Clink261

The Clink261 is a basic backpacker's hostel with a great location close to King's Cross Station. It provides good, cheap accommodation (depending on the time of year, you could get a bed in a shared dorm for as little as £31 per night or a private room for £110), and a cheery, trendy aesthetic.

If you’re after a cheap place to stay and a central location, the Clink261 does the trick—and does it with a dose of style. Rooms in the, um, “joint” are far from the lap of luxury, but we’re digging the common spaces (and the hard-to-beat rates).

Guest rooms are by far the plainest thing about the Clink261. They tend to feel a little like brightly colored prison cells—fitting for a hostel called “the Clink.” Dorms supply the bare minimum: blue metal bunk beds and pale blue walls, floaty red curtains and a couple of sinks.

The private rooms are a little more appealing, favoring chrome-framed beds (also some bunks), soft-green walls and cute white side tables topped with tea and coffee fixings. They are also equipped with a small storage cupboard.

All rooms are equipped with a sink and bed linens (free of charge even in the dorms). Note that sleeping in a central location can be a noisy experience (and noisier still in a shared dorm)—we suggest packing earplugs to drown out street noise and snorers! The Clink261 also offers a female-only dorm for gals in a “no boys allowed” mood (girl power!).

All guest rooms at the Clink share bathrooms, which are single sex (each floor has a “male” bathroom and a “female” bathroom). The bathrooms provide clean white stall showers with doors that lock. They are a little funky and fun, too, with lavender-colored walls and mod, if utilitarian, fixtures.

Towels are provided free of charge for guests of the private rooms, and dorm sleepers can rent a towel for a small fee at the reception desk.

The Clink261’s basement communal kitchen is a sleek stainless steel affair with several fridges, a couple ovens, and a microwave. And the adjacent dining area is done up with black-and-white checkered floors and funky red tables.

The basement is also home to an Internet area with a handful of computer stations, as well as a groovy lounge that would make Austin Powers swoon. Think oversized purple leather sofas and cool artwork, plus a flat-screen TV, Wii console, and board games (we feel a Connect Four tournament coming on).

The upstairs lounge is equally fabulous (we heart the murals of bookshelves and iconic British imagery), and a second Internet station, which looks out over the street, carries on the retro-cool theme.

A basic breakfast (cereal, toast, tea, coffee, and juice, plus cheese and Nutella on special days!) costs a small fee. The Clink also offers 24-hour reception and an elevator. Note that private rooms sleep up to three and rates stay the same no matter how many people, so it would be worth your while to find a bunk buddy or two.