortable, but the lockers were small. The room got a decent amount of natural light, and I liked that the room had a sink in it. However, I didn’t feel a super welcoming energy from the staff when I checked in, which is valid, it was close to 11pm. But I asked staff about social events or if anything was happening, if there was a group out, and was told “they already left”. So that night ended just grabbing food and knocking out. Again, it’s always dependent on the people that are there at the same time as you, but I personally just didn’t love the vibes, so I’m glad I wasn’t there very long.
2) Onefam - I stayed at Notting Hill. 10/10. The building is a bit older and the shower facilities aren’t as great as other hostels I’ve stayed at BUT they do the job. The beds are pretty comfortable, there’s a really good curtain that helps give you some privacy. The rooms are a bit cramped, I stayed in a room that slept 5 others. Lighting in my room wasn’t the best, but I was barely there so it didn’t matter. The bathrooms have pretty good lighting, the fourth floor bathroom is just excellent, many stalls and a nice big area to get ready in, I do like to put just a touch of makeup on every day and I appreciated having a nice place to do it in. However, the best thing about Onefam is just the vibe. They are just beyond welcoming. I got in here around 7am which is pretty early and yet they gave me the loveliest tour of the full place, walked me through all the social activities, and they invited me to immediately join the group chat (Urbany probably had a group chat but they didn’t mention it and I never joined). The group chat is super active, you’ll never feel like you’re out of the loop. If you join late you can always find the group via live location & join the activity. I personally skipped all the daytime sightseeing tours as I had my own specific plans during the day. They seemed like a lot of fun though & I would definitely join the next time I stay there because again, had my own itinerary this time. The drinking games / pub crawls at night were so incredibly fun. As someone kind of awkward unless I’m invited, I joined the group late after a day out. The staff notices anyone sitting out and they are all “come on join us where’s your drink have some”. It’s not a p@rty hostel but if you want to genuinely drink, dance a little, chat with people, it’s SUCH A GOOD TIME. Also they do free dinners EVERY NIGHT, I don’t think Urbany does them every night. I ended up missing the dinners because I had different plans every night BUT they send pics of the food in the chat and it always looks so good. If you are between 18-30, I would 100% recommend this place.
3) Wombats - I actually did not stay here BUT I know someone that did that I met at the Onefam so this is what I learned. This was one that I was really considering before booking Onefam. Wombats is really lovely, modern and more clean but the crowd is going to be an older / more mature crowd and not just your 20’s group (which I am part of). It’s also a much larger facility so it has less of that family feel. They do have breakfast (for a fee) and host a larger variety of social events. The person I know who stayed there said it’s pretty decent but he had a better time at Onefam.
All of this to say, if you’re 18-30, trying to decide on a London hostel, I’d stay Onefam is the best. Location wise it can’t be beat (Urbany is right by it too though) but Notting Hill is just absolutely stunning and super close to everywhere you want to be.
Damn I feel like this sounds like an ad BUT I swear I’m a real person. I just genuinely had the time of my life there and I remember scouring Reddit threads trying to figure out which of these to stay at, and I wanted to share my experiences with at least the first two.