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The Dictionary Hostel, Shoreditch, London
+ reviews in all languages
Diaa, Egypt - Aug 13, 2017
good location near a lot of bars and restaurants. close to bus a stations and walking distance (9min) from nearest tube stations.
Staff is so cool the only down side is the shower too small for a big man like me i was stuck everytime i shower like a hippo.
Nuria, Spain - Dec 28, 2015
Great location. Comfy dorms. Bit noisy. Party atmosphere.
anonymous, Canada - Apr 22, 2015
the breakfast time a bit late and the eating place is small. People were all packed in the small area and jostle around for food and drinks which makes it difficult to move around the area and it seems with a bit of smell. We have to clean up our own utensils after use. Hope the breakfast time can be stretched and better arrangement in the logisticst etc..no wifi in the room and have to pay for it even though it's 1 pound a day. overall, the staff are helpful and friendly.
anonymous, Netherlands - Apr 22, 2014
Very good. Thank you!
The owner's reply
Woohoo! Thank you :)
anonymous, Italy - Apr 05, 2014
This Hostell it's very cool and very clean You can go out and find a lot of people in the street. Nearby there is brick lane and underground and overground.
The owner's reply
Amazing, thank you so much!
sorina, Romania - Mar 22, 2014
no Ritz but the staff is very helpful and friendly, especially Matthew from the reception.
The owner's reply
:)
anonymous, England - Jan 07, 2014
Brilliant for young people or just people who like having a good time and unique settings. Great value. Thanks to the lovely blonde on reception too!
Canaan, USA - Nov 05, 2013
Fantastic
anonymous, Poland - Nov 05, 2013
highly recommended :) nice place, nice people :)
anonymous, Canada - Nov 04, 2013
Fantastic location! The staff did a great job of keeping the Dictionary running through its own organized chaos. A busy place, in the heart of Shoreditch surrounded by bars, it's certainly not the place if you're looking for a quiet room and lots of rest. The Dictionary is for the party-traveller that wants a bed to crash in that's just a stumble away from the club.
anonymous, France - Nov 04, 2013
Room too small
anonymous, Italy - Oct 24, 2013
Good place to bunk in for a few nights. Good: Liverpool Street can be easily reached by foot. Bad: some dorms are next to the courtyard, which means that it's likely to hear people shouting until late at night. As for the rest, if you make a reservation in a hostel you can't expect the Ritz, especially if you're staying in a dorm. Staff were kind and helpful. Maybe the price for dorms might be a bit lower, but it's London we're talking about.
WONG, Malaysia - Oct 24, 2013
Bus line is just infront of the hostel. However underground is 15min walk. Everything is fine, just the room is not sound proof. Can try!
anonymous, Canada - Oct 23, 2013
Worst hostel I've ever stayed at. Yes it is clean, but I'll never be back again.
anonymous, Spain - Oct 21, 2013
Amazing hostel!
anonymous, Ireland - Oct 20, 2013
Great location, in a very cool part of town with easy access to public transport. The hostel itself has a really nice vibe and the Staff are amazing, very friendly and helpful.However, if you have difficulty with stairs or dont like small spaces, parts of the hostel (especially the shower rooms and toilets) are a little cramped.
Yao Yu, Taiwan - Oct 19, 2013
Hip area, friendly and easy going people, rooms and the kitchen are fairly clean, like their brekky in the morning, worth that price :)
anonymous, Norway - Oct 18, 2013
A very noisy hostel. There is a room to hang out which is placed in the middel of the hostel. People partyed and made lots of noise until 2-3 am on a Mondag and Tuesday night which made it very hard to sleep. The staff didn't take any action although is sais it should be quiet earlier.
Andrew, Australia - Oct 18, 2013
Was a nice hostel with new comfortable beds and a good social area. Great location for the shoreditch area walking distantce to the brick lane markets. Would probably stay there again. Staf were very friendly
anonymous, Denmark - Oct 14, 2013
Nice place, clean and with a cozy kitchen. However, there was a big which-bed-is-who's problem! they have a system, but apparently noone uses it, so you newer know if there's someone in your bed, when you get home.....
anonymous, France - Oct 13, 2013
Pros: location in Shoreditch
Cons: luke warm water only (when it works) and the staff. Saying hello to people who come in doesn't hurt anyone. And the only small issue I had was poorly handled by a non-friendly dude who basically just nodded. I suggest that you number your beds. This will avoid confusion, waking up people at 1am or mad guys who find their stuff on the floor because someone thought the bed was free.
Overall our stay was worth the price: cheap bed, cheap service.
anonymous, Sweden - Oct 12, 2013
The owner needs to repair a lot of the toilets and shower. The staff is doing their best with what they got.
anonymous, England - Oct 12, 2013
good hostel but mean cancellation policy
Daniel, Australia - Oct 11, 2013
One of the best I've stayed in. Period
Francesco, Italy - Oct 11, 2013
Perfect style good location but some suggestions
1) the beds should be numbered so there will be no confusion Inside room ( some boys entered and in a 6 bed they used our beds thinking they were available )
2) the window of the shower at 3 level should be repaired ... It was or all opened or closed and not opened a little :)))
Mathilde Dissing, Denmark - Oct 10, 2013
There were several issues with the bathroom. Toiletpaper missing and a blocked drain. Forcing me the wash my hair in the sink.
The staff was very unhelpful!
anonymous, Australia - Oct 09, 2013
A very good hostel in a good spot. Just need to walk around 10 mins to get to a great tube station.
Most of the staff were great, there was one that might have been new but couldn't answer any questions I had about getting to places which is a bit annoying.
Overall very clean and friendly environment and would definitely stay there again.
anonymous, France - Oct 09, 2013
Good staff, friendly hostel
anonymous, Austria - Oct 09, 2013
Had a great stay there, easy to get in touch with people from all over the world. Good place and staff is super friendly :)) nightlife's crazy in shoreditch ! honestly, i already wanna go back to the dictionary again :)
David , Wales - Oct 05, 2013
I had a great time, really enjoyed the hostel and the staff where lovely. Would happily stay there you again.
Niki, England - Oct 01, 2013
A huge let down from the previous experience with you:
stayed in a room off the new courtyard. The room had so many beds crammed in it, I will make sure I book a smaller room in the old part of the building next time. Also needs a mirror in the toilet and the sink is unreasonably small. Just washing my face was barely possible.
New breakfast area was horrendous, I'm so sad we're crammed down there now. There is no where near enough space for that many people to move around each other and make breakfast however the bagels are good!
Please please number the beds or have some way of tagging a bed as taken/allocated WITH A DEPARTURE DATE.
Nothing worse than struggling to find the bed that hasn't been slept in and to be woken up in the middle of the night by someone who says you're in their bed. This happened, I hardly got any sleep. Reception just offered them clean sheets and the hope the same doesn't happen to them in their new bed. Heard someone talking at breakfast that they experienced the same thing.
Bar is good though, appreciate the discount. Love the design of the place.
madeleine, Australia - Sep 30, 2013
Great - clean and bright and new, lockers under beds. Staff helpful, good atmosphere and good location for hanging in shoreditch / spitalfields (obviously a tube ride in for centre city). I'd recommend a smaller dorm as the larger ones on ground floor can be too noisy / heavy on the partying. A bit of street noise but you're right in the centre of things so to be expected. The showers in some of the new rooms are bizzarely set up - barely a few inches between glass shower door and wooden main door.
Hanna, Finland - Sep 30, 2013
The hostel was super tidy and all new and shiny. Unfortunately the still ongoing renovations were a bit of a nuisance. The bar next door had a seriously loud bass going on but luckily it closed by midnight. The atmosphere was super relaxed and I met a bunch of lovely people there. Overall, one of my best hostel experiences - Would deffo stay another time.
Mitchell, Australia - Sep 29, 2013
Great position, but the room was crowded, noisy, smelly, and hot. However, it wasn't expensive (for the location) and I've definitely stayed in worse. Recommended if your on a budget, just don't forget earplugs!
anonymous, Ireland - Sep 24, 2013
showers were really unreliable. everything eles was great though
anonymous, Australia - Sep 23, 2013
Only problem I had was that I got back to my room at night and someone was in my bed, I had put all my stuff on the bed and they had moved all my stuff I had no idea where they had put it and I couldn't turn the light on because everyone was sleeping.. I just found that really annoying. I recommend you guys getting numbers for the beds and having each person a bed number when they arrive. Other than that I love dictionary hostel!
The owner's reply
Ugh! We are so sorry for that. Sometimes people just don't like to follow any hostel etiquette :( We are glad to hear that you still enjoyed your stay!
anonymous, Lebanon - Sep 23, 2013
f
The owner's reply
:)
anonymous, Finland - Sep 21, 2013
Very nice terrace.
The owner's reply
Thank you!
anonymous, Sweden - Sep 19, 2013
There was almost no water from the shower it was impossible to wash the hair and almost impossible to shower.
The owner's reply
Apologies for the water issues. Unfortunately there was an issue out on the street. We are hoping that this won't happen again! We hope you will give us a chance next time you are in London!
anonymous, Germany - Sep 18, 2013
work in progress: toilet flush did not work (although promissed that it would work again the next day); shower stopped mid-shower; neither room nor bath seemed to have been cleaned during my 4night stay
anonymous, New Zealand - Sep 16, 2013
The Dictionary is definitely one of the better hostels I've stayed in. Shoreditch is a great area to be based in, with lots of cheap restaurants and bars. My boyfriend and I stayed in a 12 bed room, but it was nicely laid out so it didn't feel too cramped. The ensuite bathrooms were great, as was the breakfast in the morning. The only issues were that the rubbish bin in our room wasn't emptied for a few days so it got quite full and the room occasionally got a bit stuffy at night (as you might expect with 12 people sleeping in it). Highly recommended and would stay here again.
The owner's reply
Yay! Thank you for the great comments :) Apologies for the bin! If there is ever an issue like that please let us know. We would be happy to take care of it right away :)
anonymous, England - Sep 16, 2013
Really nice, clean, comfortable hostel. However be warned can be very noisy we ground floor and used the hostel for a business trip not advisable as woken by drunken actions of room mates.
The owner's reply
Ack! Hosteling can sometimes land us not so great roommates! Apologies for them, we hope you will come see us again :)
anonymous, Norway - Sep 14, 2013
Perfect location. The rooms were clean but it was really warm and bad air in the dorms. Didn't sleep very well becuase of that.
anonymous, Canada - Sep 03, 2013
I had a blast in that hostel! Everything about it was great(except maybe the wi-fi: even when you did pay for it, it wasn't working well) and i would definatly come back there when i come back to London
The owner's reply
Amazing! Thank you for the lovely comments :)
Emma, Netherlands - Sep 02, 2013
Stayed here for a week in a 12 bed dorm. The dorm was nice and quite large. The kitchen was allright, though at breakfast sometimes really crowded. The people were nice and relaxed, you can make friends easily, but it's also possible to avoid contact. Only thing is: bring earplugs for the street noise (sirens, busses, people going out etc) or just go out yourself, there are lots of nice bars everywhere in this neighbourhood.
The owner's reply
We are working on the noise issues. Being located in the heart of the entertainment district in East London, means while we love our location it can be a bit boisterous :)
anonymous, England - Aug 30, 2013
Fantastic location, nice staff and decent facilities. Tiny shower rooms and poorly ventilated (hot and smelly) rooms are the only downsides.
The owner's reply
Thank you for your review! We are working on the improving the ventilation in those rooms :)
anonymous, Ireland - Aug 28, 2013
Very unhelpful staff, gave me incorrect directions numerous times and when I came back to find a guy passed out in my bed they wouldn't switch me to a different room. Could be far, far cleaner. Bad experience, would not recommend.
anonymous, England - Aug 27, 2013
really enjoyed my stay, friendly staff and environment. However, we were staying in room A, it didn't have a sink in there to wash your hands or any mirrors. The room was also cramped in comparison the room opposite which had huge floor space down the middle and then had a much nicer bathroom area, and we paid the same price as them. Other than that though we had a lovely stay and would definitely come back, but perhaps request a different room next time. Thanks!
The owner's reply
Glad that you enjoyed your stay! We are working out the minor kinks in A :)
anonymous, Germany - Aug 26, 2013
I stayed in a 12 bed dorm that had no windows so it was boiling hot and the room itself wasn't very big. The bathroom had no window either so there was no ventilation. Other than that it was a fine hostel in a good location with a good bus service
The owner's reply
Thank you!
Karine, France - Aug 25, 2013
Some of the rooms are above a very noisy street. The window could not be closed. No water in the ensuite shower. Breakfast not great. You have ti buy the towels. And Wifi is not free in the rooms.
The owner's reply
:( Sorry to hear that! Next time let us know and we will do our best to accommodate you in a quieter room. Shoreditch is quite vibrant with the life, which makes the street a bit too full of life sometimes :)