Clink 261

What’s up with the bad reviews? Clink 261 was my 1^st hostel and I thought it was great even after being spoiled by hotels all my life! Located near Kings Cross — the main crossroad of central London’s transport, this hostel is an affordable living solution that has awesome amenities for young travelers.
Perhaps it was recently updated, but each bed has its own USB charging port, UK power outlet, and light. The bed was a bit firm but even as a difficult sleeper, I thought the bed was pretty comfortable! The only gripes I have about the room are that the free Wi-​Fi was not working (although the staff mentioned that it was temporarily down and in repair) and each bunk bed shared one locker basket (no problem for me but only because everyone in my room was trustworthy).
Each floor has one toilet and two shower rooms. The toilet and the showers worked fine, so again, I think there was an update since the bad reviews about cold or un-​pressurized shower.
However, Clink 261’s biggest draw is the common room that has free breakfast and a social atmosphere with fellow young travelers to meet! It’s definitely a cool way to meet new people or simply have a conversation. Also, the free breakfast of toast and cereal with tea and coffee was an awesome amenity especially in an expensive city like London.
Anyway, I thought I was going to hate it because I never stayed in a hostel before but because of Clink 261, I won’t hesitate to stay in one again if everything else is too expensive. If you are a London traveler who doesn’t require the hotel pamper, Clink 261 is an excellent choice!
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REMEMBER TO BRING:
1) UK plug adaptor
2) Toothbrush and toothpaste
3) Towel
4) Shampoo, conditioner, body wash
5) Combination lock
If you forgot, you can buy them at the desk. Welcome to hostel life!
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tl;dr version:
1) Comfortable hostel with awesome updated amenities
2) Free breakfast and free wifi
3) Great place to meet fellow travelers

A good hostel overall, but lacking some of the amenities of more modern hostels, like power outlet and small light with every bunk. In fact the outlets were the most annoying part, with half of them behind bunks, etc. in my small room with 8 or 10 dorm beds.
Bathrooms in the hallway. Small, but about average for a hostel, in my opinion. Clean. Hot water was fine. The breakfast in the morning was well done, with good options.
The location is fantastic, just a couple hundred meters from Kings Cross St Pancras station, which is on the Piccadilly line (direct to/​from London Heathrow Airport with no transfers) and is the terminal for Eurostar to/​from Paris and Brussels. It’s also a very convenient station to get to most tourist places in London, and (moderate) walking distance to Oxford St.
Lastly, they offer tiny little lockers in the reception area for valuables, but none in the room I stayed in.

Das Hostel ist zwar relativ günstig, jedoch auch am Rande jeglicher Qualität.
Ich war dort mit sechs Freunden in einem Zimmer, welches maximal 9 qm maß und pro Person knapp 45EUR kostete. Ich finde das ist eine Frechheit. Man zahlt 274 Euro für dieses Zimmer, was vielleicht gar nicht so schlimm wäre wenn es irgendwelchen Komfort in kleiner Kontur geben würde. Es gibt eine einzige Steckdose (für sechs Personen) und ein Zentrallicht. Leselampen geschweige denn kleine Boards neben dem Bett: Fehlanzeige. Man lebt aus dem Koffer denn auch ein «Locker» zum sichern der eigenen Habseligkeiten wie Laptop oder Kamera gibt es nicht. Das einzige was ausser den Betten im Raum ist, ist ein kleines Waschbecken ohne Mischbatterie, also Warm links und Kalt rechts, lauwarmes Wasser gibt es nicht. Die Betten sind viel zu klein und haben teilweise unten nicht einmal genug Platz damit man seinen Koffer oder seinen Rucksack dort hinlegen kann. Das Fenster, welches nicht richtig zu geht liegt genau an der Straße die von Morgens um sieben bis Abends um zwölf durchgehend gestaut oder stark befahren ist. Das heisst: Hupen und Sirenen inklusive, auch eine Menge Motorradfahrer die es anscheinend mögen mal so richtig Gas auf der Busspur zu geben gibt es gratis dazu. Heizung ist nicht einstellbar.
Das Hostel bietet überteuertes Wifi und ein paar Computer an, Pro Stunde zwei Pfund, Dauerkarten z.B. für eine Woche gibt es nicht.
Die Sahitäranlagen sind einfach nur ekelig ohne zu übertreiben. Toiletten sehen ungepflegt und ungeputzt aus, die Duschen sind verschimmelt und sind zu klein, man kann sich nicht richtig umziehen weil es keinen Bereich dafür gibt, also FKK– Pflicht.
Das Frühstück ist inklusive, man kann es sich jedoch auch sparen, es gibt geröstetes Toastbrot und eine kleine billig Marmeladenauswahl, die ebenso schmeckt, am Sonntag gibt es zur gebührenden Feier des Tages noch ein wenig Analogkäse.
Also, ich hoffe dass ich meine Zeit dort vergessen kann und das Trauma mich nicht auffrisst. Nächstes Mal gebe ich lieber (meinetwegen auch deutlich) mehr Geld aus um einen angenehmen Urlaub in London zu verbringen.

I stayed at this hostel during my 4 nights stay in London.
I originally didn’t like this place because it was rather boring. I was making the last leg of my trip alone and this place seemed rather blah. There didn’t seem to be a social life to speak of and it wasn’t a great way of meeting new people. It provided movie nights and breakfast (if you can call toast and cereal breakfast) but that was it.
HOWEVER, it was clean, inexpensive, near the tube, the showers were hot and everyone seemed to go to bed at reasonable hours. I may not have liked this at first, but when I developed a terrible sinus infection/​head cold on the last two days of my trip, I was very happy for this relaxed environment.

Very relaxed hostel
great for a few nights sleep…
showers were cold but it is a hostel so nothing new there
clean, inexpensive and relaxed staff…
close to the tube and safe

This is a great hostel. It’s clean and inexpensive. Perfect for a foreign backpacker. Plus it’s a convenient walking distance to the tube. This is important especially when you’re carrying a 100lb backpack!
cheers!