Saint James Backpackers Hostel

The staff are so friendly and helpful. Was made to feel very welcome. Had the best night's sleep I've had for ages. Breakfast was perfect, not too formal and lots of options. Would definately come back.

The management are rude, greedy and liars. The bathrooms are awful, the showers regularly leak all over the entire bathroom floor. The kitchen is overcrowded and too small. The kitchen sink regularly gets clogged. The soundproofing between rooms is not great and the free dinners are tasteless. Seriously, don't stay here. These people don't deserve anyone's money!

Super welcome, very clean and super cute. Good report quality / price for central London.

I worked here as an intern for 2 months. Hands down the best work experience I had. The hostel is very well situated and has a really nice garden. Most guest and staff are very friendly and the hostel is very sociable in general. If you love socializing this is the place for you. In the evening there are a lot of well organized events like: beer-pong, twister, fifa/injustice tournaments, jenga, movie night etc.
As for negatives the bathroom flushing system definitively needs to be changed and an extra fridge for guests could be added.
If you decide to go to Saint James Backpackers to work or as a guest you will definitely make unforgettable memories.
I can't wait to return when I get the chance!

I went there, destroyed after my flight got cancelled. Best Hostel in London so far; I felt very welcome by staff, the food was overwhelming (thx Lea Mavec :P). Its simply beautiful, atmospheric & relaxing 11/10 ⭐️ In the end I just wished for my next flight to be cancelled as well.

This was a very nice hostel to stay in! The rooms and bathrooms were clean, the lobby/garden/rooms were comfortable, and the staff were extremely friendly! Would recommend for anyone wanting a home away from home in a perfect location. Close to the tube, grocery stores, restaurants, and parks!

Saint James Backpacks is the best hostel in London! It’s a clean place and the staff is really friendly.
They offer free breakfast and free dinner and around 9pm everyday there is an event like “movie night with popcorns” and more and more. The hostel is really central is just 5 minutes from Holland Park and 20 minutes from Hyde Park! Really perfect!

Amazing experience at the Saint James hostel! Great people and friendly staff, very helpful. Nice place to stay when in London, definitely will go back! :)

Really welcoming check-in by very friendly staff who actually accompany you to your room, rather than just direct you. They also offer help to transport your luggage, if overloaded. Tonight, we will have yet another free barbecue in the garden. When you remember to sign up before 16.30 there is always a free dinner or barbecue. You don't need to sign up to enjoy a free Continental Breakfast with cereal, juice, toast, and tea and coffee. You may also make free tea and coffee to your heart's content throughout the day. Should you choose not to partake of the meals on offer, there is a small kitchen with fridge, freezer and cupboard space. There are cooking facilities and cooking utensils at your disposal. An important footnote, perhaps: The staff are meticulous about the cleanliness of the kitchen and always clean it to a high standard. This does not just apply to the food area such as the Dining and Sitting Rooms, but to the hostel in general. The dormitories are amply sufficient with a personal locker and key for each guest. There are a couple of female only dorms. The rest are mixed. The showers are also mixed, but there is an individual one on the ground floor for either female or male. All in all, there is a great ambiance in the hostel, provided by the friendly and helpful staff, and an interesting mix of guests, coming from many nations and being a broad range of ages. St James' Backpackets is of Victorian design and is architecturally very attractive and spacious.

Very nice communal area. Standard hostel sleeping, bathing facilities. Great group of visitors during my stay.

We stayed in the private double room at St. James (not a shared room), however the living conditions were so poor we had to check out after our first night and find other accommodations. Brief list: ensuite bathroom was the size of an airplane bathroom, shower flooded floor within 5 minutes of use, floors turned feet black, 24/7 noise, no ventilation, rat crawling around, window didn't lock, sheets had hair on them, and more. Thankfully the (very nice) staff got us a refund. For £121/night, this was insane.

If you have hostel expectations, you will be impressed. Breakfast was filling — dinner was ok, but I was planning on eating out anyway. Great common areas, easy to meet people, and a fantastic back patio.

This place is lovely. I have been there for three days and I really enjoyed that. It is very complete and the staff is amazing.

I gave this lovely place A+ and Super like! Perfect location and wonderful staff who are doing their best to make everyone feeling comfortable.

This was my first experience in a Hostel, and I can not thank the staff enough for welcoming and making me feel at home. Great location for the underground. Plus, there's free breakfast + dinner. Overall, this place is worth the price!

Awesome cheap hostel, friendly staff.

Prime location, clean and above all wonderful staff.

Our group booked a room through hostel world. The member who booked it never received a confirmation, so booked it again (he should have just called). We arrive and explain the situation and there are 2 bookings for different prices. They ladies at the front desk we're trying to help and we're very nice, but ended up calling the manager to come in. The manager told us we had to pay for the more expensive booking of the two (they were priced differently for some reason) and told us to CC him on the email to hostel world. He was only concerned that he may incur a fee and left. When we attempted to pay, we were told that no signature cards were accepted and we had to pull out cash at the ATM. They boast free Wi-Fi, but it isn't accessible on the 3rd floor. There was also absolutely no air flow from the room, even with the window open. I took the pillowcase off of my pillow to return to the front desk and there were drops of old blood on it! Would not stay here again. I only gave it 2 stars instead of 1 due to the workers at the front desk being nice and trying to help as much as possible.

Very good breakfast.

Horrible experience. St James was my first experience as a volunteer, and what a nightmare it turned out to be! The manager is a tyrant who exploits the volunteers and interns by assigning them with thankless tasks, all the while being ever-present to dish out disparaging remarks. I was supposed to stay for 30 days but could only handle a week, which actually felt like a lifetime as I worked over 50 hours without a single day of rest during what was meant to be my week of training… A far cry from the 30 hours/week with 2 days off that we had agreed upon before I started! It was not much better for the interns whom, day or night, he forces to work 12-hour shifts, 6 days a week with a single day off. I’ll leave you to work out how many hours this represents. This is exploitation in disguise and I cannot understand how Worldpackers allow this man to advertise his “job offers” with them (there are actually plenty of them, as most volunteers do not hang around). If you signed up to Worldpackers wishing to work in a decent, humanly and professionally enriching environment, then St James is most definitely not for you. Move along!

The bathrooms were very clean. The only bad thing is that the beds are made of metal and make a lot of noise.

The place is very nice and it has a living room where to watch TV and have a chat with other people. It has a kitchen as well, free breakfast, and free dinner. Really not bad. It also has female rooms and male rooms if you want more reservation.

Nice enough beds and showers but what earns the 5 stars are the staff. Some of the friendliest and most understanding people I've ever met.

I spent 3 nights with my besties at Saint James Hostels, during our visit to London. We had booked a 4-bed dorm room, which was very clean, tidy and cozy. The shared facilities were also unexpectedly tidy as well. Can’t really remember the last time I had such fun; especially during dinner (which was for free! ), I met lovely people, and of course I couldn’t exclude the staff. Excellent value for money. I strongly recommend it!

Organized well, very friendly and helpful.

Very comfortable common areas large TV room plenty of space to use laptops and mobile phone USB port in all the rooms for charging devices Rooms are large and comfortable big garden at the rear of the property with a comfy sofas and benches.

Dislikes: They charge for paying by debit card. Some people seem stay there for long-term, I don't like the atmosphere. One day I heard the owner was arguing with a guest … the toilets and showers are so small room, I can hardly open the door and put my things in, it's really Inconvenient… a smelly too. I won't stay with them again. Basic breakfast and dinner are good.

The Saint James is one of the best places I have stayed at. The place is very clean and the staff are fantastic. Coming to London it will be your best choice.

The location of the hostel is great. The staff is nice and the general atmosphere is good. I got a room with a private bathroom and it is tiny, though.

Stayed here for 6 nights during late September early October. One star for an awesome location and another star for the free dinner.
When I checked in we were told that the only cards they accept for payment must have a PIN number associated with them. Credit cards do not thus forcing us to use our debit card. Suspiciously the employee at the front desk said our debit card would not prompt for a PIN number, so we had to pay cash which I find a little on the shady side for a hostel/hotel to only accept.
Next, our room was spacious but the bathroom was apprehensible. The floor was stained yellow and the toilet brush next to the sink had literal feces on it. Every 10 minutes a sewer smell also wafted into our room.
Finally, be cautious if your room faces the courtyard. They allow guest out there all throughout the night, most are very loud/drinking. It wouldn't be a problem if they had a noise curfew but it made it very difficult to sleep when people are yelling at 3 in the morning.
And by the way, I'm writing this review because they not only gave me a card upon checkout asking me to review, they also emailed me asking for a positive review.

It has a very warm family friendly to click to be here, with great efforts by the staff team to host all guests. Nice ideas like offering play evenings or the limited free dining are great and make the stay affordless. The rooms are good sized, the kitchen can become quite full at peak times but everything you need is here and the overall package makes it a great stay for a really good price!

Service was friendly but not very good. Good for socialising with other travellers. Rooms not clean.

This is a great hostel! It's set in a beautiful old building in a leafy, pretty area of London close to a tube station and close to lots of bars/cafes/restaurants. There's plenty of space inside the hostel to relax and meet people, and they have a great back courtyard area. The best part is that staff are so friendly. I was so stressed out when I arrived because I had assignments and a final exam that I had to complete when I was in London, as well as preparing for a job interview, and I'd been kicked out of my Airbnb early due to the apartment owner finding out that the tenant had rented it out without permission! The Saint James staff put me in a quiet room and were really friendly and made the effort to chat with me, even though I probably didn't look like the most cheerful person to talk to. It's a social hostel and they had an awesome BBQ while I was there; not just with plain sausages but hamburgers and delicious chicken wings. I'd definitely stay here again! :)

Grungy and unkempt. Staff could do well to crack a smile once in a while. Lots of long termers living there. Has a big TV though.

Great option for a budget traveller! The shared rooms are only less than £20/night and for that you can get a free breakfast and a free dinner (need to sign up for the dinner). The common room has a huge TV with a PlayStation and board games and musical instruments. There's a kitchen where you can keep your food in the fridge and cook for yourself. There's a cute cat and a very happy dog in the garden. The showers were clean and water was warm. The rooms come with pillow, blanket and bedsheets and you can rent a towel for £2.50. Also need a deposit of £10 for the room key which will be returned on checkout. Very friendly staff who are very welcoming and happy to help. They seem to organise all sorts of film and sports nights. Other guests are obviously a mixed bunch but there were both young and old people, social and more reserved ones. One huge minus was that the mattresses on the bunk beds are especially noisy and I kept waking up when the person above me moved during the night. Also no sockets by individual beds and just one big lamp in the room, meaning you either disturb others or have to be in the dark when you come in late. Also, the location is superb, a short walk away from Earl's Court tube station. Overall, id recommend to anyone on tight budget and who wants a nice hostel experience. There are things that can be improved but it's one of the better hostels I've stayed at. The dog and the cat are a big bonus here!

I had a great time in Saint James Backpackers! It's for sure the best hostel I've been till now. The staff is really kind and helpfull and the people you meet there can easily become your friends in a day! The free breakfast and dinner are definetely plus for somebody that wants to save money and the fact that there is netflix and a huge TV in the living room made my stay more pleasant. Also they organize social events every single night that is a really good way to meet people and make friends. I definitely recommend this place! :)

Good location, easy to reach any part, clean, super-friendly staff, kitchen is small but well equipped (:

Very uncomfortable beds. Only 3 nights and my back was dead. Loud at nights and not very clean washrooms. Good staff. Good location.

Location is great, communal areas are nice, there's isn't a plug next to every bed, and the needs are louds.

Really good location, convenient and quiet too.

Price changes every day, especially during weekends and events this Hostel isn't good value. Bathrooms were smelly and often dirty. Lack of space to store suitcase/bags. Breakfast is okay.

I have been last year it's not a hostel but more then a 5 star experience.

Read about this in paper should be shut down.

Clean and comfortable, staff friendly and efficient. Good atmosphere.

I've been to saint james hostel in April 2014, on a study trip and I love it! Apart from its strategic location, close to the earls court tube station, I found the rooms very clean and tidy, a very friendly and helpful staff and the very low price! breakfast and plentiful and something for everyone! my vote and 10 more and I will be back for sure! I recommend it with the heart at all.