Cycling UK Forum

I ha ve been looking forward to January 2018 and beyond at the prices of a few hostels I use and it seems there are very very steep price increases in the pipeline?

single adult shared room ( the basic )

eg
stratford upon Avon now £15-18, Feb 2018 onward £25
Brighton now until October about £16 thereafter nearly £30
Portland - now £13 April 2018 onward £25
New Forest - now £13 then £25 November onwards ( seesm like camping here will be quite cheap at £12 )

seems like the YHA is about to commit suicide as I wont be using them again EVER other than camping - I just cant and wont afford those prices

The YHA must be in very serious trouble to think it can charge those prices?

Feedback from others and their fave hostels pls.

I've never really paid much attention to how they operate the variable pricing, do they not start high and then reduce the prices at the last minute if the beds look like they're not selling?

Humm ...my standby - Jordans is now
£22 - single in a dorm (they are small) - no increase that I can find in the next year.
£14 - for camping

Does look like they are closed on Friday through to Sunday inclusive ... other than a very few dates. Possibly booked out by groups?
Never seen a discount for beds that are still available in a YHA.

New Forest has been busy when I've tried to stay there .. but there is a commercial camp ground some distance away that had plenty of space and was not too expensive.

I understand that they're in business to make a profit, but it's sad that they no longer appear to be about about providing cheap accommodation for people on a budget.

£25/night for a bed in a shared dorm isn't great value. I'd happily pay that for a bed in an en suite private room, but otherwise I'd rather camp or look for other alternatives. A group of 4 of us did a double C2C in Devon earlier in the year and I booked a 6 berth self catering apartment in Appledore for 2 days at a cost of £165. It was very comfortable and at least we only had to listen to our own snoring.

My other concern is their exclusive use deals for schools and other groups at off peak times. I suspect that these bring in a lot of revenue, especially as most groups don't self cater. But it makes booking certain hostels quite difficult. Some hostels will show no availability looking into the long term future. I understand that this is because they are being held for group bookings.

Coincidentally my membership is due for renewal (actually SYHA) and I'm seriously questioning what benefits membership brings.

I wonder if its in part due to the weak £ and visitors from overseas? They wont mind paying a few more £s as they get more for their euro or dollars? no good for us brits though

I noted this earlier this year when staying in the Lakes for £10 a night, surprised to see the same hostel wanted £30 from May onwards, now having just checked the rate now for August it is down to £18. So the moral is don't book too far in advance.

Hostels and variable pricing? Changed days indeed. Long gone are the days of simple basic accommodation for hikers and cyclists. Hard to believe that up to at least the 1970s the SYHA handbook had a warning that while if you arrived by car the warden had the right to require you to move on to create space for anyone who later arrived on foot or by bike.

randonneur wrote:I noted this earlier this year when staying in the Lakes for £10 a night, surprised to see the same hostel wanted £30 from May onwards, now having just checked the rate now for August it is down to £18. So the moral is don't book too far in advance.

well £10 to £18 is still a big hike? £30 well I cant print my words here without them becoming ******* ****** ***** ***** *****
Last October I stayed in Brighton with a special offer of less than £10 incl the £3 off - I think £6 or so now its to become £27 with the £3 off. very strange world we live in

mercalia wrote:

randonneur wrote:I noted this earlier this year when staying in the Lakes for £10 a night, surprised to see the same hostel wanted £30 from May onwards, now having just checked the rate now for August it is down to £18. So the moral is don't book too far in advance.

well £10 to £18 is still a big hike? £30 well I cant print my words here without them becoming ******* ****** ***** ***** *****
Last October I stayed in Brighton with a special offer of less than £10 incl the £3 off - I think £6 or so now its to become £27 with the £3 off. very strange world we live in

£30 is not expensive!
We paid £50+ per night in 2004 staying in BBs/Pubs whilst doing the GGW/WHW!
I'd have snapped up £30pn even back then.
I think some people on this Forum still thinks it's 1970

ibbo68 wrote:

mercalia wrote:

randonneur wrote:I noted this earlier this year when staying in the Lakes for £10 a night, surprised to see the same hostel wanted £30 from May onwards, now having just checked the rate now for August it is down to £18. So the moral is don't book too far in advance.

well £10 to £18 is still a big hike? £30 well I cant print my words here without them becoming ******* ****** ***** ***** *****
Last October I stayed in Brighton with a special offer of less than £10 incl the £3 off - I think £6 or so now its to become £27 with the £3 off. very strange world we live in

£30 is not expensive!
We paid £50+ per night in 2004 staying in BBs/Pubs whilst doing the GGW/WHW!
I'd have snapped up £30pn even back then.
I think some people on this Forum still thinks it's 1970

sharing with 6+ strangers and their smelly clothes and body odours, dubious habits and unknown backgrounds in a barracks bunk situation? you clearly dont know how the yha works

A few years ago, in Oban we were unable to book into the YH and were directed to a local independant, when we walked around the town later, there were B&Bs available with continental breakfast cheaper than the YH summer prices.....
Have hardly usedYH since, worst pricing policy was when they started charging equivalent of 4 adults for a family room for 2 adults and a small child where previously it was a on beds used. That and the RAH initiative for non summer months (inc Sept when I most used YHs), meant they became unavailable to myself.....

Does the YHA still offer life membership?

I paid GBP 50 for mine 30+ years ago, +1!

mercalia wrote:

ibbo68 wrote:sharing with 6+ strangers and their smelly clothes and body odours, dubious habits and unknown backgrounds in a barracks bunk situation? you clearly dont know how the yha works

I know exactly how the YHA works.I stayed in a few in the 80s/90s.
From what I've seen at the YHA Borrowdale in The Lake District they're actually trying to drag the old format into the 21st Century...and it will be all the better for it
Statements like "I will never use the YHA again" are a bit childish and pointless as the YHA will hardly miss you

Pricing is pricing.You either pay it or you don't.It really is that simple.Moaning about it on an internet Forum solves nothing.

Reminds me of our trip to Milarrochy Bay,Loch Lomond in 2011.I'd booked for 3 of us to camp at a cost of £11pppn.We drove up and on arrival found out that the other two in our party weren't CCC members so had to pay an extra £7pppn surcharge.What do you do?Turn around and drive 270miles home or pay the extra.You pay the extra!

Young people ... of limited means ... travelling under their own steam etc

All very last century. Last Millennium indeed.

YHA pricing is pretty sporadic.
There is probably some offer coming to an end. By the time January arrives the prices will probably get reduced by some new offer to help try and fill the empty spaces in the booking timetable.

We are pretty opportunistic with our YHA stays, only booking in when offers bring the prices down low.
Trying to use them to fit in with other plans tends to meet the barriers of "no available spaces" or prices three or four times the "bargain" rate.