If Brazil is too far away or too expensive to reach, just jump on a cheap Ryanair flight and come to London for the most amazing, spectacular and surprising European summer party!

We are lucky enough to have here on our doorstep the most amazing European street carnival, and we would be happy to offer you 10% discount on your London stay if you book with us, at Clink261  Hostel!

BOOK NOW, then just drop us an email with your booking number and we will be happy to discount your stay!

The Notting Hill Carnival is an amazing event which takes place on the streets of Notting Hill, one of the most famous London’s areas each August, over two days, every year since 1965.
It is led by members of the Caribbean population, many of whom have lived in the area since the 1950s.

The carnival has attracted up to 2 million people in the past, so why don’t you join the fun this year?

Check the Notting Hill Carnival Official Website for all the details about this year’s celebrations or the very well done MyVillage.com Notting Hill Carnival Guide, with plenty of suggestion and hints about how to live the Carnival at its best!

This year the Carnival will be the 29th and 31th August, and the program of the celebrations includes great music, great food and of course the most colourful and joyful parade you’ve ever seen!

The 29th will be Children Day, with the emphasis on family, with a shorter Carnival route reserved for young people and kids.

The 30th, Bank Holiday Monday, will be the day reserved for the real Carnival fun, the parade, the music, the fun and frolics!

The music is at the very heart of the Carnival: street bands will be playing Soca and Calypso Music, but also many international reggae, r&b, funk and house artist have been joining the celebrations in the past years. The Carnival featured names as Eddie Grant, Jamiroquai and Wycleaf Jean, only to mention a few. Expect an ecletic line up for this year too!

You will be also able to taste the real Caribbean food as jerk chicken, rice and peas and rum punch, as well as other exotic food from all around the world in the many food stalls all around the streets.

The Notting Hill Carnival is a fantastic chance to have fun, suitable from 0 to 99 years old!
Bring your friends, your family, your work colleagues! Spread the word and come to London to dance and have fun on the most amazing Street Festival of the summer!
And most of all… do not miss the chance to have 10% discount, staying with us in Clink261!

{SPECIAL THANKS to Zoubin Navi, Alexander Montuschi, Norbert A. Mueller and Rupert Hitchcox for letting us use their amazing photos!}

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This time we have been proud to host nothing less than the South African Ladies Team attending the Eight Ball Pool World Championship 2009 in Blackpool!

Carol, Janine, Florence, Miranda, Alta and Bev decided to come a couple of days earlier to visit London, so we took the chance to invite them to The Elbow Room, our favourite pool venue in London, for a friendly game, some drinks and a chat!

We had a very fun evening together!!

It does not happen every day to speak with someone who participate to World Championship, so we have been asking them how they started playing pool and what is that they enjoy the most about this sport.
That’s how we discovered that for Bev all started because his brother and father were playing and they thought it wasn’t a “ladies’ sport”! The same happened with Florence’s boyfriend… and yet these girls proved all them wrong!

What they like the most about playing pool is having the chance to share some quality time together with friends and family, and of course the fun and the adrenaline of every new challenge!

We have been playing together for all evening, chatting and sharing ideas and thoughts.
We have been talking about shopping, travelling, lifestyle in London compared to South Africa, and even about mortgages and public transport!!
… What’s sure is that we really want to go to visit them soon!! : )))

Some of our guests came to play pool with us, and they were very happy to have he chance to do so… it does not happen every day to play with World Champions!

We have been very pleased to have these fantastic ladies with us. It’s always so very rewarding when we get the chance to meet such amazing people!
It truly makes the difference.

We have been fantastically guested by The Elbow Room, our favourite pool bar, on Chapel Market, Islington, a few minutes away from our Hostel.
It’s a fantastic venue, lively and so very welcoming!
Thank you to Donald, Kit and all the great staff who gave us the chance to have such lovely time!

And if you like to play pool, even if you’re not a World Champion, do not miss the chance to play at The Elbow Room!
Every Monday playing pool is FREE all day!
If you’re up for some fun times with your friends, great music, great food and drinks, do not miss to pay them a visit next Monday!!

Thank you Carol, Janine Florence, Miranda, Alta and Bev for staying with us: we look forward to see you again soon in Ashlee House!!
(Or maybe will be us coming to South Africa! : )) )

For more photos, just check out our Flickr Photopage!

All photos © Sonia Bertacchini

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