YHA Reviews

I stayed for three nights - Friday - Monday at Ambelside hostel. I have to say that I was glad to leave in the end. Mostly because I slept so poorly whilst there. The main reason for that was people being noisy until around midnight every night right outside.

You have a load of rooms at the front yet you seemingly don't care about looking after anyone who stays in one of those rooms. I didn't see any guidance about being quiet after 10. No one said anything to that effect when we checked in. And no one came and said anything to the people being noisy outside disturbing every single person in each of those rooms every single night.

Why not? Why didn't you? Don't you care about your guests' experience or are you totally fine with everyone being as selfish as they like regardless of the impact on everyone else? It would seem so.

Just as a comparison; when I camped in France, whole families with kids and teenagers inhabited the campsites. In the evening and the day they were noisy and garrulous yet everyone slept really well. You know why? Because from around 10 onwards, everyone shut the F up and acted respectfully and responsibly. There's an example for you.

On Monday after checking out we came back after a walk intending to hang out on the waterfront for a while before heading back. We didn't. There was a group of guys smoking weed around a BBQ on the waterfront, with their ghetto blaster pumping out their music. It kind of put us off you know?

Yeah, so while I personally have no problem with anyone smoking weed in their home, skunk today is absurdly strong. I don't really feel massively comfortable sitting near to a group of young guys getting out of their heads on strong skunk and drink under the hot sun. And I'm at a youth hostel, not some drum and base festival - why should I have to feel comfortable around that? In fact, why should I even have to experience that at a youth hostel?

The area was filled with children, with other people enjoying (or trying to) the weather and the water. And maybe, just a bit of peace instead of someone else's taste in music being imposed on them. If I had kids, I don't think I would want them exposed to second hand skunk smoke.

Do you think it's ok for a group of guys to spend the afternoon outside your hostel pumping out their music, smoking weed and having an impromptu BBQ? Clearly you do as no one had thought it appropriate to intervene and ask this group to act responsibly and stop these actions (One of which is still actually illegal).

So my impression of staying at one of your youth hostels for the first time in many years is that they are chaotic, inhabited by louts, not really managed and that you think it is perfectly fine for people to act in a totally selfish manner, imposing the consequences of their selfish behaviour on everyone else and that's just fine and tough on those exposed to it. That's right isn't it? That is your viewpoint? I mean, I can only go on what I witnessed during my stay so....

I don't think I will be renewing my new membership. And just for info - the consequences for you as an organisation of people using cannabis on your land are pretty serious. Ludicrous I know, it's hardly a class A drug but there you go.

They gave me a ripped five pound not and I asked for another one but the told me to ‘f off’ this is unacceptable this place is not a good place to stay at while you are trying to have a nap DO NOT COME TO THIS SHITOLE

Stayed there before. Nice location. Someone was making loads of noise outside. Ordered two breakfasts. One vegetarian one meaty. Awful value. Just buy your own breakfast items and cook it yourself. I ordered mine and it was awful. I complained, the staff member argued back that it was good value. If you stay in one, just make sure you’ve tired yourself out. Don’t bother with the breakfast at all. Carefully check your booking before you purchase. Hawkshead is a nice location but there were some loud yobs there unfortunately when we stayed.

Absolutely beautiful location and great facilities.
One of the best places I've ever camped, very clean toilets and showers and indoor seating. It was very good value.

Dear YHA, you have responded to me calling me the wrong name, also, sadly as stated in my review, the team were unwilling to offer any refund, so there would be no point in emailing them again, as I tried numerous times.
Take care.

Yha York was good value and had pleasant communal area. Nice walk by river into centre. Staff fairly pleasant too. Beds a bit short but for the price paid no complaints.

As has been echoed by many others, this is a very unhelpful and inflexible organisation. I contacted them within 2 minutes of booking when I realised I had made a mistake. I received no response and so contacted again to ask if I could make a change to the booking. A change I might add which would have resulted in YHA receiving more money (something I thought would be helpful as they are actively seeking monetary donations). I was told I could not change. I was then told if I spoke to the resolutions team they might be able to help but that I could only communicate with them via email rather than telephone which I would have preferred. I waited for a response (email said 15 days) and so I reached out to explain that my trip was only 5 days away and I could therefore not wait 15 days for a response. The reply was unhelpful and inflexible. I was unable to change my booking.
I do not think the terms and conditions are laid out clearly enough (like for instance on a site such as booking.com). I had a good reason for requesting the change but have found the organisation to be unfriendly, unhelpful and unnecessarily inflexible.
We are one very disappointed family, with two very disappointed children.

I've been disappointed by my membership of YHA and don't intend to renew it. The latest is that I booked a one-night stay at a hostel and discovered a couple of days later that I needed to change the date by one day (with all other details staying the same, and I checked the hostel still had availability). Having worked in the hotel trade myself I know that this would be incredibly easy to change, yet I was told that the "Ts and Cs" didn't allow it. Well - even if they don't, would a gesture of goodwill really cost them so much? When I questioned this, there was no "Sorry you're disappointed", no attempt to put me as a YHA member first.
In future we will be staying at independent hostels or budget hotels which are much more flexible and usually cheaper (especially once you factor in your membership payment).

Worst vegetarian breakfast I’ve ever eaten. Sausages made out of wet MDF, three beans in half a tin of juice. Devoid of cake in early afternoon.

Didn’t sleep well due to the paper thin walls. Could hear someone snoring five walls away.

Stayed at Castleton (Losehill) YHA. Clean, comfortable and made to feel welcome. A great building in a stunning location.

Well my daughter-in-law was in a party of 9 ladies booked into the YHA Windermere on Fri/Sat of last weekend (22/23rd Oct 2021). Seemingly, around 9pm on the Sat, a smell of gas was detected and all the guests were immediately evacuated out into the street in the clothes they stood in (daughter-in-law wearing slippers and some of her friends without footwear) where they stood in the cold and rain. They had no car keys, or any personal belongings. They were told they wouldn’t be allowed back in and so they had to find alternative accommodation. They frantically rang various hotels/pubs in the area but were refused accommodation for the night. YHA severed any responsibility for their welfare and made no suggestions as to where they could sleep for the night! Disgusting. Bearing in mind, there was a young woman there on her own (no knowledge as to how she got on) - most of the guests had no access to phone charging facilities and therefore further difficulties in communication with loved ones. So much for the caring community of YHA!!! The party of girls eventually found a Travelodge 50miles away to take them in where they arrived in the early hours, only made possible by one of the YHA staff retrieving a handbag from a bedroom with car keys in!
Where is the community spirit of YHA? Not to mention the unhelpful hotels/guest houses in and around Windermere who refused the girls’ accommodation with flimsy excuses! SHAME ON YHA WINDERMERE and surrounding hotels!

Hello i said i would say how I got on after I ask for some sort of refund after I was put in a room with no heating and told when i phoned the( YAH at ambleside) about this when i got home. that there was a problem with the heating they made me an offer of( 50%refund fair enough.) but if they knew there was no heating why put me in there in the first place. I am 73 years old and as it was September it was cold at night. and the lighting was very bad and to shave in the morning was tough as i could not make out the hair on my face.and I said about a chair as there is not any in the room and was told I could have ask for one .will i stay at ambleside YAH again not sure . ( I must say staff very very good. 5 star)

Tiniest possible room allocation for 4 adults and 1 infant with bed bugs and spiders to accompany us.
Rude staff on the reception and followed by terrible check in and check out timings. Only thing which was good is the location of the hostel.

Broadhaven beach is ideal for those who like sandcastles, rockpools and family fun without the razzmatazz of the large resorts. The beach is big and safe but be aware of the surf which can be strong. There's a small supermarket on the road behind the beach and a flourishing Italian pizza place but otherwise no other commercial outlets.
We stayed in the Broadhaven Youth Hostel. Loved it. Couldn't be closer to the beach. We chose to book a 'pod' in the grounds just for the novelty (see the pictures on the website). We had our own picnic table and fire pit, and shared a toilet/shower room (scrupulously clean) with the occupants of the 2 other pods. For 3 of us the pod proved to be a bit cramped with just enough storage. Next time we would take a table lamp. There's solar power which triggers just enough lighting and power for your phone.
The hostel was great. The young team of energetic multi-taskers worked hard and were flexible and accommodating. Special mention to Meg who was so kind to me when I lost my car keys - I had dropped them in Morrisons car park 8 miles away and Meg found them!!!!
The well-equipped self-catering kitchen had just opened when we arrived, not the games room, though, nor the lounge. We ate in the restaurant several times, the food was predictable chips/burgers/pizza but well-cooked. The breakfasts were good too. Booking required.
A bonus point - you are allocated free parking in the public car park for the duration of your stay - saves a lot if you're there for a week, with 2 cars, as we were.
Two things were less than perfect - (1) The scruffy grassy area where the pods are located behind the hostel could do with flattening out, it's uneven and you could easily turn an ankle. (2) The entrance/exterior to the hostel badly needs a lick of paint, it's looking a bit unloved.
The YHA as an organisation is wonderful - it provides clean, cheap accommodation. Don't expect frills but it's there for everyone to use all over the country.

What a sad pathetic organisation you are. 3 weeks to reply to a complaint, give yourselves a pat on the back for all the good work, joke staff, joke organisation, no wonder 56% rate you as bad, laughable and you work for YOUTH lol