From the non-functional elevator (we stayed on the 5th floor of West End Studios for one frightful night), to the non-functional tv, to the non-functional fridge, to the non-functional closet, to the toilet that was falling through the floor, to the boarded up bathroom window, to the cockroaches. As if it couldn't get worse, there was also a sink in our room with no plumbing, we were lied to and deceived by the photos and betrayal set forth by this hostel's website. View the site at westendstudios.com then go view actual pictures from my stay at www.portlandmusicians.com/gallery/dump and determine for yourself. I recommend that if you intend to stay at this hostel, that you bring your hazmat suit and bug repellent.

I chose this hotel as an alternative to a hostel, as we'd have our own room. But have to share a bathroom, which I thought would be OK. It cost us about £600 for ten nights, booked online with CheepHotels. Got there and all seemed OK until we got to our room. It was TINY with a three-quarter bed and a rickety bunk-bed. A small broken sink, a dodgy TV and an old fridge. The door didn't lock properly and you could see through the gap when it was closed. One of the window panes was missing and boarded up with cardboard. No hairdryer, no iron. It just felt REALLY dirty being in there. Consequently we checked out STRAIGHT AWAY and found a room at a Comfort Inn further downtown. Which was perfect and included a Free Breakfast. We had to pay £117 Cancellation Fee but got the remainder of the balance refunded, fortunately. The guy on reception acted like he had people complaining about the state of the place all the time! We spoke to some foreign travellers there and they told us that they'd checked in the previous night and after pulling back the bedcolthes found HAIR in the beds! After complaining to the staff downstairs were told to remake the beds themselves! The description for this hotel is nice and are the photographs shown on the websites but reality is different.