Housed in a 1959 building opposite the Natural History Museum, this 48-room German-run ‘urban travellers' home' has spick-and-span rooms – most are dorms of between four and 12 beds, with podlike showers. There is also a handful of private rooms. It has good security and nice communal facilities, including a bar and a big garden terrace on the 2nd floor.
The location is fantastic: just seven minutes' walk from Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, with Gloucester Rd tube station just down the road.