Hostel: Clink 78, King Cross London

Assalamualaikum. Annyeong.

Ok, tiba² semangat membara mau update entry(ies) regarding the hostel(s) I stayed at during my 2 weeks adventure. As I said in few of my posts before, I stayed at my bestie's place in Saltley, Birmingham for a week. I went to her place the day I landed London.

Weeks before I bought my flight ticket, I was busy browsing for the cheapest hostel in London. Yalah, 1 week memang sudah confirm stay di Birmingham. Another 1 week tu yang buat aku risau bingung otak. Have to calculate all budgets needed as well. I filtered few hostels & specifically search for a female dorm. Memang intended to stay with few other girls in a room. Memang ndak mau stay hotel; sebab budget traveler kan konsep solo adventure aku ni. Aku dapat idea untuk stay di hostel ni pun sebab selalu jadi stalker blog solo travelers. 

And finally, after few weeks of decision making...Clink 78 top my list. Mula tu mau stay Generator Hostel; because the female dorm is super pink vogue habis...but there was no bed available on the date I chose. 

Paling sempoi untuk sampai hostel ni. Either guna superwalkertapaki (10 minutes) or naik double decker. Your pick. Rajin ndak jak. Bus stop memang betul² depan tangga hostel ok. Just take bus no. 63, ring the bell at the second stop from King's Cross station. Gerenti ndak kan sesat. 

Look for bus stand D in front of King's Cross departure hall...and sila rajin tengok no bus yang kau boleh naik from this stop as well. Aku sudah beli Oyster Card di Victoria Station, so aku just flash kad tu at the machine next to the bus driver. Ndak payah beli tiket bas if u have the OC.

Bus stop is situated right in front of the station. Nampak kan background gambar ialah dua tiga biji double decker tu. Memang plan untuk stay area King's Cross Station.

Reason paling kukuh is because early the next morning, I will be taking the Eurostar train to Paris from St. Pancras International; which is situated next to King's Cross station. 

How the hostel looks like from the outside. This picture was probably taken in front of the kebab cafe where I bought my dinner throughout my stay there.

Reception area. 

Upon confirmation of room I had paid the 10% deposit to secure my booking, hence I just need to pay the remaining balance during the check-in. Ouh, passport is needed as well. Bukti pengenalpastian jak kot. Great service they have here! Super friendly, super helpful, super efficient. Senang cerita, aku memang tiada problem masa checking in as well checking out. 

I made the searching to booking to paying deposit for the hostel; at HostelBookers website. Senang kerja. Mau tau pasal hostel tu, sila rajin baca reviews from previous guests. Apart from that, paling aku pentingkan is of course the location. Siap google live view ok. Kunun mau dapat feel poyo! 

Furnished & decorated with super elegant architecture. Daebak!

Room keypass. Menarik tertarik? This hostel is a youth hostel set in a 200-year old courthouse building. Hence explain the image on the pass. Handcuffs gitu.

For those who comes prior the check-in time, u can always leave ur belongings in the luggage room located at the basement, near the cafeteria. No worries, the room memang berkunci. One need a pass to enter. Pas tinggal barang dalam tu, bolehlah continue berjalan² round the city.

I bought my day-trip ticket to Windsor, Bath & Stonehenge from the Travel Shop. 

No lift available to access the deluxe girls' dorm. Sila usaha sikit untuk menapak & naik tangga. Alah bukan jauh pun.

Stayed in this oh so girly decorated room for a night only...thus memang ndak sempat beramas mesra sama dormates lain pun. Sampai dari jalan² tawaf London pun sudah malam. Only few were still awake, I managed to have a little chit chat with a Scottish & Japanese ladies while doing my packing. Excited jumpa yang sekapal sama aku. Travel solo. I went off to bed soon after I finished my packing, gue lagi cape' dong!

My first bed on my first time staying at a hostel in my first time travelling alone! Fuh!!! Pengalaman. I paid £22 per night for this private dorm. Toilets & showers are private as well. The dorm is located separately from the other rooms in the hostel. Special sikit kedudukan dia kunun. 

Because of the hostel's strategic location I decided to stay here once again; after returning from Amsterdam. Aku lambat book sebab sebelum tu sibuk mau cari hostel lain kunun; ended up the deluxe girls' dorm adalah fully booked. So I have to settled with the girls' dorm located on the same floor with the mixed dorms. Not a big problem, as long as bukan sebilik with boys. I got the bed for £18 per night. Stayed there for 4 nights. 

On  my second time there, masih dapat katil yang di tingkat atas. The first bunk bed upon entering the room. Just like my first time. Whatever lah, janji selesa. Tilam pun super empuk. Sebab katil atas, jadi aku solat duduk jak. Memang superb habislah kalau aku still solat macam biasa kan.

And hooray! The girls have their own toilet & shower...so as the boys. Oh yeah!

Siapa malas tunggu lift boleh menapak naik tangga. This is one of the staircase located in front of the dorm. Love the colors combination. 

I took my free breakfast during my second stay. Didn't take my breakfast on my first stay as I had to leave the hostel at 3am to catch my early 5am train. 

Only basic meal is provided by the hostel. So sila jangan ada hati demand lebih². Ok lah kan, hot drinks...toasts...breads...cereals. Selamat tinggal sementara to heavy breakfast; nasi lemak, fried mee etc etc! Walau hakikat sebenar, aku makan terlebih. Toasts 3-4 kepings, cereal 2 bowls. I drank the coffee, the tea too, and the juice as well. Memang perut kerbau! 

Yours Truly in the courtroom that was turned into an internet room. Di hostel ni ndak da free wifi ya. If u want to use the internet service, sila beli kad top up at the reception area. If I'm not mistaken, its £2 for every 15 minutes of usage. Because I only wanted to check-in my flight back to Malaysia, I reloaded the card with £5. Balance tu aku trip lah kunun surfed fb, update status...pastu trip pelancong bingai siap checked-in location bagai. Serius gaya bikin panas!

 

Kalau dari King's Cross station, memang super senang mau sampai hostel tu. Hop on the double decker jak. But from the hostel to the station, aku memang guna khidmat superwalkertapaki. Alkisah, ndak jumpa bus stop. Ala, it's barely a 10 minutes walk. Kalau beg berat gajah, memang berbakul jugalah sumpah seranah. Tapi best berjalan awal pagi, I have the chance to embrace the morning breeze. Paling penting, dapat cuci mata secara live. Tetttttttttt.

Overall, memang puas hati. Lokasi pun strategik. King's Cross lebih kurang macam KL Sentral. All the lines for the underground tube are connected here. On my last day, I took the tube to Heathrow Terminal 4. Adalah lebih kurang an hour of journey. Malas sudah aku fikir mau hop on hop off coach...Oyster Card still ada balance, so I thought taking the tube is of great idea. Ndak payah exchange train bagai. Memang direct journey to the airport. 

Will continue about the hostel I stayed in Paris later. Insya Allah. Kerajinan membara kunun sekarang ni. Till then! 

eryantierdabdulkarim