Safestay London Elephant & Castle

Do not stay in this place you will be swarmed with bed bugs. And the manager of the place a Somalian lady will make your stay hell.

i found bed bugs in my bed... and they were not even impressed, so i thing is something that happens often! I wanted my money back and they just told me to send an email but they haven answered me yet...

Very poor customer service 2/10 nights I booked here someone was in my room and the gentleman without hair on the reception by the name of ‘aks’ (probably a fake name he gave) was very rude while being very confrontational when I asked to speak to a manager he refused to allow me to speak to them repeating information I didn’t ask for in an attempt to argue with me. Not only this on the first night I was there I received multiple bites from bed bugs that developed into really swolen and itchy cuts all over my legs and arms see photos AVOID THIS ESTABLISHMENT AT ALL COSTS I will be pursuing a refund Not only this the rooms smell very bad there was no shower in the room or toilet. The windows cannot be closed allowing for the elements and bugs to come in through the windows. Waking up to a puddle of rain in my room and my shoes soaking wet. The best thing about this place is the location hence the one star. No privacy sharing room with rude unpolite people who smell like they are not utilising the shower facilities. Which are covered in rot and the floors are always soaking wet with their being paper towels discarded on the floor showing their is no regular cleaning. If you want to come here thinking you will get a good nights rest think again. Poor organisation, poor customer service, no microwave or plug sockets downstairs Very bad WiFi do not rely on being able to use it unless you are on the lower ground floor(which I wouldn’t because the lobby area has a nasty smell of rotting food and coffee mixed with body odours DO NOT COME HERE YOU WILL DEEPLY REGRET IT LIKE I DID

Was bitten by bed bugs all through out the night.

I'm pretty sure I got bed bug bites from staying here unfortunately, which is a shame as otherwise it's quite convenient. Won't be coming back :(

This review refers to room 022, which we booked as a private room for a group of eight for four nights. The room itself was very tidy, as were the toilet and shower within the room. The mattresses were somewhat worn out, but within the expected standard for a hostel. I had made myself paranoid by reading other reviews beforehand and thoroughly inspected everything for bedbugs, but none were present. A positive aspect was that towels were provided for all of us. However, it became somewhat uncomfortable over the days as the room grew increasingly stuffy and humid. This was mainly because the window couldn't be fully opened, and the bathroom ventilation only worked semi-reliably. A suggestion for the hostel: providing guests with a squeegee could help them clean up excess water in the bathroom. We also booked breakfast, which was more than reasonable in terms of price and value. There was a small selection of cereals, typical cold cuts and spreads, toast, warm (chocolate) croissants, fruit, eggs, and beans, along with two large coffee machines and orange juice. Regarding other reviews, I can’t necessarily confirm their criticisms. At no point did we feel unsafe (even late at night when some of us arrived very late), as only hostel residents have access to the rooms. While there were some individuals in the lobby who stayed for extended periods, slept there, or charged their devices, they were always well-kept, quiet, and merely seeking shelter from the November cold. Overall, this hostel absolutely meets expectations and offers good accommodation for a short trip to London.

Our stay at SafeStay, Elephant and Castle, in November 2024, was extremely disappointing. The most serious issue was a bedbug infestation that caused bites to two of our group members. Despite thoroughly washing and drying all our clothes and luggage after returning home, the infestation followed us, which is completely unacceptable. Additionally, the staff showed no willingness to help when we reported problems with the heating and elevator. Combined with poor cleanliness standards, this stay was far below expectations. I strongly urge management to address these issues immediately to prevent similar experiences for future guests.

Do not go! If you are thinking of staying here, think about another option. The location is not that bad but the closest you have is tower brigde 30 min away. Anyone can enter the lobby so it is full of homeless or people who just go to charge their cell phones, I even saw people sleeping there with all their belongings in plastic bags, when you enter you get a smell so foul and pungent. It's okay if they do that, we all deserve help, although they should clarify that they do that, that the lobby is for homeless people. In other hostels they told me everything I could find, here they only told me "check in is at 3". Just like they ask you to be respectful and clean because you share space with other travelers. Here they ate in the room and everything stunk, not very hygienic everywhere. I got to my room and just wanted to go to bed, mmmm there were bed bugs!!!! I went downstairs and asked to change my room, at first they only wanted to change my bed in the same room. In the end they did change my room but it took them another 2 hours to give it to me. I arrived at noon and was able to get into my room until 6:45 am. However, the guy was very concerned and asked me 5 times if I had slept in the bed and if it was clean. He was really more worried about me assigning that bed to someone else than about getting it clean. The bed was moderately clean of course but with bedbugs !!!! Yuck! The safety boxes where you can keep your suitcase dirty and some don't close well, shower very small, uncomfortable mattresses, dirty walls, I don't even want to think about how clean the sheets were or if they were changed before I arrived, I just put up with the displeasure of being there for 5 days.

Booked from booking.com // booking number: 4653239764 Terrible stay. Property infested with bed bugs. Got bitten all over. Couldn't sleep whole night. Avoid if you dont want to get bitten by bed bugs.

I had a great experience during my first stay here – the room was comfortable, and the people were friendly. That’s why I decided to return for a few more days, but unfortunately, this time wasn’t as pleasant. The room I was given was far worse in comparison. The heating was stuck on, and it felt like it was 30 degrees inside at all times. After two nights of sweltering heat, maintenance finally sorted it out. To make matters worse, on the morning of my last day, a staff member woke me up by tapping me, telling me it was time to check out. First of all, don’t touch me – what gives you the right? Secondly, I had paid for a late check-out. Incredibly, another staff member came in about 10 minutes later to tell me again that it was time to leave. When it was actually time for me to check out, I discovered that my keycard had gone missing. It had either been picked up by the cleaning staff or someone else in the room, so I couldn’t even hand it in. I’d also like to add that I got bitten quite a few times, presumably by bed bugs. If you get a good room, this place can be great, but after experiencing both ends of the spectrum, unless you can guarantee a good one, it’s not worth the risk.

So you reply to every review but ignore the last review about the bed bugs? I am here to agree with that review. If you stay there a single night, you are guaranteed to leave with at least 15 bites. This place needs to be shut down and properly fumigated. Disgusting.

To flee, I had bedbugs in my bed and had to change rooms at 1:30 AM. I was told that I would be reimbursed and that I had to send an email. I never received a reply. Outrageous.

bed bugs in the rooms. staff took it upon themselves to move our items, including underwear to a different room without letting us know. bed bugs in the new room too.

Bed bugs on the room

Management is clearly at fault for claiming false promise of improvement, while adopting denial and inequal treatment. I confirm the review of Amarande, there are bed bugs in "safe"stay London Elephant & Castle. I stayed in the hostel for one night but it was enough to see the flaws are spread on different levels. Frontdesk staff looking not happy and complaining about upper management bullying. I've been on the end of my sabatical year around the world post covid and never experienced bed bugs ever (meaning i have a good budget), the I reached "Safe"stay, felt like the first thing on checking how people are put in rooms based on skin coulour and age. Twice, i've been allocated to rooms with homeless /financial distressed people where it litteraly stinks and the cleaning staff not doing it's job. Better quality hostels branches in London (those who run charities, recruit young motivated volunteers from different countries) costs three quids more, but provide kitchens and great socials. While this "safe"-stay would charge more than £5 for a poor breakfast and no facilities to cater yourself. What kind of unrational arrangements/deal was made with management towards competitors ?