Stay at Holland Park Youth Hostel

Last week, your author finally found an excuse to drop into Holland Park Youth Hostel, a peaceful budget haven for backpackers in an area that is home to some of the most expensive houses in the country. The hostel is situated inside the leafy park itself, based around a 17th century mansion built by Sir Walter Cope and originally known as Cope Castle.


We are told that the the mansion was once visited by Sir Walter Scott, Lord Byron and Charles Dickens and, whilst they probably wouldn't have seen the tatty prefab dormitories at the back which are rather less impressive than the mansion, even these are a clean and pleasant place for a central London stay, based around a picturesque garden and ornamental duck pond which is presumably a great place to soak up the sun in summer.

For more, see http://www.yha.org.uk/hostel/london-holland-park

_{^Picture © Richard Rogerson used under a Creative Commons license^}