Safestay Elephant & Castle

Can be a bit chaotic when large groups arrive to check-in. It's well maintained and relatively clean and tidy. Has a laundry room which is very handy and serves breakfast which is one of the better standards of food service I've experienced at these types of places. Lots of females and young people stay here and it does feel safe. The bucks are two beds rather than the more common 3 which gives you much more space and save you from keep banging your head. Which tends to occur more often if you're tall like me. You need to keep your belongings in your sight or locked away as petty crime, items going missing/stolen does occur. I think the staff do have a handle on these incidents and the residents to help deter it. So if you are sensible you should have a Safestay.

Outside temperatures were over 30 °C, yet in the third-floor room it felt like a sauna due to the tiny window opening (only about 15 cm, allegedly due to legal regulations). There was no air conditioning, just a large but completely ineffective fan. The mattress had a rubber-like cover that trapped heat and made everything sticky and uncomfortable. To make matters worse, the bathroom and toilet became unbearably hot and stuffy once the door was closed. Absolutely not a place for a restful night in warm weather Edit: After checking out, we stored our luggage ourselves in the designated locked room, following the instructions at reception. We attached a tag with our name and the date to each bag, expecting this would be checked when collecting them. However, when picking up the luggage, absolutely nothing was verified. No one asked for an ID, no booking reference, not even a name check. The staff member simply unlocked the room after we said we wanted to collect our luggage. The excuse that the receptionist might have recognized us does not apply either, since it was a completely different staff member who gave us access. At no point were the tags or our identity verified, meaning we could have walked out with completely different luggage without anyone noticing. In a hostel where people who are clearly not guests are frequently present in the lobby, this is a major security risk and highly unprofessional.