New London Hostel Offers Choice City Access

A youth hostel opened here in May in an excellent location, just a two-minute walk from the Oxford and Carnaby Street shopping area.

The hostel has small, two- to four-bed dormitory rooms and doesn’t bar you during the day, as is the rule at many youth hostels. It offers 24-hour access so you can head in at any hour--which is great if you’re suffering from jet lag.

It’s at 14-18 Noel St., and is the most expensive of London’s five hostels. The nightly rate in any room is about $22.50 U.S. for youth hostel members.

Up to 80 visitors can be accommodated. Lockers are provided (bring or buy your own lock), and there is a common room with food vending machines. No kitchen services are available, but a light continental breakfast is offered each morning for about $2.15.

You can reserve a bed in advance by sending your first night’s payment, in British funds (postal money orders advised), directly to the hostel. Deposits also can be made by providing your VISA card number.

If bookings are received at a London hostel that is already fully booked, the reservations are automatically transferred to another London hostel, unless you request otherwise.

The senior (21 and older) rate for youth hostel members at the other official London hostels this summer is $16. Nonmembers are charged an extra $2.30 per night.

If you arrive without a reservation, manager Ken Lester advises that you call from the airport and, if a bed is available, it will be held for you. The hostel can be reached by calling (44) 71 734 1618.

The Noel Street hostel is only a 10-minute walk to the British Museum, National Gallery and Piccadilly Circus.

But if you plan on taking transit anywhere, inquire at an underground station about a One-Day Travelcard. It’s valid for unlimited travel on the underground and buses in the central core of the city for $4.60 U.S. per day.

The card can be used any time after 9:30 a.m. Monday through Friday, and all day on weekends and public holidays. Weekly versions (which require photographs) also are available.

Try to shop around for rates before exchanging dollars to pounds. Exchange rates vary widely, along with the commission charges imposed by different banking facilities.

Some banks will charge up to $7 per transaction while offering mediocre rates. American Express traveler’s checks can be cashed commission-free at favorable rates at booths in the British Travel Centre at 12 Regent St., a two-minute walk from the Piccadilly Circus underground station.

One of the best investments on any visit is $2 for the weekly publication “Time Out Magazine,” which is available at newsstands.

Use it to dig out details on exhibitions, museums, galleries, films, nightclubs, walking tours and theater. It includes rates, times and special discounts. Entertainment that you thought would be out of your price range may very well be within reach if you go standby, carry a student card or attend a special performance.

For example, I found that this year’s Olivier Award-winning musical, “Return to the Forbidden Plant,” which is an entertaining mix of characters from Shakespeare’s “The Tempest,” with a spaceship setting and a plot loosely linked together by classic rock ‘n’ roll tunes, has a special performance every Friday at 5 p.m., with all seats available at the reduced rate of $13.

Another good bet for visitors on tight budgets is the wide variety of walking tours departing from underground stations several times each day. Themes range from historic pubs to the London sites of Dickens, the Beatles or Jack the Ripper.

The average rate is $7, but reduced rates of about $5.30 are often available to students and youth hostel members. Details are available in entertainment listings and from London tourist information offices.