YHA Infomation and updates

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
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LinusR
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Re: YHA prices: steep increase in the pipeline!

Post by LinusR »

robing wrote:Prices seem to vary widely. The more rural ones seem reasonable, but for instance in Bristol a night in a dorm costs an eye watering £35! I could stay in a BnB for that. They should offer more camping at YHAs - that would be a popular option but relatively few offer it. And beware of unofficial YHAs masquerading on the YHA site, they can be terrible - I have personal experience of this!


Come off it! A bed in a shared room varies from £14.40 to £31.50 a night at Bristol. Bristol is not a cheap city and I doubt you could get a bnb for anywhere near that price. If you are a YHA member you get 10 percent off as well https://www.yha.org.uk/hostel/yha-bristol.
robing
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Re: YHA prices: steep increase in the pipeline!

Post by robing »

LinusR wrote:
robing wrote:Prices seem to vary widely. The more rural ones seem reasonable, but for instance in Bristol a night in a dorm costs an eye watering £35! I could stay in a BnB for that. They should offer more camping at YHAs - that would be a popular option but relatively few offer it. And beware of unofficial YHAs masquerading on the YHA site, they can be terrible - I have personal experience of this!


Come off it! A bed in a shared room varies from £14.40 to £31.50 a night at Bristol. Bristol is not a cheap city and I doubt you could get a bnb for anywhere near that price. If you are a YHA member you get 10 percent off as well https://www.yha.org.uk/hostel/yha-bristol.


Come off it yourself.
From YHA website:

Bristol YHA
Bed in shared single gender rooms
A bed in a room sharing with other guests of the same gender. A typical shared room includes bunk beds, reading light and a storage cupboard for each guest which may be secured by a padlock if required.
£35.00
Price for 1 night per bed

Booking.com
Bristol BnB
Price
1 night, 1 room
£35 - double room with a private bathroom.

These prices were for a search on the same night.
mercalia
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Location: london South

Re: YHA prices: steep increase in the pipeline!

Post by mercalia »

robing wrote:Prices seem to vary widely. The more rural ones seem reasonable, but for instance in Bristol a night in a dorm costs an eye watering £35! I could stay in a BnB for that. They should offer more camping at YHAs - that would be a popular option but relatively few offer it. And beware of unofficial YHAs masquerading on the YHA site, they can be terrible - I have personal experience of this!


well they have a members survey some time ago more camping? yes pls What we get is glamping in Hobbit Homes or Tikki huts ( they have 2 at Tanners Hatch ) - thats what "camping" means to the YHA.There used to be more places where you could camp but the places have been sold...
mercalia
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Re: YHA prices: steep increase in the pipeline!

Post by mercalia »

LinusR wrote:
robing wrote:Prices seem to vary widely. The more rural ones seem reasonable, but for instance in Bristol a night in a dorm costs an eye watering £35! I could stay in a BnB for that. They should offer more camping at YHAs - that would be a popular option but relatively few offer it. And beware of unofficial YHAs masquerading on the YHA site, they can be terrible - I have personal experience of this!


Come off it! A bed in a shared room varies from £14.40 to £31.50 a night at Bristol. Bristol is not a cheap city and I doubt you could get a bnb for anywhere near that price. If you are a YHA member you get 10 percent off as well https://www.yha.org.uk/hostel/yha-bristol.


used to be £3 off thats about 20% off , thanyou for nothing YHA
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LinusR
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Re: YHA prices: steep increase in the pipeline!

Post by LinusR »

robing wrote:
Booking.com
Bristol BnB
Price
1 night, 1 room
£35 - double room with a private bathroom.

These prices were for a search on the same night.


If that's the price including any booking fees then it's a good deal. But is that in the city centre like the YHA is? Do they have a safe place for your bike? The Bristol YHA has a self-catering kitchen to use. And it has a cycle store. £35 may be steep for a dorm bed and the other city hostels are maybe a few quid cheaper.
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LinusR
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Re: YHA prices: steep increase in the pipeline!

Post by LinusR »

mercalia wrote:What we get is glamping in Hobbit Homes or Tikki huts ( they have 2 at Tanners Hatch ) - thats what "camping" means to the YHA.


I've stayed at Tanners Hatch. You can bring your own tent and camp and you get to use exactly the same facilities including, the kitchen, as other guests and it is all included in the overnight stay charge. It is £12 a night before any members discount.
robing
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Joined: 7 Sep 2014, 9:11am

Re: YHA prices: steep increase in the pipeline!

Post by robing »

LinusR wrote:
robing wrote:
Booking.com
Bristol BnB
Price
1 night, 1 room
£35 - double room with a private bathroom.

These prices were for a search on the same night.


If that's the price including any booking fees then it's a good deal. But is that in the city centre like the YHA is? Do they have a safe place for your bike? The Bristol YHA has a self-catering kitchen to use. And it has a cycle store. £35 may be steep for a dorm bed and the other city hostels are maybe a few quid cheaper.

Will have my car so makes no difference. Only about a quarter of yha offer camping. I think they are missing a trick here as many cycle tourers would prefer camping to sharing a dorm. You seem very defensive to yha.
mercalia
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Location: london South

Re: YHA prices: steep increase in the pipeline!

Post by mercalia »

robing wrote:
LinusR wrote:
robing wrote:
Booking.com
Bristol BnB
Price
1 night, 1 room
£35 - double room with a private bathroom.

These prices were for a search on the same night.


If that's the price including any booking fees then it's a good deal. But is that in the city centre like the YHA is? Do they have a safe place for your bike? The Bristol YHA has a self-catering kitchen to use. And it has a cycle store. £35 may be steep for a dorm bed and the other city hostels are maybe a few quid cheaper.

Will have my car so makes no difference. Only about a quarter of yha offer camping. I think they are missing a trick here as many cycle tourers would prefer camping to sharing a dorm. You seem very defensive to yha.


well I dont think the YHA likes your type of camping as they dont make much money ( well they used not to with the £3 off per night ) They dont like single camper even less as they want you to rent a Hobbit House or a Bell tent ( Wye valley YHA ). I wouldnt be surprised a few years on they had notices on the doors " No hawkers, salemen or single Travellers or campers"
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LinusR
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Re: YHA prices: steep increase in the pipeline!

Post by LinusR »

mercalia wrote:well I dont think the YHA likes your type of camping as they dont make much money ( well they used not to with the £3 off per night ) They dont like single camper even less as they want you to rent a Hobbit House or a Bell tent ( Wye valley YHA ). I wouldnt be surprised a few years on they had notices on the doors " No hawkers, salemen or single Travellers or campers"


I don't know where you are getting your inaccurate info from. Camping at Wye Valley YHA costs £12 a night in your own tent, and you have use of the self-catering kitchen. https://www.yha.org.uk/hostel/yha-wye-valley
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LinusR
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Re: YHA prices: steep increase in the pipeline!

Post by LinusR »

robing wrote:You seem very defensive to yha.


My only grumble about YHA is that many of the hostels I've stayed at have shut. eg, Telscombe, Alfriston, Dover, Slimbridge. And many I intended to visit have sadly closed, eg Kemsing. Most of the remaining hostels are now in a better state of repair and with better facilities. But I wish there were more.
thirdcrank
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Joined: 9 Jan 2007, 2:44pm

Re: YHA prices: steep increase in the pipeline!

Post by thirdcrank »

A couple of coincidences in my own life illustrate some of the changes.

I've recently been volunteering to help with reading at my grandchildren's primary school. Child protection is a big thing these days and I've passed the checks. The children in the class where I volunteer have been asked to bring in pics of themselves as babies to see who's recognisable and that, by a roundabout route has led to several of my old pics being submitted. One is this one of me youth hostelling solo at Whitby as a 14 year old:-
viewtopic.php?p=81384#p81384
IIRC, in those days YHA rules permitted unaccompanied children from age 12 with parental permission, signified only by an unchecked signature on the membership card. I started unaccompanied youth hostelling when I was 13 in 1958.

One of the things I remeber about that visit to Whitby YHA was that most of the place was occupied by an unruly "SJP" - school journey party as they used to be known. I particularly remember they were all boys older than me who seemed to spend their time shouting "ratbag" at each other.

My younger grandson - approaching his 11th birthday is going on a school "residential" from today until Wednesday and although it's referred to as Whitby, I think they are going to Boggle Hole. Child protection requirements will presumably mean that there will be no independent travellers there.

FWIW junior member rate for bed (1/6d) evening meal and breakfast (2/6d each) totalled 6/6d for the bednight ie 32½p. Times change.
PH
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Re: YHA prices: steep increase in the pipeline!

Post by PH »

robing wrote:
LinusR wrote:
robing wrote:Prices seem to vary widely. The more rural ones seem reasonable, but for instance in Bristol a night in a dorm costs an eye watering £35! I could stay in a BnB for that. They should offer more camping at YHAs - that would be a popular option but relatively few offer it. And beware of unofficial YHAs masquerading on the YHA site, they can be terrible - I have personal experience of this!


Come off it! A bed in a shared room varies from £14.40 to £31.50 a night at Bristol. Bristol is not a cheap city and I doubt you could get a bnb for anywhere near that price. If you are a YHA member you get 10 percent off as well https://www.yha.org.uk/hostel/yha-bristol.


Come off it yourself.
From YHA website:

Bristol YHA
Bed in shared single gender rooms
A bed in a room sharing with other guests of the same gender. A typical shared room includes bunk beds, reading light and a storage cupboard for each guest which may be secured by a padlock if required.
£35.00
Price for 1 night per bed

Booking.com
Bristol BnB
Price
1 night, 1 room
£35 - double room with a private bathroom.

These prices were for a search on the same night.

That looks a bargain for a B&B, I'm assuming it's price per person and it wasn't a Fri or Sat night.
The difference between that and the YHA price is the variability, the hostel price will be fairly consistent regardless of the numbers and days. I put a random Sat night into booking.com for a single person, cheapest was an independent hostel for £17, then the YHA for £25, then a choice of B&B's with shared bathroom between £50 - £60 and the cheapest en-suite was £77 and over 2 miles away. Other options were Travelodge at £110 or Premier Inn for £125. I'm no longer a fan of hosteling, but if I had to be in Bath on that night I'd probably use the YHA (Despite knowing it's up a stonking great hill)
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horizon
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Re: YHA prices: steep increase in the pipeline!

Post by horizon »

LinusR wrote:I don't know where you are getting your inaccurate info from.


It's really hard to generalise about prices and experiences as they vary widely now across the YHA. I've had excellent value from the YHA even in recent years but I have just stayed in an Airbnb for £23.00 (single room, access to kitchen). it's the lottery-ness of it all that is so frustrating.
When the pestilence strikes from the East, go far and breathe the cold air deeply. Ignore the sage, stay not indoors. Ho Ri Zon 12th Century Chinese philosopher
robing
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Joined: 7 Sep 2014, 9:11am

Re: YHA prices: steep increase in the pipeline!

Post by robing »

PH wrote:
robing wrote:
LinusR wrote:
Come off it! A bed in a shared room varies from £14.40 to £31.50 a night at Bristol. Bristol is not a cheap city and I doubt you could get a bnb for anywhere near that price. If you are a YHA member you get 10 percent off as well https://www.yha.org.uk/hostel/yha-bristol.


Come off it yourself.
From YHA website:

Bristol YHA
Bed in shared single gender rooms
A bed in a room sharing with other guests of the same gender. A typical shared room includes bunk beds, reading light and a storage cupboard for each guest which may be secured by a padlock if required.
£35.00
Price for 1 night per bed

Booking.com
Bristol BnB
Price
1 night, 1 room
£35 - double room with a private bathroom.

These prices were for a search on the same night.

That looks a bargain for a B&B, I'm assuming it's price per person and it wasn't a Fri or Sat night.
The difference between that and the YHA price is the variability, the hostel price will be fairly consistent regardless of the numbers and days. I put a random Sat night into booking.com for a single person, cheapest was an independent hostel for £17, then the YHA for £25, then a choice of B&B's with shared bathroom between £50 - £60 and the cheapest en-suite was £77 and over 2 miles away. Other options were Travelodge at £110 or Premier Inn for £125. I'm no longer a fan of hosteling, but if I had to be in Bath on that night I'd probably use the YHA (Despite knowing it's up a stonking great hill)


Price was for a double room for one person with a private bathroom and it was a Saturday night.
Yha was the same price for a bunk bed in a dorm ie both 35 quid. No brainer!
PH
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Re: YHA prices: steep increase in the pipeline!

Post by PH »

robing wrote:Price was for a double room for one person with a private bathroom and it was a Saturday night.
Yha was the same price for a bunk bed in a dorm ie both 35 quid. No brainer!

Bargain! There are some about, my point was merely that it isn't typical, whereas the YHA price is.
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