Has anyone tried this:

The Secret Underground World of Hostel Debauchery ??

I had a look at this article just before I went to Germany last year, but didn't really find it that easy to get to know random people about the hostel (although, I wasn't there all that long).

I do, however, go to London quite a lot (2-3 times per year) and might switch where I normally stay for a hostel to try this out. I'd probably get a room of my own though (for obvious reasons), but it sounds interesting.

Has anyone ever tried this/come across this, or have any good ideas about it?

hostels are a great place to meet people. Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool have hatters hostels which put on bar crawls on a Friday. worth a try if you're interested in visiting any of these towns. a lot of hostels have bars and games rooms that are great for socialising. most of the people you meet are solo travellers.

Cheers for the advice. Have you been to these ones, what's the male to female ratio like (I know, I shouldn't be playing numbers and should be able to go for whoever I want, but it's good to know!)?