Would definitely not recommend this place for solo females. Labelled a “youth hostel” but I felt like the youngest person there by far. To get into the common area and my room I had to walk past groups of significantly older people (I would say most looked above 40) smoking/drinking etc, one guy was fully passed out. Didn’t make me feel safe at all. I got the vibe that they weren’t even travellers, just looking for a cheap place to stay. This also made it really difficult to socialise, as the hostel didn’t put on any social events.
Location wise it was good, close to Kensington Gardens. Not overly close to a station and being located in a park made it really difficult and unsafe at night, given that Holland Park locks most of its gates. Due to no communication about this from the staff, I spent one night walking the entire perimeter of Holland Park which you can imagine was quite scary in the dark, alone. Overall rooms were fine, except for the shower which was so poorly designed the floor was wet the entire time and only one temperature. Lockers were also broken. Would not stay again and highly recommend that you don’t either