Palmers Lodge - Swiss Cottage

I don’t like to leave bad reviews but I do feel a duty as a solo female to warn future female travellers around the kind of demographic this hostel attracts. I was surprised at how many older men were staying at this venue, and how many of those people were homeless seeking shelter for a night or so. I observed many people lingering in the waiting room or just outside for days and it certainly did not make me feel very comfortable. Also the kitchen is minuscule and our room had bedbugs.

Sadly I found a bed bug in my bed, and a lot of marks suggesting the invasion wasn’t recent…

Tienen servicio de lockers (pagos) que resulta útil Los espacios son muy muy reducidos, pero MUY. La cocina es MINI, tiene una sola ventana que ni se abre, lo cual lo hace terriblemente incómodo para un hostel tan grande. Es IMPOSIBLE cocinar. La heladera está explotada, no hay ningún elemento para etiquetar la comida, pusimos unas botellas de agua para aunque sea tener agua fresca, y como no hay con que etiquetar, nos las robaron. Sumado a eso, pareciera que el lugar no tiene ventanas, no circula el aire, te sentis como ahogado todo el tiempo. En las habitaciones el ambiente es espeso, no se puede ni respirar, pleno verano y no tiene ni siquiera un ventilador, es un infierno. Los espacios de guardado están debajo de las camas, lo cual lo vuelve muy poco práctico si (como a nosotros) les toca alguien que deja todo al costado de la cama, ya que no es posible abrir los cajones. Y como plus a todo eso, las chinches de cama ME MATARON, parece que falta higiene. Estuvimos dos noches y no pudimos ni dormir, fue una muy mala experiencia. no volvería ni lo recomendaría. Es una lástima, tiene potencial pero necesitan cambiar un montón de cosas

Dirty bed sheets & pillows , Dity room . Stinks a lot of wee ,bed sheets are dirty not even changed . Room was in bad condition. Toilets are dirty and even no space and not built, kitchen same dirty, I dont recommend at all you can’t sleep there bed bugs . Smell, dirty never seen like this before did travel all uk as chauffeur stayed a lot of hotel amd hostels but this one first time seen something like this. Dirty toilets , broken sinks, broken toilet , Dity room, Dirty bed sheets, room condition is like dog shed . Don’t recommend at all I stayed all over uk hostel & hotel but not seen like this ever. Very disgusting very dirty

Do not stay here. There's bedbugs 🪲🪲🪲🪲

Safety and cleanliness were my top priorities, and Palmer’s Lodge got the safety part spot on! I definitely felt safe. It was mostly clean but, not gonna lie, pretty sure I was bitten by bed bugs or something else. Also, the bathroom in the women only en-suite needed a serious deep cleaning. One thing I was really looking forward to when booking was the helpful people who work there that could offer advice or recommendations, that did not happen. I don’t think the people working there had any knowledge of anything related to transportation, shopping, dinner places or really anything else. I felt as if I was being annoying just for asking. I see they are showing as closed now, not sure what that’s about but I gave them 4 stars because I did feel safe, and it’s a hostel not a hotel.

One of the worst hostels I have stayed at. The rooms are not prepared for the heat, specially for the hot summer nights in London, there was 1 fan in the room but wasn’t enough to keep the room cool. Also, during my entire stay I noticed everything was super dusty, including curtains and mattress. I couldn’t stop sneezing during the entire time there. I’m pretty sure I got a skin rash because of it. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s bed bugs in there. The common areas, such as the ‘lobby’ is poorly equipped, all the charis and sofas are dirty, most of them have stains and is quite scary sitting down. Another thing, my food got stolen multiple times in the kitchen. I told reception but they didn’t seem to care. Specially the guy with the long hair in a bun. It’s frustrating because most of the times I would leave food to have for dinner and then it would be gone and there wouldn’t be anywhere else around to dine in. Even when they were labelled. Also they charge for towels and they are in poor condition too they even smell bad. I wouldn’t recommend staying here at all, it’s not worth it.

I would only come back if I didn't have a better option. The doors are heavy, which means you gonna wake up every time someone goes in or out of the room. The staff was friendly and they clean the hostel daily, however, my room was smelly, I was bitten by something, not sure if it was bed bugs or another insect. The kitchen is really small and has curfew. The sofa in the common area was dirty and the hostel is big, with people around all the time, so you can never have some peace and quiet, even to send a voice message in the hallways. The breakfast was well served and the area is good, close from the tube station and shops. Overall it was ok, but there are better hostels for the same price or less.

Everything was decent Unfortunately the third day I wake up and I had bites all over my body. I looked like bedbugs,mosquitos can not do that.

Les lits sont confortables et les salles de bain sont propres. L’établissement est très bien desservi par les transports en commun, avec plusieurs arrêts de bus et une station de métro à proximité, ce qui facilite les déplacements en ville. j’ai été piquée par des punaises de lit et j’étais au deuxième étage. Soyez prudents , car les piqûres n’apparaissent pas immédiatement.

Not bad, but not as nice as in the photos (I think the saturation is turned up). Fairly big. I saw a bed bug unfortunately. Also seemed to house “long term” residents

Hostel was cheap and worth of money but it has bedbugs😢 Bedbugs omg after the stay, red rash on my back and arm due to bedbugs. I took pictures to prove it, I will definitely leave review on google with pics not to make it happen to others :(

The staff members were very kind and helpful, and tried to offer solutions. I booked for 4 nights but I had to to leave after 2 due to bed bug bites all over my body. I have stayed here before and left with an overall good impression, but this was one of my worst hostel experience. The shared bathroom was quite far from my room. And there were creepy people lurking around the reception and in the building. It felt more like a temporary accomodation rather than a hostel for backpacker tourists.

Nothing Bedbugs

It was ok. Same thing both days . Chocolate croissants were good. Unlimited coffee and juice was good. No fan , no AC in the room; felt very stuffy; we had to leave our door always opened to let air in. Showers: horrible design; no ventilation; you can take shower all day long and still feel sticky. First morning I took the shower, i fell very badly bc how slippery it was due to lack of air circulation. The bed: on the day of my check out i noticed multiple red itchy dots all of my body, that looked like bed bugs bites. I reported this issue to the front desk, but no refund or partial reimbursement was offered for this “little inconvenience “. Over rated hostel; would not be back for sure.

Woke up one morning to a bed bug crawling across my bed. Left immediately after. The staff seemed indifferent and did nothing to rectify the situation, only saying that I would be refunded for the night that I cancelled (which hasn’t happened yet). The hostel is somewhat dirty and rundown and smells of smoke. Weird atmosphere as the people are mainly in their 40s and 50s. Beds were comfortable and the blackout curtains were nice. Their breakfast was the only particularly exceptional aspect.

It's near two metro stations, Finchley Road and Swiss Cottage. When I walked into the female dormitory room, it smelled like sour sweat. The odor was very strong and didn't go away during the whole stay since there was not enough ventilation in the room. There were very suspicious small red marks in my bed sheets and little holes which might be signs of bed bug infestation. I checked the mattress thoroughly and thankfully didn't find anything, but according to other reviews about bed bugs, I don't think I would feel safe staying here again. Plus, I didn't get any sleep due to the person on the top of my bunk snoring the whole night. Yes, it's a dormitory which can be hard for light sleepers, but expect to be put in a room with at least one or two people snoring very loudly that keeps a few people awake literally the whole night.

Most of the staff I was told by reception staff somebody below my bunk reported that they bought bed bugs in my room so I had to leave and wasn't allowed back as I was bitten but the person who coordinated my stay at this hostel argued against this being true and wouldn't simply call up the hostel to confirm so the knock on effect of that was I slept back on the streets a few nights. The hostel didn't even say sorry and refused a refund or discounted room as I was not allowed to stay

The interior is historic and beautiful, there’s privacy and curtains, good location BED BUGS, my bed was infested by bed bugs they refused spraying it with insecticide, they told me that a free wash would be enough, bed bugs don’t die easily, so it would be not. I had severe allergic reactions, I slept on the hallway, it was cold. I did not get any of my money back. They were extremely rude. The kitchen is small dirty and crowded. Horrible. Avoid at all cost

The building is beautiful and the common areas, bed have currents and give you privacy, good location BED BUGS, I spoke with them a month prior asking to reunite my booking, they said that they did and have not. The bed had bed bugs, I spent most of my time sleeping in cold on the hallway. They refused to clean or announce the other people in the room. They did not use any insecticide. They did not move me. I got no compensation for this horrible nights. I spent more on medicine and insecticides than the accommodation itself. Avoid at all costs.

Ravaged by bedbugs in 109. Bed curtains are good for privacy but not for cleanliness. Makes it easy for them to hide.

Dear Palmers Lodge, Swiss Cottage I would like thank you for having. There was one thing that was hard to deal with in the time spent there was bedbugs of some kind which caused me a skin infection. Like every night there was a new rush accumulated somewhere on my body. The staff were very pleasant and skillful on the day to day bases curring out the work.

- Nice location - Comfy shared area - Clean bathrooms - Bed bugs!!! - Giant fan in the room was making noise 24/7. Hard to sleep - Smal kitchen — fits 2 people max - Wifi is unstable

During my stay here i had found what could MAYBE have been a bed bug. I notified staff immediately and they responded on the issue much later. They did not seem concerned, as this is very disappointing considering the high rating this hostel has. The breakfast was very sweet and we were not able to get unused breakfast pass refunded.

This place has bedbugs. I am still trying to get rid f it.

This hostel was overall great!! Spacious dorms, comfy beds, privacy curtains. Bar staff were super friendly atmosphere was amazing. Until we got bed bugs. The staff paid for us to wash all our clothes and stuff but then told us that it wasn’t bed bugs and no compassion was given. I was told to email the manager in which the same this was said and they blamed our airplane or the tubes for giving me 80+ bites all over my body and my partner then also got many bites that showed a few days later. I gave up trying to get any compensation as the staff were rude blunt and unhelpful. A shame this happened as the actual place was amazing