Kay (and Julia, the admin/secretary at the centre) were constantly trying to be helpful to me and make the stay as good as it could have been. I'm grateful for that. They got really good food in for me for breakfasts, etc which I appreciated.
Hendon Central's a fair way out - that's okay if it's a nice area, but there aren't really good cafes or a good vibe there, so you have to travel even just to get to somewhere you can comfortably hang out, which then commits you to being out most of the day if you're going out at all.
Locally it seems like a mix of jewish people and poorer black/immigrant people. In fact nearly everyone I saw walking around dressed, or was speaking jewish, so it's that enclave feeling. :-/
I think it might be a good idea if this was stated in the listing, as it's a pretty prominent character of the stay there.
You have access to Hampstead and Belsize Park etc on the same line so that's good, but it's still a walk and a tube ride to get there.
The space itself: the room's above a practice. It's fairly small. Sure you have a bathroom on the same level mostly to yourself, but there's nowhere else to hang out and people are coming in and out of the space pretty often, even at night a couple of times while I was there.
The garden's lovely, but it's not really accessible all the time, as the door has to be unlocked by the host and only had keys in the door in the mornings.
There is the constant pressure to keep everything locked due to a recent break-in attempt - the door to your room, other doors, etc. There's lots of notes everywhere telling you what to do etc. I worked with it but I would prefer to stay somewhere a bit more easygoing next time, with a bit more space (and in a different area).
The hosts are definitely caring, but it's a multi-purpose space.
You get what you pay for and this was good value for what I paid, but I should have made sure the area itself was going to be somewhere I'd want to hang out, and paid a bit more (Between zones 3 and 4).
However I did feel cared for and 'looked after'. So, grateful for that.