I'll Be Your Mirror (Curated by Portishead and ATP) - London

[faxman75]

Yep be sure to bring either flip flops or shower shoes as well.

[Boourns]

For reference, every hostel I've ever booked in London:

St Christopher’s Shepherds Bush
Pros:

• cheap (£10.90 a night for a bed in an 8-person dorm is a bargain)
• convenience and grocery stores within a block
• across the street from the underground
• bar downstairs

Cons:

• Showers! Each stall had a puddle of scummy water that never drained, floor blackened with mold and dead skin, no control over water temperature (button releases scalding hot only, which makes the whole place a sauna if it's summer), nowhere to place your clothes or toiletries inside or outside the stalls unless you have a waterproof bag and put it on the floor).
• Got kicked out of the room with wi-fi, games, couches, tv, etc so the hostel could have some kind of meetings there a couple times while trying to work or get directions.
• no kitchen, because they want you to eat at the expensive restaurant
• This was not a con for me at all, but it might be for others: not central to popular tourist attractions.

Smart Russell Square
Pros:

• CHEAP! £8.94 for a bed in a 24 person dorm. Yes, 24.
• Close to Underground, Tesco, and a tasty Dutch Pankake house.
• The beds are pod-like and include privacy curtains, which make being in a room with 24 people easier. There are smaller rooms available, but I liked the novelty of it.

Cons:

• dirty dorms (someone's rancid, expired juice and yogurt was in my locker waiting for me upon arrival)
• Massive. Expect to get lost when going to the shower, bathroom, doing laundry, finding your room, etc. Not a significant issue to me personally, but I thought I'd list it.
• Dorms get claustrophobic and hot as hell.
• Lockers cost money (they use electronic locks).

Piccadilly Backpackers
Pros:

• As centrally located to London's biggest tourist traps as you can get.
• Tesco nearby, along with a decent pub and a Hummus Bros.
• Hot breakfast available. Quality ranges from pretty good to pretty bad, prices a little high but reasonably so. A cromulent option if you're tired of the usual cereal and wonderbread and too tired/hung over to cook.
• Near the Underground.

Cons:

• Rates vary significantly. £12-22 a night.
• dirty
• Some really awful restaurants nearby as well.
• Some really rude staff.
• One of the only hostels to have an elevator. It's old, tiny, and the hostel is huge. Also, expect to get stuck at least once on it.
• No sink in the dorm. Pretty much every other hostel had this.
• Smallest hostel lockers I've ever seen.

Astor Victoria
Pros:

• Quiet
• It's a 15 minute walk to Victoria station, so it's a good place to stay if you're just in London for the night before going elsewhere and have to be awake early in the morning.

Cons:

• Quiet
• Area is pretty residential, so forget about drinking or even grabbing some dinner.
• £16.00 for a bed in an 8-person dorm isn't bad and comparable to rates in the US, but it's not the cheapest option out there.
• Easy to miss. I walked right past it without noticing and ended up at Hyde Park circle. That was not a good day.
• Wi-fi ain't free.

And some not in London:
St Christopher's at The Palace Hotel - Brighton
Pros:

• fun bar downstairs
• across the street from the rock beach

Cons:

• Ensuite bathrooms, but bad design. Shower water sprays all over the place and the floor is perpetually soaked. So if you have to shit in the middle of the night, wear shoes.
• Cheapest rate I got was £18.00 a night.

Kipps Hostel - Brighton
Pros:

• Friendly, helpful staff
• My rate in a 10 person dorm (ensuite) was $19.51
• Clean
• Ensuite shower was everything a shower should be.
• Within walking distance of everything.
• Bar downstairs (ended up going to the one at the other hostel, though)

Cons:

• None. Pretty much perfect. I think they charged 2 quid for continental breakfast, but there are a lot of places between the hostel and train station for a cheap hot meal, so fuck it.

Central Backpackers - Oxford
Pros:

• Cheap beer was available for the World Cup. Don't know if this is an everyday thing.
• Close to the train station
• Close to everything, actually.
• Clean

Cons:

• Comparatively expensive at £20 a night.

A couple things to keep in mind. First, nobody gives you a towel like they do at American hostels. So bring a towel and always do your showering the night before going to your next destination because if you do it in the morning, you'll be stuck hauling a wet towel, which will smell awful by the time you liberate it from it's bag in your luggage. Also, most hostels seem to not have ensuite bathrooms, but nearly all of them have a sink, so you can still brush your teeth, wash hands, deal with contacts.

[shakermaker113]

Sounds like a deal. A shitty hotel is still better than a hostel.

not true. a shitty hotel is better than a shitty hostel. I've come across good hostels that are far better than shitty hotels.

haven't found one in london yet though.

[shakermaker113]

good writeup, by the way.

[I.F.A.]

Boourns, thanks for the write up!

I've actually been considering these ones, so it was very helpful!

St Christopher’s Shepherds Bush

Smart Russell Square

Astor Victoria

[rage patton]

istanbul not constantinople istambul

Yeah, whatever this place is

[sonofhal]

PJ Harvey added to Saturday. DD/MM/YYYY and S.C.U.M also added.

[Boourns]

DD/MM/YYYY

Is this seriously a band name?

[shakermaker113]

awesome band name.

[wmgaretjax]

solid band too.

[faxman75]

lol I think that was on Bug's list. I usually recognize about 4 band names when ATP releases their lineups. In this case it's Portishead, Beach House, P.J. Harvey and The Books.

So who is this Grinderman? I guess I should do some research...

[GeezrRckr]

god, this lineup just keeps getting better.

yes, Mark....Grinderman is the shit. it's Nick Cave....a really raunchy, edgy version of him. a bunch of us saw him here in SF a couple months back and they blew us all away. definitely one of my top shows of 2010.

EDIT: and check out Liars too. not sure they're in your sweet spot, but they're a big draw for me on this bill.

[chairmenmeow47]

FUCK YES

[faxman75]

Thanks for the tips Geezr, I forget what Liars album I listened to a few years ago but I dismissed it fairly quickly, i'll give them another listen and Grinderman. I'm so god damned broke at the moment. Just purchased a ticket to the Bears playoff game next weekend. I also have to consider what summer class I am taking and how that may conflict with this. We'll see how it all pans out over the next 30-45 days though!

[chairmenmeow47]

the liars fucking blow. i was stuck listening to them by myself while randy got beer at the radiohead hollywood bowl show.

[TomAz]

Liars were very solid at Coachella a couple years ago. Recommended.

[Drinkey McDrinkerstein]

Mark, also be sure to check out Swans' Children Of God to see if you're into them, they're awesome. And Beak> is Geoff from portishead's other band, also really great.

[faxman75]

Yeah Beak is another. Damn. I have a fuck load of music homework and to think the damn Coachella lineup isn't even out yet. It's going to be overload. I've been meaning to check out Beak> for a while now though and i'll add Swans to that list as well.

[Boourns]

the liars fucking blow. i was stuck listening to them by myself while randy got beer at the radiohead hollywood bowl show.

When I first saw them in West Palm Beach, I thought "this isn't so bad", but after a couple times, it just got too boring. Their set in Santa Barbara is the only time I have fallen asleep standing up, not counting blacking out during Daft Punk.

[Cookieman908]

You blacked out during Daft Punk? WTF

[Cookieman908]

not true. a shitty hotel is better than a shitty hostel. I've come across good hostels that are far better than shitty hotels.

haven't found one in london yet though.

Not saying hostels are better of course, but one thing that hostels do have over hotels is a laundry room. Many hotels don't have laundry facilities but almost all hostels do. This is a huge plus, especially if you're travelling for a while and going to a festival where you get your clothes full of dirt and mud (aka Glastonbury).

[Boourns]

You blacked out during Daft Punk? WTF

Partied too hard, I guess.

[stinkbutt]

Buying tickets and booking hostel as soon as I get home! I love you ATP

[Geno_g]

Looks intense, want a write up about this Dave.

[rage patton]

Buying tickets and booking hostel as soon as I get home! I love you ATP

Fuck yes! See you there man!

Also, I guess I need to look into PJ Harvey. I don't think I have ever listened to anything by her.

And Liars are fantastic live. I have seen them 4 times. 3 times in an outdoor setting, 1 time at a small club. The 3 times Outdoors were pretty good, but when I saw them at tiny venue earlier this year, it was incredible. It was eerie, frantic, high energy, and, at times, quite sexy. Liars are one of the big draws for me here.

[chairmenmeow47]

i'm officially not going as i got ATP NJ tickets. this show is fucking awesome, but i can't afford the plane ticket. have a blast everyone

[faxman75]

Yep. Ditto.

[rage patton]

Damn you ATP NJ! I was looking forward to seeing a bunch of you guys over there. Oh well. I guess Chris (sonofhal) and I will have to represent the board.

[rage patton]

Tickets officially purchased. Fuck yeah.

[rage patton]

Oh shit. So Caribou was added to this?